BRC Supporting Blog

Just failed another strike attampt that last a little bit longer. This time from a $1 S&G ticket.

Attempt pipeline is filled with another four waiting to be tackled.

Daily Freebie and Strike stats (total ticket winnings | longest strike attempt | strike attempt peak)

16x $0.25 MRB | $7.73 | 044 | $6.12
16x $0.25 S&G | $5.00 | 200 | $6.97
05x $1.00 S&G | $8.50 | 088 | $6.95

Currently I am not really on track to fullfill my bankroll goal. Instead I am stuck to lowest stakes games with these strike attamps and GG promotions. I have combined all of them to some daily routine. Required cash game hands (100/300/1000 for WSOP express step and $100k freeroll tickets) are acquired with PLO-6 to increase the chance to reveal J♠: for candies. My goal with WSOP steps is to reach level four to get an entry to GGMasters. I have not played PLO-6 before but it is somewhat funny even though I am four stacks down (only one EV-wise).

Small movement of my numbers in the right direction. Most of what happend since the last update I have already reported. Though there are still waiting two final table screenshots in the folder.

Fun fact: for both these Go stages I qualified with the very first attempt in the last Flip stage. Hopefully this a portent for the Flip&Go Millionaire that I will get two free bullets for due to some deposit bonus offer.

...

Oh my! Did not update the blog since one month. Only my latest numbers for the BRC. Still not on track as my volume is not very high and I am playing mainly S&Gs for free within that sub-challenge. Finished another longer attempt about 2 weeks ago.

Currently I am at the round about 150th game of the next attempt right before reaching level A in the ELO rating.

Daily Freebie and Strike stats (total ticket winnings | longest strike attempt | strike attempt peak)

29x $0.25 MRB | $09.97 | 044 | $6.12
28x $0.25 S&G | $10.63 | 200 | $6.97
10x $1.00 S&G | $16.00 | 108 | $6.95

I was able to ladder some steps in the F&G Millionaire. Happy with that result as it is 100% bonus.

Apropos bonus... Got a $150 ticket due to some deposit promotion and tomorrow I will get another 5x $10.80 micro Mystery Bounty Main Event tickets also due to some deposit promotion.

Today I spontaneously late-registered for $5 micro Global Festival Day 1 and made it into Day 2. Only as short stack but that means profit anyway for a single bullet.

And here is the rest of the screenshot folder...

I am not able to cross the line for A rating

But the blue line is giving "a new hope"

Failed another attempt. The longest strike so far!

I am changing the BRM for this a little bit. I want to have at least 12BI for the lower level in reserve.

I made some very interesting observation that made me re-think about how I approach these strikes. I already took tax into account on where my strike balance currently is but I ignored currency conversion completely. Thats a huge mistake especially for these low buy ins. Even if the first game is a ticket worth excactly the buy-in in $, I have to buy into the following games with my real money in €. And here I observed that, depending on the current exchange rate, the buy-in for the $0.25 games varies between €0.21/€0.22 where the payout for e.g. the $0.5 prize stays the same, probably due to rounding. That means sometimes games are tax free at the bottom line. And in the end only my real money balance is what counts, nothing else.

I adapted my spreadsheet to take all that stuff into account. After some games I can tell that there is approx 2.5% difference between the $/€ ROI making tax effectively only 0.5% instead of 3% Lets see how this evolves.

I wasn't aware that GGPoker did currency conversion at the buy-in level.
I deposited in USD, and the currency conversion happened then — and it will happen again on withdrawal

I am a little bit confused. What is the currency of your wallet in the GGPoker client? And how does your pipline look like?

Mine is € and I deposit and withdraw in € too. Games are played in $ though. In the buy-in dialog I am asked for a € amount and the transaction history shows both including tax.

Obviously there must be some currency conversion on the buy-in and cash-out level for me. Not sure if it would be better to have a wallet in $ and have the conversion on deposit/withdraw level.
Pro point is that you do not have to care in game and you have the freedom to act at a point of time when exchange rates are good, so you gain some extra profit or at least compensate withdraw fees. On the other hand these points also have some negative aspects: you have to track amounts/rates and promotional deposits may have to be done at some nasty rates.

