[Closed] Hunting high and low - SnG blog

04 November 2009

Now I'm leaving my worries behind Feel the freedom of body and mind I am starting my journey, I'm drifting away with the wind I go I am Hunting High and Low Diving from the sky above Looking for, more and more, once again I'm Hunting High and Low Sometimes I may win sometimes I'll lose It's just a game that I play

There's something sick going on with me the last two days of November. I don't know if I am in a heater or what but I'm on some serious winning streak.

I know this ROI is not realistic and I've to slow down at some time and it's most likely going to be soon but I am enjoying every single bit of this upswing.
I am still analysing my sessions and keeping control over my game to not become too loose, I am playing with the ICM trainer, reading articles, watching videos and trying to improve.
A few words on MTTS - I played three MTTs yesterday and today with a buyin of $1+0.1 and 45 players field. I came second in two of them and fifth in the third. This is also huge luck. But I am playing tight and composed and when luck joins in results follow. My point is that I like this format and I ma looking to join the $2 buyins soon as players are terrible and profit is good (at least in my eyes).
So here's a graphic of my Full tilt poker games so far:

The Bankroll task: $200 in the Moneybookers account and $166 in Fulltilt Poker and $55 in the PokerStrategy Tell-a-Friend program so that makes $420. And I've got $150 money I've planned for poker but I am not using them right now. Overall: $570.
I might think of trying a few games on the $6+0.5 buyin level one of those weeks depending on how things go the next weeks. For November I am going to keep it simple and stick to the $2+0.25 SnG and $1+0.1 MTT.
See you!

09 November 2009

Here's some insights from today and from November the 6

* On Nov 6 I lost 5 buyins. I was actually break even and I was playing a few $2 Sit and Goes and one $1 MTT when I had to close them all and quit for the day thus my losses.
* I received some rakeback, 4 buyins to be precise so I lost only 1 buyin which is very nice.
* Today I played 21 SnGs and I am $23 up which is 11 buyins. That's nice.

I am thinking of depositing some money to Cake poker and playing the $4 SnGs and also there my rakeback is bigger - 33%. I will see how things go in a few days and make my mind. Until next time!

12 November 2009

So those days it's not going so hot as before but that's only normal I guess. On 10 November I lost I played close to 40 games and I lost 8 buyins. Yesterday I also played close to 40 games and I won 1 buyin.
I am reviewing hands and watching for something disturbing, I play on less tables so that I can concentrate more on the games, I've posted a few hands for judgement and things are going good.
Today I'm aiming for 40 more games but time will tell if I am going to play them.

13 November 2009
Obey and work hard and feel
No anger, just sympathy
For the high class...

Yes, today I played hard for my chips and all but to no avail - super bad day moneywise - I lost 11 buyins according to Holdem Manager:
But I think it missed some Sit and Goes where I reached the money because I'm missing like $14 from my account and I have not received rakeback. Rakeback's going to be nice (for me at least, if you rake like $2000 per month my $70 per month should be hilarious for you...) this week as I've played around 150 tournaments.
Too bad today I was raped by variance and lost quite a few situations where I dominated. Anyway, what can a man do - play the best he can, put the money in when he thinks he is a favorite and hope for the best.
I am going to take a few days break and return to the tables next week, fresh and prepared to play again.

200 games roller coaster, fun, fun, fun! Let's not lose focus though and hope for the tides to turn my way next week!

19 November 2009

My trend continues as before but now I am on 400 games break even streak. Rakeback keeps me some dollars up though. But I won't let this discourage me. I am posting hands and I am playing with the ICM training. Truth be told - I can't manage to get it over 92% but it's enough for now.

I played a few $5+0.5 normal SnGs and they seem very soft to me and with much less variance than the turbos I am playing. I have the bankroll to play the $5+0.5 and I have to think about it.
Pros: much less variance which leads to higher ROI and more money in my bankroll. Also more fun cause of the time I get to make well thought desicions.
Cons: more time consuming as one lasts like at least 45 minutes, less rake I generate thus less rakeback and less strategy points but I won't raise enough for Gold level with the $2 turbos anyway.
I am going to make my mind about this. And one more think - I received some bonus of $100 to clear in increments of $10. So I might play some Short Stack Strategy to clean this up because it's going to last until 14 December.
That's all for now!

