All I had time for today were the two morning £3.30 Bounty Hunters. I went fairly deep in both, but not deep enough for a decent score.
My best chance came in the 9-45am. I ran well to get to the late stages taking 5 head-prizes on the way including a big flip win with Aks />QQ aipf. However after a taking a hit when my pocket AA came second best to J8 in a huge 3-way pot a few spots from the money (I was pretty much dead on the 9TQ flop) I was always strugging. Despite fighting hard I couldn't find a way back into contention and left with only a min-cash.
In the 10-45am I spent most of my time bumping along near the bottom of the field, devoid of good hole-cards and missing flops. A few spots from the money a flopped set of fours won me a full double and a workable stack. Soon after that I took on KTo with my AJ aipf for my first head-prize an above average stack, but that particular key pot didn't come my way. I went out first hand after the bubble when I jammed 8.5BB with A9 into the blinds. I was happy when the SB called with A3, not so happy when the BB also called. His/her pocket TT held-up.
Weekend Bingo Hunter fun. The good old cold 4-bet shove with A3o comes out in level 1.
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalances Small blind 10.00 10.00 1610.00 GaryQQQ Big blind 20.00 30.00 3835.00 Your hole cards 6 2 RogueCell Fold ecakapug11 Fold B Raise 80.00 110.00 1260.00 i Raise 260.00 370.00 675.00 s All-in 1610.00 1980.00 0.00 GaryQQQ Fold B All-in 1260.00 3240.00 0.00 i All-in 675.00 3915.00 0.00 sUnmatched bet 280.00 3635.00 280.00 s Show A 3 BShow 10 10 i Show A J Flop 2 A K Turn Q River 5 B Win Flush to the Ace 3635.00 3635.00
My internet connection was playing up today. I was suffering lag and timing out so I kept my MTT buy-ins low in case I became fully disconnected.
As it was it stayed playable and I ended up having two near misses from three tournaments entered, plus a load of fun at some friendly tables.
In the 9-45am Bounty Hunter I made final table, admittedly helped by a TT /> QQ aipf suck-out close to the bubble with my tournament life on the line. My downfall came when a very loose/aggressive player on a short-stack open shoved with five left. I held pocket 66 and re-shoved hoping to isolate him. My hand suddenly didn't look so good when the BB, who I also had covered, but only just, stuck his stack in too. When the cards were flipped over I was in much better shape than I expected; my pair in with a good chance against their QJ and KJ. As well as two pay jumps and two decent head-prizes the huge pot was worth a substantial chiplead with three left. However it wasn't to be, a jack landed on the flop and and that was that.
In the afternoon £2.20 Deepie on the final table bubble I 3-bet shoved AJ from the BB over an aggressive opener on the button. He called with KQ and got there. Had I won the pot I'd have gone into the final table with a good chip lead. I didn't win it and was left on fumes.
HU STTs didn't got too well; I lost two out of three. Didn't fare too well in standard all-in spots.
Last game was an £11 DYM. I selected a soft table, though it turned out to be a tough battle. The other players were very aggressive from the start so I kept it uber-tight hoping they'd bust each other. However the shortest stacks kept winning the all-ins and we got to 150/300 with all six still alive, by then I'd had to join the fray to avoid blinding out. After two eventually busted the bubble seemed to on for ages. All four of us were shoving wide and calling tight, all taking turns as both the short stack and chipleader. At one point I sucked out on the river to double with KQ /> QQ aipf. My shove was good regardless of results with blinds at 300/600, average stack 5BB. Eventually and all-in and call between two other players settled the matter and I cashed.
I finish slightly up on the day and with my account on a new highest balance, happy times
My home internet connection was playing up today. I was suffering lag and timing out so I kept my MTT buy-ins low in case I became fully disconnected.
As it was it stayed playable and I ended up having two near misses from three tournaments entered, plus a load of fun at some friendly tables.
