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Roads To Tomorrow

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  1. #1

    Default Roads To Tomorrow

    The journey of a full time tournament poker player. Currently an online tournament player preparing for a permanent Las Vegas move in January 2016. The roads are not often smooth, but come along and enjoy the ride.

    Estimated Bankroll for Las Vegas will be approximately $500 from savings and whatever bankroll I have on Bovada on December 27th. Began with a deposit of $100 on Bovada and day 1 of 200, June 11th-December 27th began. After the first 14 days my stats were as follows.

    Bankroll: $169.83

    Bonuses Earned: $10

    ITM: 26/70 37%
    Entries: $198.80
    Cashes: $245.63
    KOs: $13.00
    Earnings: $59.83
    ROI: 30%
    FTs: 7
    Top 3: 4
    Wins: 0

    I am permanently disabled due to a leg injury and circulation issue therein that if I continued to work in the retail field would have led to eventual amputation. I am getting $822 a month from that. Beginning on August 3rd I will will be attempting to save $300 a month so I leave with $2k not counting the Bovada balance. After travel and move in expenses I should have a minimum of $500 left over and add that to the bankroll on Bovada will be used for playing small buy-in live tournaments in Vegas, $40 and $50 buy-ins to start off with, 3-4 a day, 5 days a week, weekends off. The amount I will have on Bovada is unknown as the estimated progression or pace I am setting will fluctuate daily as I start having the ability to play higher buyin tournaments online. The $100 deposit I made will be followed by an additional $200 deposit in approximately 8 days. As of earnings over the last 14 days I am setting a pace of having an online bankroll of $1154, but again this will fluctuate. Even if that remained the same that would be over a $1600 poker bankroll which would be 30+ buy-ins, not great, but would be doable since most of these tournaments only have 30 or 40 runners according to what information I saw on Poker Atlas.

    At an average buy-in of $50 playing an average of 75 tournaments a month depending on exact ROI the possible earnings should be $1000-$2000 per month plus my disability which will cover living expenses all poker earnings will be able to be used socially, for savings, and building the live bankroll more and more. One thing I will have to do is consult an accountant about what options there will be for tax filing at the end of 2016 and also an attorney who can tell me whether disability will consider my "gambling" winnings each month as earnings. Below is my current daily tournament schedule on Bovada and this will change as soon as I make that $200 deposit on the 3rd of July.

    805am $2.20 PLO SS

    $1.10 or $2.20 Sat to a $5.50 or $11 MTT

    9:50 a.m. $1.10 NLH

    10:50 a.m. $2.20 NLH KO

    250pm $2.20 NLH

    3:45 p.m. $5.50 NLH $2k Gtd SS

    5:00 p.m. $3.30 NLH $1k Gtd DS

    5:45 p.m. $2.20 NLH $500 Gtd DS

    7:25 p.m. $2.20 NLH $1k Gtd DS


    That's all for now. I keep my blog on Blogspot so I will simply copy and paste my blog entries I make from here on in right here in this thread. Take care, one and all, thanks to any readers that may want to follow along, and I'll see you at the tables.



    Every Little Savings Every Little Profit


    I started off today paying close attention to the 2% bankroll management approach utilizing my 50 buyin approach with the exception of still playing the $5.50 NLH $2k Gtd and the $3.30 NLH $1k Gtd. Those are my only daily exceptions. However, as I was getting started this morning waiting for the $2.20 PLO to get started, yes I actually woke up with the alarm lol, I decided to check the box in the lobby that says satellite. No, I'm not looking to satellite my way to the WPT or something crazy, but I was interested to see if they had any extremely low buyin satellites to some of the higher priced tournaments, figuring if I can find something that cost $1.10 or $2.20 that will allow me to play something a little larger why not go for it. The cost would be within bankroll management stipulations. Well they had a satellite that cost $1.10 that was good for any $5.50 tournament. The satellite only had about 16 or 17 players so 3 tickets were being given away and 4th place got $0.50 back and I was one of the top 3. So the $5.50 NLH $2K guaranteed today actually ended up only costing me $1.10 so a $4.40 savings and like the title of this entry says every little savings helps.

