Three monsters

Last night, I won three monster hands. On each one, I went all in. On each one, I raked in a pot worth more than $100,000. I'm fairly sure that has to be a first. Let me check the archives ... It's official. Prior to last night, the most $100,000 plus pots I'd ever won in a single session was two. It's always refreshing to realize that no matter how long you've played, you can always set new personal bests, given the right conditions :-)

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 144 hands and saw flop:
 - 11 out of 17 times while in big blind (64%)
 - 11 out of 17 times while in small blind (64%)
 - 50 out of 110 times in other positions (45%)
 - a total of 72 out of 144 (50%)
 Pots won at showdown - 7 of 15 (46%)
 Pots won without showdown - 5

delta: $61,746
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $6,852,450
balance: $9,757,549

Total chip distance

As you may know, I find poker statistics endlessly fascinating. I recently came up with another one, which I'm calling total chip distance. It only makes sense to calculate it for cash games. The total chip distance is the total of the absolute values of your chip deltas, whether they be hand deltas or session deltas. The finer the granularity of the deltas, the more massive the total chip distance becomes. Believe it or not, I'm nearing the 100 million play dollar mark in total chip distance, when calculated using hand deltas. I'm currently at $92,924,931.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 38 hands and saw flop:
 - 7 out of 9 times while in big blind (77%)
 - 6 out of 8 times while in small blind (75%)
 - 10 out of 21 times in other positions (47%)
 - a total of 23 out of 38 (60%)
 Pots won at showdown - 3 of 5 (60%)
 Pots won without showdown - 6

delta: $21,151
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $6,790,704
balance: $9,695,803

Another 5% rarity

Last night, I had my second rare session in a row. This time, the rarity consisted in the number of zero crossings my stack underwent - 8 in 80 hands. In 674 sessions of cash game no limit hold'em, I've only had at least 8 zero crossings in 30 of them. That's under 5%. The more zero crossings you have, the less likely it is you'll end up with a big profit, or any profit at all, for that matter. I knew enough to quit after the final crossing, which left me with a small but welcome profit.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 80 hands and saw flop:
 - 9 out of 13 times while in big blind (69%)
 - 5 out of 12 times while in small blind (41%)
 - 30 out of 55 times in other positions (54%)
 - a total of 44 out of 80 (55%)
 Pots won at showdown - 5 of 7 (71%)
 Pots won without showdown - 7

delta: $9,139
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $6,769,553
balance: $9,674,652

A 5% rarity

Last night, a 5% rarity occurred. I won a session with a high chaparral count of 0. That's only happened 32 times in 673 sessions of cash game no limit hold'em poker. I suffered a bad beat on hand 6; an opponent who was a 9% underdog hit his gutshot on the river. I lost $29,950 on the hand, and had a long road to get back to the black. I eventually got there.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 50 hands and saw flop:
 - 5 out of 6 times while in big blind (83%)
 - 6 out of 7 times while in small blind (85%)
 - 20 out of 37 times in other positions (54%)
 - a total of 31 out of 50 (62%)
 Pots won at showdown - 3 of 6 (50%)
 Pots won without showdown - 6

delta: $26,924
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $6,760,414
balance: $9,665,513

Showdown perfection

Last night, I had an agreeable return to cash game no limit hold'em. I achieved showdown perfection again, for the first time in over three months. I have my work cut out to return my overall balance to the blue - right now, it's $626,237 away. My cash game no limit hold'em balance is faring somewhat better - it's "only" $278,437 away :-)

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 46 hands and saw flop:
 - 4 out of 6 times while in big blind (66%)
 - 4 out of 6 times while in small blind (66%)
 - 11 out of 34 times in other positions (32%)
 - a total of 19 out of 46 (41%)
 Pots won at showdown - 3 of 3 (100%)
 Pots won without showdown - 5

delta: $24,119
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $6,733,490
balance: $9,638,589

