888 Bankroll recovery

I withdrew my entire cash bankroll earlier today, so I could use up the $6.20 of bonuses I had on 888
I played a $3.00 PLO8 (didn't cash) a $1.10 PKO (9th for 11:58) and whacking great pile of $0.10 Blast tournaments for a total of about $0.50

Because I was using bonus funds, the money earned goes back into bonus funds, until the original bonus amounts is reached, then it gets added to your cash balance.
So I actually won about $17 in the PKO

In any case the graph gets a nice little uptick at the end...

Bankroll now stands at 460.27 -- I only count the cash balance on the graph but there is also $6.20 available in bonus funds.
To use them, I have to withdraw all the cash, then when I'm done playing with the bonus $, I have to cancel the withdrawal request.

That lovely uptick at the end got eaten alive today.

Rather amusingly, this challenge started out almost exactly two years ago, when I lost all but 20 cents with a full house that ran into a better one.

Same thing happened today except:
 The $20 I lost today was only 4.5% of my stack, instead of 99%
 My remaining stack is 437, not 20¢

Interestingly, the worst four losses were similar:
Ahead on the turn, villain hit their draw on the river
In two cases, I had the nut low also on the turn, which was counterfeited by the same river card that wrecked my high hand.

Today's ugly giraffe
3 things to note:
1:  Won over 50% at showdown -- although that includes split pots, where you don't win much
2:  Any time you see the blue line go straight down and the AIEV line go up -- you just sucked out on, son
3:  A break-even day without the suckouts, so maybe I should be questioning my play so much

My first day playing seriously for quite a while...

It only takes one...
In the 888 freerolls, to cash you just need one other person's stack.
Here I got two...

Pacific Poker - 100/200 Ante 40 NL - Holdem - 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

CO: 2,770
BTN: 6,055
SB: 3,450
Hero (BB): 2,820
UTG: 2,920
UTG+1: 2,920
MP: 2,795
MP+1: 3,160
MP+2: 3,100

9 players post ante of 40, SB posts SB 100, Hero posts BB 200

Pre Flop: (pot: 660) Hero has Q♠:Q♥:

fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, CO raises to 2,730 and is all-in, BTN calls 2,730, fold, Hero raises to 2,780 and is all-in, BTN calls 50

Flop: (8,750, 3 players) 8♠:Q♦:5♠:

Turn: (8,750, 3 players) 6♦:

River: (8,750, 3 players) A♣:

CO shows T♥:A♥: (One Pair, Aces)

Main Pot [8,650]: (Pre 31%, Flop 2%, Turn 0%)

BTN shows Q♣:T♠: (One Pair, Queens)

Main Pot [8,650]: (Pre 8%, Flop 1%, Turn 0%)
Side Pot#1 [100]: (Pre 10%, Flop 2%, Turn 0%)

Hero shows Q♠:Q♥: (Three of a Kind, Queens)

Main Pot [8,650]: (Pre 61%, Flop 97%, Turn 100%)
Side Pot#1 [100]: (Pre 90%, Flop 98%, Turn 100%)

Hero wins 8,650
Hero wins 100

No material change in the standings though -- this was worth a mere 20 cents by the end

A few hands in, there was a pot I enterred simply because the pot was rather large.
I mistakenly thought I closed the action, but that mistake didn't cost me ...

The flop jam was just because so many worse hands will call in these freerolls.

Top 200 paid, finished 353/5276 --

I won one of these a couple of days ago, but sadly did not cash the target tournament...

Desperation Equity is Real
Under the gun, with less than 1 BB what else can you do?
Pacific Poker - 4000/8000 Ante 800 NL - Holdem - 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

UTG+1: 15,116
MP: 35,186
MP+1: 59,948
MP+2: 39,950
CO: 87,515
BTN: 15,685
SB: 18,184
BB: 206,561
Hero (UTG): 4,279

9 players post ante of 800, SB posts SB 4,000, BB posts BB 8,000

Pre Flop: (pot: 19,200) Hero has Q♥:6♦:

Hero calls 3,479 and is all-in, fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, BTN raises to 14,885 and is all-in, fold, BB calls 6,885

Flop: (44,449, 3 players) 8♦:3♣:K♥:

Turn: (44,449, 3 players) K♣:

