Secret Diary of a Limp Girl: $500 -> $2500 in lottery SnGs

GRoDT report

172 tournaments
+$189
$1176
9 weeks

The green results are due to €10 Twister and $15 Spin heaters that I didn't really deserve, plus a big part of the iPoker buy-ins were made by tokens.

I didn't play any iPOPS event and didn't cash in PKR Octoberfest Masters - I was preflopping like a god but the opponents were running even better (I'm sorry for the lack of formatting, that's the best that HM2 can produce):

The player who hit the last nail into my coffin was none other than Weazel666 (MP 87s < AQo 4 bb effective, accounting for antes), so I guess my demise made its way onto Twitch (Weazel_1991)

** Hand History for Game 1111111111 ** (PKR)
Tourney Hand NL Texas Hold'em - Sunday, November 01, 09:25:49 ET 2015
Table (Real Money)
Seat 6 is the button
Seat 1: Player1 ( 12144 ) - VPIP: 25, PFR: 18, 3B: 8, AF: 1,8, Hands: 131
Seat 2: Player2 ( 4299 ) - VPIP: 0, PFR: 0, 3B: 0, AF: 0,0, Hands: 3
Seat 3: Player3 ( 13798 ) - VPIP: 19, PFR: 17, 3B: 12, AF: 0,0, Hands: 53
Seat 4: Hero ( 2975 ) - VPIP: 42, PFR: 34, 3B: 14, AF: 2,6, Hands: 7569
Seat 5: Player5 ( 7620 ) - VPIP: 9, PFR: 4, 3B: 6, AF: 0,0, Hands: 53
Seat 6: Player6 ( 4854 ) - VPIP: 31, PFR: 27, 3B: 26, AF: 0,0, Hands: 128
Seat 8: Player8 ( 7157 ) - VPIP: 23, PFR: 9, 3B: 8, AF: 2,5, Hands: 53
Seat 9: Player9 ( 9911 ) - VPIP: 23, PFR: 15, 3B: 0, AF: 1,3, Hands: 53
Player1 posts ante of [50].
Player2 posts ante of [50].
Player3 posts ante of [50].
Hero posts ante of [50].
Player5 posts ante of [50].
Player6 posts ante of [50].
Player8 posts ante of [50].
Player9 posts ante of [50].
Player8 posts small blind [200].
Player9 posts big blind [400].
Dealt to Hero [ 7♣: 8♣: ]
Player1 folds
Player2 folds
Player3 folds
Hero raises [2925]
Player5 folds
Player6 raises [4804]
Player8 folds
Player9 folds
Player6 wins 1879
Hero shows [7♣:, 8♣: ]
Player6 shows [A♣:, Q♥: ]
** Dealing Flop ** [ J♠:, 3♥:, 4♥: ]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Q♦: ]
** Dealing River ** [ 8♦: ]
Player6 wins 6850 from main pot

The biggest event of the week, though, was my forced (see the spoiler) debut at $100 Spins :f_eek:, where I ran into flesske - a high volume reg who had once won a $300K jackpot (back when top jackpots were 3000 BIs).

GRoDT report

87 tournaments
+$185
$1361
10 weeks

I can call it a month at Stars (have hit a stellar reward and secured Pokerstrategy Silver for December that satisfies my needs by >90%), don't really want to play much on iPoker because regs switching from Stars are supposed to make those games tougher, but the PKR November grind is yet starting.

I have a stoic attitude to Stars' VIP program changes - they don't affect me directly because, as of my latest plans, I wasn't going to be SNE ever, but they do affect me indirectly because 1) the player pools of other sites are surely going to get tougher, and it's not known by how much, 2) the player pool of Stars 5s-7s is going to change too, and it's not known whether the change will be negative (because of tough regs moving down or from other formats) or positive (due to promised increased marketing to recreationals), 3) a new game format might be invented in 2016 that I'd better start learning instantly upon arrival.

All this implies that I might need to put in 2K more hours of serious grind / analysis lifetime instead of 1K, but meh, it will still take less than a year if I get the health on track fast, and my real-life development is lagging a lot behind the poker one anyway, so I don't really sweat. Remember, any change in the situation (like the stack size change in an MTT) just presents us with a new conundrum - how to improve our present state.

Hi Tony what type of game format are you thinking about that might appear in 2016? And I wanted to ask you do you still play PLO or...? I read you won a 100€ spin and go (or equivalent) token but it was discussed in a strategy section that I am not allowed to visit because of my status level, hope it went well though vs the reg. GL with your challenge! : )

Originally posted by FlyingDutchm1n
Hi Tony what type of game format are you thinking about that might appear in 2016?

If I knew, I'd be living in Sochi, as we say in Russia... my guess is that it will be a hybrid of cash hold'em and blackjack (we've already seen a hybrid of poker and slots - Spins - and WInamax once had a bingo-in-poker promo, those games wouldn't be innovative).

And I wanted to ask you do you still play PLO or...?

September was the last time I played it, but I may give it a new go in 2016, to prepare for live games.

I read you won a 100€ spin and go (or equivalent) token but it was discussed in a strategy section that I am not allowed to visit because of my status level, hope it went well though vs the reg. GL with your challenge! : )

Thanks, same to you! I didn't win, though, and the post wasn't in a strategy section - it's actually the first post of this page of the thread ^^^, but the link given in the news is broken ('You have no required privileges' is what the site always says when you try to access a nonexistent thread). Thanks for noticing it.

