"In these normal structured games taking a small-ball approach in the first couple of levels is a winning strategy, where you have a big edge there's no point making too many high variance plays"
Totally agree i think this is something alot of HU players dont understand. I would of just called in that spot too as i can count on one hand how many times i have been check raised on the river without the person having the nuts lol was just very suprised to see one pair even from a casual player, guess a pair of As can seem like the nuts when your first playing poker.
edit: just realised it wasn't a check raise, but still same point applies to this raise on the river.
This has to be the most inspiring br challenge of them all. To start with nothing but poker points and build it up in the way you have requires discipline, ultimate br management and just a tad of skill as well.
At what stage will you abandon freerolls and start playing real money mtt's? Also what happens when you run out of poker points?
Very impressive progress gary m8.Cant seem to get a start in the freerolls mesel,so hats off for the way you,ve went about it.Might bump into you on the £1 hus.Bit of easy money for you right there man,lol. All the best Paul Posted by bignoise10
Thanks. Yeah, getting anywhere in those freerolls is a big ask. Before the bubble arrives the average stack is normally only about 12BB, and it's a shove-fest from then onwards due to the super-fast structure. Anyone who makes final table has to run very well, you're won't make it unless you can win several 70/30s, 60/40s and flips.
This has to be the most inspiring br challenge of them all. To start with nothing but poker points and build it up in the way you have requires discipline, ultimate br management and just a tad of skill as well. At what stage will you abandon freerolls and start playing real money mtt's? Also what happens when you run out of poker points? Posted by ACEGOONER
Cheers, thanks a lot. I more-or-less ditched the freerolls on Day 32 when my balance reached £20. Since then I've only been playing micro-stakes STTs. I've entered the two 10 point Omaha £100 freerolls this weekend because they're great value, apart from those I'll be staying out of freerolls now unless I go on some sort of terrible downswing. Hence it's unlikely my poker points will ever run out. I'll be switching to MTTs pretty soon, though I still need a bit more money behind me first.
My hot streak in HU STTs came to an end today. I lost my first two matches courtesy of bad beats, though I won four of the next six to end with four wins and four losses for the day. I entered the 2-00pm Omaha freeroll again, this time managing a 55p min-cash for 37th/420.
This evening I’m entered into the Big Freeroll. While I’m very much looking forward to the tournament it doesn’t count towards this bankroll challenge. Therefore should I manage to cash the money will be withdrawn.
Edit; no joy in the Big Freeroll, lost a standard AJs<77 blind vs. blind flip.
Hi Gary, well done so far. Someone above mentioned Discipline, BR management, & Skill. I'll add luck? Could I ask what % you might attribute to each area (If that is even possible?) in a challenge like this. I suspect it probably changes over time? Just interested on YOUR views..
p.s. Not had much time to play lately due to personal commitments but if I get the time this week I might look you up at the HU tables for a lesson or two. & x to L.
welldone mate, team51 ftw! I cant see how you flat called his re raise! Im getting it in there 100% of the time lol But thats just either different playing styles or Better understanding of poker :P
Hi Gary, well done so far. Someone above mentioned Discipline, BR management, & Skill. I'll add luck? Could I ask what % you might attribute to each area (If that is even possible?) in a challenge like this. I suspect it probably changes over time? Just interested on YOUR views.. p.s. Not had much time to play lately due to personal commitments but if I get the time this week I might look you up at the HU tables for a lesson or two. & x to L. p Posted by Glenelg
Thanks Pad.
Good question.
At the start when I had no money and was confined to entering freerolls only I'd attribute at least 50% of it to luck. Good fortune in all-in situations is mandatory in order to make a deep run due to the super-fast structure in the second half of the freerolls. Holding-up in those crucial 70/30s and 60/40s alone counts as good fortune, even if you're lucky enough to avoid flips. Skill still comes into at that early stage too. If you have the best pushing and calling ranges at your table you have a better chance of advancing than the others. When I had little or no money there was no BR to manage.
By now the balance has definitely shifted. I'm playing in slow-structured low variance games that are far more likely to allow the skill to prevail than the freerolls. So the luck element is now largely removed, it would require the mother of all downswings to make me go broke in these games. BR management now takes on a significant roll. ie if I were to recklessly enter £5.25 or £10.50 games I could easily blast off all my cash balance in an hour or two. So I'd say BR management and discipline combined are 50% of the key to success from now onwards, skill the other 50%.
Skill is the most essential ingredient in the long run. No matter how good my BR management I wouldn't have a hope of getting to £1K if I didn't have a skill edge over the field in the games I play.
In summary; I needed luck at the start to make my foundations and got it. Now discipline and sensible BR management will enable my skill edge to slowly build from there.
welldone mate, team51 ftw! I cant see how you flat called his re raise! Im getting it in there 100% of the time lol But thats just either different playing styles or Better understanding of poker :P Posted by shaun09
Cheers Shaun. Yeah, the call looks pretty nitty now. If I re-raise the guy I assume he folds his bluff with top pair and only gets it in with the nut-flush, so I can live with it. Like I said to Ben there's plenty of time to outplay your opponents in these slow games, you don't necessarily have to hope your second nuts is good enough to play for stacks in level 1. If this was a hyper match I'd get all my chips in the middle without hesitation.
