I have not posted in this blog since before Poker's 'Black Friday' which was over seven months ago now. Athough I do not live in the US and I am still able to play on PokerStars, Bleck Friday did still affect me. If you have read my blog you will know that I was happily grinding the 0.25c 45man sit and goes when Black Friday hit. When this happened PokerStars must have pannicked and put up their rake. These tournaments that were previously rake free, suddenly had a rake of 20% (0.05c). So this had a serious affect on my ROI and I starterd losing and I went on serious tilt. I thought it was all over. I was previously makeing 30% ROI and now this would have been cut to about 10% assuming all the player were of the same skill level, so I over reacted. I did not want to play these games anymore if I did not think I had a edge, so I started looking for something else. I went and played a few $1.00 sit and goes and nearly busted! My bankroll was down to about $3 from a high of $55. So I was really bummed and stopped playing.
I stopped playing for a while and then I notices that PokerStars had reduced the rake to 0.02c so I started grinding again. I got the bankroll up again to about $15 but with the reduced traffic on the site, the tournaments were taking longer to fill up, that combined with the slighltly lower ROI it was becoming a real grind, so I went back to the $1 S&Gs and started losing again.
So, dues to Black Friday my pervious strategy of grinding the 0.25c 45 mans is now abandoned. While on tilt and playing other games I lost track of my challenge bankroll and I am pretty sure that I busted. So oficially I failed, however, the purpose of the challenege is to motivate me and accepting failure when it was partly due to unforseeable circumstances is not very motivational so I am going to continue/start a new challenge, starting with a virtual bankroll of zero. By virtual I mean I am not going to start with freerolls but with money that I have deposited. So the figure I will be tracking will be my profit/loss and could be negative.
More about the new challenge in the next post.
Saturday, 19 November 2011
Monday, 4 April 2011
Ups and Downs
After making it above $50 making me eligible for the $1.20 tournaments accordng to my bankroll rules the first time I made the mistake of playing too many tournaments at the next level at the same time and not doing so well. This put me back quite deep below $50 again. It took me 64 more $0.25 tournaments to get back to $50 again. So this time, with a bankroll of $52.31 I just opened up 2 $1.20 sngs. I thought things were going ok with them but things took a turn for the worst and i ended up coming 5th and 6th. I am not going to make the same mistake again so it is back to the trusty $0.25s hopefully just one seesion will get me back above $50 again and then hopefully we will stay there.
Saturday, 2 April 2011
March madness and bankroll graph.
Tournaments played: 334
Starting Bankroll: $38.14
Finishing Bankroll: $46.91
% Profit/loss: 23%
Month High: $54.44
Month Low: $29.29
As I am now trying to take this challenge more seriously and get to a decent bankroll soon, I thought I would start doing some monthly round up/ updates complete with Bankroll graphs so you can see how I am getting on in the challenge.
It has been a big month. I have really played a lot of tournments, 334! That is more than an average of 10 a day! I really don't know how I fitted them all in and I don't expect to play that many in April. I guess there are several reasons for this. Starting to play the $0.25 tournaments on pokerstars and playing 6 tables at a time would have increased the number of tournaments played but I also broke the rules a couple of times and played some heads up tournaments so that would have helped too.
The month has had some serious swings mainly due to breaking my rules. But I can see that when i have stuck to my rules I have made consistent progress.
I made it to the next level just before the end of the month and played a few $1.20, nine seat tournments but did not do so well and fell back to the previous level.
Here is the graph.
1. This period at the beginning of the month was not so good but not so bad either. Grinding out the $0.25 tournments but not really getting anywhere but got a few good cashes at the end.
2. Then a bad down swing with a long string without cahses causes me to get frustrated and break some rules.
3. Here you can see the head up sit and gos that I played even though it was against my rules. I hope I learned the lesson here and will be able resist dong this in the future.
4. Got my head together here. Managed to stick to a winning strategy for this type of tournament and went on a nice consisten upswing.
5. I was doing well and got a little impatient and played and lost a $1.20 sit and go from the next level up.
6. Got to the next level. But despite making a couple of cashes at the beginning and getting to my all time bankroll challenge high of $54 i still manged to then lose it all again. and am now back on the $0.25 tournaments. I made the mistake of not switching back to the 0.25 tournaments when I fell back down below $50 thinking that a win would bring me back above. So now I have fallen a little deeper into the previous level. I must be very diciplined at the points in my bankroll where the levels change. I expect to fall back a couple of times as I will not be accoustomed to the new type of game and it will take time to develop a profitable strategy for them. I can afford to falle back so deep. So I must take it slow when starting a new level.
Like I said April will not be as big a month in terms of volume but if I can stick to the rules and bust into the next level without spewing of my bankroll I should be able to make as much money as March if not a lont more.
Starting Bankroll: $38.14
Finishing Bankroll: $46.91
% Profit/loss: 23%
Month High: $54.44
Month Low: $29.29
As I am now trying to take this challenge more seriously and get to a decent bankroll soon, I thought I would start doing some monthly round up/ updates complete with Bankroll graphs so you can see how I am getting on in the challenge.
