Day 17 only one game...

Well I only played one game today... So I won't be spending a lot of time talking about the play of the day or anything like that. I will however briefly reflect on my play thus far. Maybe talk about some things I learned about my play. Also I have a busy weekend so not sure how much play I will get in but I will get in as much as I can.

Ok time to think about the challenge thus far. First of all it is hard to stay focused on something like this. I am learning so much about the importance of bankroll management here. I have watched friends go through hundreds of dollars of their roll, and some even thousands since I started my challenge. Eventhough I have taken a few shots at bigger games. My roll is just a little below when I started, and I have played over 100 games. What even opened my eyes even more is a player I know personally that has won over 180,000 online has no money in his account online. Hey cashed in the full tilt 400k for 15k and then a week later had no money to play in the biggest sunday million ever.

What have I learned about my play. I am slowly learning to be more disciplined I still make stupid moves like this morning I bubbled a game because I called a guys all in with AJ. The problem was next hand the guy in the BB would have been all in. I made a poor bubble decision and it cost me 6.00 which is huge when your playing a challenge like this. I am learning thouhg. I can see my play getting better. I can see myself making better decisions. I am beginning to notice when I am not in the right mindset to be playing more quickly then I used to.

Hopefully I will get in a few games each day this week but until then here are my numbers so far. Also expect a big post upcoming talking about some other blogs that I have discovered. I am also considering redesigning this blog so it can stand out more.


Day 17 - Games Played: 1, ITM %: 100%, 1st: 0, 2nd: 1, 3rd: 0, ROI%: 164%


Totals- Games played: 116/1000, ITM%:39.66%, 1st: 11, 2nd: 16, 3rd: 19, ROI%:7.25%

Day 16 0 for 4 ahhh....

Well as you can tell by the title yesterday was not a good day. First though I want to talk about the first game I played in yesterday. See I normally play 1 game in the morning when I wake up. Yesterday was no different. Just like everyother day I leave that game out of the days post win or lose. I want the time to reflect on the game before I write about it. Well the last week the morning game had been good to me I had placed in the last 6 games I played in the morning. I was getting quite used to this in fact. Then yesterday morning happened.

It all started like any other tournament I started looking everyones avatar. I do this becauseI want to see if anyone beats mine(hehe). I actually spent time making mine just for pokerstars. Anyways you see the normal clouds, bart simpson type avatars. Then I noticed for some reason a guy with Al Bundy on his avatar. His screen name was something like AllInBundy with a bunch of numbers trailing behind the name.

As soon as the first hand was dealt I looked down at AJo I was in late position, but my mind was made up for me when mister "AllInBundy" well went ALL IN. THe table folded quicker then anything I have seen. After it was all folded he showed his monsterous 86o. Then we went on to the next hand where again it seemed before I even glanced at my cards his chips were all stacked up in the center of the table. This time someone called. I watch the callers cards flip over and I see KK bundy flips over QJh the flop 8910. Then it happened the chat box seemingly exploded when this guy typed a Victory cry. "BUNDY!!!!"

The first unfortunate victim exploded in a emotionally charged tyrade of expletives. I wish I could tel lyou what he said but I could see were the asterics that where saving the table from this vulgar language.

I looked on and shook my head thinking how many times in the past I had done the same thing when someone sucked out on me. I feel I have grown up and no longer do this however I understand why this guy wanted to push all in bundy in front of a bus.

I am not telling you this story because of the second hand. I am telling you this because nearly every hand "AllInBundy" was indeed all in. I cant imagine what he had when he folded since I watched him call with every hand imaginable. not really but 45 hands into I had folded some decent hands as I watched everyone who tried to stand up to him get knocked off the table, and each time We would see "BUNDY!!!" come across the chat box. I can honestly say I hav enever seen anything like it. With 5 people left and 4 of us sitting at around 900-1000 in chips and "AllinBundy" sitting at 11,000 I decided to make a stand with QQ I push all in, he calls which with his massive stack could actually be correct with any two cards at this point. he flips over K7. He ended up with two pair. I tried for the life of me but I did not close the window in time so the last thing I see come across the screen was "bundy!!!".

