I played five MTTs today, though without any success.
In the first of two afternoon £5.75s I busted in a weird spot with AA<J5o. I was thrown when my internet connection froze causing my actions to be timed out. Somehow I managed to get stacked on the turn when forced to make a snap decision after being reconnected with only a couple of seconds left on the timebar. In the second £5.75 I was going well until coolered by flopped queen-high flush<flopped nut-flush. With stacks only 32BB deep there was no getting away from that one.
A great start in a late afternoon £2.30 went pear-shaped two spots from the money after I’d spent over an hour as chipleader. I lost a standard flip with AQs<66 aipf then busted with pocket KK<AQ blind v blind aipf.
I lasted only 30 minutes in the evening Mini. It was a rollercoaster ride. After an early treble-up I lost a 400BB pot with my pocket AA losing to J5o on a jack-high flop, an almost exact action relay of the hand I mentioned above. The same guy busted me soon after. Because I’d seen him playing so recklessly, including the J5>AA hand it was impossible to fold my AQ on an AQ6 flop. He held 66 of course. At least I’d won my buy-in back in head-prizes. As someone who rarely plays in the evening I was shocked by the amount of crazy play I saw in the Mini today, it was at least as wild as the daytime £2.30 games at their worst, eliminations were very rapid. For some reason I always assume the standard of play will be higher during the evening than during the day, maybe I should rethink that opinion.
My final game was a £2.30 Bounty Hunter, I donked myself out in the first hand in a spot where I should have easily got away. I realised I was playing while tilted by my Mini experience so decided to call it a night.
This is an amazing challenge, to think you have built this balance up from just those points just goes to show you dont have to be a pro to do it.
I have a question for you re mtt stats, what would you say is an acheivable roi for a low stakes mtt player and what sample size would you need before that roi is fairly accurate. Is it like sngs, say 1000 upwards?
According to Sharkscope my ROI for MTTs on Sky is 66.7% over 3,154 games. There are lots of players out there much better than me, so I think 100%+ is achievable. Because I mainly only play during daytime hours I'm in tournaments with relatively small fields, so it doesn't take too long for the variance to level out. I'd say in my games you'll probably have a good idea of long term results after only say 500 games. Obviously as fields get bigger a larger sample is needed because the final table finishes will come further apart.
For the same reason bigger fields demand a bigger BR too. If I were playing in games with 200+ runners average I'd need a lot more than 40 buy-ins to survive the downswings.
No joy in the morning £3.30s for me today. I found some good spots but couldn’t make the holds. In both tournaments I busted after losing big pot in which my stack went in as favourite, so I have no regrets about my play.
After a few hours out in the sunshine I return for some afternoon games which went better. After winning a couple of £2.20 HU STTs I entered the 4-20PM Deep Stack, a very small event with only 10 entrants. Solid ABC tournament poker took me onto the final table then into the money. When the bubble burst stack sizes were as follows at 75/150;
Villain A39,405 (262BB)
Villain B4,475 (30BB)
GaryQQQ6,120 (41BB)
So you’d imagine Villain A was a huge favourite. He/she should have been but he adopted a maniac style of play that was to backfire over the course of the next 60 hands. Both Villain B and myself were gifted easy doubles before Villain B was harshly busted by Villain A with AJ<A4 aipf. That left me with an 18K v 32K chip deficit, however all I needed to was wait for hands. I soon took the lead and my opponent grew increasingly frustrated, going aipf with any two cards at 100/200 with 8K still behind. I won the tournament with AQs on the SB (see below). Villain A shoved over my limp with his QTo (I'd set the trap up by limp/folding junk a couple of times in earlier hands), my cards held up for a pleasing end to the session.
Money was being gifted this afternoon. The first of these hands is from a standard speed £2.10 HU match.
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalanceSmall blind 15.00 15.00 1398.00 GaryQQQ Big blind 30.00 45.00 1557.00 Your hole cards Q Q Raise 45.00 90.00 1353.00 GaryQQQ Raise 150.00 240.00 1407.00 Call 120.00 360.00 1233.00 Flop 8 5 Q GaryQQQ Bet 180.00 540.00 1227.00 Raise 360.00 900.00 873.00 GaryQQQ Call 180.00 1080.00 1047.00 Turn 10 GaryQQQ Bet 295.00 1375.00 752.00 All-in 873.00 2248.00 0.00 GaryQQQ Call 578.00 2826.00 174.00 Show 6 5 GaryQQQ Show Q Q River Q GaryQQQ Win Four Queens 2826.00 3000.00
Don’t mind if I do. This is the final hand of the £2.20 Deepstack;
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalanceGaryQQQ Small blind 100.00 100.00 40880.00 Villain A Big blind 200.00 300.00 8820.00 Your hole cards Q A GaryQQQ Call 100.00 400.00 40780.00 Villain A All-in 8820.00 9220.00 0.00 GaryQQQ Call 8820.00 18040.00 31960.00 GaryQQQ Show Q A Villain A Show Q 10 Flop J Q 2 Turn 9 River 9 GaryQQQ Win Two Pairs, Queens and 9s 18040.00 50000.00
Cheers Ace. According to Sharkscope my ROI for MTTs on Sky is 66.7% over 3,154 games. There are lots of players out there much better than me, so I think 100%+ is achievable. Because I mainly only play during daytime hours I'm in tournaments with relatively small fields, so it doesn't take too long for the variance to level out. I'd say in my games you'll probably have a good idea of long term results after only say 500 games. Obviously as fields get bigger a larger sample is needed because the final table finishes will come further apart. For the same reason bigger fields demand a bigger BR too. If I were playing in games with 200+ runners average I'd need a lot more than 40 buy-ins to survive the downswings. Posted by GaryQQQ
I am playing mtts with fields from 10-12 to 120 but the average I would say is 20-30. My overall roi including a long stretch where I didnt really have any brm and often entered tournies that I shouldnt is 87.1%, thats over a sample of 740. This year ive played 300 plus and have an roi of 128%, that includes a bink in the prio mini and a 3rd in a me, that I know skewed the figures.
