Beating micro SNGs - Are you insane or just a glutton for punishment?

Coincidence intervene.

Then I got the offer from 888, giving away $8 just to sign up. I guessed that it couldn't hurt to play there for free while deciding where to deposit. After I signed up I got an email stating that they would give me $8 more if I deposited $30 so I ended up with a BR of $46. I started playing and soon won about $30 so I figured to withdraw $40 which also went fine. Then they offered $8 more if I redeposited $30 and so I did. BR up to $75 and still running good, so when I hit $90, I once more withdrew $40.

So currently I mostly play on 888 and also PokerStars (again, I decided to try them out to participate in some homegames and also the high traffic level was very tempting). I also play on Bet24 and PartyPoker once in a while.

I don't suck too much anymore and totally I am a bit above break even, but since I play very low level, I don't accumulate neither many points, nor do I receive much VIP benefits. I guess that is why I am a bit hung up on finding good sign up deals to begin with.

My favourite startup scenario, is when a pokersite offer an instant cash signup deal, like for instance the 888 site, 8$ just for signing up and additional 8$ for depositing (twice). In the low stakes I play, 24$ is actually enough to play without worry (and since they were free to begin with, well no worries at all). Using this bankroll I have been able to cashout 100$ and still have more than enough to play.

I only have two regrets in relation to this strategy; one is I almost never get any bonus and second is I spend a lot of time for very small amounts which is a bit ironic. Many sites offer different kinds of VIP cashouts, which are VERY unfavorable for low level players since the rakeback often is below 10% until you reach higher VIP levels (which I obviously never do).

Nest post will be some thoughts on PS and some of the sites I have tried.

Best regards
DocBrown112

A few words on PokerStrategy and some of the sites I have tried

Disclaimer: These are my personal findings and may not reflect a true picture of the sites mentioned.

PokerStrategy
I have been very pleased with my PokerStrategy membership which have both given me a cash boost (twice) as well as several decent freerolls. The strategy section offers many articles with good advice to beginners and even though you cannot see too many videos when starting out, there also some that are well worth seeing.

I haven't used the forum very much, but the hand evalution section should be a very good way to learn a lot more poker. Also the training software is well worth spending some time on if you intend on learning how to do well in a short time.

I intend to use both the forum and the training software a bit more going forward. Same goes for the Elephant software I guess, even though it doesn't seem to be supporting HUD on SNGs and MTTs as of yet. You can still use the stats, which is a very convenient way to keep track of your progress.

So thumbs up PokerStrategy, keep up the good work

PokerStars
What to say? PS offers the best traffic in online poker - period! They also offer a wide range of games at almost any BI level. That simply cannot be beat.

Rake is in the high range, but if you play in the low level turbos, it is actually quite low as turbo-rake often is only ½ of regular rate.

888
One very good thing about 888 is that they are actually pretty cheap in rake in the lower levels and there are many soft opponents. They have several low buy-in guaranteed tourneys every day and also a large variety of games in general. Unfortunately traffic isn't too high.

I have tried several games in 888 but my absolute favorite are the 40 man $0,88+0,08 tourneys. They are unbelievable soft and pays 9 spots, but still quite topheavy with 11x BI for 1st. I have made close to $200 on these with a ROI of around 35%

They are super turbo with only 44BB beginning stacks and 3 minutes blinds, so they are not for nits - you can fold some hands, but not too many as you will blind away in no time. I think I have learned a lot about multitable tournament this way, as you regularly has to take chances
but even when you fail, the next tourney is only 1-2 minutes from starting as these tourneys fill up very fast (unfortunately, this doesn't apply to any other tourneys on 888).

PartyPoker
The best thing about PartyPoker in my opinion is the Bankroll Builder freerolls that you can enter the first 3 months after signup - they are really soft and I think that almost any decent pokerplayer should be able to cash in one of those - when you cash you get a ticket to the next level a weekly 1000$ freeroll and a cash in that will earn a ticket to the monthly 10000$ freeroll and the opposition is still quite soft - unfortunately I am no longer eligible for those.

PartyPoker is extremely expensive with rake in SNGs and they fill up very slowly in my experience, so I don't play PP that often anymore.

