The Poker Bonus Chaser's Journal

I am not a great MTT player.  I'm OK.  I have studied on it a bit, and have most of the concepts down, but I know my limitations in this regard.  Me buying into $50 and up MTTs would not be +EV.  Still, I like to take my shot every once in a while at something for $10 or less.  Never a satellite.  My schedule is not usually predictable enough to play the prize tourney if I were to win the satellite, so I just stick to regular ol' for-the-cash MTTs.

Such was the case last night.  I decided to play in an Absolute $2 NLHE MTT.  I registered and then found, to my surprise, that they capped the field at 400.  There was no mention of this in the lobby, but that's OK.  I just found it odd. 

It was a strange little tourney.  A freezeout, no rebuys.  The first 100 donks were out by level 3.  I was card dead for just about all of it.  I kept getting short-stacked and pushing some crap like A7o that would hold up and give me another orbit or two.  My big break came with about 100 left (63 make the money).  I had QJs and ended up all-in pre-flop.  I got squoze and had too much pot equity not to make the call in a 4-way pot.  I found I was up against TT, 88, and JTo.  The flop came T84 and I was way behind, but I rivered my 9 and took down a huge pot that put me in 7th place at the time.

That was all she wrote, though.  I proceeded to get jack and shit for hands for the next hour.  The bubble broke, and then the next level and I still had chips, but I'm just blinding away.  With 20 players remaining, I am the short stack.  I push first in with A5o, and the BB, a huge stack, has to call with anything.  He shows K3o.  The board comes 458 2 A.  IGHN.

I would estimate that 80%+ of the time I get put out of an MTT, I have the better hand when I get my chips in.  Is that normal?  It seems like it should not go down like that, but I swear it does.  I realize that part of the art of winning an MTT is dodging the suckouts and having a bit of luck, but I never seem to be able to pull that part of it off.  Just a general observation.  20/400 is not bad given that my distribution of cards was below average for 3+ hours.  I never saw a pocket pair above 99.  My vp$ip was probably about 12%.  20/400 was pretty much a miracle in that situation, but still, I go out to some cheesy crap at the end - as always.  Grrrr.  Grrrrr.  Grrrrr.

Posted by Bullajami at 06:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Let me state up front that I did not actually tilt on a freeroll.  I was rather pissed off recently about one, though, and then later it occurred to me how absurd it was to even get irritable about a freeroll.  Or even the micro-limits I have been playing lately, where I have somewhere in the neighborhood of 300,000 times the BB in bankroll.

I have a goal in my head to start a bankroll at Royal Vegas without ever making a deposit.  I need to money in a freeroll and then take it to the micro-limit tables and run it up.  I did this at Absolute Poker once and it was quite a lot of fun.  (Chronicled here).  There is a Prima $1,000 at 8:30 p.m. every night.  I have been playing that one fairly regularly of late.  Thursday mnight I was making a good run for the money.  There were about 430 left in and about 250 make the money.  I had 2.5 times the average stack and was looking good.  I pulled in KK and pushed all-in from UTG+1.  I got called by someone with about 2/3 of my stack, and he showed ATo.  I flopped a K, and looked good to run deep in this freeroll.  Then I took a J on the turn and a Q on the river and I lost the pot.  Now I was crippled.  Two hands later I had A4s on the BB.  The C/O limped first in and I pushed.  He called and showed 88.  I did not improve and IGHN. 

I stomped about my house muttering and cursing for the next ten minutes. 

I honestly took 4 runner runner beats that night.  I cannot get anything to hold up.  My last hand last night I had KTs and flopped trips.  I got called down and out-kicked.  It's just been the perfect formula lately for getting beat. I've dumped about $25 at the micro-limits.  Like 250 BBs.  Good grief!

Since I am too stubborn to quit, the only thing to do is to keep hacking away at it!

Posted by Bullajami at 04:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Fumseck has been inviting me to join him and SittingDuck (and any others who may want to participate) at a "NL Clinic".  Last night my schedule finally allowed me to jump in, and I must say - it was great! 