In the 9-45am Bounty Hunter I made final table, admittedly helped by a TT /> QQ aipf suck-out close to the bubble with my tournament life on the line. My downfall came when a very loose/aggressive player on a short-stack open shoved with five left. I held pocket 66 and re-shoved hoping to isolate him. My hand suddenly didn't look so good when the BB, who I also had covered, but only just, stuck his stack in too. When the cards were flipped over I was in much better shape than I expected; my pair in with a good chance against their QJ and KJ. As well as two pay jumps and two decent head-prizes the huge pot was worth a substantial chiplead with three left. However it wasn't to be, a jack landed on the flop and and that was that.
In the afternoon £2.20 Deepie on the final table bubble I 3-bet shoved AJ from the BB over an aggressive opener on the button. He called with KQo and got there. Had I won the pot I'd have gone into the final table with a good chip lead. I didn't and was left on fumes.
HU STTs could have gone better; I lost two out of three. Didn't run too well in standard all-in spots.
Last game was an £11.00 DYM. I selected a soft table, though it turned out to be a tough battle. The other players were very aggressive from the start so I kept it uber-tight hoping they'd knock each other out. However the shortest stacks kept winning the all-ins and we got to 150/300 with all six still alive, by then I'd been forced to join the fray or I'd have blinded out. After two eventually busted the bubble seemed to on forever. All four of us were shoving wide and calling tight, each of us having stints as both the short stack and the chipleader. At one point I sucked out on the river to double with KQ /> QQ aipf. My shove was correct regardless of results with blinds at 300/600 and the average stack only 5BB. Eventually an all-in and call between two other players settled the matter and I was relieved to cash.
So I finish slightly up on the day and with my account on a new highest balance. Happy times.
Day 310 Closing Balance £882.12 Up £6.03 today My home internet connection was playing up today. I was suffering lag and timing out so I kept my MTT buy-ins low in case I became fully disconnected. As it was it stayed playable and I ended up having two near misses from three tournaments entered, plus a load of fun at some friendly tables. In the 9-45am Bounty Hunter I made final table, admittedly helped by a TT /> QQ aipf suck-out close to the bubble with my tournament life on the line. My downfall came when a very loose/aggressive player on a short-stack open shoved with five left. I held pocket 66 and re-shoved hoping to isolate him. My hand suddenly didn't look so good when the BB, who I also had covered, but only just, stuck his stack in too. When the cards were flipped over I was in much better shape than I expected; my pair in with a good chance against their QJ and KJ. As well as two pay jumps and two decent head-prizes the huge pot was worth a substantial chiplead with three left. However it wasn't to be, a jack landed on the flop and and that was that. In the afternoon £2.20 Deepie on the final table bubble I 3-bet shoved AJ from the BB over an aggressive opener on the button. He called with KQo and got there. Had I won the pot I'd have gone into the final table with a good chip lead. I didn't and was left on fumes. HU STTs could have gone better; I lost two out of three. Didn't run too well in standard all-in spots. Last game was an £11.00 DYM. I selected a soft table, though it turned out to be a tough battle. The other players were very aggressive from the start so I kept it uber-tight