Anyways I played three games last night. The first one I played well but went out on the bubble when my QQ got beat by JJ. After that I just played poorly so I stopped after three games in a row. GG me...


Day 15 - Games Played: 4, ITM %: 0%, 1st: 0, 2nd: 0, 3rd: 0, ROI%:-100%


Totals- Games played: 115/1000, ITM%:39.13%, 1st: 11, 2nd: 15, 3rd: 19, ROI%:5.88%

Day 15 Ended the day strong...

Well I usually get up in the morning and fit one SnG in before I go to work yesterday was no different. I played one and finished 2nd. I got home lost a few in a row. Got third in one and ended up ahead for the day :) My play is getting better I am sucking out on people a far less percentage of the time then they are sucking out on me. I think this is a sign that I am playing better. My ROI still is not near where I want it to be but at the same time I suffer a huge downswing at the beginning of this so I hope to improve my ROI during the second hundred games. I think if I had an apparatus that shocked me every time I said "I know I should not do this but" I would be a a much larger winning player. The other thing I need to avoid is playing the bigger games with my winnings. The last three days if I have played and not cashed 3 6.50 games that hurts the challenge because even though I am up My roll is about the same as it started. I just keep thinking if I win one of the 6.50 that will give me a decent boost for the challenge. Also, I very badly want to take down a 4.40 180 man this would set my roll up for success.

Sigh well hopefully this weekend I will have time to play a 180 man tourney...

Well here are day 15's numbers...


Day 15 - Games Played: 7, ITM %: 57.00%, 1st: 1, 2nd: 1, 3rd: 2, ROI%: 51.26%


Totals- Games played: 111/1000, ITM%:40.54%, 1st: 11, 2nd: 15, 3rd: 19, ROI%:9.7%

Day 14 100 games and counting...

Well I hit the 100 game mark. It was way more anticlimatic then I thought it would be. I mean I di dnot expect trumpets blasting or anything but I thought I would feel a bit of accomplishment.

Anyway yesterday was not the best of days but it was not the worst either. I ended the day right about where I started money wise. What kills me is I just forget how to profitably play an SnG for 3 or for in a row. It seems the more I bubble the worst I do trying to make up for bubbling the last one.

My play recently has been better. I keep telling myself a better player gets sucked out on more then a losing player. My QQ, and KK take the brunt of these beats when they end up against Ax. However I have been pushing medium connectors at the bubble with huge success. I am usually called with Ax so I have 1 over card. and normally am not dominated. I will pass up pushing with A9, but push on the bubble with 910, 10J.

The one ting that has contributed to me cashing more is my calling range. I have tightened it up considerably.

Here are the numbers form yesterday.


Day 14 - Games Played: 10, ITM %: 40.00%, 1st: 1, 2nd: , 3rd:
, ROI%: -2.94%


Totals- Games played: 104/1000, ITM%:39.42%, 1st: 10, 2nd: 14, 3rd: 17, ROI%:6.9%

Day 12 and 13 a few failed shots

Well I got a little adventurous this weekend and decided to try a couple of 6.50 18 man SnG's. I felt I could really do well. However 8 hands into the third one I get all in with QQ when no overs hit the flop AK calls hits a K on the turn gg me.

I felt kinda robbed by that one so I immediately opended up the next one. I pick up KK I get all in pre-flop versus A8 sooted an A hits the flop so it was quick and painless gg me.

Those two games where enogh excitement for me for awhile. I am approaching 100 games in my challenge. I shoud actually hit it to day.

Without further hesitation here are the numbers from the last two days.