    I busted out of the $2.20 PLO tournament this morning due to the fact that I made an error and did not play my usual style. However, anyone that plays PLO would tell you that my style is extremely unorthodox and they would definitely say I was absolutely wrong in my approach, but all I can say is, at least in the low buyin PLO tournaments that I have played online, my style works. I do not raise preflop in PLO tournaments unless I'm at a point where I'm ready to go all in. If I flop the absolutely nuts but I know it is in jeopardy I will call down to the river until I'm certain it is still the absolute nuts. Many will say, and probably not wrongfully so, that this is not the standard approach to PLO, but yet I have two final table appearances both 3rd place finishes in fields of 70 + and 90 + and a 15th place finish in a $3.30 PLO rebuy which also had 70 + players out of maybe 8 or of these played so it may not be a traditional approach, it may be very unorthodox, but for me it works. Unfortunately today I made the mistake with 17 players left and me flopping the nut straight to try to make a pot size bet to protect my hand, but my opponent reraised me all in and he had flopped a set. Maybe in a higher priced buyin that makes a difference or perhaps maybe in live PLO tournaments it makes a difference, but these low buyins they will not let go of draw no matter how much it costs them. I should have checked called down and when the board paired would have been able to reassess and probably known what my opponent had by his bet sizing, but I did not do this, I got off my normal game plan, and it cost me a final table and cashing opportunity. I follow this with a final table that place finish in a 1 dollar in 10 cents and LH which only paid $3.75, but every dollar helps and then finish 23rd and the $2.20 NLH ko which return me a dollar sixty four plus $1.00 for a KO, but the whole take was a 44 cent profit on that one. at this point my next tournament was in until 2:50 p.m. so I took a two hour break, had some lunch, grabbed a shower, and relaxed until I got back on the tables.

    Didn't last long in the $2.20 NLH as I got knocked out when I limped when I really meant to go all in myself with pocket nines, but the player next to act after me went allin so I naturally called. He had pocket sevens and hit a 2 outer on the turn and I was knocked out. This left four tournaments remaining in the day, my four most favorites of the day as they are all guaranteed prize pools and are either deepstacks which is $3000 in starting chips or a super stack which is $5000 and starting chips. The only problem with these tournaments is it's more difficult to cash because they have hundreds of players usually a minimum of 300 and sometimes more than that, but the advantage is if you do cash you get something more substantial if you make the final table. Finished out of the money in the $3.30 NLH $1k Gtd. and also out of the money in the $2.20 NLH $500 Gtd. I did finish 27th $5.50 $2k Gtd for a return of a little over $15. That one had 569 runners so 27th place was pretty damn good and I was quite happy with my play in it. The tournament entry also only cost me $1.10 because of winning the ticket in the satellite this morning so that made it even a bigger profit then it ordinarily would have been. I also finish 23rd in the $2.20 NLH $1k Gtd.

    The late registration on Bovada tournaments are a bit long as the $2k Gtd as an example has a late registration for 200 minutes, that's over 3 hours ladies and gentleman. However, the one thing I really like about these tournaments is that they are not reentry tournaments if it's not a scheduled rebuy. The tournaments over at Carbon Poker you can reenter as many times as you want if you bust out until their long late registrations end, but here at Bovada once you're out you're out and even though they have a long late registration I like that fact about these tournaments.

    Well after several days of grinding 14 to 16 hours a day I am taking tomorrow off. I'm going to sleep late, I'm not going to play any tournaments, and I am taking the entire day off and with that I will say goodnight to one and all and I'll see you at the tables.
  2. #2
    Vegas Research, Projections, An Online Rethink, And Using The ABI Approach


    Well a few things have come up that made certain decisions happened and because of one of these decisions I may only have 6 months to live lol. First off, I've got a friend in the Tampa area and if she gets the apartment she's on the waiting list for she asked me if I wanted to come down there and crash with her for a few months before I leave for Vegas. Settle down boys she's just a friend lol. Yes I know with my history you blogspot readers might think otherwise, but she really is just a friend lol. Of course one of my other female friends, and yes 90% of my friends are female and yes I mean just friends afterall I've only slept with about a third of them lol, also told me there is no way a woman is going to invite you down to stay with her in her apartment for 3 months unless she has ulterior motives. Well the fact of the matter is I'm moving to Vegas in January so I'm not looking to get involved with anybody unless they already live in Vegas. Anyway I digress. Assuming that happens and I leave for Vegas out of Tampa if I go Amtrak which was my original plan, that train is going to go up to Washington DC first where I will have a nine hour layover. Not only that the ticket is $330 so total expenses for the trip would be $400 to $500. however, I can get there in a much faster time with maybe one layover in an airport somewhere by flying and the cost will be under $300. There's only one little problem I'm terrified of flying.

