Mixed second day of the challenge, yet I still came out with a profit which helps!
At work I had some spare time so played this list of events during the day. I love playing the lunchtime games, I have notes on well over half the field. They can be swingy, but also very profitable.
One amazing moment in the final game. I rubbed my laptop screen as it had dust / fluff on it, forgot it was a touch screen and 5 bet three opponents with 9-2 off and lost most of my chips.
Some annoying spots. Had to fold AK suited first hand in one DYM to a 4-bet, would have lost to QQ which beat AQ. Quite card dead a lot and didn’t get a chance to go over the starting stack much. Another I thought two players were all in and made an ICM call on my BB. Realised my mistake on the flop but was too late, needed to hit one of 10 outs and missed. Lost one where I played the same opponent in 4 pots, lost two all-ins vs them when I had the superior Ace. Apart from that I settled down and played pretty solid, ran ok, decent start.
Total = +£12.50
Overall I smashed it during the day for a £2.25 profit - which nearly bought me a coffee (**** Oxford prices). I have to say I am enjoying this pro life of a high roller.
------
Once I got home I tried to satellite into the two bigger tournaments of the night. That cost around £58 quid in total with no success, so a little frustrating.
I played some DYM's and ran horrifically. One of those days where a top 4 pocket pair (ex. AA) would lose every all-in. People in the 5's are a lot worse on the bubble than the 11's and 22's, so many bad calls, bad folds and I just could not get anything going. Not a great start to those. Was happy though that I stopped when I was behind and just felt like it was not my day, so stop trying to force it. Usually in that situation i'd load up some 22's 33's 55's and get back even or broke. Progress in defeat I guess.
I then loaded up two tournaments, a £22 BH and an £11 BH. I felt much more comfortable at these stakes, I felt like I could see what my opponent was going to do and 3-bet bluffs work as people in these games will fold second pair no kicker to a flush or straight draw getting there. I final tabled both, came 3rd in the £11 (£46.05 profit) when Matt Bates had the gall to have AK to my A4 and hold-up. Came 5th in the £22 (£80.06 profit) where I lost with AQ to AK bvb.
Sharkscope says my profit is £147, which would give me £447, but I have £476 in my account, so not quite sure what's happened there?
Good things - I've played 6 tournaments and final tabled 3 so that is a positive. gregkdy82 alluded to the fact I should focus on MTT's and maybe lay off DYM's and the evidence is backing him up right now.
Poor things - DYM's went a little rough, though i'm not keen on just giving up. I wanted to see what my numbers would be like after 100, but I will maybe take a little break and re-organise for this.
Final thoughts - I've had a few very helpful private messages, with advice, discussion and just general help. I'd like to thank those people. Really enjoying the forum so far.
Absolutely no one in the office today so I've been playing poker ashamedly on both screens.
Just played a £5.50 and £11 BH's. in the 5 the bounties made up for the entry when I departed late middle stages. All in preflop - 1010 vs KJ, when we were both top 4 stacks... I probably should not shove there, but KJ was a crazy call.
Came second in the £11, lost a couple of grim spots heads up, final hand was a 10-9-3 flop, he jammed with 86, I called with J10 and he drilled the 7 ball on the turn. If i'd won that i'd have had 85+% of the chips but that's the way it goes.
Looking forward to playing tonight. Current bankroll is £547, so £247 up from the start of the challenge and £447 up from this exact point last week.
Case in point, I have final tabled the last tournament i've played the last 4 nights and consciously trying to have good news to feed back is a huge part of it.
Yesterday I got into the £55 and £33 events by satellite. I lost a few horrible ones in the £55 and some other tables and was a little disheartened. However I more than had my fair share of luck to get 2nd in the £33.
Early on, I was all in with 77 vs 88 vs AJ - 7 on the river to avoid elimination.
Literally the best hand I got in the next 90 minutes was K10 suited and that got to me with two players betting big so had to fold pre.
