Time for a long overdue update, much to discuss.
On the tables my plan has once again changed as I think I have found other games that translate into better hourly rates. I am now playing a mix of $3.50 18m turbos and anything under $2.00 hyper turbo satellites exclusively on Stars.
Not sure really what sparked me to play my first $1.50 18m turbo in the past few weeks, but I do remember in MecaStyles' (Quadz) blog that it used to be his main game. I gave it a shot and won my first game, so of course I needed to pursue the new game type. At the moment I still have nowhere near enough of a sample size, but I imagine that I could maintain at least 20% ROI at the $3.50 level long term. So at a glance, it seems like a pretty risk free way to grind the BR at levels that are significant using the Kelly Criterion. Once I break through the $7.00 games I believe I could reasonably expect an hourly rate of at least $10 and it would become the backbone of the grind for the foreseeable future.
As for the hyper turbo sattys, I honestly couldn't believe that I gave 6m hyper games another try. I also honestly couldn't believe that I waited this long to try the sattys. Still have yet to gain a reasonable sample to draw from, but it is decent enough to say that I feel those games are much softer than the cash 6m hyper turbos of equivalent BI. From my prior experience, I would say that I am likely a break even player or 1% ROI earner at the micro stakes for cash 6m hyper turbos. From my small experience, I would say I am at least a 5% earner at the $1.90 level. It helps that my BR has grown substantially since the hyper battles last time around reducing the effect of swings affecting my decision, but also they have sattys as small as $0.76 which are a great price point for grinding my BR as it currently stands. The whole reason why I only stop at $2.00 is because of BR considerations, and this time I am ensuring that I do not play a stake with less than 300 BI to counter the effect of tilt when a down swing comes. The game is different too starting off shallower and having much different ICM implications when the games ends with two players getting tickets. It is something that matches the current strengths of my game, and is something that I can exploit even decent regs at with 'relative ease'. When there are no sattys running that I want to participate in, I use the time to convert the T$ to real money with the 18m turbos.
All in all, the progress that I have been making with grinding my BR up has been fairly consistent as of late. There hasn't been too much time that I have been able to dedicate while feeling my best as a result of juggling two jobs and getting used to 'married life', but the time that I have spent at the tables and at the review station have been very useful.
I am just barely ahead of pace to clear my goal of $1000 for the end of this year sitting at $650, but with more free time in the upcoming months and recent steps up in BI levels, I have the potential to blow that number out of the water. If I can get up to $2000 before the end of the year I will take $1000 out of the BR and go and buy a new computer for myself. It is nice to have some extra motivation aside from just watching the numbers grow.
Amaya's shareholders just approved the financing behind the Stars acquisition just two days ago I believe. So the changes that would happen to Canadian players as a result are likely imminent if they are happening. Aside from the initial backlash from the chicken littles of the internet, not much bad press has been released about the Canadian players situation either than speculation. The only concrete statements came from Steve Dee on 2p2 saying that they will not be leaving and from the Loto-Quebec saying they are working on a deal with Amaya gaming currently. Both are pretty good signs in my opinion, so I am less worried now than I was when the news first broke.
As for the personal life, I have yet to stamp out the sauce and peeling bananas completely out of my diet. It isn't very helpful for me for the most part as I tend to consume it all as soon as I can, which is usually right before a session. Some nights it is fine to have a brew and then some while the session is running down, but for sure not at the start of every session. This is the biggest leak in my game so far and I am sort of unsure how to kick it. Absolutely, without a doubt, I am addicted to this part of my life and for sure it has hurt me in the past. But going forward... just not sure how to best handle it either than to work my ass off and start craving the big bucks at the end of this road.
The second job is almost wrapped up, just working there one day a week now. The main job fits my schedule almost perfectly, pays pretty decent and I love working there. If all fails then I at least take comfort in the fact that I would enjoy building a career in that industry.
On a side note I played my first live MTT in almost 3 years. When Black Friday first hit I made a point of traveling the local circuit and playing a regular schedule. After dropping about 12 BIs I decided to stop out of frustration. My game isn't even comparable now as it was then, so I was pretty stoked when a buddy brought me out. I finished just shy of the money bubble and felt pretty comfortable in it. Made a few good impressions with a couple top regulars in the circuit, had some good conversation and all in all just had a good time, so that was nice. Felt pretty good about my game too, lost a cooler flip at the end to bust so NBD. One dude that was there was pretty funny though. Stoic glare at anyone who had the action on them, big sunglasses to cover his face, frustration when he couldn't hit a flop, folding under pressure when calling / limping into a pot in / out of position, and aside from his typical tight passive fish online play, he actually wore a PokerStars hat and a Chrome t-shirt to the tournament. I mean, I almost laughed out lout when I first saw the guy, and since he was sitting directly across the table from me, there were several other times I had to choke back a laugh. I mean, comon, really, CHROME STAR? You are proud of CHROME STAR!?!? Wow...
One last thing that I would like to mention is that I have been participating in Jason Sommerville's Run It Up community lately and have been having a tonne of fun there. He is running up $50 to $10K and putting the almost entire grind on twitch.tv and youtube. Mostly just a fun place to ghost him while he does it and hang out, but some decent enough poker conversations take place as well. To anyone who reads this, I would recommend signing up there.
So as mentioned before, I will likely be posting less here as I have been keeping extensive notes on my spreadsheet. I am more of an introverted person, especially considering all the trolling on the Internets, but I will keep up appearances and post here for anyone who stumbles by and for my own amusement.