hoping they'd knock each other out. However the shortest stacks kept winning the all-ins and we got to 150/300 with all six still alive, by then I'd been forced to join the fray or I'd have blinded out. After two eventually busted the bubble seemed to on forever. All four of us were shoving wide and calling tight, each of us having stints as both the short stack and the chipleader. At one point I sucked out on the river to double with KQ /> QQ aipf. My shove was correct regardless of results with blinds at 300/600 and the average stack only 5BB. Eventually an all-in and call between two other players settled the matter and I was relieved to cash. So I finish slightly up on the day and with my account on a new highest balance. Happy times. November Poker Points 272 (£2.72) Today’s results; 8560505 H NL 6MX,DN Double Your Money 1.0 GBP SkyPoker 11/11/2013 17:38 NL £10 + £1 1/6 £9 8560293 H NL ST,HU Heads-Up (Hyper) 0.15 GBP SkyPoker 11/11/2013 15:26 NL £3 + £0.15 1/2 £2.85 8560291 H NL ST,HU Heads-Up (Hyper) 0.25 GBP SkyPoker 11/11/2013 15:18 NL £5 + £0.25 2/2 -£5.25 8560255 H NL ST,HU Heads-Up (Hyper) 0.15 GBP SkyPoker 11/11/2013 15:00 NL £3 + £0.15 2/2 -£3.15 8558656 H NL Deep Stack 0.2 GBP SkyPoker 11/11/2013 14:20 NL £2 + £0.2 7/22 -£2.2 8558195 H NL B £150 Bounty Hunter 0.3 GBP SkyPoker 11/11/2013 10:45 NL £3 + £0.3 15/77 -£3.3 8557901 H NL B £150 Bounty Hunter 0.3 GBP SkyPoker 11/11/2013 09:45 NL £3 + £0.3 4/82 £8.08 If only The monster 3-way all-in pot at the final table of the 9-45am Bounty Hunter. Player Action Cards Amount Pot Balance gogsie52 Small blind 800.00 800.00 32890.00 B Big blind 1600.00 2400.00 36512.50 Your hole cards 6 6 bigbob57 Fold W All-in 11707.50 14107.50 0.00 GaryQQQ All-in 40140.00 54247.50 0.00 gogsie52 Fold B All-in 36512.50 90760.00 0.00 GaryQQQ Unmatched bet 2027.50 88732.50 2027.50 B Show J K W Show Q J GaryQQQ Show 6 6 Flop J A A Turn 3 River 9 B Win Two Pairs, Aces and Jacks 88732.50 88732.50 If Carlsberg did flops lol. £5.25 HU STT fun. It's a shame the turn wasn't Kc! Player Action Cards Amount Pot Balance GaryQQQ Small blind 20.00 20.00 670.00 * Big blind 40.00 60.00 270.00 Your hole cards Q A GaryQQQ All-in 670.00 730.00 0.00 * All-in 270.00 1000.00 0.00 GaryQQQ Unmatched bet 380.00 620.00 380.00 GaryQQQ Show Q A * Show 7 8 Flop J 10 9 Turn K River Q * Win Straight Flush to the Queen 620.00 620.00 Easy hero call with jack-high on the final table bubble in the 9-45am. The villain is an aggressive, tricky opponent, well-known on this forum and an MTT shark. I rarely see him in my games these days. With his image there's no way he gets to the river holding either a ace or a king without betting so I rule them out of his range, if he holds a queen then fair enough. Player Action Cards Amount Pot Balance * Small blind 400.00 400.00 26567.50 GaryQQQ Big blind 800.00 1200.00 14970.00 Your hole cards 9 J punky112 Fold gogsie52 Fold * Raise 1200.00 2400.00 25367.50 GaryQQQ Call 800.00 3200.00 14170.00 Flop K A 5 * Check GaryQQQ Check Turn A * Check GaryQQQ Check River K * Bet 2400.00 5600.00 22967.50 GaryQQQ Call 2400.00 8000.00 11770.00 * Show 6 6 GaryQQQ Show 9 J GaryQQQ Win Two Pairs, Aces and Kings 8000.00 19770.00 Posted by GaryQQQ
Bit harsh gary I was a right nit!! :P Going very well here, always a good read this, your almost there keep it going
In Response to Re: 1,000 Poker Points ----- /> £1,000 Can it be done? Latest balance £888.15 : Bit harsh gary I was a right nit!! :P Going very well here, always a good read this, your almost there keep it going Posted by Wacko90
Haha, I didn't realise you read this so wasn't expecting you to out yourself.