Sit and go swan song

I love playing tournaments. And yet, I also hate playing tournaments. Is there a way to reconcile this dichotomy? Let's see. What do I love about tournaments? I love that my innate quant skills give me a leg up on the competition. What do I hate about tournaments? I hate that on any hand, I can be outdrawn. What can be concluded from this? At least for now, tournaments make me gun shy. There's too much variance. If only I could be guaranteed of never having to wait for an 8-game tournament to begin! My tournament selection criteria, which I outlined in last night's post, are deeply flawed. Let me try to explain why. Let's use an analogy. Let's say I'm great at long distance running. If I had the patience to wait for the long distance races to come along, I'd do fine. Unfortunately, I don't have that patience. Just to satisfy my craving to run, I enter sprint races, and get my head handed to me on a platter. 8-game tournaments are long distance races, and hold'em tournaments are sprints. I'm just not as fast as I wish I were. However, I have great staying power when I'm not trying to run as fast as I can. I need to play to my strengths. Accordingly, I'm heading back to my bread and butter, cash game no limit hold'em. The lesson I keep needing to relearn, and which poker has been patiently trying to drill into my thick head all long, is that there really are no shortcuts. Shame on me for fooling myself that there might be!

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 45000      5000           6        14     5        0
 45000      5000           6        69     3        0
 45000      5000           6        35     5        0
 45000      5000           6        17     5        0
 45000      5000           6        16     3        0

delta: $-250,000
tournament balance: $1,641,040
balance: $9,614,470

Small stakes swan song

On Saturday night, I played three 8-game tournaments. I made a strategic error in my selection of the second and third ones. I chose smaller stakes tournaments for the sole reason that those tables were filling up faster. If you're going to be playing a lot of tournaments, it's important to choose a single buy in level and stick with it; otherwise, your money finishes might not count for as much as they should.  That was certainly the case in Saturday's session.

Here are the selection criteria I'm going to use from now on:

1. my preference is to play 8-game tournaments, not hold'em ones
2. the buy in must be $45,000
3. if the 8-game table isn't filling up fast enough, the remedy is to join a hold'em tournament with a $45,000 buy in

So for the time being, at least, I've played my last small stakes tournament.

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 45000      5000           6        38     5        0
  9000      1000           6        87     2    18900
  9000      1000           6       169     2    18900

delta: $-32,200
8-game tournament balance: $466,700
balance: $9,864,470

The edge of the abyss

Tournament poker can sure take you on a wild ride. You can be teetering on the edge of the abyss, staring oblivion in the face, when suddenly a dispensation from the poker gods saves you, letting you live to fight on. At such times, you know it was was nothing you did which saved you; the odds were stacked against you, and by all rights you were history. Somehow, though, magically, improbably, you lived. This is precisely what happened to me on hand 30 of the lower stakes 8-game tournament I entered last night (I had to move down in stakes in order to ensure I didn't have to wait too long to start playing). At that point, we were playing limit 7 card stud. I was the short stack, and was pot committed by the time we got to sixth street. All I had at that point was a gutshot, and my only play was to call all in. Mirabile dictu, I hit my gutshot on the river, and that gave me a new lease on life. I ended up outlasting all the other players but one.

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

  9000      1000           6       192     2    18900

delta: $8,900
8-game tournament balance: $498,900
balance: $9,896,670

Waiting in vain

Last night, I waited in vain for the 8-game tournament table I'd joined to fill up. In about an hour and a half, only one other player joined me. I finally had to unregister from it and join a no limit hold'em table. There's never a long wait for no limit hold'em tables to fill up.

I played well, but ended up out of the money. Here's hoping there'll be more 8-game players tonight.

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 45000      5000           6        60     3        0

delta: $-50,000
tournament balance: $1,914,340
balance: $9,887,770

The heads up rush

There's nothing in poker as exhilarating as heads up play. What a rush! I'm a heads up junkie :-) What makes it so exciting is that you have less information to work with than in any other poker scenario. Information is what you need to succeed, and you're essentially information-starved. How fun is that? That's actually not a rhetorical question. It has an answer - it's a lot of fun! That might not make a lot of sense, but it's true nonetheless. If you can somehow glean what you need from such meager seeds, you end up feeling like a god.

