Last night I did something I'd never done before. I won a multi table tournament for the first time.
It wasn't much of a tournament. PokerStars $0.25/90. So only 10 tables. It took a little over 3 hours to take it down. Mostly I ran well against bad competition and caught some big hands at good times like a huge AA hand at the final table for a $100K pot. I cruised from there. Plus flopping sets and winning big with them is as valuable in tournaments as it is in the NL cash game.
I wasn't even trying to play in that tournament. I meant to register in a $2.20/90 but I wasn't paying attention and ended up in the $0.25 tournament. A good accident as it turns out since it turned out to be my first real MTT win. I've taken down real money 2 table tournaments before but this was a bigger event with all the real tournament stages of early play, the bubble, final table, last 3, and heads up.
Of course the competition is weak in this event, and the $6.20 award for winning isn't impressive, but still I'm glad to know now I can win. I'm done with the $0.25/90 and will be playing $2.20/90 which I'm bankrolled for. Hopefully I can run well there. I've got some unfinished business at the $2.20 as I lost heavily in the $2.20/180 turbos. I think the 10 minute blinds and 2000 starting stack is better suited to my style.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Sunday, March 08, 2009
wish me luck - UB WWE WrestleMania freeroll final
That was about the easiest satellite in history. It was round 2 of the UB WrestleMania freeroll this evening. I sat down to play at 8:30 Eastern. Under the rules the top 200 advance to the final on March 16. Round 2 is filled from the daily round 1 satellites where the top 100 from each daily sat advance.
However when play began there were only 98 people registered! 10 minutes later and late registration closed and still only 98 people. 98 people competing for 200 seats in the final of course means that we all advance just for registering. That was pretty easy.
So onto the winner take all final on March 16. The winner is going to WrestleMania in Houston. It looks right now like there will be around 400 people in the final. So of course my chances aren't very good. The competition is mostly play money and very bad. So that helps my chances. I'd estimate my chance at winning is around 1%. But it's great to be there and have a shot.
However when play began there were only 98 people registered! 10 minutes later and late registration closed and still only 98 people. 98 people competing for 200 seats in the final of course means that we all advance just for registering. That was pretty easy.
So onto the winner take all final on March 16. The winner is going to WrestleMania in Houston. It looks right now like there will be around 400 people in the final. So of course my chances aren't very good. The competition is mostly play money and very bad. So that helps my chances. I'd estimate my chance at winning is around 1%. But it's great to be there and have a shot.
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Freerolls
Spring is the season for freerolls. On UltimateBet I'm playing in a WWE WrestleMania 25 freeroll. I cleared round 1 pretty easily and onto round 2 Sunday. The top 25% from round 2 get to the final round 3 for the big prize. My chances aren't good of course but it is fun trying. I hope I can at least reach the round 3 final.
Also on UB you can qualify for the WSOP main event for only 10 cents. But you have to win like 10 steps tournaments so I'll pass on that. I don't really care for sng anyway.
Last year PokerStars had a WSOP ME freeroll so I hope they do it again this year. Also on Stars the blogger freeroll should be coming up pretty soon. That's a good tournament to enter so I can hopefully play in that.
Freerolls are good fun. Some normally proper players choose to be silly in them. Plus of course the fields are dominated by play money people, people with bankroll in the single digits, and generally bad players. But I do try to play properly.
The competition tends to be weak. If you can catch some cards then usually you can do quite well against the many clueless and the donators. It's nice to experience some success even on that UB WWE round 1. I've been in a downswing for a while so a positive result is nice.
In addition to freeroll I've noticed some near freeroll Stars SNGs. There's a $0.10/360 turbo sng. I played a handful of them to work on some new turbo strategies. I cashed in about my 5th attempt and realized I still really don't enjoy turbos.
While I was scrolling to the bottom of the list I noticed a $0.25/90 and $2.20/90 sngs on Stars with 10 minute levels. That looks more interesting. A low buyin event with reasonable rake that has enough time to play properly and can finish in a good amount of time.
I'll give the $0.25/90 a try until I cash in one. It's a bit easier to cash than the $4.40/180s as 12 of 90 cash instead of 10% in the $4.40s. From there I plan to work the $2.20/90 until I can ever get my bankroll up to being able to play in the $4.40/180s. I'm glad Stars added these tournaments.
Plus as part of trying to break out of this blah downswing/break even spell I might try some more $10 NL on Stars. I had some success there in the past. Over on UB I'm still playing $0.25/$0.50 LHE trying to clear the bonus and bankroll remains precarious. I'm trying to think of some contingency plans for there if things don't start to turn around.
Also on UB you can qualify for the WSOP main event for only 10 cents. But you have to win like 10 steps tournaments so I'll pass on that. I don't really care for sng anyway.