Thanks for the support, I enjoyed having you at my table even though it made life far difficult than usual. Undoubtedly it would have been **** for me if the seats were reversed and you had postion
Nice going m8 Must be nice to bink one when you,ve just hit your highest balance I don,t wan to sound to preumptious but have you any ideas of what your next challenge will be? This will certainly take some beating P Posted by MP33
Thanks Paul. I have no other challenges planned for now. I'm looking forward to a break from them when this one is completed.
If I were starting this one now it would be much easier, I'd try to do it from zero money and zero points and enter the daily £500 Free Cash Freeroll every day to get things going. Back in January the hold 'em freerolls cost 25 points each to enter with a £50 prizepool, so I only had enough points for 40 attempts and was up against opponents taking rebuys and add-ons.
The target still feels a long way off to me, I'm just ignoring it and just do my best in the games I enter tournament by tournament. I suppose somewhere in the back of my mind I'm aware I'm just one decent £5.75 or £11 Bounty Hunter bink away from the finish line but I try not to think about that. It'll come when it comes.
Good going Gary. Variance is a bitc* so enjoy the good times Posted by Donttelmum
Thanks.
You're absolutely right and I'm well aware of it. I've been very fortunate to enjoy rapid growth over the last month or so.
Who knows what'll happen next; this thing might be wrapped up in the next few days if variance is kind. If it's not I could easily have less cash at Christmas than I have now. Time will tell
First game for me today was the 10-45am £3.30 Bounty Hunter. I was drawn at a wild table with several players who just wanted to gamble for stacks. There were multiple pre-flop all-in shoves right from the start. As early as level 1 I saw J5s win a 3-way pre-flop all-in hand to bust two other players and win a 250BB pot, both of them were light too. I survived an hour before leaving empty-handed. Getting uncomfortably low I got my stack in with Aqs on the button but managed to run into AK in the blinds, based on previous hands the villain probably would have called with any ace.
Scanning the lobby I could see the next Bounty Hunters due to run were a £5.25 Speed game or a £22 game with the standard structure, both starting at midday. I'm not too keen on the speed games as skill edges get blunted. Also the rake is more expensive at 15%. So decided to enter the £22 game. This was the first (and last) MTT I've bought into for more than £11 during this challenge. With £885 in my account at the time I just about had enough to register without breaking my 40 buy-in rule.
To cut a long story short it went like a dream. I was already chipleader with 3K chips after only two hands. Then I stayed there almost continously all the way to the end.
In the early stages I picked up premium hands several times; AA twice (no action), KK twice (no action), AK several times (tons of action, AK was my friend today). My first head came when based on my notes I three-bet over-shoved AKs over a very loose opener who also likes to gamble light for stacks. My play was questioned by others in the chatbox, admittedly it was high variance, but my read paid off when the villain called-off with AQo. I had more than double his stack, so had I lost a flip or been sucked-out on it wasn't the end of the world. My second head followed when my 88 clashed with AK on an 28K two-tone flop. Stacks went in on the turn with the villain drawing dead.
It carried on pretty much like that through the mid-stages. I continued to pick up more than my fair share of strong hole-cards and was connecting well with flops far more often than usual and managing to cooler my opponents. I knew a win would finish this thing, but I kept that and the higher than usual buy-in out of my mind and just played my cards to the best of my ability.
At final table I went card-dead and tightened up for quite a while. I stayed in front through this period, though my lead decreased and a couple of stacks weren't far behind come the bubble.
Then I went on another heater and took out the last three opponents. First I burst the bubble (three spots paid) when I raised Q9s on the button. The 5BB shortie shoved from the SB with pocket 22, I was never folding to him and managed to win the flip with a rivered straight. For a while I lost chips during three-handed play and fell to second place temporarily due a strong player to my direct left playing very well and putting me in awkward spots. I opened a decent gap at the top again when I induced then snapped off his river bluff with my turned second pair. Soon after he was unlucky to bust in third. After defending my BB with a suited king I check/shoved on the flop with my second-nut flush draw and an overcard to the flop. I'd run into the top end of his range, top pair with top kicker, however I had a ton of equity and caught one of my 12(?) outs to bust him.