Sky cash games are now becoming reg filled, especially with the promos sky run,and therefore tedious and difficult to grind out a profit (well at least for me!) but mtts are soo soft that I want to focus on them for the rest of the year, off course there is work, study, football and a social life to fit in but if I can get to 1k games by the end of the year with a roi in excess of 100% then I will be very happy.
Thanks for the hu, I wonder how long it will be before your playing the 5 quidders that I frequent at weekends in the morning!
In Response to Re: 1,000 Poker Points ----- /> £1,000 Can it be done? Latest balance £275.30 : I am playing mtts with fields from 10-12 to 120 but the average I would say is 20-30. My overall roi including a long stretch where I didnt really have any brm and often entered tournies that I shouldnt is 87.1%, thats over a sample of 740. This year ive played 300 plus and have an roi of 128%, that includes a bink in the prio mini and a 3rd in a me, that I know skewed the figures. Sky cash games are now becoming reg filled, especially with the promos sky run,and therefore tedious and difficult to grind out a profit (well at least for me!) but mtts are soo soft that I want to focus on them for the rest of the year, off course there is work, study, football and a social life to fit in but if I can get to 1k games by the end of the year with a roi in excess of 100% then I will be very happy. Thanks for the hu, I wonder how long it will be before your playing the 5 quidders that I frequent at weekends in the morning! Posted by ACEGOONER
Great results, I see no reason why you can't sustain an ROI in the region of 87%, that's a large enough sample in my opinion. You won't ever ever see in those games; on Saturdays I'm at work, on Sundays I'm asleep.
No luck for me in the morning £3.30s BHs again. In the 9-45 I couldn’t find a way back after losing an 85BB pot with AK<AQ aipf. In the 10-45 I was knocked out in the first hand with AQs<A8o by a pre-flop limp/caller on an A8x flop. With hindsight it looks like I made a terrible donkey play to let myself get knocked out with only top pair. Maybe I did and should have got away from my hand. The trouble is that you see random unknowns get it in very light all the time in these games, often any ace will do on an ace-high flop.
In a lunchtime £2.30 I had a flying start when my QTs earned me a treble-up on an 89J flop. It’s always nice when two players shove into you when you’re holding the nuts! After 10 minutes of play I already had 3 head-prizes, however there was plenty of bank-holiday madness to be seen, early in level 2 I had 3x starting stack and over 200BB yet was only third in chips at my table. In the end I got third place, my exit came in a standard overcards versus pair coin-flip when stacks were shallow.
I wasn’t in the mood for any more MTTs after that so I jumped in a few HU STTs. I went off the idea quickly when I lost tournament deciding pots with QQ<AJ and A9<K9, both aipf, then AT<T3 in three consecutive games. I threw in the towel and called it a day.
Overall I'm happy with my play today, content that I only finished down because I ran badly in some key spots. May Poker Points 87
The Poker Gods giveth and the Poker gods taketh away. Bounty Hunter madness. Three stacks go in when I flop the nuts. It was a harsh cooler for the guy with 7T, but I've no idea what the chap with A9 was thinking.
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalances Small blind 10.00 10.00 1390.00 c Big blind 20.00 30.00 1960.00 Your hole cards 10 Q jonny964 Call 20.00 50.00 2410.00 GaryQQQ Call 20.00 70.00 1950.00 BBB56 Fold rustyy123 Fold s Call 10.00 80.00 1380.00 c Check Flop 9 J 8 s Bet 20.00 100.00 1360.00 c Call 20.00 120.00 1940.00 jonny964 Fold GaryQQQ Raise 60.00 180.00 1890.00 s Call 40.00 220.00 1320.00 c Raise 300.00 520.00 1640.00 GaryQQQ Raise 560.00 1080.00 1330.00 s Call 560.00 1640.00 760.00 c All-in 1640.00 3280.00 0.00 GaryQQQ All-in 1330.00 4610.00 0.00 sAll-in 760.00 5370.00 0.00 c Unmatched bet 10.00 5360.00 10.00 s Show A 9 c Show 7 10 GaryQQQ Show 10 Q Turn K River K GaryQQQ Win Straight to the King 5360.00 5360.00
Saw plenty of these today. Exit (well, almost) hand from the 9-45AM Bounty Hunter;
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalancefrank11 Small blind 20.00 20.00 2060.00 pet1 Big blind 40.00 60.00 3542.50 Your hole cards A K GaryQQQ Raise 100.00 160.00 1920.00 dawn1983 Fold TRONSTER Fold d Raise 360.00 520.00 1325.00 frank11 Fold pet1 Fold GaryQQQ Raise 760.00 1280.00 1160.00 d All-in 1325.00 2605.00 0.00 GaryQQQ Call 825.00 3430.00 335.00 GaryQQQ Show A K d Show Q A Flop 9 5 J Turn 9 River Q d Win Two Pairs, Queens and 9s 3430.00 3430.00
On reflection April was a very successful month for me. I started off with £87.88 in my account on the first, by the time play stopped on the thirtieth I held £256.59. The profit of £168.71 represents a growth of 192% and came off a fairly low volume. I knew there’d be scope for more rapid progress once I began to focus on MTTs, my preferred poker discipline, but a whopping 192% in 30 days is far more than I dared dream for.
