yes, I think you are right, unless you are better at coming first in the lower ftp ones, but i think it will be about the same
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As well as variance on my main SNGs, I encounter it in the rake crystalisation tourneys, as well.
I've now played 8 1800 FTP tourneys for a total of 2 $26 tokens. This works out at $0.0036 per FTP which is less than the base 'exchange rate' of $0.0048/FTP.
Unfortunately, HEM can't cope with EV ROI at these 'freerolls', but given that the last one saw me all in with AKo vs 87o (which I lost), I think I'm owed a token or two.
I've hit Iron Man for four consecutive months now: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Gold and should have approx 400 medals in the bank come 01 Feb. I want to get 10 $26 tokens or so before having a crack at them, so that I have a decent chance to get one or two $76 tokens. I'll probably wait for 5 $76 tokens before attempting them - it would be too depressing to bust on the first one, otherwise.
Challenge summary:
FTP: 17,157
IM Medals: c400 (equiv. 2.85 $26 tokens or 1 $76 token)
$26 Tokens: 2
$75 Tokens: 0
Keep it going Tim, you can do it.
Yeah people seem to play those 1,800 games differently due to their "free" nature, but still very much beatable.
Good luck my friend, we're all behind you 
Bart
Hey man!
Sweet blog and super challenge, I love it. In fact, I copied it and started grinding those 1.8K FTP Sngs where first 3 get $26 token.
I only have 12BI for those sngs, but still I couldn't figure out a better way to invest my FTP points (not interested in FTP stuff store).
Played 6 (poker tracker shows 5, but i have 6BI missing 
) Sngs, won 3 tokens
Regards.
Guys, one thing you can do with points, if you don't mind some mindless play, is play sats to other tourneys.
There are 1200 point sats to the double deuce, which are turbo, and 650 point sats to the 2500 point sat to the 750K.
The thing is, you don't have to play if you win, you just unregister, and increase your points.
I went from 3000 points to over 80,000 in a month by doing this. They were really soft, but have hardened up a bit, since a lot more tags seem to be doing it now. However, I got myself an Ipod touch anyway.
@Jakalof:
Played 6 (poker tracker shows 5, but i have 6BI missing fish p ) Sngs, won 3 tokens
Nice going! Glad I've inspired someone to make the most of the points. If you want to pm me your nick on FT, I'll avoid you and we can keep our edges to the max.
GL!
@aciddrop: absolutely! The only problem for me is somewhat limited time for poker and so I'm trying to play those FTP tourneys with a decent return for the time invested. It's sort of like playing microstakes - the % return is much bigger but the $/hour is not necessarily and I've decided to aim for approximately equivalent BI where possible. The 1800s are still only equiv to $8.5 BI but I would struggle to justify the screenspace for a 600ftp tourney ($2.8 BI) as it would mean one less $33 turbo and hence reduced $/hour on thoses tourneys.
Not sure if that makes sense...
Always good to have some fresh ideas though - keep em coming!
Tim, that makes perfect sense. I work nightshifts, so take my laptop to work and play in the dead hours when concentration and focus aren't the best. They don't need to be in these tourneys mostly. Once I got started I made a little project to see how many points I could rack up for free. If I lived in the States, I reckon I might dedicate a year to this, and pick up a Harley.
Wow - nice work if you can get it ;o) I think I'd get in trouble if I played poker while trying to help people with their mortgages!
Can I ask what you do?
I might dedicate a year to this, and pick up a Harley.
Is coffin included with the motorcycle?
Tim: my nick on FTP is Jackalof (well duh), but I don't think I have an edge or smth, I just play ABC SnG strategy I picked up from Pokerstrategy articles and videos. Games are super soft. However, I decided to use the tokens to buying into tournaments or satellites to a bigger tournaments. I know this is a bit spewy but has a potential of a big cash in case I get ITM in some super MTT 
What do you think about it?
Good luck with the token gig!