Day 12 - Games Played: 5, ITM %: 40.00%, 1st: 1, 2nd: 1, 3rd: 0, ROI%: 41.18%


Day 13 - Games Played: 3, ITM %: 66.67%, 1st: 1, 2nd: 0, 3rd: 1, ROI%: 105.88%


Totals- Games played: 94/1000, ITM%:39.36%, 1st: 9, 2nd: 14, 3rd: 14, ROI%:7.95%

Day 10 and 11... Holiday weekend

Well it is a four day weekend for us military folk so my updates will probably be quick. I will post numbers and then reflect on the play of this weekend on Tuesday. Have not played a lot of games this weekend. Yesterday I took a short reprieve from my challenge and played a 180 man tourney. I also played a 6.50 18 man. I cashed in both but that was it barely cashed. In the 180 man I was 2nd in chips and went all in with the chip leader holding KK he had AA and I packed my bags in 17th. In the 18 man I made a loose push with 66 right when the bubble broke hoping no one had adjusted yet. I got called by the chipleader who held AA again. gg me. At least I cashed both times.

I have a big live tourney tomorrow during the day something like 150 ppl with a 40 dollar buy in. The structure kinda sucks but I will do my best.

So here are the numbers so far.


Day 10 - Games Played: 8, ITM %: 50.00%, 1st: 1, 2nd: 2, 3rd: 1, ROI%: 43.88%


Day 11 - Games Played: 4, ITM %: 25.00%, 1st: 0, 2nd: 1, 3rd: 0, ROI%: -33.33%


Totals- Games played: 86/1000, ITM%:38.37%, 1st: 7, 2nd: 13, 3rd: 13, ROI%:+2.6%

Day 9 Pulling myself over the edge

Wow its only been nine days since I began this challenge. Unbelievable I started this challenge because I felt personally I did not respect my bankroll regardless of how small it was or is. I began this to teach myself how important a $3 tourney can be. I think I finally learned the first couple days of my challenge I would play other games as well, and I watched my precious money sink to an uncomfortable level even for the 3 dollar tourneys.

Now fast forward 9 days and 74 games later. After a few adjustments I am on a decent upswing. I have actually climbed out of the red and barely into the green. I am actually quite happy even with minute profit. 3 days ago I felt I hit rock bottom in my challenge and then as I lost two more games I felt like someone threw me a shovel. I think Mene Gene said it best

I handled this tough stretch with my usual aplomb—breaking everything of value within arms reach; rocking on the floor while curled up in the fetal position;

I took a break not long but still a break. I cleared my head. I knew I was better then these guys at this level. The fact none of my cards held up did not help me. However, the more beats I took the less and less I was able to shrug them off. Tilt is a horrible thing especially when you don't even see that its happening. After watching some of the horrible plays I was making over the course of 4 losing days. I realized I was playing no better then the other players at this level. I knew how to play better I just wasn't doing it.

I started playing the game I knew how to play. Although my cards aren't always holding up. For example my KK got beat by A4s and I lost all but 800 of my chips. This was at the bubble. I think the guy felt bad or something because next hand I wa sin the big blind and he was the small. It was only 600 more to put me all in with any two cards. He had about 4,500. He let me walk and I had 1k in chips. I push the with A9o which is plenty good for a man in my position. guy folds and I know have like 1500 I waited three hands passing up on 33, when KQs came by I could not let it go. I doubled up when his two pair completed my broadway str8.

Now why did I put through the above mess. Was prior during my losing streak I would have said FUCK IT!!! My cards wont hold up anyway and went all in even after hitting 1500 trying to get back to where I was. I am doing better at controlling my emotions and it it showing in my play.

Here are the numbers (please notice they are both green now!!!).


Day 9 - Games Played: 4, ITM %: 100.00%, 1st: 0, 2nd: 2, 3rd: 2, ROI%: 120.59%


Totals- Games played: 74/1000, ITM%:37.84%, 1st: 6, 2nd: 10, 3rd: 12, ROI%:+.16%

Day 8 only 930 to go...

Well today was a better day then most the others I actually won money. :) Furthermore, It started off amazing with me winning the first game and placing second the next two. I then got online later and played 3 more which I semi-bubbled out on. I went out in 5th. So I turned off my computer and called it a day.

