Mind Games

Not a lot I can do with a $1.50 bankroll, so I played a bunch of $0.10 blast tournaments — they're sort of like Spingoes, except that after two minutes, there is a force all-in phase.
After 8 tournaments, the 888 client says I have exactly what I started with, but PT4 says I'm down 30 cents.

This hand was amusing...
Pacific Poker - 10/20 Ante 2 NL (3 max) - Holdem - 3 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (SB): 300
BB: 300
BTN: 300

3 players post ante of 2, Hero posts SB 10, BB posts BB 20

Pre Flop: (pot: 36) Hero has 6♣:5♥:

BTN calls 20, Hero calls 10, BB checks

Flop: (66, 3 players) 4♠:3♥:7♥:
Hero checks, BB bets 20, BTN calls 20, Hero calls 20

Turn: (126, 3 players) 2♣:
Hero bets 41, fold, BTN calls 41

River: (208, 2 players) T♦:
Hero bets 217 and is all-in, BTN calls 217 and is all-in

Hero shows 6♣:5♥: (Straight, Seven High)

BTN shows 7♦:4♦: (Two Pair, Sevens and Fours)

Hero wins 642

I reported a bug to PokerTracker relating to a hand I posted in https://forums.pokerstrategy.com/forum/thread.php?postid=3324823#post3324823

this hand, in fact:

Today I received an email from PT4 saying that the problem was fixed in the latest release:
Here's the result:

I've tried those blasts when I got a bunch of $0.1 tickets for them, but man that's the stupidest shit I've ever played. Not only there's that 2 minute timer, but like up to one minute is not actual playtime, but those stupid animations and the slow software. And after that if you are even lucky enough to double up on one opponent, and get half the stack of the other, you still can lose if you lose 3 flips in a row, what I wouldn't even call variance.

It would be even better if they made it force all-in from the beginning, so you don't waste any time or energy on them.

I see much more EV and fun in 10c MTTs and SnGs, but of course it's just my opinion, YMMV.

Originally posted by Tamaseger
I see much more EV and fun in 10c MTTs and SnGs, but of course it's just my opinion, YMMV.
I did a few of those. Yet to cash.

The daily free spins give out a ticket to a freeroll almost all the time — at one time I would occasionally get $5.50 and once I even got a $16.50 ticket.

The satellites take too long — they would be OK to play as a side game if I was playing something else, or if I could play 4 at once, but otherwise — meh

[1] in no particular order
 Cars
 Computers
 Cell phones

Our car suffered a puncture in the sidewall of the passenger-side rear tire.
I called the AA but they could not pump it up, so I jacked the car up and took it to a repair shop.
That's when we discovered that the puncture was in the sidewall, and the tire was irreparable.

Fortunately, when we purchased the car we purchased a roadside assistance package largely because this car — like so many other modern cars — came with no spare tire.
So finally around 15hr a tow truck appeared, the car was towed to the dealership, the tire was replaced and I'm home already.

A major internet provider in Canada suffered a major system failure today.
Many people had no cell service (I did), and many internet functions were unavailable — like debit card transaction for instance.

[1] but have become near necessities in the 21st century.

I follow the Astronomy picture of the day (APOD) and also a couple of NASA news feeds.
Whenever a particularly stunning image shows up, I change my wallpaper.
The image from https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2022/hubble-spots-a-merging-galactic-gem qualifies.

If you can't be bothered to go look — here it is:

I left after only 10 minutes

It is a mobile-only site
it is really good for playing low-stakes fast-fold games to kill time — but there are several things that could use improving.

 1: It is very important to me to be able to download hand histories, and perhaps even more important, I would like to be able to download an audit of all money in or out of my account. Without this, when you notice discrepancies, you have no way to find out if it is your mistake or if something actually went wrong
 2: Stats on other players, rabbit hunt and other "benefits" are available, but at a horrendous cost — it would cost me $70.00 for 3 months of this benefit. I'm astonished that anyone would actually pay this — but you can see that some people have done so.
 3: It is mobile-only. There is absolutely no way I'm going to play with 100s of dollars at risk when it can all evaporate due to "circumstances beyond our control"
 4: Other than screenshots, there is no way to post an hand to the forums. Again, a downloadable hand history would help.
 5: Needs more traffic

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
I did a few of those. Yet to cash.