River: (44,449, 3 players) 5♠:

BTN shows J♣:T♥: (One Pair, Kings)

Main Pot [21,116]: (Pre 35%, Flop 22%, Turn 12%)
Side Pot#1 [23,333]: (Pre 74%, Flop 85%, Turn 93%)

BB shows 7♥:T♣: (One Pair, Kings)

Main Pot [21,116]: (Pre 20%, Flop 14%, Turn 7%)
Side Pot#1 [23,333]: (Pre 26%, Flop 15%, Turn 7%)

Hero shows Q♥:6♦: (One Pair, Kings)

Main Pot [21,116]: (Pre 45%, Flop 64%, Turn 81%)

Hero wins 21,116
BTN wins 23,333

Cashed a few of the freerolls over the last few days.
No time to play cash games unfortunately...
(or maybe fortunately, since I've been running bad the last two months)

Finished in the top 20% in the $30K New App Launch Freeroll
And thus made a $3.00 score.
Earlier in the day I won a buy-in playing PLO8 2 (see the Hand of the Day)

so we're creeping back up...

Saturday is the best day for freerolls on 888 because the $2000 Lvl 40 freeroll takes place then.
It is one of the best because most of the smaller payout freerolls are full of open-shovers which makes it tough to judge ranges.
Today I finished 48th out of 9478 -- and had a superb run of luck to get there.
Survived a couple of desperation all-ins, and had a couple of good hands.

I actually saw a flop only 9 times out of 40 hands...

Here are my stats for this tournament just after I shoved my last few BB

(and even if you haven't)
I've played no hands on 888 since my last post.
I'll be back at it for a short session of PLO8 on Friday Dec 11.
It will be live on stream starting at 20:00 UTC with some PLO8 -- perhaps cash, perhaps some double-or-nothings and maybe even an MTT

I did an all-PLO8 stream today.
Two bullets fired at the $3.00 $100 Gtd PLO8 on 888 resulted in a 3rd place for $20, then a few nice hands on PLO8 5 cash resulted in a $20 plus day.

So the graph gets a boost -- the red circled blip is today...

Here's the best win on the cash tables...

For the best hand of the mtt, you have to go to the Hand of the Day

I hadn't intended to play today, but got bored. I saw that there was a nearly full table of PLO8 10

OTT I had a decent shot at drawing to a full house, a straight and the nut low -- and I may even have had the low already
Pacific Poker - $0.10 PL Hi/Lo - Omaha Hi/Lo - 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

UTG+1: $6.77
MP: $5.82
MP+1: $10.00
MP+2: $8.80
CO: $19.94
BTN: $16.06
SB: $20.82
Hero (BB): $13.32
UTG: $11.19

SB posts SB $0.05, Hero posts BB $0.10

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.15) Hero has Q♣:A♠:6♠:Q♥:

fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, BTN raises to $0.20, SB raises to $0.70, Hero calls $0.60, BTN calls $0.50

Flop: ($2.10, 3 players) Q♠:4♣:5♠:
SB bets $1.05, Hero raises to $2.62, BTN calls $2.62, SB calls $1.57

Turn: ($9.96, 3 players) 3♦:
SB checks, Hero checks, BTN bets $9.96, fold, Hero calls $9.96

River: ($29.88, 2 players) Q♦:
Hero checks, BTN checks

Hero shows Q♣:A♠:6♠:Q♥: (High: Four of a Kind, Queens, Low: 6543A)
(Pre 56%, Flop 84%, Turn 88%)
BTN mucks 8♦:2♥:4♦:4♥: (High: Full House, Fours full of Queens, Low: 85432)
(Pre 44%, Flop 16%, Turn 13%)
Hero wins $14.20
Rake paid $1.49
Hero wins $14.19

Lost 3/4 of a BI at PLO8 10 and 2 BI at PLO8 5

I don't think I played terribly but I did make some mistakes

I've been cashing 888 freerolls a few times a week for nearly two years, but since the new app launch it has been extremely hard.

But each day, I do my 2 spins, get my 2 tickets and play both tournaments.
Finally cashed one today.
So what did I get?

An 18¢ sports bet is totally useless if you never bet on sports, and if there are no sports running.
Oh yeah, and in order to use it, you have to cash out, then after you're done, you have to reverse your cashout.