20 November 2009

Now it's your turn to remember...
Now it's yout turn to feel a little pain...

I think I am going to leave the images to speak for them selves:

What did we learn today, kids?

* You can't cheat variance. You can be above it for a time but it's going to come back and crush you like a bug.
* You just have to stick to the optimal play. Hey but my Aces and Kings were -EV today! Maybe I should slowplay'em a bit? NO! You push them as hard as possible because luck is bound to your way sometimes soon. Even when you lose a preflop all in with Aces and the guys turn 77 and KK and K pops on the river and you want to smack something beautiful, even then you should be happy you did the right thing. I just hope this doesn't continue and I don't end up 25 buyins below EV the next 3-4 sessions. Now that would be horrible but if it happens - well, just going to endure it.
* Bonuses are nice. I cleared the first 10% of my bonus and this kept my Full Tilt bankroll on the $200 line. With some rakeback I am good to go.
* Breaks are even nicer. I need a few days off to cool my head and just practice a bit. Next week will hit the tables and hope for better results.
* 25 buyin swings are completely possible even on this low level. When variance is after you, there's no hope. This is even sounds funny to me.
* I am happy with my game and my ICM. Yesterday I popped up 94% success with the ICM trainer.

I guess this is all for now from me! Have fun!

Hi, very nice blog
I play 5$ SNGs at Full Tilt to.
We can talk about some strategy if you like, Skype: drzapperrr
Goodluck !

Originally posted by superjunk
Hi, very nice blog
I play 5$ SNGs at Full Tilt to.
We can talk about some strategy if you like, Skype: drzapperrr
Goodluck !

Yeah, sure! Will add you tomorrow and if we hook up at the same time we can talk.

Very nice blog here.

You allready have the right mindset to go very far.

I'm going to be reading this blog.

In a big way you are very lucky to be going through the downer now.
You'll be ready for them at higher limits.

P.S. when my AA, KK, etc won't hold up I just use HEM to look at all the times I was dealt big hands
and every time I check, especially the bigger the sample size of games played, they are big
favorites and winning a huge % of the time.

Makes it even easier not to adjust your play from what you know is right,
and just make adjustments according to what you learn from the strategy
section and videos and posting hands etc etc.

Good luck.

Originally posted by 8979687
Very nice blog here.

You allready have the right mindset to go very far.

I'm going to be reading this blog.

In a big way you are very lucky to be going through the downer now.
You'll be ready for them at higher limits.

I've also played SSS for like 40000 hands and I've had my share of downers there too. And they were tougher IMO. Or maybe I've just outgrown them. I hope so.

Thank you for the support and I will be updating this as often as I can.

GL!

Hey, mishkagg! I didn't know you've started a blog here
GL at the SNG tables from a fellow bulgarian sng grinder

Originally posted by Raisolution
Hey, mishkagg! I didn't know you've started a blog here
GL at the SNG tables from a fellow bulgarian sng grinder
Yeah well, more people are going to read it.

I am thinking of translating to Bulgarian too.

Good luck to you too!

Happpy cat is happy!

Here are some images:

So I am playing as good as I can. I am also working on improving my game. Results are fine as I am making profit from the games, from the bonus and from the 27% rakeback from PokerStrategy.com. Those guys are so nice.

I very nice guy from their forum sent me some video clips to watch. The first clip was so useful to me and I learnt a lot from it about the importance of goals and goal setting, about variance, about a proper cash out strategy and about game volume (grinding) and very important - about achievable ROIs.

I am therefore going to set some goals:

Long-term goal:
To reach the $20+2 buyin Sit and Go games
Short-term goals (sub-goals):
* To play at least 30 games on a playing day but the more - the better.
* To keep the mindset to do this.
* To play even when "I am not in the mood" because this is the professional attitude.

So why the $22 ones you might ask? Why not aim for the $50 and higher? Well let me first play comfortably on the $22 level and then work it up from there.

My reasoning to aim at the $22 is that because of the above mentioned cashout strategy I will be able to cashout money that are going to have effect on my daily life and finance.