I then got hugely lucky again, with A9 vs AA, all in pre. 9 on the flop and turn to get me through. I can't remember the opponents name (I know he's a regular bigger game winner) but he took it like a class act. Usually I don't say sorry, but had felt I had to say unlucky for that sick one and he just responded with 'it happens'. The amount of players who would moan or insult in that situation is pretty high, or would get tilted afterwards and make bad plays, but he didn't and kept playing well. Was a decent lesson to take on board for me.
Throughout the whole thing I was always 3-6x under average stack and in the bottom 10. I had to just wait for spots, use my image and hope no one called some button shoves. These gave me time to stay in the game and I remember being amazed when I made it into the money, where I was 33/34 left or so.
At this point I realised the next meaningful pay jump was not until 12th place, so felt like I had to try and get chips as bleeding out would not get me that far. I can't remember too much but I didn't have to go all in, I just kept winning a few small pots and stealing blinds, until we had 12 left.
There was a maniac to my left who kept pretty much going all in and betting huge every hand. I had to be selective and wait for spots when I could play but i kept battling and managed to keep my stack, but I was still the lowest stacked player by a distance. Average chips were around 100k and I managed to hang around with 20-30k for about 5 orbits by again just stealing scraps where I could.
I managed to get to the FT where I had £50k or so and the next smallest had £125k with others over 200k and some over 400k. I managed to win a couple of pots and then doubled with QQ vs JJ, but I was still like 70K under 'average'.
I pretty much played patiently, fought back on the big stacks when possible and kept my stack. When we were 4 handed I was pretty annoyed with the SKy website as it kept crashing for me (and one other opponent). I missed out on around ten hands due to the website not working and closing my table. I tried different laptops, wifi, mobile data, devices and it just would not work. With three left I was just watching the other two battle and finally it was heads up with him having a 4/1 advantage in chips.
I tried to contact support about the dropping out and they just said well you seem to be doing ok so it can't have affec ted anything, which I thought was a bit of a bad attitude. I had missed the opportunities for bounties, especially when the 4th placed player was very short and I had also lost 30% of my stack to something that was not under my control or my fault.
Heads up was around 90 minutes. I got back to level, dropped down, level, down again, level and then finally down and out. I lost with KJ to K8, we both flopped a pair but it went runner runner diamonds for a flush.
Overall I was happy with my heads up play. One issue was that I played very well when losing, but once I was level or ahead, I opened up a little too much and got caught bluffing a couple of times for big pots. I think this might have been a patience thing, sensing the opportunity to finish it and pushing too hard for the stoppage. I did not pick up one bounty all tournament which is kinda a crazy stat, but i'm happy with the mindset throughout. There were some nice guys on the FT and a thanks to SJspanky1 who gave me some encouragement when I was short stacked, it was much appreciated.
Only had 2 hours sleep, so will see how I feel about playing tonight, but currently with the challenge my bankroll has gone from £300 - 1220 in 4 days or so since I began. Need to keep selecting the right games and not play above my roll which is sometimes an issue for me in this spot.
had a lot of comments in the chat on table from people liking the diary so thanks again for these. Really appreciate the forum!
Can't stand people like you. I've been grinding away at my diary goals for a few weeks now and have endured a 20 BI downswing, countless bad beats and only had the opportunity to play a few final tables. Here you are on day two, HU in a main event. It's just rude.
Well done though. This is where a bit of discipline will pay off. Stick to your stakes and run it up instead of punting it taking shots!
Overall I was happy with my heads up play. One issue was that I played very well when losing, but once I was level or ahead, I opened up a little too much and got caught bluffing a couple of times for big pots. I think this might have been a patience thing, sensing the opportunity to finish it and pushing too hard for the stoppage.
I can sympathise with this. I had a HU yesterday where I was completely in control with a considerable chip advantage, smelling blood. Then one cooler and one mis-timed bluff and it's all gone. Makes you feel like a tit, but as long as you stuck to your game plan you can't feel too bad about it. Sometimes bluffs get picked off and sometimes you bluff into the nuts. It happens. Patience is definitely a virtue HU. In the bigger tournaments, you're usually still fairly deep when you get to HU so there's no point or need to rush it.