The daily free spins give out a ticket to a freeroll almost all the time — at one time I would occasionally get $5.50 and once I even got a $16.50 ticket.

That particular freeroll is crazy with the 1 min blind levels, I can count on my hand how many times I had the chance to play 2 hands on the same blind level ♦ but with that and the Noble Kingdom freerolls, I made like $8 so far, and today there was the Imperial one with $50k GTD, and I managed to reach ITM and won $15. I'm pretty satisfied with the freerolls on 888 as I made a total of $23.65 in less than a month with 72 freerolls.

The satellites take too long — they would be OK to play as a side game if I was playing something else, or if I could play 4 at once, but otherwise — meh

I always late reg on them, they don't worth the time to play them from the beginning. But I totally understand you that even if you late reg, playing just the one satellite would be really boring.

I busted early in the imperial, but over the last few years I have won a lot in 888's freerolls.
Their promos are the best in the industry IMHO
I did cash in two Nobles today though.
I'll try to build my bankroll to $5.50 and when it gets there I'll play the "Made to Amaze" on Sundays.

Had a pretty terrific hand on KKPoker tonight.
OTT I had a set with a gutshot and a flush draw on the turn.
I rivered the full house — and I needed it because opponent had turned the straight.

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
I busted early in the imperial, but over the last few years I have won a lot in 888's freerolls.
Their promos are the best in the industry IMHO

Honestly I prefer more transparent bonus systems, but I have to admit 888poker is really generous and can be very rewarding, so I don't complain at all. Last time I also busted out of the Imperial, I had a problem with taking risk due to the huge mincash (it was $25), and folded pocket jacks on an 8 or 9 high flop when my opponents shoved their stacks with complete thrash, and later I was just blinded out. So I decided to play them almost like any other freeroll and accept the gambling aspect of it.

I did cash in two Nobles today though.
I'll try to build my bankroll to $5.50 and when it gets there I'll play the "Made to Amaze" on Sundays.

Is the "Made to Amaze" that good? The buy-in is way too much for me (I play only $1 regular MTTs and up to $2.20 PKOs), but after I reached FT on the $2000 GTD PKO Rumble $2.20 I feel a bit more confident with MTTs again. Had a total of 4 FTs in less than 4 weeks. Still don't think I should play $5.5 MTTs, but maybe I should give the satellites a shot.

Do you play on KKPoker to get familiar with it by the time you start your cruise?

Originally posted by Tamaseger
Is the "Made to Amaze" that good? The buy-in is way too much for me (I play only $1 regular MTTs and up to $2.20 PKOs), but after I reached FT on the $2000 GTD PKO Rumble $2.20 I feel a bit more confident with MTTs again. Had a total of 4 FTs in less than 4 weeks. Still don't think I should play $5.5 MTTs, but maybe I should give the satellites a shot.

I think that it might be a good candidate for a satellite — I don't think of
I've played it a few times, cashed once or twice — but nothing fantastic. It plays like most 888 tournaments.
If you catch a player being splashy you can coast to the money playing overly tight. When you play like 11/8 you then get to steal more.
I usually do what you did — fold JJ facing aggression only to find they would have held.

But one of my T-Shirt sayings is: "A good fold is a good fold regardless of what comes later"

Originally posted by Tamaseger
Do you play on KKPoker to get familiar with it by the time you start your cruise?

No — I play there because I got a really good offer.
After supper I will often play various games on my phone while the TV is on. It might as well be poker.
It would be a tragedy to go on a cruise then play poker online. Especially when there is very likely live poker aboard.

I do hope KKPoker adds the features I miss — the software is extremely simple — nowhere like the overly gimmicky mess that GGPoker became.

Speaking of GGPoker:
I binked the daily Battle Royale Freebie this morning. I know that this must be a total mind game thing, but I either bust out early on in these things, or I finish first or second. That is probably 'cuz if I make the FT, I let the shorties knock themselves out.