Not so spewy; generally I think we have an even bigger edge at the MTTs - so full of fish that they are. It just takes longer to crystalise that edge, that's all.
It just takes longer to crystalise that edge, that's all.
Wow, golden words 
We just have to keep trying, eventually they will fail to suck out and we will cash big
Tim,
I work in a datacentre, so 12 hour shifts looking after computers.
Originally I planned to play a lot during the dead time, but found that tiredness doesn't help when needing to make lots of decisions in a short time. So I abandoned my plan to make heaps of money grinding sngs while at work.
But the points sats are easy, because they are generally so full of fish, the decisions are no brainers. Just as many suckouts of course, but top three is enough to get more points than you spend. I found my points piling up without me having to spend a dollar in rake. When I realised I couldn't get any of the really good stuff from the FTP store delivered here in Aus, I more or less gave up on that as well. Took the Ipod for my daughters birthday, and now I'm taking a break from playing.
@ Jackalof. Don't worry, even if I could earn the Harley, it would strictly be for cash sale.
Miscounted earlier. It seems I have 100 more IM medals than I thought - not quite sure how...
Does anyone know how to get a summary from FT of how many medals have been awarded for each month?
Thing is, I'm sure I had about 315 medals at the end of Jan, and now I've got 504 and I thought I only got 85 for the second consecutive month of Gold.
Can someone set me str8? It says I have 4 consecutive months, but only the last 2 have been Gold. Does this still count as 4 months on the chart i.e. 100 medals rather than 85?
Maybe the other 70 odd medals were bonus medals instead of the freerolls...
Revised challenge summary:
FTP: 16220 (equiv $77.8 @ $.0048$/FTP)
IM Medals: c504 (equiv. 3.6 $26 tokens or $93.60)
$26 Tokens: 2 (equiv. $52)
$75 Tokens: 0
# 1800FTP Trnys entered: 9
$/FTP @ 1800s: $0.0032
Value of Uncrystalised Rakeback Total (VURT): $223.40
Hi Tim,
Yes can confirm that achieving any ironman status each month helps to bump you up the consecutive months chart.
I'm currently in my 16th consecutive month, but a large number of those have been bronze (and I left January a bit late and had to play solid the last 3 calendar days to acheive that ♦ ).
Could just be bonus medals from not playing the freeroll or even the "1 a day".
Bart
Go go, ship some tokens! Im really enjoying those SnGs, thanks to you. Finally won some money out of it
I would like to know how are you using/planning to use iron man medals. Will you buy tokens with them?
Thanks nibbana and Jakalof, Got the idea for VURT from a Jeff Noon novel of the same name.
As to the medals, I think I will buy the $26 tokens. If I'm right, I should get the most vfm with this purchase (variance aside). Buying the $75 tokens is a possibility but I think they will be tougher than the $26s so my ROI will be less. This is another way of saying that I think (on average) that spending 420 medals on 3* $26 tokens should net me more profit than buying 1* $75 token would.
Because I'm a nervous passenger, there is something that seems to stop me just going ahead and making the purchase. At the moment I am not playing many 1800s but I have plenty of FTPs so will do so again soon. I'd like to build up to ten or so $26 tokens before taking a shot at the tourneys so that if things don't start well, I will still have a few shots at it in the bank.
Revised challenge summary:
FTP: 20,221 (equiv $97.06 @ $.0048$/FTP)
IM Medals: c680 (equiv. 4.85 $26 tokens or $126.28)
$26 Tokens: 2 (equiv. $52)
$75 Tokens: 0
# 1800FTP Trnys entered: 9
$/FTP @ 1800s: $0.0032
Value of Uncrystalised Rakeback Total (VURT): $275.35
I was inspired to play a couple of 1800s just now and had the following crazy hands. The first is typical of how I am running at the moment:
Hand converted with online PokerStrategy.com hand converter:
$30/$60 No-Limit Hold'em (7 handed)
Known players:
[tg]CO$500.00:///////;BU$4850.00:///////;SB$1405.00:///////;BB$1845.00:///////;MP1$1540.00:///////;MP2$1350.00:///////;MP3 (Hero)$2010.00:///////;[/tg]
Preflop: Hero is MP3 with A:d, A:c.