Bet24
Bet24 is on the Ongame network and offers decent promos and several offers during the month. I have never had to much success on the Ongame network, but through some very favourable offers from their betting site I have accumulated around $100 that I can take a shot at Ongame when I can find the time.

PokerNordica
PokerNordica offers an instant $20 match if you deposit $20 through MB. Being a sucker for these offers, I couldn't resist to try them out.

They offer many different games, low rakes and automatic rakeback of 35% so the concept is great. Unfortunately the traffic is the worst I have tried - in the low stakes it takes forever to fill up the SNGs. A friend of mine tried waiting for more than 1 hour before deregistering - this is simply not something I want to put up with.

I cashed out with a plus of app. $50 and I don't expect to be back any time soon.

iPoker
I am still on Titan and WH, but I haven't any BR and don't actively play there currently. iPoker offers many tournaments but has quite high rake on low BI tourneys and MTT fill up quite slow. The opposition is quite soft so it is possible to win often. I really cannot boost a lot here, as my ROI was around 7% which really doesn't amount to a lot even though I have played around 1000 tourneys there.

The VIP program on Titan is more or less non existent in the micro levels, at least I wasn't able to make any benefits there.

Next post will be on my current goals...

Best regards
DocBrown112

My current goals

Having started mostly in SNGs, moving to smaller MTTs over the last year, my ultimate goal is to become a decent MTT player in the bigger fields and try a big cash out some time in the future - but I guess we all want that

PokerStars
My goal for PokerStars, is to take on the 2$ 180 man turbo MTT on PokerStars and see how that will turn out.

I started out last week with 4 MTTs, 0.02$, 0,10$, 0,25$ and 0,50$ and I managed to cash in the 0,25$ and 0,50$ - it was mostly to get a feel for the play before I start out in the 2$ stake.

I then tried various 45 and 90 man 0,5$ and 1$, but didn't do very well, so I will work on my play and stay on the 45 man 1$ until I feel I have them under my skin. I am still above my deposit, but with the small sample size it doesn't say anything yet.

Current BR: $128

888
I will probably continue with the 0,88$ 40 man MTT on 888 as I have been doing quite well in those and mostly enjoy the format. Sometimes I run into several bad beats and unlucky flips, but I feel that I am learning a lot from that in terms of handling the mental aspect of the game (an area where I can really use improvements)

Current BR: $40

On the meta level I really want to focus on reading other players, asserting self control and in general become a much better player. I don't really have a need to reach higher BI levels, as I am very comfortable playing inside what I perceive as being insignificant levels.

Until next time...

Best regards
DocBrown112

Last 3 days

Played 4 tourneys on 888 on Tuesday, 2 ITM, giving a net plus of about 5 BI. Not too bad, but the play is so loose, that you can hardly talk about strategy and I decided to take a little break from 888 and focus on PS instead.

So I played 14 tourneys on PS the last 3 days;

Tuesday 5 tourneys, 0 ITM
Wednesday 3 tourneys, 2 ITM
Thursday 6 tourneys, 0 ITM

I reviewed the 5 from Tuesday before playing Wednesday and I quite clearly played poorly, so I thought I got a better grip when I made a nice profit from the 2 ITM. Alas on Thursday nothing worked and I don't really know why yet. Maybe it was just variance, but I fear poor play might also be a factor - I will look into that tonight. I am still 5-6 BIs ahead so I am not worried about my BR, mostly concerned I am not playing well.

Funny part is that on Tuesday I thought I was card dead, but it wasn't really so, I was merely reckless and impatient judging from the history. Strange how a nights sleep can clear your perspective.

Maybe I haven't been to clear about that yet, but I am trying to adjust my playing style from a somewhat inconsistent "play by the gut" depending on mood (and cards), to a more sleek strategy based on position and stack.
Pretty standard I know, I am just not quite there yet.

Thoughts on Elephant
I hoped to use Elephant to display stats for MTTs on PS, but I have gotten confirmation that Elephant can't do that yet. I still find it very usefull though as you can follow your development day by day and you can review sessions from history to find explanations. I used to use a java based replayer, but Elephant does almost the same so no need for the other one anymore.

I tried out a little cash game just to check out the HUD and I can see that I need to learn how to read those stats and also learn how to apply them in MTTs. Maybe I should look into some of the other HUDs out there.