Then - what's this strategy?

It advises you to cash out 5% of each buyin you play on a limit you beat with at least 5% ROI. Also to cash out any rakeback and bonuses. How is this making sense?

Say I play the $22 games. So 5% of $22 is $1.1. And I play at least 700 games per month and I've got the 5% ROI. So I cashout at the end of the month $770. Also for 700 games I am paying $1400 rake and with the 27% rakeback I receive $189 more per month. Add them to $770 and we have $959 per month.

So this seems like a very nice cash for me. If/once I achieve this I am going to aim at the higher levels.

Bankroll rules stay the same - 100 BI for the higher level and if I drop to 100 BI for the lower I am stepping down.

13 January 2010

So I've pumped my bankroll up the $600 benchmark with the tremendous boost of $140-150 from the PokerStrategy's Tell-a-Friend Program.

I was pretty sick of playing the $2+0.25 games anyway. I felt like I am only paying rake and grinding the buyins for way too long. But Maybe it's just me and it wasn't too long.

Anyway - the TAF program is such a good way when grinding through the micro stakes.

All in all the $6+0.5 games seem pretty soft and definitely beatable. I am so far making good profit. In fact it's so good I am expecting a downswing to hit me soon.

A few issues to note though:

* I am not happy with the volume I am putting in. Have to play at least 35-40 games per playing day but 35 should be the minimum.
* I shouldn't play without a HUD and without Holdem Manager.
* Train more ICM situations, see new filters, plug in leaks, mostly bubble play.
* Have to stop thinking of the money as money. They are just buyins. But it's tough when I am swinging with $50-60 per day. Yes, it's ten buyins but it's also not that small sum of money for me. Yet I've to force myself to not think of it as money. Just buyins!

Graph of the $6+0.5 SnGs so far:

14 January 2010

Well today I did my goal for the volume of tourneys and I played around 40. As I said I was expecting a downswing and it came - swift and brutal.

Yes, boys and girls, somewhere around 16-17 byuins. The bright side is that when I am looking at the hands there is nothing to worry about in my game.

Whatever - I played as good as I can and that's all I can really do. I just hope this is over and tomorrow will show profit because if it doesn't I am going to have to step down again to the dreaded $2+0.25 SNG and grind for 50 buyins which is very painfull.

Here are the hands today, filtered, me vs a preflop raiser when in the push or fold phase. I had it all today - cold deck, 2 outers, gutshots, flopped flushes when I am 75% favorite to win. You name it - it's there!

hi there man..i have read whole your blog..you are like me in few things..what buy in SnG are you playing now man??
im currently struggeling on 3USD speed on partypoker...same like you before i just think that its neverending story, keep paying the rake and trying to grind more BI for higher limit..hope that will change soon
but i have one thing you might will be able to help me with..i have the PS elephant for cash games but no sofware for SnGs...so what type of software you are using, why and how did you get it man??
well looking forward to your next post, keep up the good work

Hello there!

So here goes:

Originally posted by antonin87
what buy in SnG are you playing now man

$6+50 9-man turbos on Fulltilt. Still have a healthy $570 roll but if I lose like 5-6 more buyins I going to try the normal speed at the $5.

Originally posted by antonin87
so what type of software you are using, why and how did you get it man??

Holdem Manager!
Why? Cause it's the best out there.
How? I just gathered $55 and bought the Small stakes version last year. It's so good to have it, I really recommend it!

Originally posted by antonin87
well looking forward to your next post, keep up the good work

Glad you liked my blog!

Do you have one? If so - post link

Around 20 buyins down... Pretty bad but there's not much that I can do about it. And it's not like I've to move down a limit. I still have more than 100 buyins for the $5+0.5 so I am going to keep playing them, aim for the $650 and try the turbo SnGs again.

I am reviewing my sessions - there are no dumb calls or stupid pushes from my side. So I am just moving on and hoping for the best.

I've also played with the ICM trainer, maybe there's a problem there but no, it's ok:

But when I've set the filters for the bubble when I am a small stack and there's one player before me all-in it seems to indicate a problem:

So I have to work on those situations more cause they are really important.