After a busy morning I squeezed in a few £1.05 HU STTs this afternoon. In my first game an opponent who’s played a similar number of games to me on Sky reverted to a preflop push or fold strategy during level 3 with both stacks still over 20BB deep. In my eyes that’s a moral victory for me regardless of the result, an admission that he was unable to outplay me post flop. It looked like his luck was in when he doubled with A7>AK aipf to take the chiplead in level 5, but justice prevailed when my pocket 99 held against his A2o to give me the win.
My first defeat came in the third game. I was facing my weakest opponent of the day but, yet this was a game this guy simply couldn’t lose, he was connecting with every board better than me and won all pots that went to show down. The deck shared the cards more evenly after that and I won both re-matches. I finished my session with four wins from five games, happy with a new highest balance.
I’ve been giving it some thought as to when I should start buying into MTTs. I’ve decided to go with a 20 buy-in rule for now. So I’ll allow myself to enter £2.30 Bounty Hunters when my balance is £46 or over. £3.30 Bounty Hunters and £1 rebuys to be permitted it reaches £66. When my balance drops back below £46 I’ll revert to STTs only.
Looks like you picked the right time to start your challenge.Another week or two and all the cash freerolls will be gone by the look of it :-( Was going to play 10am one but it has changed to 5 free seats for 2pm bh which i can not play and the 12:30 one is for the main semi again i can not play.
I think the might be done by June. You got another challenge for the other half of the year? Posted by ididit14
That would be nice, though I think it's very unlikely. I'm going to be playing a fairly low volume throughout and taking a couple of weeks off poker in the next month or so. I'm not even gonna think about future challenges until I finish the job in hand.
Looks like you picked the right time to start your challenge.Another week or two and all the cash freerolls will be gone by the look of it :-( Was going to play 10am one but it has changed to 5 free seats for 2pm bh which i can not play and the 12:30 one is for the main semi again i can not play. Posted by belsibub
Blimey, I was lucky if this is a permanent change.
Have you seen the freeroll ME sattelites running Gary? Could be a nice way to finish the challenge quickly with one big BINK if you can afford the 50points entry and dodge the loons
Best of luck with the rest of the challenge, I've no doubt you'll complete it.
Have you seen the freeroll ME sattelites running Gary? Could be a nice way to finish the challenge quickly with one big BINK if you can afford the 50points entry and dodge the loons Best of luck with the rest of the challenge, I've no doubt you'll complete it. Posted by Slykllist
Yep, I've seen them thanks. The trouble is I'm rarely available to play in the evening, so they don't really hold much attraction to me. I might give them a shot in March when I have some time off work.
Another successful session spent building my balance in the micro-stakes STTs. Five wins from six in HU STTs and a fun bink in a 60p 10-man Bounty Hunter meant I enjoyed my seventh winning day in a row and can report another new highest balance. HU STTs have served me very well, I have a 44-19 winning record so far during this quest, that's an ROI of 34.5% they've returned me more profit than the freerolls.
I’m now within a few pence of the point at which I’ll let myself enter £2.30 Bounty Hunter tournaments (see day 40). MTTs by their nature won’t give the steady gradual returns I’ve been earning from STTs, so I now expect to have more frequent losing days, that being balanced by the potential for bigger profits on the winning days.
Breakdown of profit so far; £17.69 from freerolls, £21.30 from HU STTs, £6.82 from other STTs (DYM, Bounty, etc.)
Comments
Totally agree i think this is something alot of HU players dont understand. I would of just called in that spot too as i can count on one hand how many times i have been check raised on the river without the person having the nuts lol was just very suprised to see one pair even from a casual player, guess a pair of As can seem like the nuts when your first playing poker.
edit: just realised it wasn't a check raise, but still same point applies to this raise on the river.
Thanks. Yeah, getting anywhere in those freerolls is a big ask. Before the bubble arrives the average stack is normally only about 12BB, and it's a shove-fest from then onwards due to the super-fast structure. Anyone who makes final table has to run very well, you're won't make it unless you can win several 70/30s, 60/40s and flips.
Closing Balances; Cash £38.01 Poker Points 240
Up 15p today
My hot streak in HU STTs came to an end today. I lost my first two matches courtesy of bad beats, though I won four of the next six to end with four wins and four losses for the day. I entered the 2-00pm Omaha freeroll again, this time managing a 55p min-cash for 37th/420.
This evening I’m entered into the Big Freeroll. While I’m very much looking forward to the tournament it doesn’t count towards this bankroll challenge. Therefore should I manage to cash the money will be withdrawn.
Edit; no joy in the Big Freeroll, lost a standard AJs<77 blind vs. blind flip.
Good question.