Last year PokerStars had a WSOP ME freeroll so I hope they do it again this year. Also on Stars the blogger freeroll should be coming up pretty soon. That's a good tournament to enter so I can hopefully play in that.
Freerolls are good fun. Some normally proper players choose to be silly in them. Plus of course the fields are dominated by play money people, people with bankroll in the single digits, and generally bad players. But I do try to play properly.
The competition tends to be weak. If you can catch some cards then usually you can do quite well against the many clueless and the donators. It's nice to experience some success even on that UB WWE round 1. I've been in a downswing for a while so a positive result is nice.
In addition to freeroll I've noticed some near freeroll Stars SNGs. There's a $0.10/360 turbo sng. I played a handful of them to work on some new turbo strategies. I cashed in about my 5th attempt and realized I still really don't enjoy turbos.
While I was scrolling to the bottom of the list I noticed a $0.25/90 and $2.20/90 sngs on Stars with 10 minute levels. That looks more interesting. A low buyin event with reasonable rake that has enough time to play properly and can finish in a good amount of time.
I'll give the $0.25/90 a try until I cash in one. It's a bit easier to cash than the $4.40/180s as 12 of 90 cash instead of 10% in the $4.40s. From there I plan to work the $2.20/90 until I can ever get my bankroll up to being able to play in the $4.40/180s. I'm glad Stars added these tournaments.
Plus as part of trying to break out of this blah downswing/break even spell I might try some more $10 NL on Stars. I had some success there in the past. Over on UB I'm still playing $0.25/$0.50 LHE trying to clear the bonus and bankroll remains precarious. I'm trying to think of some contingency plans for there if things don't start to turn around.
Thursday, February 05, 2009
Spent my FPPs at the store
I've changed my mind about what to do with my PokerStars FPPs. Originally I was going to play in FPP satellite tournaments and unregister from the seats to get W$ and then use the W$ to play in other tournaments to get regular bankroll.
I realized quickly that I wasn't enjoying it and it was too convoluted, too much of a grind, too much work, too many steps. I don't play tournaments much anymore so it just didn't catch my interest.
And one day I was up very early to take my son to 6 AM hockey practice. I realized I could use a travel coffee mug. Then I thought about the FPP store and checked if there was anything there. It turns out there is an FPP travel mug.
Ahh, that's what I wanted. Unfortunately I had spent my FPPs a bit below the 1250 FPP price. It seemed to take a while to earn the 10 FPP I needed at $0.25/$0.50 LHE but I did get there after a while and I made the order this week. My FPPs are now down to near zero but that's alright. I hadn't done anything useful with them anyway in all the time I've been on Stars so I'm pleased at this small reward for the time I've played there generating rake and fees.
The FPP store purchasing experience was very smooth and well designed. They sent me a confirmation e-mail for tracking and I'm looking forward to the arrival of the mug in around a month. I don't really have any visible poker gear around. Some people know I play for real money but I don't draw attention to it or really bring it up. So this will be a small departure. That said, I'll probably just be using the mug for those early morning hockey practices so I don't plan to be flashing it around.
I'm still hoping to play some live poker at the local casino this year. I could use a card protector. They had some nice ones I liked at the FPP store for around 800 FPPs so maybe as I rebuild my FPPs I might aim for that.
I realized quickly that I wasn't enjoying it and it was too convoluted, too much of a grind, too much work, too many steps. I don't play tournaments much anymore so it just didn't catch my interest.
And one day I was up very early to take my son to 6 AM hockey practice. I realized I could use a travel coffee mug. Then I thought about the FPP store and checked if there was anything there. It turns out there is an FPP travel mug.
Ahh, that's what I wanted. Unfortunately I had spent my FPPs a bit below the 1250 FPP price. It seemed to take a while to earn the 10 FPP I needed at $0.25/$0.50 LHE but I did get there after a while and I made the order this week. My FPPs are now down to near zero but that's alright. I hadn't done anything useful with them anyway in all the time I've been on Stars so I'm pleased at this small reward for the time I've played there generating rake and fees.
The FPP store purchasing experience was very smooth and well designed. They sent me a confirmation e-mail for tracking and I'm looking forward to the arrival of the mug in around a month. I don't really have any visible poker gear around. Some people know I play for real money but I don't draw attention to it or really bring it up. So this will be a small departure. That said, I'll probably just be using the mug for those early morning hockey practices so I don't plan to be flashing it around.
I'm still hoping to play some live poker at the local casino this year. I could use a card protector. They had some nice ones I liked at the FPP store for around 800 FPPs so maybe as I rebuild my FPPs I might aim for that.
