We reached a milestone today. 
The number on top is my current crypto bankroll (in µBTC), while the number below it shows what are essentially player points, called "Krill" on that site. I cracked the 500 mark today, which does unlock some benefits, including exclusive freerolls.
Not only that, but the bankroll has recovered pretty nicely too after some downers.
I am still looking forward to a return to the standard USD tables on Stars, which should finally happen next week.
Originally posted by Harrier88
We reached a milestone today.
Wow! Congratulations!
Originally posted by VorpalF2F
Wow! Congratulations!
Thank you!
The unlocked freerolls should give me something good to fall back on every once in a while, even if I decide that the cash games aren't worth it. I think most of them might be satellites, but to decent tournaments.
And maybe the cash games will work out after all, I am excited for this month's stats. It's just too hard to tell where things are going with variance-hell games like OFC.
Pre-Match Analysis
There will be a "Trollette Open" for Primrose this weekend... technically. Truth is, it wasn't really supposed to be her own game, she is just being a good sport and filling in for a teammate who couldn't make it. Prim does this knowing full well that she won't stand much of a chance, because her opponent is ranked significantly above her, not to mention that it has been an exhausting week in general. In fact, we have no problems meeting up in person tomorrow, because Prim knows that she is just going to have some fun in her game on Saturday, she doesn't expect it to be very competitive at all.
Therefore, my prediction will indeed be a loss for the grindette. As much as she has my support, I am trying to be realistic in my predictions. When I usually predict wins for her, it's because I genuinely think that she will pull it off - and so far this year, I have always been correct in that regard.
So yes, I do predict that Prim will lose... but also that she will troll. 
I didn't expect to see this series back again so soon either, but there has been a change in my half marathon training schedule. Originally, I was supposed to run 3 miles on Tuesday and 4 miles on Friday, but since Primrose was visiting yesterday - and I surely won't subject her to my running training again - I decided to move Friday's 4 miles to Tuesday, and Tuesday's 3 miles to today. And since 5 km are about 3.1 miles, I thought I might as well time myself and see how I do compared to my old times.
So what was the situation like, before I started my half marathon training in March?
Time to beat: 26:45 Minutes
Current PB: 29:00 Minutes
Today's Time: 26:47 Minutes
NEW PB!
A huge improvement over my PB before the training started, wow... we are just two seconds shy of the once utopian target time of 26:45 minutes, which is where RunningLevel.com has determined that "Novice" level (defined as having run regularly for at least six months) 5K running times start for men my age.
It should be noted that the track I was running on really had a length of around 5,070 meters, since I need to rely on natural landmarks, so if we take those extra 70 meters into account, that already easily offsets the two second gap. Also, the posted times should be based on flat running tracks, while my terrain is quite hilly - just asked Prim, she had to run there herself. So yes, I'd say Novice level has been reached for this kind of run.
Guys, we have made massive improvements. Just think, my first "Time Attack" attempt last October on the same terrain took 32:03 minutes, and before that, in December 2023, I ran 5 km on a flat running track in 30:00 minutes, after having practiced for it for several weeks.
This shows that it can be worth it to persevere, even if the rewards are not always instant. A lesson to take to the poker tables as well, I assume.
Not much time to rest, though. There is a 10-12 miles run scheduled for tomorrow, preceded by a two hour karate training session in the morning, which may determine whether or not there will be a belt exam for me in June.
I fought hard!! Even though I was terribly tired!! But as soon as I entered the tennis court, the fatigue was gone - and I packed out my best game, ran like crazy, fought hard - but yes, Villainesse was just too strong! That´s okay, we had a great and interesting match and afterwards, I was proud of myself. Same in doubles! Played with friend and it was the same story: hard fight, never give in, but our Trollettes were just too strong. Then: So be it! And now I´m super glad for a little break in competing... no competitions for the next 5 weeks! 
That's how our little match-up ended. I tend to suspect that I do a poor job converting heads-up spots in tournaments, not just in those freerolls, though I entered the HU-phase at a chip deficit and ended up quite card dead.
It was fun enough, and I was way too exhausted to try any real money games tonight - because I did pull off the two hours of karate plus ten miles of running routine earlier today.
This was a recurring issue for me this month, which is also why poker was mostly crypto for me. That, and plain old curiosity, to see where I could go if I keep grinding those games for a while. Not sure if I will return to the grind on Stars next week already, but I would like to.
Still a lot to do. And here is what the half marathon training schedule looks like now:
Sad news! 
Sorry guys for not updating you for a long time about my gardening-challenge, but I was very busy with killing pests and I got sad news: Some of the HOT STUFF didn´t make it! 