That's it for now, feel free to leave your thoughts here...

Best regards
DocBrown112

So back to play a little on 888

Played 6 tourneys on 888 tonight, 2 ITM, giving a net plus of about 10 BI. It's better than last time I played there and it seems to be very consistent ROI - it's a little above 35% with 554 tourneys so far.

Still I prefer PS and I would have continued playing there, but I also wanted to be able to talk to the family while playing, so I went to 888.

Bankroll on 888 is now $49

I didn't get around to study my tourneys on PS yesterday, I will see if I have time for it tomorrow.

Best regards
DocBrown112

I'm surprised you haven't tried Full Tilt. It gives 27% rakeback if you make a deposit, which seems better than what you're getting. Btw, you want 100+ buyins for MTT's, unless you're willing to redeposit. Variance is sick on those.

Hi Salivanth,

Nice of you to drop by

I was actually reading your blog today, very nice stuff with lots of theory and strategy - I really liked it.

Regarding FullTilt, unfortunately I have already tried them and it was not a pleasant meeting. I lost my bankroll far too fast playing way over my head Worst of all, I never really felt comfortable at the tables then.

I doubt very much that I will be able to get any rakeback from them even though it is quite a bit better than what I'm getting now.

In terms of BR, I am only playing the 1$ on PS, so my BR should be ok there. On 888 I only have about 60 BI, but I have app. double my current total BR available for redeposit in case it goes completely crazy. But thanks anyway for the heads up.

Best regards
DocBrown112

Sunday night - not much poker, mostly family time

So the poker blog shouldn't only be about poker, but also contain some personal stuff? Ok, if so here goes a little about me then

I am, what many consider, an old fart, rapidly approaching 46, married and father of 3 kids. I was a slow starter, so my kids are quite young compared to me; 10, 8 and 6. Funny thing is, I felt like 19 until the first kid and since then it seems I have aged at least with double speed. I guess you really reflect your age in your kids and their development. Anyway it is a great journey and it is definitely something I have never regretted. Being young is great, but getting older is even better since the alternative really sucks.

I live in Denmark and normally I play several tournaments Sunday night as the kids are sent to bed at 20:30ish and I can then either focus on poker or the wife - according to her, far too often I choose poker

Last night was a bit different as the kids have started Easter vacation and since they didn't have to get up this morning, they stayed up til 22ish. Then I talked a bit with the wife regarding buying a new car and suddenly I was almost out of time for any poker at all.

The clock was close to 23:30 and I hadn't even made my daily training pass yet, so I cranked up the laptop, signed in to 888 and moved down to the floor so I could exercise and play at the same time - not optimal, off course, but rather that, than missing out on poker completely (I hardly played any on Saturday as well).

My training pass usually last 15-20 minutes, so in terms of the 888 40 man, that means you have lost almost half the field

Still dragging my laptop, I went to brush my teeth and get ready for bed. I somehow managed to follow the game reasonably well, so that I had an idea of who was playing how. When we got to the final table, I had one situation that could have destroyed me, but I managed to lay it down. I was sitting in CO with AQs when the guy before me went all-in with 2,5BB and I considered shoving, but the guy after me was equal in size and called a little too often from what I could tell, so I chose the weaker option of flat calling (optimal play would propably have been a fold) and the guy to my right called and the blinds folded. The flop came up with garbage K high and no colors to me, so I again took the safe road and checked and the guy after me bet the blinds. I thought about it for a while, but decided having nothing was not enough to call and folded. So time to see what was what and the guy to my right showed AA and the guy to my left showed AK and had hit top pair on the flop. I was still in decent shape and padded my self on the shoulder for staying patient for once

With added selfconfidence, I proceeded to steal with eager, and somehow I managed to steal my way to chiplead. First then, some of the small stacks decided I was stealing and called my steals with marginal hands and I lost a flip or two but also won the same, so I stayed in front chipwise and eliminated 2 players on the final table.

Down to 5, there were 2 small stacks, and they took a flip with number two in chips, one lost, the other won, but then he flipped against the same guy again and lost.