Last night, I played two 8-game tournaments, instead of my usual one. The reason was simple - I hit the rail so quickly in the first, I had plenty of time left over to play a second. I was glad I did, since I went from worst to first. That second tournament had a truly memorable heads up contest - it lasted an astonishing 82 hands. My gut instinct tells me that must be in my top three heads up stretches; let me check the archives ... I was too conservative; that 82 hand stretch is the longest heads up battle I've ever had. Here are the top 10:

82 2014/0917/b
74 2012/0831/a
67 2012/1102/a
61 2012/0929/b
58 2012/0827/a
53 2012/1001/a
51 2012/0719/b
49 2012/0829/d
48 2012/1027/a
48 2012/0828/d

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 45000      5000           6        35     6        0
 45000      5000           6       157     1   175500

delta: $75,500
8-game tournament balance: $490,000
balance: $9,937,770

Fastest 8-game third place

As you may know, just before I start a new poker session I always write a blog post about the previous one. It's uncanny how often something I write immediately gets refuted :-) Last night, I wrote about how long my 8-game tournament sessions usually are. Of course, I then went out and had an abbreviated session; it only lasted about half as long as the average. Since I always try to find a silver lining, I looked for and found one. Though I ended up out of the money, I had my fastest third place finish ever. Here are my 8-game third place finishes, ordered by number of hands:

num_hands  poker_session_date

       62          2014-09-16
      108          2014-03-01
      115          2014-09-12
      122          2014-09-10
      153          2014-02-28

The longer it takes for you to finish out of the money, the tougher it is.

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 45000      5000           6        62     3        0

delta: $-50,000
8-game tournament balance: $414,500
balance: $9,862,270

As easy as 123

I can safely say that for me, no poker activity is as easeful as playing 8-game sit and go tournaments. Due to the fact that the blinds don't escalate rapidly, and that there are so many poker flavors involved, the tournaments tend to last a long time. In the 25 I've played so far, my average number of hands played is a whopping 123.76. I haven't calculated it yet, but I'm sure my average playing time is over an hour. It's hard to panic when you know you're basically going to be sitting playing poker for over an hour :-)

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 45000      5000           6       140     2    94500

delta: $44,500
8-game tournament balance: $464,500
balance: $9,912,270

Undone diligence

On Friday night, with the exception of two hands, I played well. I made the same mistake on both of them - I didn't perform the due diligence I needed to perform. In both cases, I lost to a straight with a two pair. In both cases, the up cards were showing 3 cards to a straight. I'd like to say I figured my opponent was bluffing in each case, but the sad truth is that I didn't see the straight possibility either time. That's a recurring hole in my game which I need to plug.

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 45000      5000           6       115     3        0

delta: $-50,000
8-game tournament balance: $420,000
balance: $9,867,770

My little deuce coup

One of the things that makes 8-game tournaments so interesting is that different players have different favorite poker flavors, so everyone has to suffer through the flavors they're not so good at in order to arrive at their favorites. Pot limit Omaha is my least favorite flavor, so I don't enter many pots when it comes around in the rotation. I actually have a bit of a love/hate relationship with deuce. Last night, the final rotation of deuce saved my bacon. At that point, I was heads up, and had a slightly smaller stack than my opponent ($4,208 to his $4,792). Due to some luck and some skill, I exited the rotation with a commanding lead of $6,416 to his $2,584. That was enough to enable me to come out on top. Since I overthrew my opponent's chip lead in the final deuce rotation, I'm calling it my little deuce coup :-)

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 45000      5000           6       200     1   175500

delta: $125,500
8-game tournament balance: $470,000
balance: $9,917,770

Lowball lesson

Last night's session cemented my belief that 8-game sit and go tournaments provide the best value for play money in the poker universe. For the price of a single buy-in, I was able to play 8 flavors of poker for over an hour, a total of 122 hands. Not only are 8-game tournaments highly entertaining, they don't feel as constricting as other types of tournaments.

I ended up coming in third, just out of the money. I was pleased with my play, with the exception of a single hand. I learned a lowball lesson the hard way :-) It was an Omaha Hi/Lo Limit hand, and I mistakenly thought I had a lock on the low. I was dealt 4s 4c Kh 2d, and the flop came Jh 3h As. Seeing that I had four cards to the nut low, I turned my poker logic off. I believed I couldn't lose, and stopped thinking. The killer card was the turn - the deuce of hearts. What I didn't take into account was that with three cards to the nut low on the board, my "nut low" could very well have been busted. When an opponent led out on the turn, I should have exited stage left. Instead, I called him down, and ended up losing $2,338 on the hand. Sure enough, he had the nut low. I'll try not to make that mistake again.