I feel it’s unlikely I’ll enjoy such a successful month again (percentage wise) during this challenge, not that I won’t be trying of course. In fact it won’t surprise if at all if I have a losing month sooner or later. Variance is a funny thing in MTTs, month-long downswings are super-standard, when mine comes along I won’t be losing my hair over it.
I bricked my first two tournaments today; a £3.30 Freezeout and a £2.30 Bounty Hunter. In each I enjoyed soft tables but, couldn’t find a way past the calling stations. My exit in the freezeout summed it up; I busted with A2s>K9o of a guy who continued to defend his big blind on a QA3r flop. The turn and river were both kings.
My third tournament saved the day as I enjoyed a run to the final table of a £5.75 Bounty Hunter. To be honest I’m not quite sure how I got there. I never really felt in contention, apart from a good start I spent most of the tournament below average. A couple of late stages doubles kept me going and I laddered several times due to big confrontations between my opponents. My exit in 4/88 came in a totally standard spot. I open jammed AQs from the button with 12BB behind and lost the race against pocket 8s. I was a distant fourth at the time and needed to double ASAP if I were to have any chance of a higher finish. I’d have jammed even if I knew in advance an under-pair in the blinds would be calling.
Poker has made me feel very good for two reasons today. Firstly I have a new highest balance, that can never be a bad thing. Secondly it feels great knowing that I’ve already started earning cash thanks to the new Rewards scheme. While it may be only £1.00 at the moment it still feels **** good. Under the old scheme I got nothing back in April despite earning 409 points. If other low volume recreational players enjoy being recognised as a valuable customer as much as I do I’m sure Rewards will be a great success. Top marks Sky.
I take it the coinage earnt from the rewards is considered part of your bankroll now??? Posted by Mohican
Thanks Ian and Carl.
No is the answer to this question. The latest balance/closing balance shown does not include Rewards until they've actually been paid into my account.
Let's say on Day X I get to the point where I have £998.00 in my account and have accrued £3.00 in Rewards so far that month. Well, as far as I'm concerned I won't have finished, my balance is still £998, not £1,002.
This challenge will only be considered completed when I open my account and see £1K+ in cold hard cash ready to withdraw. Bring it on!
Hi Gary, Read the thread a lot but never comment. Great challenge. This shows what having talent, a level head and the motivation to beat the lower levels can do. IMO this thread should inspire any low stakes grinders and show the people who believe you can’t beat the lower levels what can be done with hard work. Great achievement so far and i have no doubt you will reach your target sooner rather than later.
You have probably been asked this before but you say in the above post that you will be withdrawing the final total. Will you not consider grinding that total up and taking on the bigger buy ins? You obviously have the talent and mentality to make a real go of it.
Inspirational stuff as always Gary, I completely agree with what AJ_Rockets says above and have pointed numerous people to your threads when they've asked for brm advice etc. you couldn't ask for a better example of the importance of good bankroll management.
I also agree about the new rewards format, having started laying only micro stakes this month, I'm pretty sure I'd have seen no C4P under the old scheme, but should be able to grind out at least a little from the new one, a great change for low stakes players IMO.
There was a disappointingly high number of bingo play at my tables in the morning £3.30 BHs today, a shame because you usually get a proper game in these. I survived the madness to make the late stages in the 9-45, however my back was against the wall after I lost my first big flip of the game with 99<KQo button v BB on the bubble. My exit came in 9/87 when my K4 was unable to hold against JT on a KQ6 flop, blind v blind.
In the 10-45 I was busted in only the third hand by a player who was going aipf every hand with any two cards, my pocket JJ couldn’t hold up against his K5. I was his third head-prize in three hands........crazy stuff!
In a small lunchtime £2.20 Rebuy I got second place for £10.50. It was a fun game at a friendly table, but I still managed to lose 50p having invested £11.00. In a rare slip I’d broken my 40 buy-in rule by taking three rebuys and the add-on, a mistake I’ll make sure I avoid in future.
