Snakes will smoke

I played some MTTs tonight. While most of the Hold 'em tourneys were not really worth talking about (one small win in a $2.20 Progressive Knock-out MTT), I was actually able to finish 3rd out of 38 in a $2.20 Badugi tournament for $11.40. Who'd have thought...

Even though it is not completely confirmed yet that the technical problems at Pokerstars are all solved, I think I can resume my regular grind tomorrow.

New career as a mixed games crusher perhaps

Originally posted by Lazza61
New career as a mixed games crusher perhaps

Well... I don't think so. In all seriousness, I was debating whether or not I should return to this particular Badugi tournament every now and then. The risk to reward ratio doesn't seem to be very good in this one, considering that it's a $2.20 buy-in. On the other hand, it was by far the most entertaining tournament I've played in a while.

If I do decide that giving Badugi a try might be worth it, it may be a better idea to get started in the lowest cash games. So far, my only two attempts at this ended in complete failure. I honestly don't think I'm a very good Badugi player, which is also the reason why this 3rd place was such a pleasant surprise. (btw, the two remaining players eventually pussied out and went for an even money deal...)

Unfortunately, I've heard a few more reports that the technical problems at Stars persist. I might wait a little longer until I resume my grind, as I don't really want to bug Pokerstars again with any further refund requests.

Originally posted by Harrier88
If I do decide that giving Badugi a try might be worth it, it may be a better idea to get started in the lowest cash games.

I did just that, and for the first time ever, it didn't end in a complete disaster. I made around $7-8 playing the $0.25/0.50 FL cash games.

I also signed up for another $2.20 tournament, but I noticed later on that it was PL, not FL. I'm even less experienced in this format...
Not surprisingly, I didn't win. That exit hand was pretty unlucky, though, as far as I can tell.

I continued to play some Badugi cash games in the last few days, with mixed results, but more on the negative side. I decided to stop playing them, though, because I just don't know the maths well enough to make any good decisions with confidence. It would be pretty pointless to try and grind this game for profit anyway. The traffic is low, to the point that there might be no active table available at all at some points, it is mercilessly reg-infested and the variance is huge.
I will, however, continue to play that $2.20 MTT every now and then, simply because it is such a fun game. When I played it yesterday, I made it to final table again, but without cashing.

Apart from that, I also went back to my usual 9-man Turbo SNGs. The last two sessions in particular were absolutely horrible, and I was less than pleased when I took a look at this month's graph:

The graph itself contains just the usual swings for such a small sample. What worries me is the orange line, which has a relatively steady downward trend.
Does anyone have any advice on how reliable the orange line is in determining your true expected value? I still only have a vague idea about how exactly it is calculated.

I did some more digging around and found some pretty humbling results when I looked at the overall results since last October:

Did I always do this badly at SNGs? Well, not necessarily. I also took a look at the graph for my games from July and August, which were going pretty well until that final downswing:

So how do my overall results since last July look like?

(A note on these graphs: Some tournaments have not been tracked correctly by Pokertracker for some reason, and display my final position as 0th out of 9. Some of these tournaments may have been 1st place finishes for all I know, so the results which are displayed in the graphs may vary from the real ones. Twelve of these 0th place tournaments have been recorded since July.)

Depending on the interpretation of these graphs (any advice?), it could be that there are some serious leaks in my game which need to be plugged. I'll have to take a closer look at that.

Searching for a nice and straightforward game to play in the meantime, I have played some NL5 FR Zoom tonight. While I'm no stranger to the shorthanded games, it has been over a year since I played the full ring variant.
My first session went quite well with a profit of almost 4BIs over 400 hands, partially thanks to this big hand:

While the results of a single session are meaningless, it might not be such a bad idea to stick around for a while until I decide which games to grind.

Today I found out what happens in FR Zoom games if the dealer doesn't spoil me with great hands all day long...

Even though I hoped that I would be able to handle the full ring games better than the shorthanded ones due to their slower pace and less postflop action, there doesn't seem to be a big difference between the two formats for me, I was struggling quite a bit.

Unfortunately, it appears like there is currently no version of the game that I can truly beat.

In order to get back on track, I'd have to take another good look on theory. The only thing I need to ask myself is, once again, whether I want to focus on cash games or SNGs. But I'll think about that tomorrow.

Originally posted by Harrier88
The only thing I need to ask myself is, once again, whether I want to focus on cash games or SNGs. But I'll think about that tomorrow.

Maybe just pick one format and run it for a month -- perhaps it is the switching back and forth that is doing you in.