    It happened some years ago. I had to take a plane from LAX in Los Angeles to Providence Rhode Island. As we crossed the Nevada mountains we ran into what they called turbulence and I called a near death experience. The plane shook so hard I thought the tail section was going to come flying off at any second and I swear I saw Tribbett popping out of the interior sheet metal. as I sat in my seat convinced life was about to end in moments, I said God you get me out of this and I stay on the ground. well he kept his end of the bargain that day and ever since I've kept my end up until now lol. However, I'm hoping the big man upstairs will understand because I'm sure he wouldn't want to have to spend an hour layover in DC either. with all that said, since I have decided to fly, obviously I only have 6 months left to live before I die lol.

    The minimum bankroll I estimate on having starting out in Las Vegas will be $2000 and that is the lowest possible estimate. It could in fact be far more, but I will base my beginning plans on this. Doing research on Poker Atlas I pretty much know what my poker "work days" will look like. To start things out with my buyins will range from $40-$60 with a possible $65 mixed in. The name of the casino will be listed first then the buyin followed by the starting chip stack. All of these are 20 minute blind levels. As you see being in Vegas will allow me choices even starting out low.

    9am

    Ballys / $55 / $5k / $500 Gtd

    Harrahs / $50 / $5k / $500 Gtd

    Monte Carlo / $50 / $4k


    10am

    Mandaley Bay / $40+$5 Staff Bonus / $4k+$1k


    1030am

    Luxor / $45 / $5k


    11am

    Treasure Island / $65 / $8k / $750 Gtd

    2pm

    Monte Carlo / $40 Rebuy / $20 rebuys for $4k 1st two levels when out of chips / $20 addon end of 2nd level / $4k

    Treasure Island / $65 / $10k / $750 Gtd


    3pm

    Ballys / $55 / $5k


    6pm

    Monte Carlo / $60+$5 Staff Bonus / $5k+$5k


    7pm

    Treasure Island / $65 / $8k / $500 Gtd


    8pm

    Hard Rock / $35 Rebuy / $10 rebuy for $2k first 3 levels / $10 addon $2k


    830pm

    Luxor / $45 / $5k


    10pm

    Treasure Islasnd / $65 / $10k / $1k Gtd


    11pm

    Monte Carlo / $40 Rebuy / $20 rebuys for $4k 1st two levels when out of chips / $20 addon end of 2nd level / $4k


    These choices will be increased even more if I decided I want to try the tournaments with the 15 minute blind levels. If I did that then I could probably double this list, but my style dictates the highest starting stack and the longest blind levels available is best for my earnings potential. With the options listed I see the day starting off at 9am $50 at Harrahs. It has a lower fee percentage than the Ballys tournament and a shorter late registration. If I bust out early get over to Mandaley Bay or the Luxor for the 10am or 1030am tournament. It should be noted I will not enter tournaments late nor will I reenter once I'm knocked out. That is simple personal preference. If I am knocked out, but not early enough for the Mandaley Bay or Luxor tournament then at that point of the day I would head over to the Flamingo or The Orleans and grind a little $2/$4 limit for a couple hours. The next likely choice would be the 2pm $65 treasure Island tournament at 2pm. My research from Poker Atlas has revealed that some of the fee percentages the casinos get borders on the insane, but Treasure Island is by far the lowest at 30%. If the $2/$4 game was extraordinarily profitable I would simply grab the 3pm $55 Ballys tournament,but the cash game would have to be slammin as that Ballys tournament has a 41% fee. The fee percentages are simply an acceptable part of it because when I am rolled enough for the $100 tournaments those fees will drop to 20% so in the meantime what I will do is search out the best options. Following the 2pm or3pm tournament if I had a couplehours to kill I would head back to The Flamingo or The Orleans and jump back in the $2/$4 game Following this the evening tournament would be a difficult choice. Obviously since they are basically the same price the choice between the 6pm Monte Carlo tournament and the 7pm Treasure Island tournament it would be Treasure Island with its lower fee percentage and higher starting chip stack, but that 8pm Hard Rock rebuy with the low amount of rebuys I could only imagine would be a fish tank, but all factors considered I'm thinking its going to be the 7pm Treasure Island tournament. I can only figure that one would last til after midnight assuming a deep run so if I made that run that would lock up the work day, but if I were knocked out prior to 11pm then I would play one more for the day. Depending when I got knocked out it would be either 830pm $45 Luxor tournament, the 10pm $65 Treasure Island, or the 11pm $40 Monte Carlo rebuy and following the conclusion of that head home for what I'm sure would be some much needed sleep and the next morning back to work again. Like I said, the weekends will be my time off to hit the lounges, the clubs, or a tourist babe with a room key. Welcome to Vegas Baby!!!