It has been a big month. I have really played a lot of tournments, 334! That is more than an average of 10 a day! I really don't know how I fitted them all in and I don't expect to play that many in April. I guess there are several reasons for this. Starting to play the $0.25 tournaments on pokerstars and playing 6 tables at a time would have increased the number of tournaments played but I also broke the rules a couple of times and played some heads up tournaments so that would have helped too.
The month has had some serious swings mainly due to breaking my rules. But I can see that when i have stuck to my rules I have made consistent progress.
I made it to the next level just before the end of the month and played a few $1.20, nine seat tournments but did not do so well and fell back to the previous level.
Here is the graph.
2. Then a bad down swing with a long string without cahses causes me to get frustrated and break some rules.
3. Here you can see the head up sit and gos that I played even though it was against my rules. I hope I learned the lesson here and will be able resist dong this in the future.
4. Got my head together here. Managed to stick to a winning strategy for this type of tournament and went on a nice consisten upswing.
5. I was doing well and got a little impatient and played and lost a $1.20 sit and go from the next level up.
6. Got to the next level. But despite making a couple of cashes at the beginning and getting to my all time bankroll challenge high of $54 i still manged to then lose it all again. and am now back on the $0.25 tournaments. I made the mistake of not switching back to the 0.25 tournaments when I fell back down below $50 thinking that a win would bring me back above. So now I have fallen a little deeper into the previous level. I must be very diciplined at the points in my bankroll where the levels change. I expect to fall back a couple of times as I will not be accoustomed to the new type of game and it will take time to develop a profitable strategy for them. I can afford to falle back so deep. So I must take it slow when starting a new level.
Like I said April will not be as big a month in terms of volume but if I can stick to the rules and bust into the next level without spewing of my bankroll I should be able to make as much money as March if not a lont more.
Saturday, 19 March 2011
Review of the first 1000 sit and go's
So it has been something like 20 months since I started my bankroll challenge to make $300 000 from $0 starting in the free rolls. I have not played all of that time and my bankroll has had it's ups and downs. I have not always kept to my rules but i have leanred a few valuable lessons. The most important lesson I have learned is to pick the right level tournaments, right for the current bankroll level but also ones that have a good value when it comes to rake.
Here is a graph of my bankroll for the first 1000 tournaments.
Click the image to view full size.
1. This period is when i was playing the 10cent giveaways on PKR you can see how i would make enough for a real money tournament then enter and lose it and be back close to zero again.
2. Finally I made enough to buy into a sit and go and cashed. You can then see that even though there were some considerable ups and downs I made consistent gains up to just over $30.
3. Then things go bad. Here starts a massive and tragic down swing. The reason for this was that there were some other things going on in my life that meant i was not focused on my game and the resuts suffered. This was a very long period of time even though it not a large part of the graph. When i loose money I loose motivation so don't play so much. During this period there were months when i did not play at all.
4. This is where I started playing on PokerStars which was actually not that long ago. It started with a big win at a MTT that I should not have been playing because it was breaking my bankroll rules, but it was dark times. This win is partly what got me to get back into the challenge as it boosted my confidence.
5. This is a brief period when i was playing the new 50Fifty tournaments which have replaced the double o nothing. I have realised that for me these are not good value because when you win you win less.
Then I found the 0.25 forty man sit and go's (rake free) I have been playing a lot of volume. I play them in batches of 8 more or less with 6 open at a time. The first 2 that I bust get replace then I lets them play out so as I bust out of more I can focus more on the one that I have got deep. If I can cash in a couple I normally make money and normlly considerable more than the buy ins. One win will pay for 14 buyins and I find If i can build a stack and get deep I have a good chance of winning. So this has been a good period.
6. Ok so lately I have gotten a little bored by the 0.25 tournaments. Partly because I had a little down swing so I broke my rules and started playing some heads up and 9 man turbos on Full Tilt. This was not good and I must stay focused and obey my rules.
7. You can see here specifically in the middle of a downswing I start playing $1 heads up I was winning almost half untill the end when I stopped but you can see the effect of the rake on my bankroll.
8. Now I am back focusing on the 0.25s and doing ok. Lets hope I can be more focused patient and keep at them until i reach $75 when i will start playing the 9 or 10 man single table turbos for $1.50 +0.25
Here is a graph of my bankroll for the first 1000 tournaments.
1. This period is when i was playing the 10cent giveaways on PKR you can see how i would make enough for a real money tournament then enter and lose it and be back close to zero again.
2. Finally I made enough to buy into a sit and go and cashed. You can then see that even though there were some considerable ups and downs I made consistent gains up to just over $30.
3. Then things go bad. Here starts a massive and tragic down swing. The reason for this was that there were some other things going on in my life that meant i was not focused on my game and the resuts suffered. This was a very long period of time even though it not a large part of the graph. When i loose money I loose motivation so don't play so much. During this period there were months when i did not play at all.
4. This is where I started playing on PokerStars which was actually not that long ago. It started with a big win at a MTT that I should not have been playing because it was breaking my bankroll rules, but it was dark times. This win is partly what got me to get back into the challenge as it boosted my confidence.