For me it's cash games. There isn't the added layer of ICM to consider -- not to mention playing 20 BB "deep" really cramps your style.

Study more, play less maybe for a week or so and see where that takes you...

Weasel has a great new series going right now, if that fits...

Best of luck...
VS

Well, to be fair, I did play SNGs for over a months, but it is true that I did a lot of switching in the past. Whenever I choose a format, the grass always seems to be greener on the other side...

But the truth is that I honestly didn't do that much studying at all recently, in either format. One of the problems seems to be my slight aversion to math, but there's no way around it, it is a critical part of poker.

Like I said, I'll try to focus a bit more on theory and see where it goes. When it comes to my decision on which format to chose, I can think of a few advantages for either one:

Cash
+ Better source of FPPs
+ More flexible sessions
+ Less knowledge -> more untapped potential

SNGs
+ Losses are capped -> less potential for tilt
+ Lower danger of "zombie sessions"
+ More knowledge -> more solid foundation

MTTs could work as a Plan C if all else fails. In this case, I would limit myself to one session in the evening with a minimal impact on my bankroll. It may take a very long time until I could see results, but I'm in no hurry.

So I decided to test the waters in another NL5 session (shorthanded this time).

Let's see... AA<TT, Full House<Better Full House, QQ<AA and KK<AA back-to-back, K-high flush<A-high flush, AA<QQ...

What a session for someone who is trying to get back on track...

Time to go back to the drawing board.

Okay, now that I have vented about this, let me announce my decision:

I hereby officially declare that I will not play any cash games until March 20, the first day of spring.

This is not a reaction to my latest session. I have been playing long enough to know that things like that just happen from time to time. It is more of a reflection on my past attempts.

While I do have good understanding of the basics, my postflop game is a bit shaky, and I have a poor understanding of player ranges and the math behind call/fold decisions. In addition to that, my mental game is a bit shabby.

Both of these areas can be improved with a bit of effort, but when we get down to it, I'm just not as passionate about the game as I used to be a year ago, I just don't see it happening. Since the temptation to make yet another half-hearted attempt to grind my bankroll up playing Zoom is just too high, I think it would be a good idea to put my foot down and announce that I won't play any more cash games for the time being, no matter what. After that, I can feel free to give these games another shot, but only if I'm truly ready.

Every other format is still fair game. SNGs, MTTs, MTSNGs, possibly even HUSNGs (though I doubt it), you name it. However, I will try to find one of them to focus on.

PokerStars - $2+$0.20|40/80 NL - Holdem - 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 6,146
SB: 9,932
BB: 6,987
Hero (UTG): 3,079
UTG+1: 16,341
MP: 4,742
MP+1: 5,754
MP+2: 2,609
CO: 2,225

SB posts SB 40, BB posts BB 80

Pre Flop: (pot: 120) Hero has A♠ A♥

Hero raises to 240, UTG+1 raises to 400, fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 1,150, UTG+1 calls 750

Flop: (2,420, 2 players) 4♣ 9♦ 4♥
Hero bets 1,929 and is all-in, UTG+1 calls 1,929

UTG+1 shows 4♦ 4♠

PokerStars - $1+$1+$0.20|40/80 NL - Holdem - 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

MP+2: 8,648
CO: 5,298
BTN: 4,512
Hero (SB): 1,799
BB: 2,965
UTG: 1,564
UTG+1: 9,171
MP: 2,880
MP+1: 7,054

Hero posts SB 40, BB posts BB 80

Pre Flop: (pot: 120) Hero has K♣ K♦

UTG calls 80, fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, BTN raises to 4,512 and is all-in, Hero calls 1,759 and is all-in, fold, fold

Hero shows K♣ K♦
BTN shows Q♥ A♦

Flop: (3,758, 2 players) K♥ A♠ 2♠

Turn: (3,758, 2 players) Q♠

River: (3,758, 2 players) A♥

Just not my day, I guess...
See you tomorrow.

I think it's great you decided to avoid cash game for some time, so you can focus on other gametypes...

Originally posted by RaucheCh1987
I think it's great you decided to avoid cash game for some time, so you can focus on other gametypes...

I noticed today that the temptation to play cash is still there, so I really do think that it was a good decision to take a stand.

I'll focus on MTTs for now. Tonight, I played in a $2.20 Zoom tournament, a $2.20 Progressive Knockout tourney and a $0.50 180-man MTSNG. I also did some reading on this format earlier today.