    Some days 3 tournaments played some days 4.

    3.5/day
    75/month
    $60 avg per buyin
    25%-50% ROI
    $1100-$2200 in earnings to start.


    Days 15 and 16 were not really significant money wise with an overall net lloss of about $5 or $6. However, prior to day 17 I started thinking about my daily tournament choices and what I'm trying to accomplish. Obviously earning money and building up the Vegas bankroll to my $2000 goal, but also it's training myself to get used to long sessions and work days and to, while online is different from live, to a certain degree, get ready for full time tournaments in Vegas. Unless it's a special circumstance most of the tournaments I will play in Vegas will have less than 100 entrants and even the evening ones which I would imagine the most popular will have under 200 so it does not make sense for me to be grinding tournaments with player fields higher than 200 runners. The $2k and both the $1ks I play, and the nightly $500 Gtd have over 300+ enrants and some in excess of 500+. So I decided that I need to stick with tournament fields lower than 200 entrants beginning today. There is but two exceptions to this. The $2.20 NLH KO gets a touch over 200 on Saturday, but during the weekdays it's under 200 and also the 345pm $5.50 $2k Gtd which is a $5k Gtd on Saturday and $7500 Gtd on Sunday. No way I let that possibility pass by.

    So I began day 17 with a different daily play schedule and a switch in bankroll management from a 2% 50 buyin minimum to a 100 ABI system. Currently my tournament ABI should be $3, but I am piushing that somewhat, playing two $5.50s andtwo $4.40s each day. That comes out to 9 tournaments a day, $28.60 in buy-ins and an ABI of $3.18. With a bankroll of $156 entering day 17 my ABI should be $1.56, but lets face it I wouldn't be playing much poker. Besides, when I woke up this morning I was exactly 7 days from making a $200 deposit and I'm willing to risk the $3.30 ABI for a week. If need be I can add another $300 deposit in August and wait til September to start saving $300 a month that I want in savings when I leave for Vegas. Twas a rough day, 2 for 9 in the money and as ($17) loss. Went nearly 4 hours in the $5k Gtd,but not good enough to finish in the money. Oh well it becomes a $7500 Gtd on Sundays so who knows.

    Day 18 I added an additional $4.40 to the playlist. I am up til the early morning hours talking with a new "friend" anyway so might as well add a final$4.40 to the mix. $33 in totalbuyins and an ABI of $3.30.

    805am $2.20 PLO SS

    930am $5.50 $500 Gtd DS

    950am $1.10 NLH

    1050am $2.20 NLH KO

    1220pm $4.40 Beginner DS

    250pm $2.20 NLH

    345pm $5.50 NLH $2k Gtd SS

    350pm $1.10 NLH

    620pm $4.40 NLH Beginner

    850pm $4.40 NLH Beginner


    After the $200 deposit is made on the 3rd there will be only two changes to that daily schedule. The 950am $1.10 NLH and 1050am $2.20 NLH KO will be replaced by two $7.70 tournaments. $45.10 in buy-ins each day and an ABI of $4.51. That's pretty close to the line,but should be just under it since I use an ABI of 100. As the bankroll grows I will add $11 tournaments slowly, 1 or 2 at a time.


    Vegas Finances

    Savings: $1200
    Jan Dis Pay: $800
    Bovada Bal: $1500


    Vegas Move

    Trans: $300
    Move in: $800
    Misc Exp: $400

    So $500 left over from the $2k from savings and the January disability payment added to a goal of $1500 from the Bovada roll, that's my $300 initial investment plus $1200 in earnings. Even if I maintained just the $33 a day in buy-ins, 6 days a week, with a 25% ROI from day 18to the 27th of December I will achieve the goal of $1200 in earnings.