After a short heads-up battle victory was mine when my short opponent failed to convince me my top pair was no good when bluffing at the river with a load of busted draws on the board.
I've gotta be honest here; the £22 Bounty Hunter today totally had my name on it. I ran like a dream all the way through, coolering people from beginning to end. It would have been very hard not to win no matter how I played my cards, I probably would have won it even if I was blindfolded. I don't remember card-racking so much in any other tournament during this entire challenge.
So that's it, it's all over. I've answered the question in the OP with a resounding 'yes'. Sure, there were highs and lows on the way. But looking at the bigger picture I can be nothing but absolutely thrilled with how this challenge has gone.
I'll return to make another post later today or tomorrow with my final thoughts, plus some facts and figures that will show how it was done.
November Poker Points 297 (£2.97)
Today’sresults;
8561471HNLB£400 Bounty Hunter2.0GBPSkyPoker12/11/2013 12:00NL Hold'em£20 + £21/26£2048561708HNLB£150 Bounty Hunter0.3GBPSkyPoker12/11/2013 10:45NL Hold'em£3 + £0.340/92-£3.3 How it all ended, a screen recording of the final 5 minutes of the £22 Bounty Hunter, see how I luckboxed my way to victory;
But in all seriousness... most ambitious challenge (that ive seen) on the forum... completed. It took 11 months but its some achievement - one to be very proud of.
It just shows you what you can achieve with dedication, a lot of hard work, and a little luck along the way. You should be very proud of your achievement... now don't go and blow it all at once!
Comments
Closing Balance £882.12
Up £8.34 today
All I had time for today were the two morning £3.30 Bounty Hunters. I went fairly deep in both, but not deep enough for a decent score.
My best chance came in the 9-45am. I ran well to get to the late stages taking 5 head-prizes on the way including a big flip win with Aks />QQ aipf. However after a taking a hit when my pocket AA came second best to J8 in a huge 3-way pot a few spots from the money (I was pretty much dead on the 9TQ flop) I was always strugging. Despite fighting hard I couldn't find a way back into contention and left with only a min-cash.
In the 10-45am I spent most of my time bumping along near the bottom of the field, devoid of good hole-cards and missing flops. A few spots from the money a flopped set of fours won me a full double and a workable stack. Soon after that I took on KTo with my AJ aipf for my first head-prize an above average stack, but that particular key pot didn't come my way. I went out first hand after the bubble when I jammed 8.5BB with A9 into the blinds. I was happy when the SB called with A3, not so happy when the BB also called. His/her pocket TT held-up.
November Poker Points 24 (£2.49)
Today’s results;
8554506 H NL B £150 Bounty Hunter 0.3 GBP SkyPoker 10/11/2013 10:45 NL Hold'em £3 + £0.3 12/106 £0.6 8554213 H NL B £150 Bounty Hunter 0.3 GBP SkyPoker 10/11/2013 09:45 NL Hold'em £3 + £0.3 10/85 £7.74Weekend Bingo Hunter fun. The good old cold 4-bet shove with A3o comes out in level 1.
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalances Small blind 10.00 10.00 1610.00 GaryQQQ Big blind 20.00 30.00 3835.00 Your hole cards 6 2 RogueCell Fold ecakapug11 Fold B Raise 80.00 110.00 1260.00 i Raise 260.00 370.00 675.00 s All-in 1610.00 1980.00 0.00 GaryQQQ Fold B All-in 1260.00 3240.00 0.00 i All-in 675.00 3915.00 0.00 sUnmatched bet 280.00 3635.00 280.00 s Show A 3 BShow 10 10 i Show A J Flop 2 A K Turn Q River 5 B Win Flush to the Ace 3635.00 3635.00
Closing Balance £882.12
Up £6.03 today
My internet connection was playing up today. I was suffering lag and timing out so I kept my MTT buy-ins low in case I became fully disconnected.