At the start when I had no money and was confined to entering freerolls only I'd attribute at least 50% of it to luck. Good fortune in all-in situations is mandatory in order to make a deep run due to the super-fast structure in the second half of the freerolls. Holding-up in those crucial 70/30s and 60/40s alone counts as good fortune, even if you're lucky enough to avoid flips. Skill still comes into at that early stage too. If you have the best pushing and calling ranges at your table you have a better chance of advancing than the others. When I had little or no money there was no BR to manage.
By now the balance has definitely shifted. I'm playing in slow-structured low variance games that are far more likely to allow the skill to prevail than the freerolls. So the luck element is now largely removed, it would require the mother of all downswings to make me go broke in these games. BR management now takes on a significant roll. ie if I were to recklessly enter £5.25 or £10.50 games I could easily blast off all my cash balance in an hour or two. So I'd say BR management and discipline combined are 50% of the key to success from now onwards, skill the other 50%.
Skill is the most essential ingredient in the long run. No matter how good my BR management I wouldn't have a hope of getting to £1K if I didn't have a skill edge over the field in the games I play.
In summary; I needed luck at the start to make my foundations and got it. Now discipline and sensible BR management will enable my skill edge to slowly build from there.
Closing Balances; Cash £40.76 Poker Points 245
Up £2.75 today
After a busy morning I squeezed in a few £1.05 HU STTs this afternoon. In my first game an opponent who’s played a similar number of games to me on Sky reverted to a preflop push or fold strategy during level 3 with both stacks still over 20BB deep. In my eyes that’s a moral victory for me regardless of the result, an admission that he was unable to outplay me post flop. It looked like his luck was in when he doubled with A7>AK aipf to take the chiplead in level 5, but justice prevailed when my pocket 99 held against his A2o to give me the win.
My first defeat came in the third game. I was facing my weakest opponent of the day but, yet this was a game this guy simply couldn’t lose, he was connecting with every board better than me and won all pots that went to show down. The deck shared the cards more evenly after that and I won both re-matches. I finished my session with four wins from five games, happy with a new highest balance.
I’ve been giving it some thought as to when I should start buying into MTTs. I’ve decided to go with a 20 buy-in rule for now. So I’ll allow myself to enter £2.30 Bounty Hunters when my balance is £46 or over. £3.30 Bounty Hunters and £1 rebuys to be permitted it reaches £66. When my balance drops back below £46 I’ll revert to STTs only.
Sunday/Monday results;
7559203HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker11/02/2013 14:53NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957559153HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker11/02/2013 14:35NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957559083HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker11/02/2013 14:25NL Hold'em £1 + £0.052/2-£1.057558983HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker11/02/2013 14:00NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957558895HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker11/02/2013 13:36NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957367866HNL 0.0GBPSkyPoker10/02/2013 21:46NL Hold'em Freeroll466/603£07549895OPL 0.0GBPSkyPoker10/02/2013 16:13PL Omaha Hi Freeroll37/420£0.557554743HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker10/02/2013 15:35NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957554294HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker10/02/2013 12:59NL Hold'em £1 + £0.052/2-£1.057554282HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker10/02/2013 12:20NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957554217HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker10/02/2013 11:47NL Hold'em £1 + £0.052/2-£1.057554111HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker10/02/2013 11:24NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957554139HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker10/02/2013 11:18NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957554105HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker10/02/2013 11:09NL Hold'em £1 + £0.052/2-£1.057554028HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker10/02/2013 10:41NL Hold'em £1 + £0.052/2-£1.05
Was going to play 10am one but it has changed to 5 free seats for 2pm bh which i can not play and the 12:30 one is for the main semi again i can not play.
Best of luck with the rest of the challenge, I've no doubt you'll complete it.
Closing Balances; Cash £45.81 Poker Points 253
Up £5.05 today
Another successful session spent building my balance in the micro-stakes STTs. Five wins from six in HU STTs and a fun bink in a 60p 10-man Bounty Hunter meant I enjoyed my seventh winning day in a row and can report another new highest balance. HU STTs have served me very well, I have a 44-19 winning record so far during this quest, that's an ROI of 34.5% they've returned me more profit than the freerolls.
I’m now within a few pence of the point at which I’ll let myself enter £2.30 Bounty Hunter tournaments (see day 40). MTTs by their nature won’t give the steady gradual returns I’ve been earning from STTs, so I now expect to have more frequent losing days, that being balanced by the potential for bigger profits on the winning days.
Breakdown of profit so far; £17.69 from freerolls, £21.30 from HU STTs, £6.82 from other STTs (DYM, Bounty, etc.)
7563717HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker12/02/2013 15:18NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957563078HNLB0.1GBPSkyPoker12/02/2013 12:59NL Hold'em £0.5 + £0.11/10£1.357563060HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker12/02/2013 11:51NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957563067HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker12/02/2013 11:36NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957563021HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker12/02/2013 11:28NL Hold'em £1 + £0.052/2-£1.057562940HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker12/02/2013 11:13NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957562958HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker12/02/2013 11:00NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.95