    Finally a personal note. Have not been getting much sleep lately as I seem to be up into the very early hours of the morning talking to a new "friend" who I will call "Mandi" (not her real name) She seems pretty damn cool, lives in Vegas, has no problems with what I will be doing for a living, and seems to be able to get inside my head like no one I've ever met before. Gonna see where this goes. Called her last night to talk just a few minutes while I had one more cigarette before heading to sleep. Well, it must have been one hell of a cigarette I smoked because that so called few minute phone call lasted 2 hours and 23 minutes, Another 30 minutes of texting and I didn't get to sleep til 5am, and up at 730am for the 805am PLO. Guess who's gonna need alot of Mountain Dew today and a few caffeine pills. That's all for now. Time to hit day 18 and as always, I'll see you at the tables.


    Current BR: $139.84

    Overall Goal: $2000

    Current Pace: $1161
  3. #3
    Ship It!!


    Day 18, the day I started pouring over the past 100+ tournanents played because my profit margin and and total was not acceptable. Going into today for the last 17 days I was up a grand total $29. My pace for $1200 in earnings was off and I went over the individual buy-ins to see where my strengths were and where my weaknesses were. The last tournament I played tonight was the 8:50 p.m. $4.40 NLH Beginner. If you recall they have a few beginner tournaments each day and while the blind system is the same they do pay out slightly more spots and since the $4.40s fit my ABI it would be crazy not to try to take advantage of them. 115 entrnts in this one. At the final table I had less than $4000 chips, blinds of $500 / $1000 with a $100 ante. I was dead in the water, but I refused to play any two cards. I waited as long as I could, picked my spot, and doubled up. Patience was the name of the game and I ended up taking this puppy down. Quite possibly the single greatest final table come back in the history of poker lol. Well, maybe not, but it felt damn good.

    However, prior to winning this tournament going over my tournament records was important because if it were not for this tournament I would still be at $29 in earnings after 18 days and that is simply not acceptable. An ROI well below 25 percent again unacceptable, I know I'm better than that. Now I could just be running a bit cool over 100+ tournaments, that's possible, but I wanted to see for myself and this is what my analysis revealed. This is prior to the tournament win.

    Total Earnings: $29

    $1.10 NLH

    9/17 / 53%
    $38.93
    ROI: 201%


    $2.20 NLH

    1/9 / 11%
    ($16.11)
    ROI: (-31%)


    $2.20 PLO SS

    3/10 / 53%
    $29.24
    ROI: 148%


    $2.20 NLH KO

    4/12 / 33%
    $4.24
    Tour Earningds: $14.64
    KOs: $16
    ROI: 16%


    $4.40 NLH Beginner Deep Stack

    2/3 / 66%
    $4.95
    ROI: 38%


    $4.40 NLH Beginner

    1/4 / 25%
    ($8.00)
    ROI: (45%)


    $5.50 NLH $500 Gtd (Morning under 200 runners)

    1/4 / 25%
    ($6.88)
    ROI: (31%)


    All Others. The $2.20. $3.30, $5.50 $500 Gtd, $1k Gtd, $2k Gtd, $5k Gtd, and $7500 Gtd

    ($17.00)


    I'm struggling in the $2.20 NLH, doing marvelous in the $1.10 NLH and the $2.20 PLO Superstack. The rest of them just too few to make any determinations and before the tournament win, as you can see, those guaranteed prize pools with the fields that have over 200 entrants and over 300 and over 500 all of those pretty much combined to about a $19 loss because I am up $2 in the PLO rebuy that I played which I had not listed separately. Before the $119 win tonight I would have said I need to eliminate those guaranteed tournaments for my daily play which I have done the last couple of days because while they can provide big money, or at least bigger than I'm used to with these small buy-ins, they are not consistent enough for my needs. This online tournament grind is going exactly 200 days. It started June 11 and will end December 27th to try to earn $1200 dollars in earnings to put with the rest of the money for my move to Las Vegas. So being a limited time rather than waiting for the big score I need more consistent profit. However, what to do now? A win tonight adding $119 to the bank roll and bring the bank will up to now $254.00 does that mean I can continue to play those guaranteed tournaments hoping for that one nice score that I know will come eventually the question is will it come within the next hundred and seventy two days and do I even want to try and wait for it. I think the answer is no. I think keeping my fields to under 200 players is paramount. Now I can make exceptions for example the $2.20 NLH KO which is usually under 200 players but on the weekends does top that I can still keep that in my daily playlist, but as far as the other ones go the $1k Gtd, the $2k, and anything that has over 200 players on a consistent basis is not giving me consistent profits. No matter how you look at this I want consistent profits what's the bank roll is $100, weather is $234, weather is $1000 consistency is what I need to serve my purposes. I want to build this bankroll, and if that means doing it in dribs and drabs I'm willing to.