Although I am up KK did it to me again twice this time heads up. First game I got second I had 9k to 6k chip advantage when I pushed with KK guy calls with 67s hits his str8. NH sir,

Next game again I am heads up, and again I get KK I swear to you I considered folding when the guy pushed into me. we practically even with him having me covered by less then a blind. I call 68o hits quad 8's. NH Sir, GG.

It is a lot easier to take these beats with stride when you already made second place. However if I had won both those hands I would be telling you how I finally pushed over the red in my challenge.

Well here are the numbers so far, and if you did not notice I added a section that has current totals as well.


Day 8 - Games Played: 6, ITM %: 50.00%, 1st: 1, 2nd: 2, 3rd: 0, ROI%: 61.76%


Totals- Games played: 70/1000, ITM%:34.29%, 1st: 6, 2nd: 8, 3rd: 10, ROI%:-6.72%

Day 7 A day of learning...

Wow what a day of blogging from the "blogfather" Iggy. The last few post I have been too busy talking about my own play to let any readers I may have know about some of the blogging going on. So here is a quick list of blogs that I read everyday.

1. Guinness and Poker- Written by the blogfather himself Iggy. I was introduced to this blog by Hdouble

2. Plan3t Gong- This one should need no introduction for my everyday readers (and yes surprisingly I have a few. Mark spend a good amount of his time providing thought provoking articles to his readers about SnG's

3. The Mains Domain- A great read when main is having a great month or a bad one. He seems to get quiet when he is just plugging along. However, IMHO the main is much better then he gives himself credit for. I think if you could find him at a table you could learn a lot from him.

4.Up for Poker and Badblood- I put these blogs together because they are around the same lines as the writers all know each other and they give great insight to live poker games. A must read for any avid fan of poker.

Ok now that I am done with that let us take a moment to thank Mark his very in depth and thought response to yesterdays post. The man actually spent 40 min(info supplied by SiteMeter) Well anyways mark thank you so much.

Also going along the same lines of yesterdays post I found this article at Sit-n-GO Planet, and here is the link to the article.

How to Beat Micro-Limit Sit n Go Tournaments – Adjusting for the Fish!

On to day 7 only played 5 games bubbled out in 4 and placed third in 1. This due particularly to me trying to figure out just how to make the correct adjustments. Also I was too busy watching a $3 turbo multi tabler trying to see what he was doing to pay attention to my play. Aside from the fact that I lost money I think the adjustments I made will help me out in the long rn during this challenge. Although it has beena disappointing first week. i am in this challenge for the long haul. I truly hope that it turns around soon though. This could get rather expensive for me.

Anyways back to the multi-tabler/s there where two screen names that twice bought in to 10 $3 SnG's at once around the same time the last three days. Here is my question they both play exactly the same way. Should I stay away or should I try to exploit the fact they only seem to play AA,KK,AK,QQ until 4-5 ppl left then they normally start pushing. I shark scoped both names and they moth have 12% ROI over 3000 SnG's
I think they actually might be friends considering they play same tables, same time, same way, and have the same roi.

well unfortunately here are my numbers I long for the day that my post does not include red numbers.


Day 7 - Games Played: 5, ITM %: 20.00%, 1st: 0, 2nd: 0, 3rd: 1, ROI%: -64.71%


Totals- Games played: 64/1000, ITM%:32.81%, 1st: 5, 2nd: 6, 3rd: 10, ROI%:-13.14%

Day 5 and 6 the joys of variance I hope...

Be warned this post is a monster…

Ok I am just over 1/20th of a way through my challenge and I have lost money. However I have not lost a ton just around 5 buy-ins or so. The question I have is this variance hitting me early on or am I just that bad? Also, I would like to investigate as whether or not the ultra tight early/ultra aggressive late Is indeed the optimum strategy for the SnG’s. The reason I ask is most players at these levels are playing one of their first 50 SnG’s. I used shark scope all weekend to determine that. It was roughly 85% were within this range. This means they don’t understand that KJ is not a good call to make at the bubble when you are medium stack and there is a small stack. So IMHO pushing any two because you have the position on the blinds just is not possible. Further more the amount of times I have been sucked out on when ahead when I do make move has been daunting. So we will get to that momentarily. I also will be going through most of my stats that I have had thus far and want your honest opinions. Please provide feedback as to what you think.