2 folds, Hero raises to $150.00, 2 folds, SB raises to $1,405.00, BB folds, Hero calls $1,255.00.
Flop: ($2870) 8:d, 2:d, J:s (2 players)
Turn: ($2870) 5:h (2 players)
River: ($2870) Q:s (2 players)
Final Pot: $2870.
SB shows: Q :club:Q 
and wins with 3 of a kind.
Then later on the same game (having managed to double up pushing AJ into A9) I got the following hand. Villain is only raising 4% so far this tourney so a fold is called for; but my equity in the tournament sucks so badly that I felt I may as well call, planning to go broke with no high cards.
Hand converted with online PokerStrategy.com hand converter:
$50/$100 No-Limit Hold'em (4 handed)
Known players:
[tg]MP3$6350.00:///////;CO$3410.00:///////;BU$2500.00:///////;BB (Hero)$1240.00:///////;[/tg]
Preflop: Hero is BB with 5:d, 5:s.
2 folds, BU raises to $200.00, Hero calls $100.00.
Flop: ($400) 5:c, T:s, J:h (2 players)
Hero checks, BU raises to $2,300.00(All-In), Hero calls $1,040.00(All-In).
Turn: ($3740) Q:d (2 players)
River: ($3740) 3:c (2 players)
Final Pot: $3740.
SB shows A :heart:A 
Sucker!!!
Unsurprisingly villain was somewhat tilted after this so he shoved A4s over the top of UTG's minraise and saw himself up against AT. The cards changed nothing and so I was gifted bright, shiny $26 token #3.
Further revised challenge summary:
FTP: 16,621.30 (equiv $79.78 @ $.0048$/FTP)
IM Medals: c680 (equiv. 4.85 $26 tokens or $126.28)
$26 Tokens: 3 (equiv. $78)
$75 Tokens: 0
# 1800FTP Trnys entered: 14
$/FTP @ 1800s: $0.0031
Value of Uncrystalised Rakeback Total (VURT): $284.06
Token #4 just acquired despite having my A8o small blind shove called by the big blind holding A5o who, predictably, hits his 5 on the flop. A couple of hands later my reshove with 77 dominated a loose raise call from BU holding A♣7♣ and I had some chips once again. I picked up some hands and some more chips and then the pressure was on the others. The new shortie shoved AJs a few hands later and ran into villain's QQ with no help to come.
I rather like the fact that with these tourneys, getting in the money is the same as getting first place (places 1-3 each receive a $26 token). It takes away some of the excruciating pain of getting through the bubble as the chip leader and then somehow walking away with third place.
Using a base measurement of 1 FTP = $0.0048, we can calculate our ROI for the 1800 FTP rake crystalising tourneys by converting the $ value of the tokens won back into FTP at the rate of $1 = 208.33 FTP (1/0.0048). So, for example, I have played 15* 1800 FTP tourneys for a total FTP cost of 27,000. I have earned $104 in tokens. This is equivalent to 21,663 FTP (104* 208.33). So now we divide the difference, i.e. our 'profit' (27,000-21,663 = 5337) by the entry cost of 27,000 FTP to produce our ROI, namely -19.76%.
I won't be worrying about my current ROI over such a small sample; what I hope to demonstrate long term is a nice 10%+ ROI for these tourneys.
Revised challenge summary:
FTP: 15298 (equiv $73.43 @ $.0048$/FTP)
IM Medals: c680 (equiv. 4.85 $26 tokens or $126.28)
$26 Tokens: 4 (equiv. $104)
$75 Tokens: 0
# 1800FTP Trnys entered: 9
$/FTP @ 1800s: $0.00385
ROI @ 1800s: -19.76%
Value of Uncrystalised Rakeback Total (VURT): $303.71