    So, going into day 19, I have a $254 bankroll, with another $200 deposit to be made in less than a week. However, I am rethinking that. One more decent score before the end of the month and I'm not putting that money on and as a matter of fact with $254 I may not put it on I haven't quite decided yet. I may just use that for a little socializing, but my daily ABI is in the neighborhood of $3.30 which means I do need $330 bankroll to have an ABI of 10. and quite frankly I wouldn't mind a little cushion so therefore I'm thinking I might still do it or perhaps I might just put $100 on and make my initial investment $200 instead of $300. Like I said I'll make that decision on the 3rd and what happens as far as results go between now and the 3rd will go a long ways towards that decision of a $100 deposit, a $200 deposit, or no deposit.

    Well, that's all for now. I'm tweaking with what I want to keep track of as far as my tournaments go over on the right hand side of this blog. I'm grouping all the tournaments played from days 1 through 18 because they were so many guaranteed prize pool tournaments mixed in there. I am really interested to see what kind of profits I have over the next 18 days without playing those guaranteed prixe pools of course I'm probably not going to top the ROI that I have now because of this $119 win unless of course I can pull out another win in the next 18 days with a similar payout as a comparison. Time for some much needed sleep. Take care one and all and I'll see you at the tables.


    Bankroll


    Current BR: $254.78

    Overall Goal: $2000

    Current Pace: $2418
    Last edited by FlushhDraw; 06-29-2015 at 09:17 AM.
  4. #4
    Nice Win To Downswing


    Poker always seems to have a way of evening things out. I finished off last night win in the $4.40 which brought my ROI all the way up to 46% percent which pretty much in MTTs of 75-150 player fields is unsunstainstable and immediately begin this morning on a brand new downswing. Poker is so much fun lol.

    Actually the tournaments played pretty much the first half the day although I went 0 for 6 to start the day it was far too early to tell if I was experiencing simple variance or if it was the beginning of something potentially unpleasant. You know 100 mg is enough any determination from to say that it is, but if so, I cash in 33% of the tournaments I play in. Obviously that does not mean that I'm going to cash in one of every three like clockwork. I could finish out of the money in the first 10 straight and then in the money 10 of the next 20 and still be maintaining that 33% in the money percentage. Everything is long term in there no guarantees on just what approach you will be taking to get to that final long term number.

    As I played this afternoon I seemed to be having issues with my wifi from late this afternoon into this evening. Hopefully it will clear itself up by morning so I skipped the last two $4.40s of the day. I ended up final tabling the last tournaments I played the $1.10 NLH and the $2.20 NLH Rebuy, but they were only 9th and 8th place finishes respectively and the payouts were small and consequently I ended up with a $12 loss for the day. I call tech support and the guy walked me through it so everything's all set for tomorrow morning. When I reset the router and would have really helped that I reset the modem at the same time lol.

    Working my way towards $4000 for the move to Las Vegas. will getting be getting back to the tables 8 o'clock tomorrow morning. Was looking over the figures basing on my overall average buying per day will be with the 25% are away plus how much I can put away each month in savings and came up with the following run down.

    Savings: $1200

    Online poker earnings: $1800

    Initial investment: $200

    January disability payment: $800

    By the way that $1800 amount is based on overall average daily buy-in total of $45, playing 6 days a week over the course of 28 weeks, with a 25% ROI from June 11th to December 27th. my daily buying amount thus far is approximately half of that but of course as banquet Rises so won't have the amount I spend on a daily basis.