In a £2.30 BH I made final table with the chip lead only to lose most of it to the guy in second place when my flopped nut-flush was coolered by his flopped second nut-flush. As the pre-flop raiser with my two overcards and the NFD I put him to a decision for his stack, unfortunately for me he held one of few combos I fear. I’m in it to win it so I have no regrets about my failure to cash. When he folds I win a big pot and extend my lead, when he calls and loses I have his head and >50% of the chips in play.
I got donked by a guy who calls preflop shoves with 83 in my only HU match.
My Poker Points balance has risen to 1,018 due to points earned during play. I can now therefore claim to have turned 1,000 Poker Points into 1,018 Poker Points and £290. That doesn’t sound too bad!
Bingo Hunter. This is the third hand of a £3.30 tournament, the villain is going all-in pre-flop with any two cards every hand. I become his third victim in three hands. He got lucky this time but he’ll lose a lot of money in the long run playing like this.
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalance* Small blind 10.00 10.00 5990.00 scorpio006 Big blind 20.00 30.00 2050.00 Your hole cards J J grump Fold FunkyN Call 20.00 50.00 1950.00 GaryQQQ Raise 100.00 150.00 1870.00 * All-in 5990.00 6140.00 0.00 scorpio006 Fold FunkyN Fold GaryQQQ All-in 1870.00 8010.00 0.00 * Unmatched bet 4030.00 3980.00 4030.00 * Show K 5 GaryQQQ Show J J Flop K 4 8 Turn 4 River 9 * Win Two Pairs, Kings and 4s 3980.00 8010.00
After being gifted a free flop I extract maximum value with my full house in the 10-45.
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalance* Small blind 75.00 75.00 6750.00 GaryQQQ Big blind 150.00 225.00 2587.50 Your hole cards 9 7 DADDYSTU Fold SUPERSNEDD Fold BigCes Fold * Call 75.00 300.00 6675.00 GaryQQQ Check Flop 7 7 3 * Check GaryQQQ Check Turn J * Bet 150.00 450.00 6525.00 GaryQQQ Call 150.00 600.00 2437.50 River 9 *Bet 150.00 750.00 6375.00 GaryQQQ All-in 2437.50 3187.50 0.00 * Call 2287.50 5475.00 4087.50 * Show 9 J GaryQQQ Show 9 7 GaryQQQ Win Full House, 7s and 9s 5475.00 5475.
Thanks very much for your kind words AJ Rockets and Slykklist. My main reason for making my forum BR challenges has been to show newbies and improvers what is possible and inspire them to improve their game/results. I'm always very pleased to get feedback that seems to confirm this is happening. It's always a very nice surprise when a s/name I don't recognise mentions this diary in the chatbox at a table, there are many forum lurkers who read stuff but never post.
I'm not going to actually withdraw the whole £1K if/when I get there. I'll probably take off £500 and leave the rest on the site as my working bankroll.
Due to my work hours and other commitments I only have a fairly narrow late/morning early afternoon window in which I can enter MTTs. Only two games above £5.75 kick-off during that time; an £11 and a £22 Bounty Hunter. I fully intend to play in the £11 game when I'm sufficiently rolled (balance above £440 for 40 buy-ins). I've played in it many times before, profitably including at least one win. The £22 game is less appealing, it only runs with a small field and goes off a bit late for me.
Anything bigger than that runs in the evening when I'm asleep, a situation I'm perfectly happy with. Unlike many others on this forum I don't have aspirations to move up to bigger games for bigger stakes. I'm just a recreational player having fun at a time that suits me. I enjoy in playing poker tournaments, it's a hobby, having made money while doing so is just the icing on the cake as far as I'm concerned. I'd still be there if I was merely breaking even. Team Sky Poker, Super Rollers, UKOPS, etc; high profile games like those have no appeal to me, I'll leave them for others to fight out.
It's fair to say you've proven that low stakes can be beaten and that the bingo play/ers are exactly that and you'll win money in the long run. My question about rewards was asking whether you'll actualy include them as part of your challenge or withdraw them to leave it purely on money won. You've already answered that one. Great stuff, keep it going and us updated.
No joy from 3 MTTs today. First up today was the 10-45 £3.30 Bounty Hunter. After a day off poker I wasn’t too pleased to find myself sat at a ridiculous bingo table (see below). I took one head in the pre-flop shovefest but didn’t pick up enough cards to run deep.
In a couple of lunchtime £5.75s there was proper poker being played at times but I didn’t get the cards to take me past the calling stations. I won a couple of HU STTs to claw back a little.
Comments
Closing Balance £275.30
Down £9.58 today
I played five MTTs today, though without any success.
In the first of two afternoon £5.75s I busted in a weird spot with AA<J5o. I was thrown when my internet connection froze causing my actions to be timed out. Somehow I managed to get stacked on the turn when forced to make a snap decision after being reconnected with only a couple of seconds left on the timebar. In the second £5.75 I was going well until coolered by flopped queen-high flush<flopped nut-flush. With stacks only 32BB deep there was no getting away from that one.
A great start in a late afternoon £2.30 went pear-shaped two spots from the money after I’d spent over an hour as chipleader. I lost a standard flip with AQs<66 aipf then busted with pocket KK<AQ blind v blind aipf.