The Carolina Reaper and the Bhut Jolokia are gone! Killed by lice, along with some of the sweet peppers and some spicy ones. Gladly, at least I could save the Habanero, the Piccante a Mazzetti (spicy one), the Aurora (spicy), the little Fire Kiss (spicy) and some sweet peppers like "Sweet Julie" and "Tequila Sunrise". One yellow sweet pepper is still in the greenhouse and it´s pretty much the "last pepper standing" there. I had to remove all other peppers and chilis from the greenhouse, brought them to the terrace and applied pesticides. That was the only way I could save them. Meanwhile, the Zimbabwe Bird´s Eye (hot one) is still perfectly healthy. So, we had to take a big loss with the peppers and we still got the Little Elf (spicy one), Kusburnu (hot one) and Corno di Torro rosso (Bullhorn pepper, sweet). Also Jalapeno, Pimientos de Padron and Cayenne are still alive and well. But that´s it for Carolina Reaper and Bhut Jolokia! 
More luck next year with the SUPER HOT stuff! 
We also lost three cucumber plants, but that´s not so tragic, cause I still could sow new ones. Meanwhile, the tomatoes are growing nicely and we already ate most of our salads. 
But this year, there was really a huge fuss about the peppers and chilis (or rather: the lice!)!!! Instead of peppers and chilis, we got now an eggplant (bought, don´t have seeds) and tomatoes in the greenhouse. Well, at least we could save some peppers, let´s see how the saved ones will develop.... and how the harvest will be! Wish me luck!
Time for our well-deserved vacation!
Yes, Homer and I will head to the North Sea shore tomorrow! After high work-load, gardening-issues and the Trollette Opens, it´s time to relax, time for some more tennis training 
but also time for sauna! Let´s if there will be also time to play some fun-freerolls or even some CG?
I hope you are going to have a great vacation, Primrose. 
You deserve it, I think we both have been pretty busy.
Meanwhile, I will at least enjoy an extended weekend, with tomorrow being a public holiday in my state. I don't even have a run scheduled for tomorrow, maybe I will really be able to get some much-needed rest.
Karate again on Sunday. After that session, I should know whether or not there will be a belt exam for me in a few weeks.
Had another long 2-7 OFC session today, with big ups and downs, finishing with a profit in the end. We had a lot of earlier losses from this year to chase, but at least when it comes to points, we should now be back to exactly break-even (note that this already takes rake into account).
Some highlight hands from tonight:
That was Close!
Our opponent was ready to cause some serious damage with trip Kings, resting comfortably on top of quads in the back. All he needed was a low, any qualifying low. We were in luck, he didn't get it. It would have cost us over 30 points, and we would have had to share Fantasyland in the next hand.
Not so Lucky...
We missed our draw this time. Our opponent is in Fantasyland, and doesn't have much in the front or the middle. That bottom hand, though...
Again??
He's not in Fantasyland anymore, but he knew what to do with that starting hand. Surely he won't get the Royal again? 
Nope, though he did find a way to bail with a legal hand. But he kept the draw all the way until the end.
Full formula to display my overall profit for the year in any crypto poker game on December 31st, while making sure that the cell remains blank if it is either a game I didn't end up playing at all, or if it's not December 31st yet. The formula is too long to fit into the input line, so it had to be displayed like this.
I'm sure there would have been a better way of doing this, but the calendar sheet is an artifact of a much earlier spreadsheet from five years ago that was originally supposed to track my progress across three different MTTs on Pokerstars, constantly having been adjusted to fit other needs over the years. If I had started creating a new crypto poker tracking spreadsheet from scratch, I probably could have come up with a simpler way, but I like to use what I already have.
Work is progressing well, so we should have some stats to present in time for next month.
One of the worst things about formulas like the one above is having to troubleshoot them when they don't quite yield the correct results for some reason.
Why is there no bracket in this spot? It led to some weird data in some cells.
Anyway, everything should be set up by now. What's still left to do is to collect some additional stats filtered by stakes or game type, and of course the graphs. Let's see if I will be done by Sunday.
I should now have just about all the data I need. Setting up the graphs will hopefully be no problem, so I think we should see some interesting stats soon.
After spending so much time over the extended weekend just crunching numbers, I am also looking forward to finally just hit the tables again. Luckily, the new spreadsheets should be able to handle any new data with ease, while being very adaptable to new game types as well as updates in later years.
Another special training session this Sunday morning, the final one before the exam. And I have some news for you guys, because it has been confirmed that I will be in! So shortly after my last exam in December, I will be given a chance to earn my orange belt in only two weeks from now, on June 15th.