Since I'm going to be playing 8-games exclusively, I've decided to keep track of that tournament balance separately.

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 45000      5000           6       122     3        0

delta: $-50,000
8-game tournament balance: $344,500
balance: $9,792,270

Singing in my chains

Cash game poker provides the ultimate in freedom. As long as you have money left in your bankroll, no one can stop you from continuing to play. Tournament poker, in sharp contrast, imposes its constraints on you relentlessly. You start each tournament constrained, and the constraint ratchets up as the tournament goes on until you have virtually no freedom left. Strange as it may seem, I've found myself longing for the constraint of tournament poker lately. How could this be? The answer can be found in the final lines of Dylan Thomas's elegiacal poem "Fern Hill":

Oh as I was young and easy in the mercy of his means,
Time held me green and dying
Though I sang in my chains like the sea. 

The most beautiful art is that which is constrained within a form and yet which manages to transcend that form. Tournament poker, when played artfully enough, achieves that lofty goal. Starting tonight, I'm going to return to tournament poker, specifically the 8-game sit and gos. I don't know how long this sojourn will last, but I'm really looking forward to it!

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 58 hands and saw flop:
 - 4 out of 8 times while in big blind (50%)
 - 6 out of 9 times while in small blind (66%)
 - 29 out of 41 times in other positions (70%)
 - a total of 39 out of 58 (67%)
 Pots won at showdown - 7 of 14 (50%)
 Pots won without showdown - 7

delta: $-29,016
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $6,709,371
balance: $9,842,270

One bright spot

Last night, I had another disastrous session, hitting the felt twice. I can only recall a single bright spot, and it didn't even come on a hand I won. It came on a hand where I laid down cowboys on the river. It was a good thing I did, since it turned out I was up against three other pocket pairs - jacks, queens, and aces. The jacks had hit a set on the turn, and won a pot worth $72,750. I lost $12,000 on the hand, but would have lost $20,500 if I'd called the river bet.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 97 hands and saw flop:
 - 11 out of 14 times while in big blind (78%)
 - 11 out of 15 times while in small blind (73%)
 - 42 out of 68 times in other positions (61%)
 - a total of 64 out of 97 (65%)
 Pots won at showdown - 5 of 16 (31%)
 Pots won without showdown - 8

delta: $-100,000
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $6,738,387
balance: $9,871,286

High five

It's always a good thing to have a non-zero high chaparral number. The bigger it is, the better. On Friday night, this number was five; just call that a high five :-) Here are the top ten absolute value deltas from the session:

$65,925 (30)
$48,250 (25)
$20,443 (8)
$16,091 (36)
$10,356 (5)
$-6,342 (4)
$ 4,905 (33)
$ 4,334 (7)
$-4,000 (19)
$-4,000 (2)

The numbers in parentheses are hand numbers.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 37 hands and saw flop:
 - 4 out of 6 times while in big blind (66%)
 - 5 out of 6 times while in small blind (83%)
 - 12 out of 25 times in other positions (48%)
 - a total of 21 out of 37 (56%)
 Pots won at showdown - 8 of 9 (88%)
 Pots won without showdown - 3

delta: $150,166
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $6,838,387
balance: $9,971,286

Stopping the bitch

I first used this blog post title nearly two years ago. Here's an excerpt of what I wrote then:

... Cedric Maxwell, a great Celtics player, said that the Celtics were not going to let Bernard King, a great Knicks player, score at will on them - Maxwell said they were going to "stop the bitch". His choice of words struck me forcefully at the time I read it, and it strikes me equally forcefully now. In one breath, he was praising King, and at the same time claiming that the Celtics would shut him down - and incidentally implying that this would largely be due to his (Maxwell's) defensive efforts.