I lasted only 30 minutes in the evening Mini. It was a rollercoaster ride. After an early treble-up I lost a 400BB pot with my pocket AA losing to J5o on a jack-high flop, an almost exact action relay of the hand I mentioned above. The same guy busted me soon after. Because I’d seen him playing so recklessly, including the J5>AA hand it was impossible to fold my AQ on an AQ6 flop. He held 66 of course. At least I’d won my buy-in back in head-prizes. As someone who rarely plays in the evening I was shocked by the amount of crazy play I saw in the Mini today, it was at least as wild as the daytime £2.30 games at their worst, eliminations were very rapid. For some reason I always assume the standard of play will be higher during the evening than during the day, maybe I should rethink that opinion.
My final game was a £2.30 Bounty Hunter, I donked myself out in the first hand in a spot where I should have easily got away. I realised I was playing while tilted by my Mini experience so decided to call it a night.
May Poker Points 64
Today’s results;
7901140HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker04/05/2013 20:50NL Hold'em £2 + £0.3170/173-£2.37900481HNLB0.5GBPSkyPoker04/05/2013 20:15NL Hold'em £5 + £0.5443/542£0.147900696HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker04/05/2013 17:05NL Hold'em £2 + £0.37/35£2.27900801HNLB0.75GBPSkyPoker04/05/2013 15:30NL Hold'em £5 + £0.7539/113-£3.877900558HNLB0.75GBPSkyPoker04/05/2013 14:30NL Hold'em £5 + £0.7585/110-£5.75
According to Sharkscope my ROI for MTTs on Sky is 66.7% over 3,154 games. There are lots of players out there much better than me, so I think 100%+ is achievable. Because I mainly only play during daytime hours I'm in tournaments with relatively small fields, so it doesn't take too long for the variance to level out. I'd say in my games you'll probably have a good idea of long term results after only say 500 games. Obviously as fields get bigger a larger sample is needed because the final table finishes will come further apart.
For the same reason bigger fields demand a bigger BR too. If I were playing in games with 200+ runners average I'd need a lot more than 40 buy-ins to survive the downswings.
Closing Balance £281.43
Up £6.13 today
No joy in the morning £3.30s for me today. I found some good spots but couldn’t make the holds. In both tournaments I busted after losing big pot in which my stack went in as favourite, so I have no regrets about my play.
After a few hours out in the sunshine I return for some afternoon games which went better. After winning a couple of £2.20 HU STTs I entered the 4-20PM Deep Stack, a very small event with only 10 entrants. Solid ABC tournament poker took me onto the final table then into the money. When the bubble burst stack sizes were as follows at 75/150;
Villain A 39,405 (262BB)
Villain B 4,475 (30BB)
GaryQQQ 6,120 (41BB)
So you’d imagine Villain A was a huge favourite. He/she should have been but he adopted a maniac style of play that was to backfire over the course of the next 60 hands. Both Villain B and myself were gifted easy doubles before Villain B was harshly busted by Villain A with AJ<A4 aipf. That left me with an 18K v 32K chip deficit, however all I needed to was wait for hands. I soon took the lead and my opponent grew increasingly frustrated, going aipf with any two cards at 100/200 with 8K still behind. I won the tournament with AQs on the SB (see below). Villain A shoved over my limp with his QTo (I'd set the trap up by limp/folding junk a couple of times in earlier hands), my cards held up for a pleasing end to the session.
May Poker Points 74
Today’s results;
7905067HNL 0.2GBPSkyPoker05/05/2013 16:20NL Hold'em £2 + £0.21/10£7.87906685HNLHU0.1GBPSkyPoker05/05/2013 15:55NL Hold'em £2 + £0.11/2£1.97906750HNLT,HU0.1GBPSkyPoker05/05/2013 15:51NL Hold'em £2 + £0.11/2£1.97904016HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker05/05/2013 10:45NL Hold'em £3 + £0.324/81-£2.177903659HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker05/05/2013 09:45NL Hold'em £3 + £0.333/76-£3.3
Money was being gifted this afternoon. The first of these hands is from a standard speed £2.10 HU match.
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalance Small blind 15.00 15.00 1398.00 GaryQQQ Big blind 30.00 45.00 1557.00 Your hole cards Q Q Raise 45.00 90.00 1353.00 GaryQQQ Raise 150.00 240.00 1407.00 Call 120.00 360.00 1233.00 Flop 8 5 Q GaryQQQ Bet 180.00 540.00 1227.00 Raise 360.00 900.00 873.00 GaryQQQ Call 180.00 1080.00 1047.00 Turn 10 GaryQQQ Bet 295.00 1375.00 752.00 All-in 873.00 2248.00 0.00 GaryQQQ Call 578.00 2826.00 174.00 Show 6 5 GaryQQQ Show Q Q River Q GaryQQQ Win Four Queens 2826.00 3000.00
Don’t mind if I do. This is the final hand of the £2.20 Deepstack;
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalanceGaryQQQ Small blind 100.00 100.00 40880.00 Villain A Big blind 200.00 300.00 8820.00 Your hole cards Q A GaryQQQ Call 100.00 400.00 40780.00 Villain A All-in 8820.00 9220.00 0.00 GaryQQQ Call 8820.00 18040.00 31960.00 GaryQQQ Show Q A Villain A Show Q 10 Flop J Q 2 Turn 9 River 9 GaryQQQ Win Two Pairs, Queens and 9s 18040.00 50000.00
Closing Balance £276.15
Down £5.28 today
No luck for me in the morning £3.30s BHs again. In the 9-45 I couldn’t find a way back after losing an 85BB pot with AK<AQ aipf. In the 10-45 I was knocked out in the first hand with AQs<A8o by a pre-flop limp/caller on an A8x flop. With hindsight it looks like I made a terrible donkey play to let myself get knocked out with only top pair. Maybe I did and should have got away from my hand. The trouble is that you see random unknowns get it in very light all the time in these games, often any ace will do on an ace-high flop.