Down to 3 and the new small stack had about 2BB and decided to make a move against me and I looked at QTs, so I thought that would have to do for the price of one BB. I hit my Q and we were heads up, me being app. 2 times his stack. He moved all-in first hand and I thought about calling with something like Q9o but decided against it. Then I got QJs and thought I would pressure him a little and put him all-in. He decided to call with K5o (I don't really see why he would do that) and he was a slight favourite, but I got lucky and hit a straight, so even though I only had time for 1 tourney, I max'ed the potential with a 1. place.

888 BR now at $59

So this was a little about my self and a rather long story about one single tourney. Feel free to comment on my play if you like. You can off course also comment on my personal life, but chances that anything will change there are very slim

Best regards
DocBrown112

A matter of mindset perhaps?

I was playing on 888 monday night, since only my youngest was home and we were watching Ice Age 3 together, so I knew I wouldn't be able to focus 100%. Somehow the 40 man doesn't require too much attention, so I could follow the movie with him, while knocking down a few tourneys.

888 is offering some reload bonuses atm, so I deposited $40 to get a little more out of my play. I don't really know what happened, but I only got $10 in bonus. It's no biggie, but it seemed a little strange. Enough of this - time for some action.

In my first tourney there was a little incident that got me thinking. It was your typical bad play made by a typical fish and I have seen it many times before, but somehow this one got to me.

The tourney started very fine indeed. I made a straight on the turn in the first hand and was in good shape and then I got JJ in the second hand. I raised and got called which is normal, and the flop comes rainbow garbage all unders, so basically I am only losing to a set or an overpair and I make a raise. Out of nowhere this other guy goes all-in and I think about it for a while and I figure that I don't think he has an overpair and the odds that he has the set is very slim, so I go ahead an call. He showed Q2s which paired with a 2 on the flop, so I am well ahead and quite happy with my play. Unfortunately he hits a 2 on the river and wins the pot.

Someone comments "nh" and he starts writing some lame explanations, so I give in to a bit of frustration and writes "Great play", followed by "You're the best". Somehow he must have gotten a clue to me being sarcastic ♠_evil:, so he get's upset and starts moaning. (I should have been more subtle, I know)

The interesting part is when he writes "Come on, it is only a 88c tourney" which triggers me to look him up in Sharkscope and look and behold: $900 out the window for this guy in about the same number of tourneys. I started thinking about it and it dawned on me that this guy didn't actually expect to win

I know this kind of players are godsend, but I cannot figure out why you would play if you don't expect to win. I always play for first, no matter what level I'm playing and I always expect that I will at least place ITM unless I make a bad play or get unlucky. (Doesn't always happen ♠_cool: but I still should expect to do it when I start the tourney)

So anyway, I know that it was actually me who was stupid as I shouldn't have been so obviously sarcastic, I should merely have nursed his ego or kept my mouth shut!

Morale of the story: Be nice to the fishes and celebrate their victories since that is what keeps them at the tables - paying your winnings, or at least keep your mouth shut; when you find a nice spot with lots of fish, don't go screaming your lungs off because one of them got away - you will only scare the rest ♠_biggrin:

I didn't make the money in that tourney (neither did villain), but at the end of the night I placed ITM 3 out 7 tourneys and made a plus of 8-9 BIs.

Don't want to keep too much money on any site atm, so I withdrew $50.

Bankroll on 888 now at $55

Best regards
DocBrown112

Bloody Easter
Well, I knew I was running hot and I sort of expected to run in to days with less success, but somehow it is always devastating when it hits.

During Easter, I didn't get to play very much, but from the time from 20th of April to 28th of April I lost approximately 25-30 BIs. For some reason Sharkscope didn't catch all my losses, but my Bankroll clearly told the true story.

Even with a few winnings, it was only downhill and the problem was two ways.

1) I got called constantly!
2) I NEVER got anything on the board!

Worst part was probably the 1st, but you can live with that if you just get a little connection with the board once in a while.

Some of this was probably due to bad luck, but very soon you actually start playing worse and with the wrong mindset.

This weekend, it seems I am back in my usual game, and I have covered my losses and am up about 4-5 BIs.

Learning points here are clear to me: Never ignore Bankroll management - if I hadn't had a sufficient BR I would not have been able to continue playing without fear of going broke.