5. This is a brief period when i was playing the new 50Fifty tournaments which have replaced the double o nothing. I have realised that for me these are not good value because when you win you win less.
Then I found the 0.25 forty man sit and go's (rake free) I have been playing a lot of volume. I play them in batches of 8 more or less with 6 open at a time. The first 2 that I bust get replace then I lets them play out so as I bust out of more I can focus more on the one that I have got deep. If I can cash in a couple I normally make money and normlly considerable more than the buy ins. One win will pay for 14 buyins and I find If i can build a stack and get deep I have a good chance of winning. So this has been a good period.
6. Ok so lately I have gotten a little bored by the 0.25 tournaments. Partly because I had a little down swing so I broke my rules and started playing some heads up and 9 man turbos on Full Tilt. This was not good and I must stay focused and obey my rules.
7. You can see here specifically in the middle of a downswing I start playing $1 heads up I was winning almost half untill the end when I stopped but you can see the effect of the rake on my bankroll.
8. Now I am back focusing on the 0.25s and doing ok. Lets hope I can be more focused patient and keep at them until i reach $75 when i will start playing the 9 or 10 man single table turbos for $1.50 +0.25
Wednesday, 9 March 2011
Really not doing well with the $0.55 tournaments.
Things are continuing to go badly at the 55 cent level. I think that because my ROI was so good that 25 cent level I might just go back and play them all the way to $75 when i will start playing the single table $1/50 +0.25 tounaments. The .25 are just full of fish but the people playing the .55 know what they are doing and it is making it really hard for me.
I think it is also because a lot of people go out quickly with the .25s so it effectively makes the structure better so we are deeper in BBs when it gets to the last few people, so it is easier to out play people when the blind start yo get big. But with the .55s the blinds get big and there are still more people left. People don;t fold because the bubble is still a long way off.
I am trying out holdem manager on the trial. It seems pretty good. More stable than Poker Tracker but less features.
This screen shot of the different levels I have been playing this year on PokerStars shows what I have been talking about above. My hourly rates for .25 and .55 are completely the opposite!
I think it is also because a lot of people go out quickly with the .25s so it effectively makes the structure better so we are deeper in BBs when it gets to the last few people, so it is easier to out play people when the blind start yo get big. But with the .55s the blinds get big and there are still more people left. People don;t fold because the bubble is still a long way off.
I am trying out holdem manager on the trial. It seems pretty good. More stable than Poker Tracker but less features.
This screen shot of the different levels I have been playing this year on PokerStars shows what I have been talking about above. My hourly rates for .25 and .55 are completely the opposite!
Wednesday, 2 March 2011
First sessions at the new level did not go well.
Well my first couple of sessions at the 0.55 level did not go so well. I playes 8 45 man tournaments in the first session for a total buy in of $4.40 and only cashed for $1.00. But my bankroll was still high enough after that to play some more tournaments at the same level. So I played another six the next day for $3.30 and only chashed once for $2.50.
I think the players are significanlty better at this level, there were a lot less really bad calls but I still feel like i can beat them. I got unlucky a few times close to cashing but i also need to up my game.
So in the next session i went back to the $0.25 tournaments. I played 5 tournaments for $1.25 in total and won one for $3.52 so that was nice.
I broke my rules a little bit because when i was down to one table I wanted to play a few quick games so I played some heads up sit and goes. The problem is the lowest level they offer on PokerStars is $2.20. The good news is though that of the four I played for $8.80 I won them all for $16.00.
So all in all it has has been a good session. Next time I will have another crack at the $0.55 tournaments. See if I can beat them this time.
I think the players are significanlty better at this level, there were a lot less really bad calls but I still feel like i can beat them. I got unlucky a few times close to cashing but i also need to up my game.
So in the next session i went back to the $0.25 tournaments. I played 5 tournaments for $1.25 in total and won one for $3.52 so that was nice.
I broke my rules a little bit because when i was down to one table I wanted to play a few quick games so I played some heads up sit and goes. The problem is the lowest level they offer on PokerStars is $2.20. The good news is though that of the four I played for $8.80 I won them all for $16.00.
So all in all it has has been a good session. Next time I will have another crack at the $0.55 tournaments. See if I can beat them this time.
Tuesday, 1 March 2011
Progessing fast now and moving up a level.
So since my last post I have been playing this challenge at PokerStars. It has been a great week. If you read my last post about why I decided to ope the challenge up to include other sites you will remember that one of my reasons was rake. The rake is just o high (20%) at PKR and I was just running on the spot. Well at PokerStars there are several tournaments at the low levels that have 0% rake at the micro levels. They are 45 90 and 180 man MTTs so that does increase the varience but I have been playing them in batches of 6 at a time and I have not had a losing session. In just 4 sessions I have doubled my bankroll to just over $30. According to my challenge rules I can now move up a level and start playing the $0.55 tournaments. I am going to stick to the 45 man sit and goes and see if I can maintain thi level of profitability. Lets hope I can.
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