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Hey TPE,
Here’s a small goal I set for the rest of the month. I hope that by posting it here and keeping it updated it will keep me motivated to put in the volume and prevent me from getting lazy, as I normally tend to do. Other
than putting in the volume, I plan on watching the 45m bankroll builder videos and posting hands that give me trouble in the strategy forum. I’m not sure if I should include the 18m’s here because I don't know if they’re actually considered MTT’s. But it’s a tournament with multiple tables so… Anyway the reason I’m trying
to play these two formats is to improve my end game in MTT’s. I don’t know if this is the best way to practice but I like the fact that I am on the FT bubble a lot and I can be in similar situations with less risk and much less time
invested to get there. Granted it isn’t the same as a 1000+ field FT bubble obviously, but playing shorthanded and even on the FT down to the winner gives me some of that experience while still being way different from the STT dynamic—although it always ends up being a shove fest eventually.
GOAL
300 – $6.50 18m SNG (turbo)
before 05/01/11
PLAN
The 45m takes a while to load, but the 18m seems to fill pretty quickly. I could probably get 4-5 18m’s loaded within an hour during busy times. I’m not sure if I could make 50 45m’s at the rate players are registering but we’ll see after today. If not I will probably edit my goal. Other than that I think I'm going to play the 18m's in sets rather than continuously. I also plan on reviewing the HH of the day’s games every night and posting spots that were difficult for me.
Days left: 9
18m: 300/9=~33/day
Total cost: $1950
Current BR: $1389.91
Updates:
300 $6.50 18m – every 20 games
Please feel free to leave any comments or suggestions!
hightillidie
edit: I decided not to do the 45m and instead increase the amount of 18m
Days left: 8
280/8= 35/day
Remaining cost: $1820
Current BR: $1486.71
I ran really hot over my first few games, as I shipped the 4th and 8th one into the challenge. I got lucky in some key spots but I feel that I played well and put myself in position to win by playing aggresively near the money bubble and building my stack. Even ITM, it seemed like everyone was generally playing extremely nitty and would be fine with letting the blinds and antes demolish their stacks. I've seen some players dwindle down to 2-4bb's in some games and I'm just wondering wtf they're thinking. Sometimes it seems like the table lets me steal and doesn't fight back even when it's obvious what I've been doing the past few orbits. I'm definitely on the good side of variance right now and maybe I'm luckily running into crap everytime I attempt to steal and the players are not as nitty as I think but so far they seem to be. I'm hoping the bad side isn't too bad, but we all know what can happen. Unfortunately, I'm beginning to think that these are not as great a “FT trainer” as I'd hoped it would be because it still seems like it ends up being a STT on the FT with the money bubble. That's why I wanted to play the 45m's too but only 1 loaded the entire time I was grinding! Anyway that's all for now, we'll see how it goes!
Absolute Poker No Limit Hold'em Tournament – t300/t600 Blinds + t75 – 5 players – View hand 1287337
TournamentPokerEdge.com Hand History Converter
Hero (UTG): BB = 11.8, t7090
CO: BB = 13.0, t7815
BTN: BB = 13.7, t8195
SB: BB = 2.0, t1175
BB: BB = 4.5, t2725
Pre Flop: (t1275) Hero is UTG with 7
8
Hero raises to t1200, 1 fold, BTN calls t1200, 2 folds
Flop: (t3675) 9 8
J (2 players)
Hero bets t3675, BTN calls t3675
Turn: (t11025) T (2 players)
Hero bets t2140 all in, BTN calls t2140
River: (t15305) Q (2 players – 1 is all in)
Final Pot: t15305
Hero shows 7c 8c (Straight flush, queen)
BTN shows Kc Ac (Royal flush)
BTN wins t15305
siiisick hand
I think these games are very valuable to improving your own end game and good on you for making this goal.
Analysing tough spots post game is key and it looks like you've already got that sorted.
I agree how it's funny some guys can let themselves get blinded down to 2-4BBs… They are the ones i label a big purple colour and note something silly about so i can find them next time.
GL on your goal and stay on the good side of variance
Mate, I share the same mindset… but have stopped playing 18m and primarily bankroll build with 45m and 90m turbos. I'm running deep most games and also enjoy the 'end game' training. I've been playing strict jam/fold on the final table over the past few months and have been getting great results. I've been following the table in the appendix of 'Kill Everyone'. This has been more like a personal experiment to check out un-exploitable play and its been incredibly beneficial. I figure its great training to get familiar with shoving ranges in various positions and stack sizes, as well as developing greater confidence playing for the money, which can ultimately translate to more lucrative games with massive fields…
cheers for the updates, keep 'em going!