Second learning point is maybe not so clear, but the difference between playing cards and playing poker, is difficult to establish when getting a lot of calls. It's difficult to tell whether it is due to your play being getting affected or if it is due to general bad luck, but when your opponents' fold-button appears to have gone missing, you cannot win without decent cards.

Still I am not complaining, as I was more or less anticipating something like this would happen at some point, and it might easily happen again.

Bankroll on 888 now at $65

Best regards
DocBrown112

Ups and Downs

Last night on 888 I played around 12-13 tourneys and I placed decent in most of them. Unfortunately I was missing the edge (or the luck) to get to the top, and my best results was 2 3. places which in the end meant I only increased my BR with 3 BIs.

According to Sharkscope, I have played around 620 tourneys now with a profit of 186$ so I am want to break the 200$ border soon, hopefully well before I hit 650 tourneys. My current ROI is 33% - not too bad I guess.

Bankroll on 888 now at 68$

Best regards
DocBrown112

Passed my goal to night

So I am still playing on 888 and this night, according to Sharkscope, I just edged my winnings over $200 with an average ROI of 35% and the number of tourneys says 633.

I played 5 tourneys tonight, and placed in 4 of those with 1 3rd, 2 4th and 1 5th. Lately I have placed many times, but haven't really made it to the 1st or 2nd spot. It may not sound like a big deal, but the 4 spots I made tonight only just counts as a third more than one single 1st place.

Since the play on the final table is very volatile, it is hard to determine whether I play differently or if it is just variance. Still, I am not complaining - I think I getting very nice results indeed.

I was watching another tourney, a $5 with about $500 guaranteed, and on the final table it was just a completely different world. Each round people seemed to take turns going all-in and everyone else folding - even the big stacks. In the 40 man, it seems like people feel sorry for someone who goes all-in, and swiftly follow suite, so they won't stand there alone.

Still, in terms of patience, it was an eyeopener watching the other tourney, and I can see that I will not learn a lot more playing the 40 man. I have learned one important thing, that is to go all-in without fear when there is a spot, and also rarely to re-steal (which is very hard, considering how often people call just about anything), but I will not learn patience in these tourneys. Not that patience doesn't make a difference in these tourneys, but you need both patience and luck, since you can more or less count on getting called.

I think it's time to try out Pokerstars again, but I will play the PokerStrategy freeroll on Sunday for sure.

Bankroll on 888 now at $83.

Best regards
DocBrown112

Well, I haven't gotten around to update this blog for quite some time which of course kind of defeats the purpose, but for me that was how I my priorities came out over summer.

Even though I didn't write anything, I still played a bit. It was mostly on 888 and I have maintained my positive ROI above 30% so I am pretty pleased with that. Never the less, I am still geared towards leaving 888 since my success is limited to the 40 man and the playing style in those is somewhat fishy and I fear it is affecting my own playing style negatively.

I also made a deposit on Titan and played some sngs in the 2 - 5$ levels - it was a mixed bag, won some, lost some, but I wont continue playing there. In the 2$ level the rake is absurd and the traffic is not impressive, so if you want to play an Auckland (30 man, 5$) you some times have to wait for 20-30 minutes and that is not acceptable for me. So I have just withdrawn my money there and wont be playing on the iPoker network anymore.

I played a few tourneys on Bet24, which convinced me to make a deposit on Betfair. My sample so far is ridiculous but the competition in the 30 mans 1$ and 3$ seems soft and since 6 spots are paid, it is not hard to get paid in those tourneys. With the rake at 10% and a return of 5$ per 8$ rake paid (fdb) it is also quite cheap playing there, at least while I have the initial bonus.

On the negative side, they don't have a problem accepting money from MB, but they don't consider that proof that you are 18. They require you to send passport or similar or to make a deposit from a credit card as that apparently is a better age verification. Maybe they are right, but I imagine it wouldn't be that hard to "borrow" your parents credit card if you were in that position. Anyhow, I guess it is ok they make an effort, but I dislike the attitude "Deposits are always ok, but after that you have to verify whatever". It would be much nicer if you were presented with those requirements before the deposit went through.

Enough of that, I like it so far and guess that will the place I spend most of my poker time for the rest of the year.