Friday, January 02, 2009
The Psychology of Poker
I just finished reading The Psychology of Poker. I've wanted to read this title for a long time.
It was a pretty good book. Perhaps I didn't get as much out of it as I thought I would. I wasn't sure what to expect really. There was more self analysis than I thought. But it was worthwhile going through. There was a lot of emphasis on live play and limit hold'em. That was fine.
My personal finances are in much better shape these days than in the last many years. That may pave the way to make some new investments in my poker hobby. I want to give live poker a shot. There's a poker room at the local casino with a $1/$2 NLHE game the last time I checked. Possibly in the next 6 months I'll be able to do it.
I had wanted to read Psychology of Poker before I start playing live. I should also reread Theory of Poker. Based on the live games available I should probably read an NL cash book as well.
It was a pretty good book. Perhaps I didn't get as much out of it as I thought I would. I wasn't sure what to expect really. There was more self analysis than I thought. But it was worthwhile going through. There was a lot of emphasis on live play and limit hold'em. That was fine.
My personal finances are in much better shape these days than in the last many years. That may pave the way to make some new investments in my poker hobby. I want to give live poker a shot. There's a poker room at the local casino with a $1/$2 NLHE game the last time I checked. Possibly in the next 6 months I'll be able to do it.
I had wanted to read Psychology of Poker before I start playing live. I should also reread Theory of Poker. Based on the live games available I should probably read an NL cash book as well.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
2009 poker goals
So 2008 is coming to an end. This is a good time to think about my present and future in poker.
I've come to somewhat grudgingly realize something. Since it hasn't happened yet, I'm unlikely to "make it" in poker and be a real big winner. When I started out in real money nearly three years ago I had this dream that someday I could make like an extra $300-$400 a month playing online poker.
Alas it hasn't happened. I've never won enough to be able to make a withdrawal. Still I'm not too upset about it. This past year I set a new high in bankroll. Although the year ended on a downswing I hope to win it back and set a new high water mark in bankroll in 2009. I'm still playing on my original deposit on PokerStars.
So that's a good accomplishment. I get to play a game I enjoy for free. If that's as good as it gets then that's really not that bad.
So, goals for 2009. These were my 2008 goals. I don't have many goals for this year really. This time next year there's a good chance I'll still be doing what I'm doing now. $0.25/$0.50 limit. $10 NL. $2 MTT. $5.50 2 table sng.
I would like to reach the next level in one or more of the games I play now, to reach $0.50/$1 LHE, $25 NL, $4.40 or $5 MTT or $11 sng. But if I don't then well I don't I guess. As long as I don't go backwards or bust then I'll be happy.
One thing I'd like to do is to work off the UltimateBet bonus. So far I have $90 to go after clearing only $10 so far. I find I enjoy UB at times, and the games are better [unfortunately not the software] since the merger with the AP player base on the Cereus network.
Also I'd like to take a shot at live poker. There's a casino in town and they have $1/$2 NL last time I checked a couple of months ago. I've got one more credit card to pay off, and when I'm credit card free I'd like to save up and take a shot at live NL. Maybe by then they will start to spread a small LHE game again $5/$10 or lower.
I've come to somewhat grudgingly realize something. Since it hasn't happened yet, I'm unlikely to "make it" in poker and be a real big winner. When I started out in real money nearly three years ago I had this dream that someday I could make like an extra $300-$400 a month playing online poker.
Alas it hasn't happened. I've never won enough to be able to make a withdrawal. Still I'm not too upset about it. This past year I set a new high in bankroll. Although the year ended on a downswing I hope to win it back and set a new high water mark in bankroll in 2009. I'm still playing on my original deposit on PokerStars.
So that's a good accomplishment. I get to play a game I enjoy for free. If that's as good as it gets then that's really not that bad.
So, goals for 2009. These were my 2008 goals. I don't have many goals for this year really. This time next year there's a good chance I'll still be doing what I'm doing now. $0.25/$0.50 limit. $10 NL. $2 MTT. $5.50 2 table sng.
I would like to reach the next level in one or more of the games I play now, to reach $0.50/$1 LHE, $25 NL, $4.40 or $5 MTT or $11 sng. But if I don't then well I don't I guess. As long as I don't go backwards or bust then I'll be happy.
One thing I'd like to do is to work off the UltimateBet bonus. So far I have $90 to go after clearing only $10 so far. I find I enjoy UB at times, and the games are better [unfortunately not the software] since the merger with the AP player base on the Cereus network.
Also I'd like to take a shot at live poker. There's a casino in town and they have $1/$2 NL last time I checked a couple of months ago. I've got one more credit card to pay off, and when I'm credit card free I'd like to save up and take a shot at live NL. Maybe by then they will start to spread a small LHE game again $5/$10 or lower.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)