Thanks I appreciate the feedback and happy to know that I have people rooting for me! I hope I can maintain a high enough ROI to not bust…
Days left: 7
Games left: 260/7=~37/day
Remaining cost: $1690
Current BR: $1475.51
I'm beginning to realize just how much variance these tournaments have. Even if you get to the money bubble with a huge stack, you're usually at the mercy of the cards although I have been in situations where I have a dominating chip stack and more options. Anyway I have continued to be aggressive around this time but we are all generally pretty shallow by then so I usually end up shoving when I attempt to steal. However the dynamic is always different since sometimes we get there quickly and the blinds are not as big, or if there is a microstack and everyone else is pretty much even, etc. My aggression has paid off and it still does, but I know it is also costing me a lot. Over the past 20 games I finished in 5th 4 times and 6th twice from a failed steal attempt where I run into a monster. At least this somewhat confirms that the players are pretty nitty with their calling ranges. But even with the huge blinds coming around quickly and nitty players, I sometimes feel that I shouldn't risk it until I'm in the money. On the other hand, some of these that I won I had more than half the chips when it got to 4-handed just from being relentless on the money bubble. I think this has a lot to do with ICM which I am a complete donk at and have not practiced at all.. I must find that correct balance of aggression!
TPE Management
April 6, 2010
Offline
keep at it buddy!
After this update I'm going to start posting updates every 40 games instead.
Days left: 6
Games left: 240/6= 40/day
Remaining cost: $1560
Current BR: $1388.71
I officially hate these 18m's. They're too much like STT's and the variance is really tilting. It's not so much tilting from a single game but when I'm on a cold streak like this, hitting brick after brick, I start getting frustrated. At least I know I ran extremely bad. I lost a lot of important flips and on top of that, a lot of my premiums were not getting paid off–whereas I would pay off so many of theirs by shoving right into them–and usually I just took down the blinds when I had them. I feel that this is also considered running bad because these turbo games rarely last longer than 100 hands so you must get the most value that you can from every premium you're dealt. So as for adjustments, I'm going to try get more value from all my hands now and not bet players out just because I'm scared of a draw or something. But besides that I must also recognize when I'm up against regs who have seen how I play because I have started to see some myself and wasn't aware that there were as many as I've seen so far. And since these are like STT's, I'm going to start treating the blinds differently and value my stack more. I think I'm too used to playing in regular MTT's where it's okay to be shoving your stack for 15bb's and I seem to get into that push/fold mode too early. Perhaps I'll start to raise/fold with a 10bb stack and see if I get played back at more or if everyone remains nitty. Maybe then I can escape from their monsters.
Days left: 5
Games left: 200/5= 40/day
Remaining cost: $1300
Current BR: $1387.91
Grinding these seems hopeless to me. I can't stand the variance at all. Even if you manage to build a big stack, once the blinds get big enough, you can easily lose a few pots and go from chip leader to short stack or busto. Short-term luck rules in these since you are rarely able to do anything other than shove/fold and it really just comes down to who's dealt what in the end. Attempting to raise/fold with a 10bb stack left me in really awkward spots
where I was always getting decent odds to call and not sure if I was
being played back at or actually ran into a strong hand. I would much rather shove and avoid these tough decisions. Any suggestions out there?
Yeah when u mentioned the raise/fold with 10BBs i immediately thought it wouldnt work – but hadn't tried it myself. Good news is you now know it doesnt so stop doing it.
When i was a member at sitngogrinders.com this subject came up A LOT. Handling variance and eventual questioning if you are actually playing correctly/ making the right moves/ leading to smashing the desktop/wanting to kill someone etc. and the overwhelming advice from the pro's is that you really have to push through it all. Keep studying, keep reviewing your hands, keep analysing spots. Hell they push through 100buy in down swings sometimes (thats what they say anyway) and bugger me i never got close to that. It is the nature of the game and the people who learn how to handle this, and handle it faster, are the one's who succeed.
Keep in mind the higher the starting field the higher the variance and that turbo's just add to the swings.
I reckon you're not doing bad at all.
It looks like from around game 34-60 and from game 75-100 you had downswings of approx $100. This is only 17 or so buy in's, on the light side i reckon.
Dont second guess yourself is my advice.
Keep your head down and love bad beats! After all, if you get bad beat, you somehow ended up with your chips in the middle with the best of it! cant ask for much more than that.