Thank you for mentioning the "Made to Amaze" tournament, even though I see your reply only now, you put the bug in my ear. Yesterday I got a $5 ticket I wasn't sure what to do with, so I've decided to give it a try and managed to survive the bubble and made $15.

I can literally count on my hands how many times I got any playable cards, so before the bubble bursted I decided to fold any2, because I was too shortstack, but had enough chips to safely reach ITM. Even folded an AKo, and it was a really good call as the EP raiser had TT and I would bust out right before the ITM.

It was fun to take part, but unless I get another free ticket I won't run it again for a while. I felt like this $5 is too much for me for an MTT, so pretty much how I assumed it.

I accidentally hit submit so I send the second part in a new post, sorry.

Originally posted by VorpalF2F

I usually do what you did — fold JJ facing aggression only to find they would have held.

But one of my T-Shirt sayings is: "A good fold is a good fold regardless of what comes later"

I completely agree, but it made me think about David Sklansky's Fundamental Theorem of Poker:

Originally posted by David Sklansky

Every time you play a hand differently from the way you would have played it if you could see all your opponents' cards, they gain; and every time you play your hand the same way you would have played it if you could see all their cards, they lose. Conversely, every time opponents play their hands differently from the way they would have if they could see all your cards, you gain; and every time they play their hands the same way they would have played if they could see all your cards, you lose.

While this still can be relevant playing live poker cash games, in online poker it's better to think in ranges, and even though most recreational players in 888 tournaments overbet shoves postflop with complete junk, it's still better to fold the best hand on the given street when we are unsure about we have, and more importantly we will have the best hand on river. It's about not giving up our edge on a flip. Also ICM is about the chips we win are less valuable than the chips we don't lose.

I do hope KKPoker adds the features I miss — the software is extremely simple — nowhere like the overly gimmicky mess that GGPoker became.

I don't think they will. Plenty of providers offer mobile apps, so as far as I understand the offer of KKPoker is that they "keep out" regs, so their games will remain recreational-friendly. It's just an opinion, I don't know their policies, but for me this would make sense.

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
Whenever a particularly stunning image shows up, I change my wallpaper.

So probably you will have to switch again soon.

Originally posted by irieill

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
Whenever a particularly stunning image shows up, I change my wallpaper.

So probably you will have to switch again soon.

I've been following the JWST since launch. There is a thread here: https://forums.pokerstrategy.com/forum/thread.php?threadid=527615&page=1
The first images will be available tomorrow — 06:00 local time.
I may wait until after breakfast

Originally posted by Tamaseger
I accidentally hit submit so I send the second part in a new post, sorry.

No problem

Originally posted by Tamaseger
I don't think they will. Plenty of providers offer mobile apps, so as far as I understand the offer of KKPoker is that they "keep out" regs, so their games will remain recreational-friendly. It's just an opinion, I don't know their policies, but for me this would make sense.

As I mentioned elsewhere "reg" to me means they player there regularly (and fairly often).
Currently playing fast-fold NL 4 I have identified several players that are always there, and always with large stacks.
I keep getting messages similar to this:

The last time it happened, the fault was with my tablet, but I'm still not likely to be risking large sums over wifi.

It started last night — Mrs Vorpal picked up the mail.
Four items needed attention.
 Car insurance due
 Business insurance cancelled for lack of payment
 Storage unit fee overdue
 Transit card missing <<< OK, this wasn't in the mail, but still needed to be fixed

Renewed the insurance — no big deal.
Storage unit is on autopay, and the storage lot person confirmed that the overdue notice is in error — so far so good.
I looked up the payment receipt for the insurance and found it. Checked the bank — even though the receipt is here, the money never left my account. Re-applied.
Purchased two new transit cards.

I am definitely not playing poker today!

Slightly more than 1 ante left, 0 hands played, and ITM
(and I won the two hands following this one)

currently 28 of 35 (204 paid)
I'll post some hands later...
Here's the chip graph just after Harrier exited in 42nd