Probalby the main point is what stakes you are playing. Rounding issues fade with higher stakes. This should be analysed with some stats over time. Fortunately I am doing this right now with my spreadsheet.

...

Originally posted by irieill
I am a little bit confused. What is the currency of your wallet in the GGPoker client? And how does your pipline look like?

In all of my poker rooms, my bankroll is in USD — except for PartyPoker, where my bankroll is in CAD, and currency conversion happens whenever I take money to a table or enter a tournament. That is the primary reason I never play on PartyPoker.

For GGPoker:
this is what my bankroll looks like, which I presume is what you mean by "wallet"

The C$ is "cash dollars" which is money I won in some promo. I can play with it, but it cannot be withdrawn.

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
I deposited in USD, and the currency conversion happened then — and it will happen again on withdrawal

If your wallet is USD and you deposit USD, where is currency conversion? That is what is confusing me.

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
I deposited in USD, and the currency conversion happened then — and it will happen again on withdrawal

If your wallet is USD and you deposit USD, where is currency conversion? That is what is confusing me.

Originally posted by irieill

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
I deposited in USD, and the currency conversion happened then — and it will happen again on withdrawal

If your wallet is USD and you deposit USD, where is currency conversion? That is what is confusing me.

Yes, there should be only conversion between Canadian dollars and USD when depositing and withdrawing in his case.

Vorpal, are you sure the C$ is not just the 'Canadian dollars' equivalent of the USD?

I am afraid of getting that tax thing in the future Right now, tax is supposed to be part of the rake from where I play.

Originally posted by Stackoffski
Yes, there should be only conversion between Canadian dollars and USD when depositing and withdrawing in his case.

Vorpal, are you sure the C$ is not just the 'Canadian dollars' equivalent of the USD?

I am afraid of getting that tax thing in the future Right now, tax is supposed to be part of the rake from where I play.

Quite sure. When I open a tournament, I can buy in with USD, C$ or T$ (which I don't have)

If I click the little blue "i" I see this:

Originally posted by irieill

Oh my! Did not update the blog since one month.
.
.
.

Again! But there is not much of interest to report. The ticket is in use right now! Does not look promising though (while writing I was kicked out deservedly). Got 3 tickets for the $54 Lucky Fortune Mystery Bounty via deposit promotion. The first flight brought me to day 2 with remarkable 126k in chips. The other two flights crashed with Q♠:Q♣: < A♠:K♣: and A♣:Q♣: < A♦:J♠: preflop.

The first attempt after adaption has ended on December 14th. It started from a $1 S&G ticket.

These are the stats I am tracking atm.

As you can see, the currency conversion stuff has some impact. Visualizing the additional tax is insightful. Imagine how it would look like if the rake is visualized too! Rake must not be underestimated, it is more than 2 times the tax. Very hard to beat. Eagerly awaiting the new GGPoker rakeback system. Currently I am on a 25ct S&G strike having played 190 games with some $1 shots.

Bought into the first $3 S&G from a Daily Freebie strike. This one will probably take a while longer.

Originally posted by irieill
I am not able to cross the line for A rating
After all...

I have crossed the line by winning a 20x on my current strike attempt.

Today I entered top 100 ranking for the first time ever. Had a pretty good run yesterday and bought into the first $5 S&G today. Unfortunately right now I am back to $1 level on that strike attempt.

While playing I recognized this little red marker in the top bar of one of my game windows labeled LIVE. I was wondering what that means. Maybe some one was streaming? So I checked all player profiles but found nothing. Then I realized that there is a LIVE section in the S&G menu and the games was featured...

Far away from world-class but who knows

Originally posted by irieill
Got 3 tickets for the $54 Lucky Fortune Mystery Bounty via deposit promotion. The first flight brought me to day 2 with remarkable 126k in chips. The other two flights crashed with Q♠:Q♣: < A♠:K♣: and A♣:Q♣: < A♦:J♠: preflop.

Not sure if I am prepared for this but day two will start soon and I am in a fairly good starting position. There are plenty of short stacks and much potential to boost my bankroll. Wish me luck!