Oh -- perhaps the 2nd tournament of the day pays cash -- nope -- casino bonus. Also useless.

Really disappointed 888!

However I'll just do the spins every day, because occasionally the rewards are much higher -- I have had a few $1.00, $5.00 and $16.50 tickets
I suppose a FT in one of these tournaments would give a useful payout, but everything else is useless.

So sad.

I'll now have to continue building my BR using real poker

I played the daily $3.00 PLO8 tournament, and made my exit short of the money.
I lost a big pot, and was down to a couple of BB, but fought back only to lose it again -- this time for good. <== weird idiom. Definitely not good

So I played some PLO8 cash, and won it all back and then some in 34 hands.
This hand was most of it...
Pacific Poker - $0.05 PL Hi/Lo - Omaha Hi/Lo - 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

SB: $1.82
BB: $6.60
UTG: $5.89
UTG+1: $2.14
MP: $5.01
MP+1: $4.66
MP+2: $3.77
Hero (CO): $4.37
BTN: $3.00

SB posts SB $0.02, BB posts BB $0.05

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.07) Hero has J♠:2♦:9♣:A♠: <<< This hand has all the elements of a good PLO8 hand. Suited Ace, nut low draw, broadway possibilities. 9c is a bit of a dangler, but we can live with that.

fold, UTG+1 calls $0.05, fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to $0.10, BTN raises to $0.42, fold, fold, UTG+1 calls $0.37, Hero calls $0.32 <<< BTN is a well-know good player, but tends toward over aggressiveness, so of course we call

Flop: ($1.33, 3 players) 8♥:9♦:J♥: << top two, backdoor low. I get it in to get value from what I'm sure is AA
UTG+1 checks, Hero checks, BTN bets $1.33, fold, Hero raises to $3.95 and is all-in, BTN calls $1.25 and is all-in

Turn: ($6.49, 2 players) 5♦:

River: ($6.49, 2 players) 4♠:

Hero shows J♠:2♦:9♣:A♠: (High: Two Pair, Jacks and Nines, Low: 8542A) << Scooped both hi and lo pots
(Pre 43%, Flop 54%, Turn 66%)
BTN shows A♥:Q♣:Q♥:6♥: (High: One Pair, Queens, Low: 8654A) << Wrong. Not Aces, but another overpair. To be fair, he also had the flush draw. Check out how close the equities are...
(Pre 57%, Flop 46%, Turn 34%)
Hero wins $3.09
Rake paid $0.32
Hero wins $3.08

After this he left the table in disgust...

Pacific Poker - $0.05 PL Hi/Lo - Omaha Hi/Lo - 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (CO): $7.88
BTN: $5.01
SB: $6.13
BB: $3.00
UTG: $9.31
UTG+1: $7.03
MP: $1.45
MP+1: $4.82
MP+2: $5.00

SB posts SB $0.02, BB posts BB $0.05

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.07) Hero has 4♠:2♥:3♥:4♣:

fold, fold, MP calls $0.05, MP+1 calls $0.05, fold, Hero calls $0.05, BTN raises to $0.32, fold, fold, MP calls $0.27, MP+1 calls $0.27, Hero calls $0.27 << Pretty much any hand has enough pre-flop equity to at least see a flop 4-way

Flop: ($1.35, 4 players) A♠:9♦:4♦:
MP checks, MP+1 checks, Hero checks, BTN checks <<Surprised at BTN check -- he could have easily repped AA or a nut low draw at least. My check here just indicates that bottom set is never worth a lot multi-way in PLO8

Turn: ($1.35, 4 players) K♠:
MP checks, MP+1 checks, Hero bets $0.67, BTN raises to $3.36, fold, fold, Hero calls $2.69 <<Much lower likelihood of splitting a pot with a low, plus I had a decent low draw, plush nobody really showed interest OTF

River: ($8.07, 2 players) 5♥:
Hero bets $2.66, BTN calls $1.33 and is all-in <<The best possible card. Nut/Nut

Hero shows 4♠:2♥:3♥:4♣: (High: Straight, Five High, Low: 5432A)
(Pre 47%, Flop 75%, Turn 74%)
BTN shows A♦:K♥:Q♥:5♦: (Two Pair, Aces and Kings) <<Pure SPR call I'm sure -- he should have known though. I was wearing my "I Never Bluff" T-Shirt. Surprisingly overplayed. Note taken...
(Pre 53%, Flop 25%, Turn 26%)
Hero wins $5.10
Rake paid $0.53
Hero wins $5.10

I'll post a detailed update later this week.