Nice blog Tony, feel free to come visit me at the $5 spins any time 😉

Maybe I'll do this in December if they're still in the lobby

GRoDT report

38 tournaments
+$39
$1400
11 weeks

It's hard to stay motivated after Matthew Hilger confirmed on the 2+2 Pokercast (the start of the discussion is here) that Stars are going to reinvest money into 'reaching for new audiences' and roll out 'an innovative poker variant' in 2016 that is 'not another Spin & Go product'. I mean, I don't think I should invest any more effort in learning Spins this year, other than watching and internalising the already acquired training materials.

Thanks for sharing that podcast Tony!

congrats for your blog!
I will follow your updates!

Read today that the slang name for (turning) 4 pair in PLo is "noah's ark". Well mine obv sank today as I was up against a set lol ♦

Yeah, that's a cool nickname. It's great when there are two of every sort... but you know, threesomes beat that

GRoDT report

20 tournaments
+$67
$1467
12 weeks

It's hard (and probably -EV) to convince myself to play when I'm sedated deeep (should stop taking pills next week as they have little effect) and when the mind is already wandering in the poker ecology of 2016 instead of the present moment, but a deep run in one of Coral's Daily Mission freerolls has saved the week

I've decided to complete Coral's Monday mission (play 50 raked hands of NL20, where I'm a fish) as well;
asked LemOn36 for advice on what to do;
was told to play tight;
ended up playing with 40/26/5 stats (4-handed on average);
...
still profit!

But I'll have to behave tighter next Monday in presence of certain regs - they've caught up and started 3-betting lighter

GRoDT report

24 tournaments
+$1
$1468
13 weeks

I played pretty only freerolls and as many games as was required for daily missions; mincashed in the Silverstar freeroll - iirc, for the second time in the 'career'

206 hands > 24 tournaments, so my Monday cash game hands would be going into the report if not for the Spanish community where tourneys are aggregated from the start of the challenge, I don't want to mess that stat up

Tony, my old friend, how are you?

Sorry for hiding from you, man (as well as from everyone on Skype)

I've just been having a really rough week

And I tend not to open Skype when I don't feel like talking.

So your best way to reach out is to PM me here or on 2+2, I don't discuss real life on this forum (though I'm going to make a 2+2 'personal weirdness containment thread' next week).

GRoDT report

33 tournaments
+$255
$1723
14 weeks

Most of the win originates from one Daily Mission tourney (which had also been selected really well - had 17 runners, the least I've seen in a Mission freeroll in a while):

Ironically, the runner-up was a €10 Twister reg.

Spins / Twister were also treating me really well.

But as hinted above, I've continued destroying my real-life 'relationships', which is not surprising with my general extent of misanthropy.

Take care.

Bronzestars grind hardest

I've just had a sigh of relief due to the fact that I'll only 'need' to spend 705 more FPPs on Sunday Storm sats - next year, I'll be able to buy Spin & Go tickets for Coins at a then optimal rate

The sats seem tougher than the previous time I fired them. Some of the regs have incorporated minraising into their arsenals (with 10 bb in presence of antes)

4x235 FPPs -> T$11 but I had little clue about what I was doing, must have made several overly tight folds, like K2s OTB first in while covering both blinds' stacks.

GRoDT report

99 tournaments
-$234
$1489
15 weeks

Starting from now, all Pokerstars play will once again be excluded from the challenge stats altogether...

because playing there is really a self-destructive habit :f_mad:, especially non-Spins. Most likely I'll even stop at ~3600 yearly VPPs after hitting PS-gy Gold for December+January, instead of going for 4K or 5K VPPs - yes, the 'marginal rakeback' from hitting those stellars is higher than usual, but it's still less than 40% and the games are awful. I'm sorry to upset you, mods, but it has to be done.

I still think the $5M Sunday Million will be +EV, but of course I'm not going to include its result here either.

It's funny that my Daily Mission freeroll win has made it into the news... I had mentioned it because there was nothing else to write. I've placed 2nd for £60 / €83 in one of the three attempts in the week that has ended. That's not a big deal because the dates and times for entering the freerolls can be selected so that they have 15-20 runners and this award £10-13 per player, and they're very soft by MTSnG standards, so £60 a week from them is actually close to the EV.

Originally posted by tonypmm
Starting from now, all Pokerstars play will once again be excluded from the challenge stats altogether...

Exception: 180-mans up to $1 on December 17.

(Plus, freerolls and tickets and casino bonuses awarded for poker play, even at Stars, will count as usual.)

It has been announced that this Thursday is going to be the 180-man day:

Originally posted by Pokerstars Luke
On 17 December, 180-player SNGs will be the Christmas Calendar challenge. The challenge is to win two 180-player SNGs between 00:00-23:59 ET to receive a random reward ranging from $50-$5,000. There is a limit of one reward per player. The probabilities will be posted alongside the promotion, but players have a 60% chance of receiving $100 or more and a 5% chance of receiving $5,000. You must opt in through the challenge window to be eligible. Feel free to cross-post at will.

(Source: Stars MTT discussion thread on 2+2.)

So maybe it's high time for 30-40-table $0.50 MTSnG madness

That's the first time I'll be stacking tables, an interesting experience for sure.