It looked quite well in the Zoom tournament, where I had a good run, which was unfortunately ended just short of the bubble, even though I was still deep stacked. Here it is:

Generally speaking, I was not very happy with my play, and my main concern was actually my standard preflop play in the early phases. I'll take another look at this, and try to tighten it up in the meantime. This would also have been a good decision for my cash games, I assume, where I may have tried to hard to emulate a good LAG-style, without having the necessary know-how to pull it off. But cash games are history right now.

I hope my bankroll of $356 will be enough to allow me some more shots at the $2.20 MTTs. If anyone has any advice to get me on my way in this format you are more than welcome to share it.

I had some better results today. Lost a $2.20 SH MTT (KK vs a set of 4s), finished 120th out of 2100 in the Zoom tournament I played yesterday (set over set), and I got a 4th place in a Badugi tournament.

Let's keep going.

Played my first 8-Game tonight and finished 4th, which was good enough for a min-cash. Hooray for beginner's luck!

This was the only success in my little MTT session, but I don't mind. I have decided that this format might be a good choice for me right now, so the next step would be to develop a solid grinding plan, which cannot really be done without a bit of experimentation.

I'll keep playing a few tourneys every evening and see which ones suit me best.

8Game sounds really challenging... How soft would you rate the player pool there?

Originally posted by RaucheCh1987
8Game sounds really challenging... How soft would you rate the player pool there?

I don't think I can really comment on that after just one game. I don't remember any outlandishly stupid moves by any opponent, but I believe there were some loose calls from time to time. They can't be that great, though, because I was able to make a decent profit at the Stud games with relatively straightforward moves, even though I don't usually play them.

Of course, everyone destroyed me in Limit Omaha Hi/Lo, because I'm just abysmal at this game.

Still waiting for any big cashes, but I had enough lowish ITM-finishes to make a small profit.

I decided to limit the amount of non Hold 'em tournaments that I play, since they take too much of my attention away from the other tables, and the buy-ins are relatively high (about on par with the other MTTs, but with a worse risk-to-reward ratio).

My favorite tournament so far is the $3k guaranteed Zoom tourney for $2.20 which starts at 21:45 CET, I will certainly keep returning to this one.
I'm less sure about the knockout tournaments, I never seem to perform as well in those games for some reason. There is also the Hot $0.55, which I used to play a few times in the past, but it has a quite big field and it seems like I have some problems staying concentrated throughout the tournament. Maybe this is because it starts relatively late, and I might be a bit tired from the other MTTs.

So I'll probably keep playing the $2.20 Zoom tournament and a few other MTTs with a similar or lower buy-in that start around the same time. I'm still not entirely sure about bankroll management. An old article that was written when the games were a lot softer suggests 100 BIs, while Asaban's beginner's course recommends 150, and tomsom87's 180-man course even suggests 300-1000.

I'll probably try to keep a bit more than 150 BIs in my bankroll. Since I still have around $350-360, the $2.20 games seem fine to me, but I'll try not to play to many of these, as I'd rather be a bit too tight than too loose with my BRM.

I really enjoyed the Super Bowl this year! It was a lot nicer to watch than last year's game, which was pretty much over at half time. Also, unlike last year, I didn't even have to work the next day, but then again, this has never prevented me from watching the whole thing anyway.

Unfortunately, I didn't cash in this month's Freelancer Freeroll, where I finished in the middle of the pack. That was a pity, because I did manage to double up earlier and maybe could have had a promising run if I had been a little smarter with my stack.

This hand was probably the turning point:

MP was a bit short, but not that short really. I think I was hoping for a coinflip, but I probably should have been a bit more careful, since villain wasn't really under that much pressure yet. This is not a donkament, after all...

I eventually left the tournament after losing two consecutive flips with 44 against one player.

There were some more tournaments with promising runs in the last few days. Tonight, for example, I finished around 50ish IIRC in a Bubble Dash MTT, and also 105th out of about 5,700 in a Progressive Knockout tournament where I collected about $5 in bounties, and about the same amount as prize money. There was one exciting coinflip near the end where I could have won almost $10 as a bounty alone, not to mention the chance to grab some serious prize money. But it wasn't to be this time...

There was another possible overplay of TT in this tournament, but I'm not sure if it could be justified in this case, since bounties are involved:

In any case, I probably won't play in this Progressive Knockout tournament anymore, simply because it just takes too bloody long. I had been playing for almost five hours when I was out at 105th.

There are still plenty of other tournaments to choose from, though.

Well 13bb efective on that first hand so quite short. You can argue to play TT in this spot but not by 3betting small. Just ship it because there should not be any hands raise-folding this short. This is freelancer freeroll after all so there should not be many players who don`t understand stack sizes.