In a lunchtime £2.30 I had a flying start when my QTs earned me a treble-up on an 89J flop. It’s always nice when two players shove into you when you’re holding the nuts! After 10 minutes of play I already had 3 head-prizes, however there was plenty of bank-holiday madness to be seen, early in level 2 I had 3x starting stack and over 200BB yet was only third in chips at my table. In the end I got third place, my exit came in a standard overcards versus pair coin-flip when stacks were shallow.
I wasn’t in the mood for any more MTTs after that so I jumped in a few HU STTs. I went off the idea quickly when I lost tournament deciding pots with QQ<AJ and A9<K9, both aipf, then AT<T3 in three consecutive games. I threw in the towel and called it a day.
Overall I'm happy with my play today, content that I only finished down because I ran badly in some key spots.
May Poker Points 87
Today’s results;
7910272HNLHU0.1GBPSkyPoker06/05/2013 16:07NL Hold'em £2 + £0.12/2-£2.17910332HNLT,HU0.05GBPSkyPoker06/05/2013 15:57NL Hold'em £1 + £0.052/2-£1.057910251HNLT,HU0.1GBPSkyPoker06/05/2013 15:53NL Hold'em £2 + £0.12/2-£2.17910200HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker06/05/2013 15:35NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957907879HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker06/05/2013 12:45NL Hold'em £2 + £0.33/30£5.627907877HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker06/05/2013 10:45NL Hold'em £3 + £0.375/75-£3.37907635HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker06/05/2013 09:45NL Hold'em £3 + £0.358/94-£3.3
The Poker Gods giveth and the Poker gods taketh away. Bounty Hunter madness. Three stacks go in when I flop the nuts. It was a harsh cooler for the guy with 7T, but I've no idea what the chap with A9 was thinking.
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalances Small blind 10.00 10.00 1390.00 c Big blind 20.00 30.00 1960.00 Your hole cards 10 Q jonny964 Call 20.00 50.00 2410.00 GaryQQQ Call 20.00 70.00 1950.00 BBB56 Fold rustyy123 Fold s Call 10.00 80.00 1380.00 c Check Flop 9 J 8 s Bet 20.00 100.00 1360.00 c Call 20.00 120.00 1940.00 jonny964 Fold GaryQQQ Raise 60.00 180.00 1890.00 s Call 40.00 220.00 1320.00 c Raise 300.00 520.00 1640.00 GaryQQQ Raise 560.00 1080.00 1330.00 s Call 560.00 1640.00 760.00 c All-in 1640.00 3280.00 0.00 GaryQQQ All-in 1330.00 4610.00 0.00 sAll-in 760.00 5370.00 0.00 c Unmatched bet 10.00 5360.00 10.00 s Show A 9 c Show 7 10 GaryQQQ Show 10 Q Turn K River K GaryQQQ Win Straight to the King 5360.00 5360.00
Saw plenty of these today. Exit (well, almost) hand from the 9-45AM Bounty Hunter;
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalancefrank11 Small blind 20.00 20.00 2060.00 pet1 Big blind 40.00 60.00 3542.50 Your hole cards A K GaryQQQ Raise 100.00 160.00 1920.00 dawn1983 Fold TRONSTER Fold d Raise 360.00 520.00 1325.00 frank11 Fold pet1 Fold GaryQQQ Raise 760.00 1280.00 1160.00 d All-in 1325.00 2605.00 0.00 GaryQQQ Call 825.00 3430.00 335.00 GaryQQQ Show A K d Show Q A Flop 9 5 J Turn 9 River Q d Win Two Pairs, Queens and 9s 3430.00 3430.00
On reflection April was a very successful month for me. I started off with £87.88 in my account on the first, by the time play stopped on the thirtieth I held £256.59. The profit of £168.71 represents a growth of 192% and came off a fairly low volume. I knew there’d be scope for more rapid progress once I began to focus on MTTs, my preferred poker discipline, but a whopping 192% in 30 days is far more than I dared dream for.
I feel it’s unlikely I’ll enjoy such a successful month again (percentage wise) during this challenge, not that I won’t be trying of course. In fact it won’t surprise if at all if I have a losing month sooner or later. Variance is a funny thing in MTTs, month-long downswings are super-standard, when mine comes along I won’t be losing my hair over it.