Ok first lets look at what I feel is variance. We will look at my numbers from when I was a statistical favorite, and see if my results fall in somewhere around this area. I will be using poker office to pull all of this information.

PP vs. 2 over cards- lost 4 out of 7 or 57%
PP vs. 1 over cards- lost 7 out of 10 or 70% - Interesting enough 5 of these were KK vs AK

Premium Pairs/High Pairs-
AA-
I won 80% of AA hands, 8 out of ten. Of these ten I saw the flop 6 times so of that six times I lost two or 33% of the time my AA was called I got beat.

KK- I won 41% or roughly 5 out of 12. Of those 12 though only 8 went to flop and of those 8 I lost 7 or 87.5% of the time I got called with KK I got beat.

QQ- I won 61% out of 13 and won 50% when seeing the flop.

Alright one thing I know for sure is KK killed me. Now I am really good at getting all the money in pre flop at this level. It does not take much usually a 4x raise to induce one these guys to push over the top with Ax or any two face/suited cards. 3 of the times I was outdrawn for KK it was on the bubble and I would have had a big stack going into the money. Being modest and saying that I just made 3rd on all 3 of these had my KK held up. That would be a 19.20 swing or put me down 2.80. Further more had just 3 of the bubble coin flips I ended up in due to non-profitable calls by my opponents I would have made a profit.

So from what I looked at and from poker offices perspective I made the correct moves. However, I don’t feel that they were the most profitable moves. I want to look into whether or not the tight early aggressive late is the optimum strategy. I have my doubts since in fact only about 5% of the players probably know what ICM, or fold equity is.

Not sure where to start but I am going to try some adjustments. Here are some of the ones I am going to try.

1. Play a few more hands. I am currently sitting at 14-18% seeing the flop. However I am winning 70% of the flops I am seeing. Of the ones I lose I am ahead the majority of the time the money goes in. I think I might be playing a bit to tight for this level. I say this because when we hit the bubble and I have 1200-1600 in chips the guy with 2500 considers me on my death bed and will call my push with probably top 40% hands. To further complicate things a resteal so to speak has no chance. These people want to see a flop. Then they check it down until one will throw in a raise. Now if a small or smaller stack makes the raise it is immediately called 60% of the time. “because they might be bluffing”. So my thought is on average you see 45 hands before the bubble here unfortunately people take almost 45 sec to a min for each hand. So can I afford to pass up hands like AJ, A10, KQs, for a small raise when the raiser could have A3/4 +.

2. Stop getting all in pre flop with QQ. There are just to many hands that might be played that win if an over comes out.

3. Draw more aggressively although normally it would not payoff in the long run. I have seen the majority of bets with an obvious str8 or flush draw on the board get called. SO the benefit could be huge.

4. Call or raise unraised pots with medium suited connectors

5. Adjust my three loss rule too quit if I feel the previous losses has affected my play.

As I am not an expert at these games at all this is just some trial and error to see if this helps my game at all. Please any insight anyone has would be helpful. I noticed using shark scope the people with small consistent profits that I have ran into here. Play about 40% of there hands. This is backed up by my stats on poker office. Is it possible that a controlled chaos lag style is optimum here? I am working on it now. Anyways I lost far too many games this weekend however I did finish off the last day ahead albeit barely but I did finish ahead.

I have to thank Mark for the pimpage in his blog. Everything he writes is insightful and when I am having a bad day I spend a lot of time going through his stuff. I even used his posts putting a strategy guide together for my wife. She is a beast at 5 card draw and I am trying to get her to come to hold em. To add to that I have to thank Mrs. Dreams for allowing me to devote as much time as i do to poker, and not mention learned how to play for me.

One bright side is a guy that i helped refine his game about 3 weeks ago has turned 10 dollars I transferred to him into 500. good job man.