GL and see you at the tables!
On the tables my plan has once again changed as I think I have found other games that translate into better hourly rates. I am now playing a mix of $3.50 18m turbos and anything under $2.00 hyper turbo satellites exclusively on Stars.
Not sure really what sparked me to play my first $1.50 18m turbo in the past few weeks, but I do remember in MecaStyles' (Quadz) blog that it used to be his main game. I gave it a shot and won my first game, so of course I needed to pursue the new game type. At the moment I still have nowhere near enough of a sample size, but I imagine that I could maintain at least 20% ROI at the $3.50 level long term. So at a glance, it seems like a pretty risk free way to grind the BR at levels that are significant using the Kelly Criterion. Once I break through the $7.00 games I believe I could reasonably expect an hourly rate of at least $10 and it would become the backbone of the grind for the foreseeable future.
As for the hyper turbo sattys, I honestly couldn't believe that I gave 6m hyper games another try. I also honestly couldn't believe that I waited this long to try the sattys. Still have yet to gain a reasonable sample to draw from, but it is decent enough to say that I feel those games are much softer than the cash 6m hyper turbos of equivalent BI. From my prior experience, I would say that I am likely a break even player or 1% ROI earner at the micro stakes for cash 6m hyper turbos. From my small experience, I would say I am at least a 5% earner at the $1.90 level. It helps that my BR has grown substantially since the hyper battles last time around reducing the effect of swings affecting my decision, but also they have sattys as small as $0.76 which are a great price point for grinding my BR as it currently stands. The whole reason why I only stop at $2.00 is because of BR considerations, and this time I am ensuring that I do not play a stake with less than 300 BI to counter the effect of tilt when a down swing comes. The game is different too starting off shallower and having much different ICM implications when the games ends with two players getting tickets. It is something that matches the current strengths of my game, and is something that I can exploit even decent regs at with 'relative ease'. When there are no sattys running that I want to participate in, I use the time to convert the T$ to real money with the 18m turbos.
All in all, the progress that I have been making with grinding my BR up has been fairly consistent as of late. There hasn't been too much time that I have been able to dedicate while feeling my best as a result of juggling two jobs and getting used to 'married life', but the time that I have spent at the tables and at the review station have been very useful.
I am just barely ahead of pace to clear my goal of $1000 for the end of this year sitting at $650, but with more free time in the upcoming months and recent steps up in BI levels, I have the potential to blow that number out of the water. If I can get up to $2000 before the end of the year I will take $1000 out of the BR and go and buy a new computer for myself. It is nice to have some extra motivation aside from just watching the numbers grow.
Amaya's shareholders just approved the financing behind the Stars acquisition just two days ago I believe. So the changes that would happen to Canadian players as a result are likely imminent if they are happening. Aside from the initial backlash from the chicken littles of the internet, not much bad press has been released about the Canadian players situation either than speculation. The only concrete statements came from Steve Dee on 2p2 saying that they will not be leaving and from the Loto-Quebec saying they are working on a deal with Amaya gaming currently. Both are pretty good signs in my opinion, so I am less worried now than I was when the news first broke.
As for the personal life, I have yet to stamp out the sauce and peeling bananas completely out of my diet. It isn't very helpful for me for the most part as I tend to consume it all as soon as I can, which is usually right before a session. Some nights it is fine to have a brew and then some while the session is running down, but for sure not at the start of every session. This is the biggest leak in my game so far and I am sort of unsure how to kick it. Absolutely, without a doubt, I am addicted to this part of my life and for sure it has hurt me in the past. But going forward... just not sure how to best handle it either than to work my ass off and start craving the big bucks at the end of this road.
The second job is almost wrapped up, just working there one day a week now. The main job fits my schedule almost perfectly, pays pretty decent and I love working there. If all fails then I at least take comfort in the fact that I would enjoy building a career in that industry.
On a side note I played my first live MTT in almost 3 years. When Black Friday first hit I made a point of traveling the local circuit and playing a regular schedule. After dropping about 12 BIs I decided to stop out of frustration. My game isn't even comparable now as it was then, so I was pretty stoked when a buddy brought me out. I finished just shy of the money bubble and felt pretty comfortable in it. Made a few good impressions with a couple top regulars in the circuit, had some good conversation and all in all just had a good time, so that was nice. Felt pretty good about my game too, lost a cooler flip at the end to bust so NBD. One dude that was there was pretty funny though. Stoic glare at anyone who had the action on them, big sunglasses to cover his face, frustration when he couldn't hit a flop, folding under pressure when calling / limping into a pot in / out of position, and aside from his typical tight passive fish online play, he actually wore a PokerStars hat and a Chrome t-shirt to the tournament. I mean, I almost laughed out lout when I first saw the guy, and since he was sitting directly across the table from me, there were several other times I had to choke back a laugh. I mean, comon, really, CHROME STAR? You are proud of CHROME STAR!?!? Wow...
One last thing that I would like to mention is that I have been participating in Jason Sommerville's Run It Up community lately and have been having a tonne of fun there. He is running up $50 to $10K and putting the almost entire grind on twitch.tv and youtube. Mostly just a fun place to ghost him while he does it and hang out, but some decent enough poker conversations take place as well. To anyone who reads this, I would recommend signing up there.
So as mentioned before, I will likely be posting less here as I have been keeping extensive notes on my spreadsheet. I am more of an introverted person, especially considering all the trolling on the Internets, but I will keep up appearances and post here for anyone who stumbles by and for my own amusement.
GL and see you at the tables!