The examination will be part of a larger "summer school" spanning the entire weekend, and I am forced to sign up for it anyway if I want to do the exam, so I guess I will at least check out some of the classes on Saturday too, to get my money's worth. Not all of them, I don't want to exhaust myself too much, and I also know that you can "overprepare" for those kinds of things. I may also do some work hours at the event, so I will see what's the best combo.
All I can say is, it's going to be tough, especially with the rest of the program that keeps going on, like the half marathon training. But we have mastered some tough challenges before. Looks like this summer will be no different, with four major sporting challenges coming up: The karate belt exam, the half marathon, the Trollympics, and the new swimming badges - Prim may even join in for the last two.
One step at a time, the belt exam is the first of these challenges to take down.
What's up, guys? It has been quiet here for a while. Primrose is on vacation, as you know - though as usual, it's an "action vacation" with plenty of tennis. My schedule has been super crazy too, and yes, I have spent a good chunk of my remaining free time working on those spreadsheets.
The good news is: I am finally done, so we will have loads of new stats to present, with plenty more potentially coming up in the future, hopefully needing minimal additional effort. Let's just jump right in, shall we?
Stats Time
The month of May was all crypto, so those are the stats that we are going to deal with. For most games, the samples will be extremely small, but at least OFC will have some more stats from the previous years to see the bigger picture.
First of all, the overall stats for this year so far on SwC:
Looking pretty bad, isn't it? There is more to it, though. Let's check out how things went in the individual game types (mostly cash), starting with Drawmaha, for which I do have some additional stats from last year.
A bit better already, but you will see how swingy it was when we get to the graphs later.
Not much to report yet in FL Badeucy cash.
Well, I'm glad we're profitable in the freerolls, at least. In all seriousness, µBTC 27.40 is a decent contribution.
But where did we go wrong?
OFC - that's what's wrong. It was a big neckbreaker last year too, though the excellent 2023 results are still the main bankroll builder.
But check it out, there is more to those OFC stats as well, starting with the stakes:
At the lowest stakes, we have never done too badly so far. Two years ago, it was the failed attempts at the µBTC 2 stakes that did me in. This year, the stake below that one was enough.
But wait, there is still more. Let us filter the results by game type now instead, for this year:
Standard hi only OFC went poorly - but the 2-7 version is still going strong at this point, and this is the one I am trying to focus on now. We shouldn't look too much into the two "progressive" games, which were both played on the same day.
Graphs coming up next...
While we are not doing too well overall yet, last month has been a massive step in the right direction, compared to April:
Breaking it down by game type, you can see that Drawmaha had a very short-lived spike, that Freerolls are still our best contributor, for better or for worse, and that OFC has been both the main culprit for our bad results this year as well as the most promising game in recent days, in large parts surely thanks to the switch to the 2-7 version - but more on that later.
Shall we even look at the non-OFC graphs? Ah, why not...
OFC should have some more meaningful graphs, coming up in the next post.
As I said before, we have some more long-term stats for OFC, which are also reflected in these graphs:
Note that the USD graph is subject to changes in the value of Bitcoin over the years as well. Also note that we are doing much better when it comes to plain points as opposed to USD. This is in large part explained by my lack of success at higher stakes, as outlined in one of my previous posts.
This year, OFC is looking like this overall so far:
Getting better, but still in the red... assuming that we are looking for monetary profit. When it comes to points, we are breaking even. Again, higher stakes are to blame for the USD loss.
And once again, let's filter by game type. First, the hi only version:
And now, the 2-7 version:
Things may change dramatically in the future, but at this point, it's like night and day.
We are still not done with the graphs, though - stay tuned!
All right, going back to the freerolls one more time. They don't pay out much on this site, but the good thing is that they have a large variety of games on offer. So what were the ones we played?
And which games were the biggest contributors to our µBTC 27.40 in freeroll winnings so far?
You can see some discrepancies, further outlined in the graph below:
Extremely low samples all around, some formats even have only one game so far, resulting in high average profits if it went well. Check out the next graph for more about this (ITM includes shipped games):
Not surprisingly, we have some impressive looking, but totally unrepresentative stats for the percentage of the field we managed to beat in those games:
But back to OFC again now. I generally prefer to play heads-up, and even specifically seek out those tables in 2-7. Therefore, I compiled some stats about my performance against certain opponents too. I do keep track of their player names, but they will not be posted here, I assigned each of my opponents a fixed number in this version instead. 3-handed games are not included.
For a more binary perspective, let's just count the winning and losing sessions against each of them:
Pretty polarized, which becomes even clearer if we take a look at the "winrates":
Yet again, let's filter it by game type, starting with hi only:
And then 2-7:
Once again, massive difference.
And with this... we are done. 
Thank you for your patience.
Maybe I will finally be able to hit the tables again tonight.