Can't stand people like you. I've been grinding away at my diary goals for a few weeks now and have endured a 20 BI downswing, countless bad beats and only had the opportunity to play a few final tables. Here you are on day two, HU in a main event. It's just rude.
Well done though. This is where a bit of discipline will pay off. Stick to your stakes and run it up instead of punting it taking shots!
Overall I was happy with my heads up play. One issue was that I played very well when losing, but once I was level or ahead, I opened up a little too much and got caught bluffing a couple of times for big pots. I think this might have been a patience thing, sensing the opportunity to finish it and pushing too hard for the stoppage.
I can sympathise with this. I had a HU yesterday where I was completely in control with a considerable chip advantage, smelling blood. Then one cooler and one mis-timed bluff and it's all gone. Makes you feel like a tit, but as long as you stuck to your game plan you can't feel too bad about it. Sometimes bluffs get picked off and sometimes you bluff into the nuts. It happens. Patience is definitely a virtue HU. In the bigger tournaments, you're usually still fairly deep when you get to HU so there's no point or need to rush it.
Haha i'm very sure that time will come for me soon too. It just takes one good one to turn it around. Yep, i'll keep satelliting in! I've lost 40 - 50 of those £1.80 all-in sats, so due one surely.
I think a little was frustration. I got ahead, I re-raised with QQ and flop came QJ5, check check, I bet on turn and he tank folded which was annoying. Then the next three times I re-raised with QJ suited, 87 suited and J10 he went all in and had to fold, it just felt like it was annoying me! If he had just done what I wanted then I won. Haha!
For what it's worth, you're not alone - I have also managed the somewhat impressive feat of coming 2nd in a Main event without taking a single bounty .
First bump in the road, finished the day £88 down, bankroll now £1,132.
No tournament wins, bubbled 3 satellites, lost with AA all in pre-flop 8 times, and ran terribly in DYM's where I lost what felt like every flip. Sounds a bit moany but it was a frustrating day. One positive is that i'd usually chase things and possibly lose more. I lost with AA to AJ on an A - 10 - 7 flop, you can guess the run-out. When that happened it was strangely cathartic and I just felt like it was not my day and to call it time.
Changes required - I need to formulate a schedule to play in and try and get a routine going. I do like to mid/late reg into some events when I think there is +EV. edge, but I should probably start playing a regular roster of games and add in others around this. Will review this today and go forwards.
I am going to stop DYM's for a few days until i've got my head back. I actually have played very well over the last few days, but the results have not backed this up. It's going to lead to me getting frustrated and forcing it, so a few days off will give me time to re-compose.
Aim for today is to get back on track, play solid and enjoy it.
Thanks again to all those who message me with encouragement, I really appreciate it.
It is 100% certain that you will have days like this from time to time, sometimes several times a week, that's the nature of the game. You'll be fine though as long as you don't abandon your new-found bankroll management.
This was a great line;
One positive is that i'd usually chase things and possibly lose more
Your Diary & self-accountability just paid a BIG dividend.
Bankroll was £1,220 at the highest, this has now fallen to £826.37.
Incredibly frustrating few days. Smashed in the face with the deck a few times. Was really frustrated Saturday after how it had been going Thursday and Friday I took the night off. 4 times in the space of ten minutes I lost with sets, where the opponent went runner runner. The worst was in the main where I had AA on an A 7 2 flop, opponent had 7-2. Turn was a 2 and River was a 2. Didn't actually realise I had lost until the table closed and had to go back to check!
Felt much better Sunday but again those mid-late positions just kept losing all-ins where I was a big favourite. Busted out of two £55's and the £110. Lost with QQv22, QQv22 & AAv1010. All of the all-ins were for decent double ups that would have given me a great chance to be in the cash and push for final table. Accidentally re-bought into the £110 which hammered the bankroll and was unable to exit. Chat was crazily busy yesterday evening and could not get through, which was a bit frustrating.
Advice is certainly welcome! I was trying to find an EV calculator on Sharkscope but it does not seem to have one, is there a site I can get this?