Latest graph of progress;
http://imageshack.us/a/img51/8137/graphday124.jpg
Closing Balance £290.82
Up £14.67 today
I bricked my first two tournaments today; a £3.30 Freezeout and a £2.30 Bounty Hunter. In each I enjoyed soft tables but, couldn’t find a way past the calling stations. My exit in the freezeout summed it up; I busted with A2s>K9o of a guy who continued to defend his big blind on a QA3r flop. The turn and river were both kings.
My third tournament saved the day as I enjoyed a run to the final table of a £5.75 Bounty Hunter. To be honest I’m not quite sure how I got there. I never really felt in contention, apart from a good start I spent most of the tournament below average. A couple of late stages doubles kept me going and I laddered several times due to big confrontations between my opponents. My exit in 4/88 came in a totally standard spot. I open jammed AQs from the button with 12BB behind and lost the race against pocket 8s. I was a distant fourth at the time and needed to double ASAP if I were to have any chance of a higher finish. I’d have jammed even if I knew in advance an under-pair in the blinds would be calling.
Poker has made me feel very good for two reasons today. Firstly I have a new highest balance, that can never be a bad thing. Secondly it feels great knowing that I’ve already started earning cash thanks to the new Rewards scheme. While it may be only £1.00 at the moment it still feels **** good. Under the old scheme I got nothing back in April despite earning 409 points. If other low volume recreational players enjoy being recognised as a valuable customer as much as I do I’m sure Rewards will be a great success. Top marks Sky.
May Poker Points 100 (£1.00)
Today’s results;
7912454HNLB0.75GBPSkyPoker07/05/2013 14:30NL Hold'em £5 + £0.754/88£19.527911797HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker07/05/2013 13:45NL Hold'em £2 + £0.39/14-£1.557912624HNL 0.3GBPSkyPoker07/05/2013 13:00NL Hold'em £3 + £0.38/19-£3.3
great progress Gary
i'd settle for a graph like yours,right now. lol
very well played mate.
best wishes as always
dev
No is the answer to this question. The latest balance/closing balance shown does not include Rewards until they've actually been paid into my account.
Let's say on Day X I get to the point where I have £998.00 in my account and have accrued £3.00 in Rewards so far that month. Well, as far as I'm concerned I won't have finished, my balance is still £998, not £1,002.
This challenge will only be considered completed when I open my account and see £1K+ in cold hard cash ready to withdraw. Bring it on!
Hi Gary, Read the thread a lot but never comment. Great challenge. This shows what having talent, a level head and the motivation to beat the lower levels can do. IMO this thread should inspire any low stakes grinders and show the people who believe you can’t beat the lower levels what can be done with hard work. Great achievement so far and i have no doubt you will reach your target sooner rather than later.
You have probably been asked this before but you say in the above post that you will be withdrawing the final total. Will you not consider grinding that total up and taking on the bigger buy ins? You obviously have the talent and mentality to make a real go of it.
Whatever you decide, Gl in the future
I also agree about the new rewards format, having started laying only micro stakes this month, I'm pretty sure I'd have seen no C4P under the old scheme, but should be able to grind out at least a little from the new one, a great change for low stakes players IMO.
Good luck with the rest of the challenge
Closing Balance £290.07
Down 75p today
There was a disappointingly high number of bingo play at my tables in the morning £3.30 BHs today, a shame because you usually get a proper game in these. I survived the madness to make the late stages in the 9-45, however my back was against the wall after I lost my first big flip of the game with 99<KQo button v BB on the bubble. My exit came in 9/87 when my K4 was unable to hold against JT on a KQ6 flop, blind v blind.
In the 10-45 I was busted in only the third hand by a player who was going aipf every hand with any two cards, my pocket JJ couldn’t hold up against his K5. I was his third head-prize in three hands........crazy stuff!
In a small lunchtime £2.20 Rebuy I got second place for £10.50. It was a fun game at a friendly table, but I still managed to lose 50p having invested £11.00. In a rare slip I’d broken my 40 buy-in rule by taking three rebuys and the add-on, a mistake I’ll make sure I avoid in future.
In a £2.30 BH I made final table with the chip lead only to lose most of it to the guy in second place when my flopped nut-flush was coolered by his flopped second nut-flush. As the pre-flop raiser with my two overcards and the NFD I put him to a decision for his stack, unfortunately for me he held one of few combos I fear. I’m in it to win it so I have no regrets about my failure to cash. When he folds I win a big pot and extend my lead, when he calls and loses I have his head and >50% of the chips in play.
I got donked by a guy who calls preflop shoves with 83 in my only HU match.
My Poker Points balance has risen to 1,018 due to points earned during play. I can now therefore claim to have turned 1,000 Poker Points into 1,018 Poker Points and £290. That doesn’t sound too bad!