I took a 3-BI hit on Monday, and I've managed to recover all but a buck and a half of that.

Current Roll:
$469.65

didn't make a lot, but sure felt good
I play this tournament -- a $200 freeroll -- two or three times each day, and cash maybe once every couple of days.

If I ever made the final table before, I don't remember doing so. (NARF)
But today...

I was overall chip leader for quite a long time.
Some amazing hands...
Including some I probably should have folded...
Pacific Poker - 50000/100000 Ante 10000 NL - Holdem - 7 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 1,297,035
SB: 1,451,399
Hero (BB): 1,597,292
UTG: 486,340
UTG+1: 382,529
MP: 743,708
CO: 763,840

7 players post ante of 10,000, SB posts SB 50,000, Hero posts BB 100,000

Pre Flop: (pot: 220,000) Hero has K♥:8♠:

fold, fold, fold, CO raises to 753,840 and is all-in, fold, fold, Hero calls 653,840

Flop: (1,627,680, 2 players) 5♣:8♦:K♦:

Turn: (1,627,680, 2 players) 6♠:

River: (1,627,680, 2 players) 4♥:

Hero shows K♥:8♠: (Two Pair, Kings and Eights)
(Pre 28%, Flop 92%, Turn 95%)
CO shows T♥:T♣: (One Pair, Tens)
(Pre 72%, Flop 8%, Turn 5%)
Hero wins 1,627,680

I bust out in 9th, for a mere $1.60 -- but most importantly it tells me that I'm not really as bad at hold'em as I make out.
Mind you getting the hands is half the battle, knowing what to do with them is the other half...

Besides the freeroll, I did well playing PLO8 today so...
Current Roll:
477.93

So here's what it looks like today...

On the bubble to the 4th tier above mincash, I limped UTG fully expecting a jam from a shorter stack which I would gladly call.
As it turns out though, this is a $300 freeroll, and isn't part of the usual 888 freeroll daily routine.
This one is much much slower, and is generally populated by thinking players.

Pacific Poker - 1000/2000 Ante 200 NL - Holdem - 8 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

MP: 49,750
MP+1: 79,352
CO: 48,267
BTN: 50,514
SB: 26,378
BB: 27,460
Hero (UTG): 59,015
UTG+1: 93,445

8 players post ante of 200, SB posts SB 1,000, BB posts BB 2,000

Pre Flop: (pot: 4,600) Hero has T♠:A♠:

Hero calls 2,000, fold, fold, fold, CO calls 2,000, fold, SB calls 1,000, BB checks

Flop: (9,600, 4 players) J♠:2♦:7♦:
SB checks, BB checks, Hero checks, CO checks

Turn: (9,600, 4 players) 9♦:
SB checks, BB checks, Hero checks, CO checks

River: (9,600, 4 players) 5♣:
SB checks, BB checks, Hero checks, CO checks

SB shows 4♦:K♥: (High Card, King)
(Pre 23%, Flop 18%, Turn 13%)
BB mucks 8♦:Q♠: (High Card, Queen)
(Pre 18%, Flop 20%, Turn 28%)
Hero shows T♠:A♠: (High Card, Ace)
(Pre 41%, Flop 53%, Turn 55%)
CO mucks Q♥:6♥: (High Card, Queen)
(Pre 17%, Flop 9%, Turn 5%)
Hero wins 9,600

I *never* expected A-high could ever take a pot multi-way

I went on to win -- yes win -- that tournament

Out of 1208 players I managed 1st. I did it largely by staying out of the way, and being hyper-aggressive when I did have a good hand -- sorta the opposite of my last post.

This is how it looked like at the end:

This hand was my favourite:
I switched to passive mode, and let opponent do the betting. Worked

So now....

My 888 Bankroll is over $500 for the first time since this journey began two and a half years ago.
All done with micros and freerolls

Amazing job! ♠_drink:

How much was that, like $20?

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
My 888 Bankroll is over $500 for the first time since this journey began two and a half years ago.
All done with micros and freerolls

Nice