Good luck and keep it up
Thanks for the support hapetimes! It looks like you know exactly what I'm going through. I lol'ed at “wanting to kill someone” because that's what I was thinking all day yesterday. You made me realize that these are not even massive downswings and by letting these swings tilt me, I will never be able to crush these games. Everyone experiences the same amount of variance and I guess it is those who accept it, rather than letting it tilt them, that become the winners. I have never grinded SNG's like this before and am learning a lot more about variance. So now, the new part of my challenge is to look variance right in the face and work on embracing it and not tilting from it.
Days left: 4
Games left: 160/4= 40/day
Remaining cost: $1040
Current BR: $1257.51
Although this looks really bad, I actually feel really good about how I have been playing. I was surprised by how little I tilted and losing didn't seem to bother me. I felt like I was concentrating much more on the decision making and not the results. I was actually looking forward to bad beats because it confirms that I am +EV in these. I know I am playing well and using skill while the majority of these other players are completely clueless and must rely on luck. However, they were getting extremely lucky and there wasn't much I could do. I counted 4 times in these past 40 games where I got AA AIPF, and lost 3 of them. Sometimes it seems like a joke but I try to look at it as self-control challenge where the poker gods are trying everything they can to get me to tilt. It helps keep me level-headed but there are times when I just want to forget it and yell out, “F*** YOU POKER GODS!”. I'm sure it will turn around soon.
October 6, 2010
Offline
trust me, the sooner you stop caring about the bad beats, the sooner you will concentrate on crushing instead of focussing on the times you lose.
geep going, you look like you are on the right track
Days left: 2
Games left: 120/2= 60/day
Remaining cost: $780
Current BR: $1440.31
Now were talking! I've toned the aggression down a bit and focused more on getting my money in good rather than going out of my way and trying bully everyone. I have finally learned that no matter what I do, I just can't get them to fold those premiums.
My only concern now is that I won't meet the deadline. These don't load fast enough and I'm afraid I'll have to grind them during the slow hours in order to make it.
October 6, 2010
Offline
boom upswing! thats more like it.
if you dont achieve your goal, go again next month.
Days left: 1
Games left: 80
Remaining cost: $520
Current BR: $1504.31
Today is crunch time! I probably won't finish before 5/01 like I was aiming for but I'm sure I'll be done by the end of it. I just hope I can get one more fat upswing or at least not a big downswing.
Well it's just about 12:00am here and I still have 25 more games to play to make 300. I'm still going to post this graph as the next 40 games so it only goes up to game 260. I will finally be done by tomorrow and hopefully with a positive ROI.
Days left: 0
Games left: 40
Remaining cost: $260
Current BR: $1492.71
FINISHED!
Games played: 300
Starting BR: $1389.91
Current BR: $1643.11
Winnings: $253.20
ROI: 13%
I got what I hoped for and hit a pretty nice upswing before I finished. Good thing because I do not plan to play these ever again. I think that these do not prepare you for real final tables because we are all so short in these and the money jumps just aren't there for you to practice and get used to like I was looking for. I'm glad though because now I can start grinding for some real scores.
mate, I really enjoyed following your thread. I've had the same frustrations with the 18 maxs and have recently stopped playing them. I do envy your upswing finale. My personal aim was to cash in 5 successive games but 3 was my best. It would be great to see you replicate this with the $3 or $6 90 max KOs. Maybe a few TPE members would enjoy participating in some healthy competition. i.e. who achieves the highest ROI over 100 tourneys, who has the most KO's etc… I'd be keen to have a crack as I'm generally playing these at the moment. It would be a great incentive to at least maintain focus if pride is on the line! Any takers?
That sounds like a great idea cousteer. I would love to participate in a competition like that, maybe we should start a thread for an upcoming month or something. I wish I could play some 90m KO's, but unfortunately I am in the US and stuck playing at the smaller sites. I'm still adjusting to them and not completely familiar with the tournament structures/schedule. So I guess I won't be able to participate in any competition anyway unless I'm able to play at the site. But before I do anything else, I must clear these first deposit bonuses before they go to waste.
Great work man
Like cousteer i have also enjoyed following your thread
atm most of the games i play are 18 man and 45 man $3 and $6 with occasional $16 18 man thrown in
Your rollercoaster ride is exactly what life is like in these games and i applaud you for sticking to it, having faith in your game and after all of it, coming out better off in the end (ROI, bankroll, and theory wise)
Now when you are deep in a large MTT with a stack anywhere from 5BB to 15BB, your decisions will be eeeeezy and snap!
Like always though, just need a little bit of run good juice and you'll be away laughing
GL man
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