As it was it stayed playable and I ended up having two near misses from three tournaments entered, plus a load of fun at some friendly tables.
In the 9-45am Bounty Hunter I made final table, admittedly helped by a TT /> QQ aipf suck-out close to the bubble with my tournament life on the line. My downfall came when a very loose/aggressive player on a short-stack open shoved with five left. I held pocket 66 and re-shoved hoping to isolate him. My hand suddenly didn't look so good when the BB, who I also had covered, but only just, stuck his stack in too. When the cards were flipped over I was in much better shape than I expected; my pair in with a good chance against their QJ and KJ. As well as two pay jumps and two decent head-prizes the huge pot was worth a substantial chiplead with three left. However it wasn't to be, a jack landed on the flop and and that was that.
In the afternoon £2.20 Deepie on the final table bubble I 3-bet shoved AJ from the BB over an aggressive opener on the button. He called with KQ and got there. Had I won the pot I'd have gone into the final table with a good chip lead. I didn't win it and was left on fumes.
HU STTs didn't got too well; I lost two out of three. Didn't fare too well in standard all-in spots.
Last game was an £11 DYM. I selected a soft table, though it turned out to be a tough battle. The other players were very aggressive from the start so I kept it uber-tight hoping they'd bust each other. However the shortest stacks kept winning the all-ins and we got to 150/300 with all six still alive, by then I'd had to join the fray to avoid blinding out. After two eventually busted the bubble seemed to on for ages. All four of us were shoving wide and calling tight, all taking turns as both the short stack and chipleader. At one point I sucked out on the river to double with KQ /> QQ aipf. My shove was good regardless of results with blinds at 300/600, average stack 5BB. Eventually and all-in and call between two other players settled the matter and I cashed.
I finish slightly up on the day and with my account on a new highest balance, happy times
November Poker Points 272 (£2.72)
Today’s results;
8560505 H NL 6MX,DN Double Your Money 1.0 GBP SkyPoker 11/11/2013 17:38 NL Hold'em £10 + £1 1/6 £9 8560293 H NL ST,HU Heads-Up (Hyper) 0.15 GBP SkyPoker 11/11/2013 15:26 NL Hold'em £3 + £0.15 1/2 £2.85 8560291 H NL ST,HU Heads-Up (Hyper) 0.25 GBP SkyPoker 11/11/2013 15:18 NL Hold'em £5 + £0.25 2/2 -£5.25 8560255 H NL ST,HU Heads-Up (Hyper) 0.15 GBP SkyPoker 11/11/2013 15:00 NL Hold'em£3 + £0.15 2/2 -£3.15 8558656 H NL Deep Stack 0.2 GBP SkyPoker 11/11/2013 14:20 NL Hold'em £2 + £0.2 7/22 -£2.2 8558195 H NL B £150 Bounty Hunter 0.3 GBP<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,Sans-Serif;line-height:20px;" class="EOP SCX6460902Closing Balance £882.12
Up £6.03 today
My home internet connection was playing up today. I was suffering lag and timing out so I kept my MTT buy-ins low in case I became fully disconnected.
As it was it stayed playable and I ended up having two near misses from three tournaments entered, plus a load of fun at some friendly tables.
In the 9-45am Bounty Hunter I made final table, admittedly helped by a TT /> QQ aipf suck-out close to the bubble with my tournament life on the line. My downfall came when a very loose/aggressive player on a short-stack open shoved with five left. I held pocket 66 and re-shoved hoping to isolate him. My hand suddenly didn't look so good when the BB, who I also had covered, but only just, stuck his stack in too. When the cards were flipped over I was in much better shape than I expected; my pair in with a good chance against their QJ and KJ. As well as two pay jumps and two decent head-prizes the huge pot was worth a substantial chiplead with three left. However it wasn't to be, a jack landed on the flop and and that was that.