---URGENT UPDATE!!!---

I ask an receive before I even posted Mark has done it again a very thought provoking post on party poker steps the first three levels. You can find it here. I am going review it thoroughly and try to apply it to stars $3 turbo SnG's. Anyways I still want feedback.

---Back to original post---

onto the numbers for day 5 and 6



Day 5 - Games Played: 15, ITM %: 26.67%, 1st: 1, 2nd: 1, 3rd: 2, ROI%: -29.41%


Day 6 - Games Played: 13, ITM %: 38.46%, 1st: 2, 2nd: 1, 3rd: 2, ROI%: 15.38%


Totals- Games played: 59/1000, ITM%:33.9%, 1st: 5, 2nd: 6, 3rd: 9, ROI%:-8.77%

DAY FOUR from bad to worse....

Played a lot of SnG's and by playedI meant lost. Oh well my stats show that 85% of the hands I went out one i was the favorite when the money went in. Just a bad run added to mediocre play of an amateur equals some losses. Unfortunately I forgot to bring my laptop to work so no numbers yet. I will update soon. I know right now I have played 35 SnG's and have an ROI of -11%. GG me. Well hopefully Ifinish the weekend off a bit better. :)


Day 4 - Games Played: 12, ITM %: 25.00%, 1st: 1, 2nd: 1, 3rd: 1, ROI%: -26.47%


Totals- Games played: 31/1000, ITM%:35.48%, 1st: 2, 2nd: 4, 3rd: 5, ROI%:-8.92%

Challenge day 3 ouch...

Alright day three did not really go as planned lol. Anyways it started out innocent enough when I woke up in the middle of the night and could not sleep. I decided to play some poker BAD IDEA. I was groggy but could not sleep my head was not really with it so I dropped three games in a row. So I am done for the day right... WRONG... I managed to convince myself that since it had been like 12 hours since I lost the three in a row I could go ahead and play some more. Anyways to make a long story short I was not on my best game and it showed. I tried to play poker with these guys early. I did not play the way I know I need to play to win/cash SnG's Honestly I am lucky I am not down more then I am. Numbers will at the end of the post.

When i started this I was really hoping for a decent up swing before I hit a bad stretch unfortunately that did not happen. Although I handled this one better then ones I have had in the past it did knock me down to losing. I am not concerned yet I am only down $5.10 over 21 SnG's. I realize though that there is a long way to go until I reach 1000. hopefully this down swing will/has ended. I have spoken to people that have played 80 games with no real increase or decrease in money. I am ok with that. If after 1000 SnG's I am even or around even I will feel pretty good. So right now my ROI is in the negative but I think I can pull it out this weekend.

Here are my stats for after Day 3 of the 1000 $3 SnG challenge


Day 3 - Games Played: 9, ITM %: 22.22%, 1st: 0, 2nd: 0, 3rd: 2, ROI%: -60.59%


Totals- Games played: 21/1000, ITM%:38.1%, 1st: 1, 2nd: 3, 3rd: 4, ROI%:-7.17%

Day two of the 1000 SnG challenge...

Somehow I messed up my stats from memory for day. Actually it is because I counted games I played in the morning of day 2 as day one anyways the numbers look funky if you add up day 1 and 2. However, I have fixed it now and set my stat track to track days not 24 hour periods. So from here on out it will right.

Anyways today was not that good but I was not all disappointed. I actually played 6 games since my last post however my stats show I played 8. Of those 8 I placed in 4 of them for 1 first 2 second and 1 third. Again the stats show a couple games form my day one post.

Here are the hands I lost on.
The first one was very early in tournament and I was BB the SB went all in as he has done the first 4 hands (this is hand 5). I decide to call with JJ. His A10 improved on the river gg me.

The Second one about half way through the tournament I raise to 5x the BB to 500T$ Everyone folds to the button who calls. I have AA flop comes 6h5h10c I push all in seeing the coordinated flop not wanting to be outdrawn. Too late guy flips over 6c5d. NH sir, gg me.