Not really sure how to proceed this week. E.g. which games to play, how to get back on track, what to do etc. Feels like a very amateur thing to say, but I feel like every time I go all-in i'm going to get sucked out on. Mindset does not feel right.
Also, Sharkscope seems to be showing a more bleak outlook, it does not seem to have taken into account some of the satellites that I got into and un-registered - Does it usually correct it self over time?
Also I have had lots of support for the diary on tables which is great and very much appreciated! I do apologise for the doom and gloom post!
Looking forward to some suggestions. Would love to know how people deal with the same kind of issues.
Comments
At work I had some spare time so played this list of events during the day. I love playing the lunchtime games, I have notes on well over half the field. They can be swingy, but also very profitable.
Tournaments 17/03/2020
(Buy-in £11)
12:00, Lunch Timed: Profit = - 11.00
12:30, Lunch Timed: Profit = + 12.25
13:00, Lunch Timed: Profit = - 11.00
Total = - 10.25
One amazing moment in the final game. I rubbed my laptop screen as it had dust / fluff on it, forgot it was a touch screen and 5 bet three opponents with 9-2 off and lost most of my chips.
----
DYM’s
(Buy-in £5.50)
Played = 5
Wins = 4
Win % = 80
Some annoying spots. Had to fold AK suited first hand in one DYM to a 4-bet, would have lost to QQ which beat AQ. Quite card dead a lot and didn’t get a chance to go over the starting stack much. Another I thought two players were all in and made an ICM call on my BB. Realised my mistake on the flop but was too late, needed to hit one of 10 outs and missed. Lost one where I played the same opponent in 4 pots, lost two all-ins vs them when I had the superior Ace. Apart from that I settled down and played pretty solid, ran ok, decent start.
Total = +£12.50
Overall I smashed it during the day for a £2.25 profit - which nearly bought me a coffee (**** Oxford prices). I have to say I am enjoying this pro life of a high roller.
------
Once I got home I tried to satellite into the two bigger tournaments of the night. That cost around £58 quid in total with no success, so a little frustrating.
I played some DYM's and ran horrifically. One of those days where a top 4 pocket pair (ex. AA) would lose every all-in. People in the 5's are a lot worse on the bubble than the 11's and 22's, so many bad calls, bad folds and I just could not get anything going. Not a great start to those. Was happy though that I stopped when I was behind and just felt like it was not my day, so stop trying to force it. Usually in that situation i'd load up some 22's 33's 55's and get back even or broke. Progress in defeat I guess.
I then loaded up two tournaments, a £22 BH and an £11 BH. I felt much more comfortable at these stakes, I felt like I could see what my opponent was going to do and 3-bet bluffs work as people in these games will fold second pair no kicker to a flush or straight draw getting there. I final tabled both, came 3rd in the £11 (£46.05 profit) when Matt Bates had the gall to have AK to my A4 and hold-up. Came 5th in the £22 (£80.06 profit) where I lost with AQ to AK bvb.
Sharkscope says my profit is £147, which would give me £447, but I have £476 in my account, so not quite sure what's happened there?
Good things - I've played 6 tournaments and final tabled 3 so that is a positive. gregkdy82 alluded to the fact I should focus on MTT's and maybe lay off DYM's and the evidence is backing him up right now.
Poor things - DYM's went a little rough, though i'm not keen on just giving up. I wanted to see what my numbers would be like after 100, but I will maybe take a little break and re-organise for this.
Final thoughts - I've had a few very helpful private messages, with advice, discussion and just general help. I'd like to thank those people. Really enjoying the forum so far.
Cheers,
Shelley
Absolute minimum would be a 1000 before you could do this
Loving your updates Poet Bloke.
Just played a £5.50 and £11 BH's. in the 5 the bounties made up for the entry when I departed late middle stages. All in preflop - 1010 vs KJ, when we were both top 4 stacks... I probably should not shove there, but KJ was a crazy call.
Came second in the £11, lost a couple of grim spots heads up, final hand was a 10-9-3 flop, he jammed with 86, I called with J10 and he drilled the 7 ball on the turn. If i'd won that i'd have had 85+% of the chips but that's the way it goes.