On another, but related note, as I live in Denmark, I will face a severe interference due to new laws for online gambling. From what I have heard so far, we are talking about huge impact, but it is still uncertain if everything will end up as bad as feared, but starting from January 1st, only operators holding proper license will be allowed to operate in Denmark, so I expect I have to withdraw all my money before then. I hope everything will be cleared so it will be safe to make a deposit after new year, at least we will be a lot wiser then.

Bankroll at Betfair: $102
Bankroll at 888: $155

Best regards
DocBrown

I played in Bet24's Halloween tourney this weekend - a 1$ buy-in with re-buys and add-on, 1000$ added and 100$ bounty on a single player - and I got to take him out, even if I had to try three times. First time he took ½ my stack, second time he had me covered, but three times is charmed and I took him out and claimed my 100$.

Unfortunately, Sunday evening I had one of those days; QQ, JJ and AK into rockets, at least 4 or 5 times so I didn't even make it through the first half and I also lost 3-4 other SNGs in the same manner.

I am still emptying my accounts to prepare for the new danish legislation, so I have asked for a cashout on 888 and I am planning for Pokerstars to be next. When that is done, I will only have money in 2 sites and I expect to continue on those 2 (BetFair and Bet24) until late December. I also have a few bucks on Party and VC but it's so little that it really doesn't matter.

Too bad Betfair is not included in the November Gold campaign, but never mind - I choose where I play myself, and I like Ongame for now.

Best regards
DocBrown112

I started out in the extreme and the following tourney results seem to be much more normal, but still I am doing very good so far. Since I deposited a few days ago, I have increased my roll with 120% so I am a happy man for now.

I am still waiting for my cashout on 888, but unfortunately it seems as if I am stuck with PokerStars as they claim that my initial bankroll from PS is still not cleared, even though it was in 2009 and I lost it all at the time. Don't really know what to do about that - I really feel uncertain when I am playing in PokerStars and that is not a good thing as I guess you all can imagine. Maybe I will just try out my luck and skill set and see if I can make anything out of the rest of my money.

Best regards
DocBrown112

Well, just got busted on Ongame, holding AA, villain all-in with KTo - snap call, flop nothing, turn T, river K. Pretty standard, but really annoying when you're at the short end of the stick. Still made the money though.

Played 2 tourneys on PokerStars which went really crappy, both times holding premium pairs getting beat by turn and river miracles. I love Riverstars ♠_evil:

Got my last money from 888, so now I am down to 5 sites with money:
BetFair
Bet24
PokerStars
Partypoker (peanuts)
VC Poker (peanuts)

Totally a little over $200 in play and the rest in MB.

Best regards
DocBrown112

Still content with Ongame, but they do indeed have their share of very poor players, calling just about anything or bluffing at any occasion and from time to time they suck out on you.

I am inclined to ban myself from cash games - just lost 1½ BI on Bet24 - and I am not happy with the way that played out. I think I would do the same, but I am very uncertain that it is the "right" way to play cash game. In other words, I fear I am calling/raising too light (without the nuts).

Won a fifty-fifty on Stars yesterday - my first try with that form of tourney, but I am not really sure whether I like them or not. Still not too keen on Stars though.

Best regards
DocBrown112

Still showing nice profit from the 30man turbo $1 and $3 tourneys on Ongame. I realize that the turbo format increases the variance, but so far my biggest leaks are more or less opposites:

1) Calling too light and drawing too much
2) Waiting too long, losing fold equity

I have several times found my self with something along the size of the initial stack of 1500 (having won 1 or 2 hands) when two things tend to happen; either someone seems to call every hand making it very difficult to tell what they hold or everyone takes turns going all-in. In both cases I usually fold most hands unless very strong. If this goes on, very soon I will reach the stage very my stack is down to around 1000 and blinds are perhaps 400, 600 or even 800 and I realize I waited too long in terms of fold equity. After that when I make my move, I am usually called - often by multiple callers.

I find it a hard balance to achieve - not playing too much and still not wait too long.

Does anybody have solid advice on how to achieve that?

Best regards
DocBrown112

PS. Am I the only one who thinks that they should not have lowered the points on SNGs but just have sufficed with the increase of cash game points?

Interesting!