The third game I lost due to my own stupid move(this is why I limit myself to three losses a day during this challenge). I was in the cut off with AsQs the blinds where 100/200 so I pushed all in with my 1410 chips trying to accomplish a pre bubble steal. I get called by A10o and the 10 hits gg me.

Well all in all I am not disappointed in the day. My play was pretty good. I am learning a lot from Mark's Blog. I was not mad at myself for the games I lost I was ahead when the money went in well except for the AA hand, but who guesses 65o calls 5x preflop. Oh Well, I dont feel unlucky. If you wanna know why check out Mark's recent . post about such things. What bothered me the most about today was the games I made the money two them I blew a huge bubble lead trying to knock the fourth guy out. Both games I should have been competing for first instead I had to settle for third or second. The one I went out in second I even made a comeback heads up only to screw up and get knocked down to my last few hundred chips. I am going to get with Mark via e-mail and see if he has any tips for this level.

If you have not noticed I respect Mark's opinion on the subject of SnG's. So if you need help with SnG strategies go to Mark's Website

Here are my stats for after Day 2 of the 1000 $3 SnG challenge


Day 2 - Games Played: 8, ITM %: 50%, 1st: 1, 2nd: 2, 3rd: 1, ROI%: 50%


Totals- Games played: 12/1000, ITM%:50%, 1st: 1, 2nd: 3, 3rd: 2, ROI%: 32.84%

Ok here is the challenge of all challenges...

Alright it has been a bit since I posted, but I wanted to really think about the next challenge/poker experiment I wanted to do. I have tried several different things here and none of them seem to work out for me. I think part of it is I set a huge goal that honestly I cant control. I have noticed a trend lately in some of the other poker blogs that I read that people are beginning to think in terms of hands played, not money earned. So my challenge will reflect that but from the SnG stand point. My goal is to play 1,000 $3 SnG's and in the end have an ROI of 30%.

Now I have already had people ask me why not move up in levels as my bankroll permits. Well I believe that 1,000 SnG's at a certain level will certainly give me an idea at whether or not I am a consistent winning player at that level. Plus if I in fact do accomplish that 30% ROI I will have quite the padding for variance when I move up to the $6 SnG. I am in this to become a better player. I wnat to have the bankroll to experiment with different games, or take that shot at winning a sattelite. I just cant afford it right now. I normally start my weekend off well and decide to take a shot at something higher. Then I make a mistake and *poof* I go on tilt and my money goes bye-bye.

That said I have also given myself a few guidelines or so the first is in an attempt to avoid my biggest problem "tilt" If I have a bad beat I am done I start playing like an idiot, start calling all ins first hand because in the end it does not matter anyway.

So rule number 1: If I dont cash three times in one day then I am done for the day.

This help me avoid what I feel is my biggest problem.

The second rule is more to combat the boredom of playing $3 dollar SnG's. I will allow myself to play 1 $1 MTT and, 1 $4 180 man each week. Also If I have an ROI of 40% or more for the month I will play a $3 Rebuy.

Anyways i started this last night and here are my numbers. From this point on each monday I will post more detailed stats for everyone to look at.

Numbers from day one-
Games Played: 4
ITM %: 50%
1st: 0
2nd: 1
3rd: 1
ROI%: 47.06%
Totals- Games played: 4/1000, ITM%:50%, 1st: 0, 2nd: 1, 3rd: 1, ROI%: 47.06%

Live game Victory...

Warning this post could be very long....
That said anyone who had read my blog for any amount of time knows that on thursday nights I play in a donkfest of a tournament that averages about 120 players. A little history I have made the final table before, but never deep in the FT. Last night I won the whole damn thing gg me. There where a couple interesting hands and a nail biter to end it and a hand I really am not sure I played correctly.I am going to go over them the best that I can. Please forgive me as this is my first attempt at really trying to recreate hands the day after here...