Looking forward to playing tonight. Current bankroll is £547, so £247 up from the start of the challenge and £447 up from this exact point last week.
Cheers,
Shelley
you should sign up to my unicorn challenge! Bit of fun and best of all, its free.
Currently heads up in the 33 predator. 500k-125m disadvantage though it was bigger before.
Hopefully get some run good and can close it out. Had to play crazy tight all the way... taken no bounties so far!
Excellent.
Now don't be blowing it on one of your bankroll splurges, right?
Case in point, I have final tabled the last tournament i've played the last 4 nights and consciously trying to have good news to feed back is a huge part of it.
Yesterday I got into the £55 and £33 events by satellite. I lost a few horrible ones in the £55 and some other tables and was a little disheartened. However I more than had my fair share of luck to get 2nd in the £33.
Early on, I was all in with 77 vs 88 vs AJ - 7 on the river to avoid elimination.
Literally the best hand I got in the next 90 minutes was K10 suited and that got to me with two players betting big so had to fold pre.
I then got hugely lucky again, with A9 vs AA, all in pre. 9 on the flop and turn to get me through. I can't remember the opponents name (I know he's a regular bigger game winner) but he took it like a class act. Usually I don't say sorry, but had felt I had to say unlucky for that sick one and he just responded with 'it happens'. The amount of players who would moan or insult in that situation is pretty high, or would get tilted afterwards and make bad plays, but he didn't and kept playing well. Was a decent lesson to take on board for me.
Throughout the whole thing I was always 3-6x under average stack and in the bottom 10. I had to just wait for spots, use my image and hope no one called some button shoves. These gave me time to stay in the game and I remember being amazed when I made it into the money, where I was 33/34 left or so.
At this point I realised the next meaningful pay jump was not until 12th place, so felt like I had to try and get chips as bleeding out would not get me that far. I can't remember too much but I didn't have to go all in, I just kept winning a few small pots and stealing blinds, until we had 12 left.
There was a maniac to my left who kept pretty much going all in and betting huge every hand. I had to be selective and wait for spots when I could play but i kept battling and managed to keep my stack, but I was still the lowest stacked player by a distance. Average chips were around 100k and I managed to hang around with 20-30k for about 5 orbits by again just stealing scraps where I could.
I managed to get to the FT where I had £50k or so and the next smallest had £125k with others over 200k and some over 400k. I managed to win a couple of pots and then doubled with QQ vs JJ, but I was still like 70K under 'average'.
I pretty much played patiently, fought back on the big stacks when possible and kept my stack. When we were 4 handed I was pretty annoyed with the SKy website as it kept crashing for me (and one other opponent). I missed out on around ten hands due to the website not working and closing my table. I tried different laptops, wifi, mobile data, devices and it just would not work. With three left I was just watching the other two battle and finally it was heads up with him having a 4/1 advantage in chips.
I tried to contact support about the dropping out and they just said well you seem to be doing ok so it can't have affec ted anything, which I thought was a bit of a bad attitude. I had missed the opportunities for bounties, especially when the 4th placed player was very short and I had also lost 30% of my stack to something that was not under my control or my fault.
Heads up was around 90 minutes. I got back to level, dropped down, level, down again, level and then finally down and out. I lost with KJ to K8, we both flopped a pair but it went runner runner diamonds for a flush.
Overall I was happy with my heads up play. One issue was that I played very well when losing, but once I was level or ahead, I opened up a little too much and got caught bluffing a couple of times for big pots. I think this might have been a patience thing, sensing the opportunity to finish it and pushing too hard for the stoppage. I did not pick up one bounty all tournament which is kinda a crazy stat, but i'm happy with the mindset throughout. There were some nice guys on the FT and a thanks to SJspanky1 who gave me some encouragement when I was short stacked, it was much appreciated.
Only had 2 hours sleep, so will see how I feel about playing tonight, but currently with the challenge my bankroll has gone from £300 - 1220 in 4 days or so since I began. Need to keep selecting the right games and not play above my roll which is sometimes an issue for me in this spot.
had a lot of comments in the chat on table from people liking the diary so thanks again for these. Really appreciate the forum!