Friends and neighbors, after six straight losing sessions, I finally stopped the bitch. What a relief! I'm not claiming I've cured what currently ails me poker-wise, but at least I have this respite. We'll see how long it lasts.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 53 hands and saw flop:
 - 7 out of 9 times while in big blind (77%)
 - 2 out of 6 times while in small blind (33%)
 - 20 out of 38 times in other positions (52%)
 - a total of 29 out of 53 (54%)
 Pots won at showdown - 4 of 6 (66%)
 Pots won without showdown - 5

delta: $33,675
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $6,688,221
balance: $9,821,120

The million dollar slump

Last night, my losing streak continued. I never like to talk about a winning streak while it's in progress, but when a losing streak reaches a certain level, I can't help talking about it :-) I've now lost six sessions in a row. This latest cash game six bagger is my worst ever:

   $-477,381 2014-08-28 2014-09-03 (0)
   $-355,598 2013-06-09 2013-06-14 (2)
   $-339,321 2014-08-27 2014-09-02 (1)
   $-323,079 2013-06-11 2013-06-16 (2)
   $-308,949 2013-06-10 2013-06-15 (2)
   $-308,362 2011-06-16 2011-06-24 (1)
   $-299,874 2012-01-18 2012-01-26 (0)
   $-299,800 2011-12-30 2012-01-06 (0)
   $-290,200 2011-06-11 2011-06-21 (2)
   $-286,810 2014-08-26 2014-08-31 (2)

The title of this post is a bit of a tease. I've never actually had a million dollar cash game slump. That certainly doesn't mean I never will, however. In fact, I'm well on my way now :-) For the record, the worst cash game slump I've ever had hit a grand total of $-680,583 on July 16th, 2013.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 63 hands and saw flop:
 - 7 out of 8 times while in big blind (87%)
 - 7 out of 9 times while in small blind (77%)
 - 29 out of 46 times in other positions (63%)
 - a total of 43 out of 63 (68%)
 Pots won at showdown - 4 of 8 (50%)
 Pots won without showdown - 6

delta: $-85,510
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $6,654,546
balance: $9,787,445

Worst cash game five bagger ever

I'm in a miserable slump. I've now lost five sessions in a row. Not only that, but the cumulative amount I've lost in those five sessions is the most I've ever lost in five consecutive cash game sessions. Here are my top 10 worst five baggers:

   $-391,871 2014-08-28 2014-09-02 (0)
   $-374,896 2013-06-10 2013-06-14 (1)
   $-353,273 2013-06-11 2013-06-15 (1)
   $-353,221 2013-06-09 2013-06-13 (2)
   $-298,150 2014-08-27 2014-08-31 (1)
   $-280,000 2012-01-18 2012-01-24 (0)
   $-276,150 2011-12-30 2012-01-05 (0)
   $-269,400 2011-06-16 2011-06-23 (1)
   $-254,348 2013-11-26 2013-12-01 (2)
   $-236,497 2013-06-12 2013-06-16 (2)

I need to regroup and retool. I'm not discouraged, though; I know I'll eventually get my mojo back :-)

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 113 hands and saw flop:
 - 15 out of 17 times while in big blind (88%)
 - 14 out of 19 times while in small blind (73%)
 - 53 out of 77 times in other positions (68%)
 - a total of 82 out of 113 (72%)
 Pots won at showdown - 7 of 23 (30%)
 Pots won without showdown - 15

delta: $-41,171
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $6,740,056
balance: $9,872,955

Famous last words

On Sunday night, not only did I not have a winning session, I tied for my second worst cash game no limit hold'em session ever. So much for my hunch! My only saving grace was that the last of the three times I hit the felt, it was due to a massive cooler and not any inept play on my part. I hit a set on the flop, and it matured into a full house; unfortunately, one of my opponents had hit a bigger set on the flop. It was the classic set over set situation. In those cases, you're supposed to either double up or go broke. I'll studiously refrain from making any predictions about tonight's session :-)

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 66 hands and saw flop:
 - 5 out of 6 times while in big blind (83%)
 - 6 out of 9 times while in small blind (66%)
 - 28 out of 51 times in other positions (54%)
 - a total of 39 out of 66 (59%)
 Pots won at showdown - 2 of 9 (22%)
 Pots won without showdown - 2

delta: $-150,000
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $6,781,227
balance: $9,914,126