First off...
Early on in the third level 10/20 I open raise to 80 with AQs of spades from the cut off. Button folds, small blind folds, big blind calls. FLOP: 7d2c10d I lead out for 3/4 the pot. BB reraises me ALL IN. I think for a minute, not really thinking about calling, but trying to figure out how I can get this guy to show his cards after I fold. After a little posturing I say "nice bet, I just dont have the hand" and let it go. I was really hoping he would show me his bluff so I could see what he called my pre raise with, but no luck...


Next hand I am two off the button and i get A10s 4 limpers in front of me. I choose to call here as I did not think any raise other then a huge overbet would push anyone out Last three call and we have a family pot. Flop comes Ac6dJc it small blind leads out. It is folded to me. Now I am pretty sure this guy bought the last pot So I re raise hime to 1000 leaving myself with about 2000 chips. He sits back in his seat and thinks. At this point I am positive not oly does he not have a strong Ace his does not have an Ace at all. So I say "go ahead call off 1000 of your chips on a flush draw. It's ok" So he calls... next card is a blank and SB checks I push all in. I am postive 100% he is on a big flush draw. I do not want him to call. He annouces he is going to call and flips over 7c9c. He doesn't improve. and I double through him...


Fast Forward to final table 6 people left I am the chip leader with 71000 in chips. Blinds are 3000/6000 I am in MP with KK one limp, it is folded to me I raise to 18000 everyone folds to the limper. Who has 70000 in chips. Yes i have him covered by one chip. He calls and I begin thinking what he might have. He is rather aggresive but he has normally shown down strong hands. He does like to chase baby flushes for a lot of chips. He has had a lot of luck recently knocking 3 people out catching his flush after smaller stack pushed all in. I decide he has either broadway connectors AK or 1010+ the flop comes 3sKsQc. I think for a few seconds and decide I can't slowplay my set because if he is on a flush i cant make it cheap, secondly if he is not on a flush and a 3rd spade comes I wont get any money from him. I reach down to grab 36000 and announce raise. I see him reaching for chips I now know no matter what I raise. He is calling so I say "ALL IN". He calls and flips over KQo. Now I ask all of you did I play this right? Let me know your thoughts.

Anyways the last hand involved me getting into a pot with my most hated hand QQ. I ended up being against 99. The flop 995 of course the turn Q the river Q. Oh glorious victory lol...

by the way my new challenge has also started off well. i have cashed in three of the four SnG's I have played in. More detailed update concerning my challenge to come.

The new challenge...

Ok I have always started challenges here and said this and said that. The other day however i went to a blog that a guy had started at $100.00 and starting out playing. .05/.10 ring games had posted everyday win or lose. the results from the session. I can't remember what the blog was, but it made me think I am aleways ready to rush on here and tell everyone when something good happens but always wait if I am running bad...

Anyways I have been running bad lately but I seem to have found my comfort level with the $3.25 6 man turbos on Stars. So starting tomorrow I will post my daily results good or bad. I have not decided what I will do if I run out of my current tiny bankroll so lets ask the poker gods not to let that happen. Anyways see you tomorrow and lets start on an exciting journey to gether :)

An admission... A look into the future...

Well it has been awhile since my last post... I went through a through a rough spot and lost most of my bank roll. I went down to right at $100.00 and realized that I was being stupid with my bankroll. Playing where it was not comfortable for me to lose... Yadda Yadda... Anyways I wanted to first come and admit that I lost what I had worked to build... Then I wanted to talk about a couple things including my plan for the future...

Anyways I ft'd a $1 tourney that had 611 ppl in it. I was really happy with my play. I went into the final table with a dominating chipstack but lost a few races. I even lost a race AQs vs AQs. Anyways I ended it in 5th so not bad. I also finished highest I ever have in my weekly live game. I do belive my play is starting to show promise...

My plan for the near future thanks to a post I read about SnG bankrolls that was posted on Mark's blog. Is to play at my level and just try to be winning player. I am no longer trying to be like the great pros that I read about every day... Although if I ever get a chance to learn from Annette_15 I would take it... So I am starting a kind of challenge. my next post will outline my challenge and the rules for it. My goals and and such...

So more detailed post forthcoming...