SittingDuck set up a conference call on Skype - a free VOIP service.  Once the three of us were all in the conference call, SD opened a pair of $100 NL 6-max tables at Full Tilt, and Fumseck and I railed.  SD would tell us his hole cards and thought processes as he played.  After a while Fumseck took a turn and followed the same pattern.  I had originally declined to take a turn playing, but after an hour and a half I wanted to try to apply the things I was learning, so I jumped onto a single table of $100 NL 6-max at Stars.  (I don't have any money at Full Tilt.)  They watched me for about an hour and gave me some great advice.

The 2.5 hours we spent in "The Clinic" was easily the most I've learned about poker in 2.5 hours in a long, long time.  Obviously I know poker quite well in general terms, but as primarily a FRLH grinder I have much to learn about NL 6-max.  They did a great job of demonstrating and explaining how to use position, bet sizes and display tools to extract value from a NL 6-max game.  The 2.5 hours was over WAY to early for me.

Humorously, I think I got the best cards of the three of us during my playing time, but I was the only one who lost money.  I nailed several flushes, and could not get paid.  Then I got outdrawn on my biggest pot of the evening, but I had not bet Villain off the pot on the turn when I was way ahead, so it is partially my own fault.  Ain't poker grand!

Looking forward to our next session and continuing to expand my poker repertoire.  Thanks guys!

Posted by Bullajami at 09:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I played in 3 last night - all freerolls, of course.  The first one, the $100 at Skybook, I was essentially card dead for nearly the whole thing.  I was able to stay alive and competitive throughout, though, because the play was so poor.  I couldn't nail any really big pots, though, as I wasn't getting any big hands.

With 18 left I got HU pre-flop with a LAG.  I was in the C/O with AJ and she was on the BB.  I raised 3X BB and she came over the top all-in.  I called and she showed J8o.  She boarded a straight and I was hurting with about 6M.  The very next hand I had AQs and pushed first in.  I get called by A9o.  There's a 9 on the flop and IGHN 18/107 (no money).

Next is the Jungle Poker $25.  The field started at 764 and it was wild.  On the third or fourth hand I had AJs and ended up in a 4-way all-in.  The board double-paired and I was the only one with an A, so I took a huge pot.  I was doing OK about 40 minutes later when I flopped 2 pair with crap from the BB.  I pushed and the lucky big stack called with air.  He hit his second consecutive runner runner flush, and IGHN 292/764.

Last was the Prima $1,000.  About 30 minutes in I limp with 97s.  I hit middle pair and a gut shot when the flop comes T96r.  I bet out half the pot and get cold-called.  Turn is my trip 9.  I bet out and get raised.  I am pot committed and push.  I get called and he shows T9 for the boat.  Grrrrrrrrrr.

That's why I hate MTTs.  I almost always get my chips in with the best hand, and I rarely make it deep.  So frustrating.  Cash games are so much less irritating.

Posted by Bullajami at 10:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It has amused me of late to play freerolls and micro-limits.  I have this concept in my head to try to build a bankroll from very little or nothing.  I have done this before, and it is fun.  I have been playing a bunch of freerolls, but have not scored yet.  I was doing very well in a Prima $1000 event, but the server died and the event went away.  The next day I saw that Prima paid me $0.54 for the aggravation.  Unfortunately I still can't get into a cash game there as the min buy-in is $1. 

I also left $6 in Bodog after my last cashout.  I assumed I was going to be redepositing there within a couple weeks, but the all hell broke loose and that looks unlikely.  I took that to the $0.05/0.10 limit tables and ran it up to about $10.40.  Then the cards went sour.  I have been getting crushed!  I am down to $4.30!  Its standard downswing fare - premium pockets busted, undersets and a brutal nut flush loses to straight flush.  D'Oh!  I figure if the deck is going to be molesting me, the $0.05/0.10 tables is a good place for to to happen!

Posted by Bullajami at 10:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)