In the afternoon £2.20 Deepie on the final table bubble I 3-bet shoved AJ from the BB over an aggressive opener on the button. He called with KQo and got there. Had I won the pot I'd have gone into the final table with a good chip lead. I didn't and was left on fumes.
HU STTs could have gone better; I lost two out of three. Didn't run too well in standard all-in spots.
Last game was an £11.00 DYM. I selected a soft table, though it turned out to be a tough battle. The other players were very aggressive from the start so I kept it uber-tight hoping they'd knock each other out. However the shortest stacks kept winning the all-ins and we got to 150/300 with all six still alive, by then I'd been forced to join the fray or I'd have blinded out. After two eventually busted the bubble seemed to on forever. All four of us were shoving wide and calling tight, each of us having stints as both the short stack and the chipleader. At one point I sucked out on the river to double with KQ /> QQ aipf. My shove was correct regardless of results with blinds at 300/600 and the average stack only 5BB. Eventually an all-in and call between two other players settled the matter and I was relieved to cash.
So I finish slightly up on the day and with my account on a new highest balance. Happy times.
November Poker Points 272 (£2.72)
Today’s results;
8560505 H NL 6MX,DN Double Your Money 1.0 GBP SkyPoker 11/11/2013 17:38 NL £10 + £1 1/6 £9 8560293 H NL ST,HU Heads-Up (Hyper) 0.15 GBP SkyPoker 11/11/2013 15:26 NL £3 + £0.15 1/2 £2.85 8560291 H NL ST,HU Heads-Up (Hyper) 0.25 GBP SkyPoker 11/11/2013 15:18 NL £5 + £0.25 2/2 -£5.25 8560255 H NL ST,HU Heads-Up (Hyper) 0.15 GBP SkyPoker 11/11/2013 15:00 NL £3 + £0.15 2/2 -£3.15 8558656 H NL Deep Stack 0.2 GBP SkyPoker 11/11/2013 14:20 NL £2 + £0.2 7/22 -£2.2 8558195 H NL B £150 Bounty Hunter 0.3 <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,Sans-Serif;line-height:20px
Thanks for the support, I enjoyed having you at my table even though it made life far difficult than usual. Undoubtedly it would have been **** for me if the seats were reversed and you had postion
If I were starting this one now it would be much easier, I'd try to do it from zero money and zero points and enter the daily £500 Free Cash Freeroll every day to get things going. Back in January the hold 'em freerolls cost 25 points each to enter with a £50 prizepool, so I only had enough points for 40 attempts and was up against opponents taking rebuys and add-ons.
The target still feels a long way off to me, I'm just ignoring it and just do my best in the games I enter tournament by tournament. I suppose somewhere in the back of my mind I'm aware I'm just one decent £5.75 or £11 Bounty Hunter bink away from the finish line but I try not to think about that. It'll come when it comes.
You're absolutely right and I'm well aware of it. I've been very fortunate to enjoy rapid growth over the last month or so.
Who knows what'll happen next; this thing might be wrapped up in the next few days if variance is kind. If it's not I could easily have less cash at Christmas than I have now. Time will tell
Congrats Gary!!!!!
Either that or he's finally done his tax return.
If the former is the case then can I say a massive well done Gary. A very very impressive feat indeed.
If the latter is the case... well this is certainly some sort of twisted rubdown and I blame Maxally entirely
Big news fo follow
Well done sir!
Closing Balance £1,089.01
Up £200.86 today
Challenge completed
Boom!!!!
First game for me today was the 10-45am £3.30 Bounty Hunter. I was drawn at a wild table with several players who just wanted to gamble for stacks. There were multiple pre-flop all-in shoves right from the start. As early as level 1 I saw J5s win a 3-way pre-flop all-in hand to bust two other players and win a 250BB pot, both of them were light too. I survived an hour before leaving empty-handed. Getting uncomfortably low I got my stack in with Aqs on the button but managed to run into AK in the blinds, based on previous hands the villain probably would have called with any ace.