Cheers,
Shelley
Well done though. This is where a bit of discipline will pay off. Stick to your stakes and run it up instead of punting it taking shots! I can sympathise with this. I had a HU yesterday where I was completely in control with a considerable chip advantage, smelling blood. Then one cooler and one mis-timed bluff and it's all gone. Makes you feel like a tit, but as long as you stuck to your game plan you can't feel too bad about it. Sometimes bluffs get picked off and sometimes you bluff into the nuts. It happens. Patience is definitely a virtue HU. In the bigger tournaments, you're usually still fairly deep when you get to HU so there's no point or need to rush it.
I think a little was frustration. I got ahead, I re-raised with QQ and flop came QJ5, check check, I bet on turn and he tank folded which was annoying. Then the next three times I re-raised with QJ suited, 87 suited and J10 he went all in and had to fold, it just felt like it was annoying me! If he had just done what I wanted then I won. Haha!
For what it's worth, you're not alone - I have also managed the somewhat impressive feat of coming 2nd in a Main event without taking a single bounty
No tournament wins, bubbled 3 satellites, lost with AA all in pre-flop 8 times, and ran terribly in DYM's where I lost what felt like every flip. Sounds a bit moany but it was a frustrating day. One positive is that i'd usually chase things and possibly lose more. I lost with AA to AJ on an A - 10 - 7 flop, you can guess the run-out. When that happened it was strangely cathartic and I just felt like it was not my day and to call it time.
Changes required - I need to formulate a schedule to play in and try and get a routine going. I do like to mid/late reg into some events when I think there is +EV. edge, but I should probably start playing a regular roster of games and add in others around this. Will review this today and go forwards.
I am going to stop DYM's for a few days until i've got my head back. I actually have played very well over the last few days, but the results have not backed this up. It's going to lead to me getting frustrated and forcing it, so a few days off will give me time to re-compose.
Aim for today is to get back on track, play solid and enjoy it.
Thanks again to all those who message me with encouragement, I really appreciate it.
Cheers,
Shelley
It is 100% certain that you will have days like this from time to time, sometimes several times a week, that's the nature of the game. You'll be fine though as long as you don't abandon your new-found bankroll management.
This was a great line;
One positive is that i'd usually chase things and possibly lose more
Your Diary & self-accountability just paid a BIG dividend.
Bankroll was £1,220 at the highest, this has now fallen to £826.37.
Incredibly frustrating few days. Smashed in the face with the deck a few times. Was really frustrated Saturday after how it had been going Thursday and Friday I took the night off. 4 times in the space of ten minutes I lost with sets, where the opponent went runner runner. The worst was in the main where I had AA on an A 7 2 flop, opponent had 7-2. Turn was a 2 and River was a 2. Didn't actually realise I had lost until the table closed and had to go back to check!
Felt much better Sunday but again those mid-late positions just kept losing all-ins where I was a big favourite. Busted out of two £55's and the £110. Lost with QQv22, QQv22 & AAv1010. All of the all-ins were for decent double ups that would have given me a great chance to be in the cash and push for final table. Accidentally re-bought into the £110 which hammered the bankroll and was unable to exit. Chat was crazily busy yesterday evening and could not get through, which was a bit frustrating.
Advice is certainly welcome! I was trying to find an EV calculator on Sharkscope but it does not seem to have one, is there a site I can get this?
Not really sure how to proceed this week. E.g. which games to play, how to get back on track, what to do etc. Feels like a very amateur thing to say, but I feel like every time I go all-in i'm going to get sucked out on. Mindset does not feel right.
Also, Sharkscope seems to be showing a more bleak outlook, it does not seem to have taken into account some of the satellites that I got into and un-registered - Does it usually correct it self over time?
Also I have had lots of support for the diary on tables which is great and very much appreciated! I do apologise for the doom and gloom post!
Looking forward to some suggestions. Would love to know how people deal with the same kind of issues.
Cheers,
Shelley