May Poker Points 120 (£1.20)
Today’s results;
7917796HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker08/05/2013 17:30NL Hold'em £1 + £0.052/2-£1.057915066HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker08/05/2013 13:45NL Hold'em £2 + £0.36/22-£1.557915970HNLR0.2GBPSkyPoker08/05/2013 12:00NL Hold'em £2R + £0.22/8£0.507914790HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker08/05/2013 10:45NL Hold'em £3 + £0.383/85-£3.37914502HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker08/05/2013 09:45NL Hold'em £3 + £0.39/87£5.65
Bingo Hunter. This is the third hand of a £3.30 tournament, the villain is going all-in pre-flop with any two cards every hand. I become his third victim in three hands. He got lucky this time but he’ll lose a lot of money in the long run playing like this.
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalance* Small blind 10.00 10.00 5990.00 scorpio006 Big blind 20.00 30.00 2050.00 Your hole cards J J grump Fold FunkyN Call 20.00 50.00 1950.00 GaryQQQ Raise 100.00 150.00 1870.00 * All-in 5990.00 6140.00 0.00 scorpio006 Fold FunkyN Fold GaryQQQ All-in 1870.00 8010.00 0.00 * Unmatched bet 4030.00 3980.00 4030.00 * Show K 5 GaryQQQ Show J J Flop K 4 8 Turn 4 River 9 * Win Two Pairs, Kings and 4s 3980.00 8010.00
After being gifted a free flop I extract maximum value with my full house in the 10-45.
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalance* Small blind 75.00 75.00 6750.00 GaryQQQ Big blind 150.00 225.00 2587.50 Your hole cards 9 7 DADDYSTU Fold SUPERSNEDD Fold BigCes Fold * Call 75.00 300.00 6675.00 GaryQQQ Check Flop 7 7 3 * Check GaryQQQ Check Turn J * Bet 150.00 450.00 6525.00 GaryQQQ Call 150.00 600.00 2437.50 River 9 *Bet 150.00 750.00 6375.00 GaryQQQ All-in 2437.50 3187.50 0.00 * Call 2287.50 5475.00 4087.50 * Show 9 J GaryQQQ Show 9 7 GaryQQQ Win Full House, 7s and 9s 5475.00 5475.
I'm not going to actually withdraw the whole £1K if/when I get there. I'll probably take off £500 and leave the rest on the site as my working bankroll.
Due to my work hours and other commitments I only have a fairly narrow late/morning early afternoon window in which I can enter MTTs. Only two games above £5.75 kick-off during that time; an £11 and a £22 Bounty Hunter. I fully intend to play in the £11 game when I'm sufficiently rolled (balance above £440 for 40 buy-ins). I've played in it many times before, profitably including at least one win. The £22 game is less appealing, it only runs with a small field and goes off a bit late for me.
Anything bigger than that runs in the evening when I'm asleep, a situation I'm perfectly happy with. Unlike many others on this forum I don't have aspirations to move up to bigger games for bigger stakes. I'm just a recreational player having fun at a time that suits me. I enjoy in playing poker tournaments, it's a hobby, having made money while doing so is just the icing on the cake as far as I'm concerned. I'd still be there if I was merely breaking even. Team Sky Poker, Super Rollers, UKOPS, etc; high profile games like those have no appeal to me, I'll leave them for others to fight out.
My question about rewards was asking whether you'll actualy include them as part of your challenge or withdraw them to leave it purely on money won. You've already answered that one.
Great stuff, keep it going and us updated.
Didn’t play
Day 128
Closing Balance £284.93
Down £5.14 today
No joy from 3 MTTs today. First up today was the 10-45 £3.30 Bounty Hunter. After a day off poker I wasn’t too pleased to find myself sat at a ridiculous bingo table (see below). I took one head in the pre-flop shovefest but didn’t pick up enough cards to run deep.
In a couple of lunchtime £5.75s there was proper poker being played at times but I didn’t get the cards to take me past the calling stations. I won a couple of HU STTs to claw back a little.
May Poker Points 143 (£1.43)
Today’s results;
7924658HNLHU0.1GBPSkyPoker10/05/2013 14:22NL Hold'em £2 + £0.11/2£1.97922656HNLB0.75GBPSkyPoker10/05/2013 13:30NL Hold'em £5 + £0.7545/71-£5.757924542HNLHU0.25GBPSkyPoker10/05/2013 13:15NL Hold'em £5 + £0.251/2£4.757922300HNLB0.75GBPSkyPoker10/05/2013 12:30NL Hold'em £5 + £0.7549/79-£3.877922378HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker10/05/2013 10:45NL Hold'em £3 + £0.330/89-£2.17
Bounty Hunter madness. When all 5 opponents at my table went all-in preflop I expected to see at least a couple of monster hands.........wrong!
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalance Small blind 15.00 15.00 60.00 Big blind 30.00 45.00 1625.00 Your hole cards 10 Q Raise 60.00 105.00 2130.00 All-in 595.00 700.00 0.00 GaryQQQ Fold Call 595.00 1295.00 5160.00 All-in 60.00 1355.00 0.00 Call 565.00 1920.00 1060.00 All-in 2130.00 4050.00 0.00 Call 1595.00 5645.00 3565.00 All-in 1060.00 6705.00 0.00 Show A 3 Show J 8 Show A 6 Show 4 J Show 10 3 Flop 2 4 3 Turn 9 River 9 Win Flush to the Jack 5635.00 5635.00 Win Flush to the 9 1070.00 1070.00