Scanning the lobby I could see the next Bounty Hunters due to run were a £5.25 Speed game or a £22 game with the standard structure, both starting at midday. I'm not too keen on the speed games as skill edges get blunted. Also the rake is more expensive at 15%. So decided to enter the £22 game. This was the first (and last) MTT I've bought into for more than £11 during this challenge. With £885 in my account at the time I just about had enough to register without breaking my 40 buy-in rule.
To cut a long story short it went like a dream. I was already chipleader with 3K chips after only two hands. Then I stayed there almost continously all the way to the end.
In the early stages I picked up premium hands several times; AA twice (no action), KK twice (no action), AK several times (tons of action, AK was my friend today). My first head came when based on my notes I three-bet over-shoved AKs over a very loose opener who also likes to gamble light for stacks. My play was questioned by others in the chatbox, admittedly it was high variance, but my read paid off when the villain called-off with AQo. I had more than double his stack, so had I lost a flip or been sucked-out on it wasn't the end of the world. My second head followed when my 88 clashed with AK on an 28K two-tone flop. Stacks went in on the turn with the villain drawing dead.
It carried on pretty much like that through the mid-stages. I continued to pick up more than my fair share of strong hole-cards and was connecting well with flops far more often than usual and managing to cooler my opponents. I knew a win would finish this thing, but I kept that and the higher than usual buy-in out of my mind and just played my cards to the best of my ability.
At final table I went card-dead and tightened up for quite a while. I stayed in front through this period, though my lead decreased and a couple of stacks weren't far behind come the bubble.
Then I went on another heater and took out the last three opponents. First I burst the bubble (three spots paid) when I raised Q9s on the button. The 5BB shortie shoved from the SB with pocket 22, I was never folding to him and managed to win the flip with a rivered straight. For a while I lost chips during three-handed play and fell to second place temporarily due a strong player to my direct left playing very well and putting me in awkward spots. I opened a decent gap at the top again when I induced then snapped off his river bluff with my turned second pair. Soon after he was unlucky to bust in third. After defending my BB with a suited king I check/shoved on the flop with my second-nut flush draw and an overcard to the flop. I'd run into the top end of his range, top pair with top kicker, however I had a ton of equity and caught one of my 12(?) outs to bust him.
After a short heads-up battle victory was mine when my short opponent failed to convince me my top pair was no good when bluffing at the river with a load of busted draws on the board.
I've gotta be honest here; the £22 Bounty Hunter today totally had my name on it. I ran like a dream all the way through, coolering people from beginning to end. It would have been very hard not to win no matter how I played my cards, I probably would have won it even if I was blindfolded. I don't remember card-racking so much in any other tournament during this entire challenge.
So that's it, it's all over. I've answered the question in the OP with a resounding 'yes'. Sure, there were highs and lows on the way. But looking at the bigger picture I can be nothing but absolutely thrilled with how this challenge has gone.
I'll return to make another post later today or tomorrow with my final thoughts, plus some facts and figures that will show how it was done.
November Poker Points 297 (£2.97)
Today’s results;
8561471 H NL B £400 Bounty Hunter 2.0 GBP SkyPoker 12/11/2013 12:00 NL Hold'em £20 + £2 1/26 £204 8561708 H NL B £150 Bounty Hunter 0.3 GBP SkyPoker 12/11/2013 10:45 NL Hold'em £3 + £0.3 40/92 -£3.3How it all ended, a screen recording of the final 5 minutes of the £22 Bounty Hunter, see how I luckboxed my way to victory;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnD8mc1ae5k&feature=youtu.be
But in all seriousness... most ambitious challenge (that ive seen) on the forum... completed. It took 11 months but its some achievement - one to be very proud of.
Many congratulations.