    Bankroll something like $242 and I will be making a deposit on the 3rd of $100 only. Take care, good night, and I'll see you at the tables.
  5. #5
    June Recap / July Beginnings And Schedule


    The last two days to finish off the month were losses, but the $119 payoff for winning the $4.40 NLH tournament on the 28th made the month of June a success by anybody's standards. I originally eliminated the tournaments that had over 200 people in them in an effort to find more consistent profitability, I did this into the first day of July, but then I had to rethink it for some various reasons. For the first 20 days they showed a ($19) loss, but the fact is when you consider how many of those I played and over what stakes that really was not bad. Yes, profitability in the red is never a good thing, but the real thought process has to be the risk vs reward. The rewards could shoot this bankroll up very fast very quick and since not one of them cost more than $5.50 it does not increase my ABI and in fact will lower it. Also, quite frankly, that time of the evening they are really the only game in town, so to speak, on Bovada for the cost I am looking for right now. The real money from those comes from that one major deep run you make and looking at June's numbers even if I take an overall loss on them as I did, the scores I make from the smaller field tournaments will make up for it as did the $119 win on the 28th. I'm a full time tournament poker player and I should not avaoid any tournament where I feel I have the edge over the field and I feel that in every one I play so timeto dig in and shuffle up and deal them back in as well. These are the figures for the month of June.


    ITM: 40/124 -- 32%

    Earnings: $121.27

    ROI: 33%

    FTs: 13

    Top 3: 7

    Wins: 1


    Overall the 32% ITM percentage could be indicative of too tight play at or near the bubble and while it is probably human nature to do this, you don't want togo overly cautious in this area. However,the standard has always been 30% of your ITM finishes should be final table appearances and 30% of those should be top 3 finishes. I finished in the money 40 times so should have hit the final table 12 times and I did so 13. Out of those 12 or 13 in my case I should have finished in the top 3 approximately 4 top 3 finishes and I had 7 so those numbers tell me I am spot on regarding expected ratios. 32% in the money is indeed fantastic for MTTs, but not sure its sustainable. My goal has always been 20% ITM and an ROI of 25%. Am I just running good? Have my tournament skills over the years improved to the point that this is normal for me? July will be a good indicator of this.

    June 30th was day 20 and 10% of the 200 day online run completed with 180 days to go. I am in fact making a $200 deposit as was originally planned on the 3rd. I've been flipping back on forth since the $119 sin on whether it be still a $200 deposit or nothing or $100, but since I said from the beginning that my personal investment in this was going to be $300 and I am sticking with it. Also, as July has begun I have added some higher priced tournaments to the daily play list, thus increasing my ABI so I need to put that $200 on there to keep me close to the 100 ABI system I employ, but the fact is I am willing to go as low as 75 ABIs if necessary. It may be somewhat a bit risky,but I have another $300 in reserve as of August 3rd. You see, the savings for my Vegas move will be $1200 and saving every extra dime I can each month 4 months at $300 a month is the $1200,but there are still 5 months of potential savings so that gives me $300 in a bankroll reserve to be used only if absolutely needed. So the $1200 in savings, and $800 disability payment equalling $2000 will cover the estimated $400 in travel expenses, $800 in rental move in expenses (first month's rent and security), $300 in normal monthly expenses (food, cigs, cell, and bus pass), and $500 in misc expenses (furniture if any is needed, towels, washcloths, toiletries, microwave, dishes and cups, etc., etc., etc.). The bankroll for full time live play will all come from what I am able to accomplish on Bovada during this 200 day span. My goal is $2000. As June came to an end here's where I stood on that.

    Current BR: $231.27
    Overall BR Goal: $2000
    Current BR Pace: $1522

    Not too bad. I am $500 of the pace I should be,


    So let's look at July and my daily play schedule.

    No DS or SS listed: $1500 starting stack and 12 minute blinds
    DS12 = $3k starting stack and 12 minute blinds.
    DS15 = $3k starting stack and 15 minute blinds.
    SS12 = $5k starting stack and 12 minute blinds.
    SS15 = $5k starting stack and 15 minute blinds.
    KO1: Knockouts worth $1
    KO2: Knockouts worth $2


    805am $2.20 PLO SS12

    830am $7.70 $500 Gtd NLH DS15

    930am $5.50 $500 Gtd DS12

    1030am $7.70 $500 Gtd NLH KO2 SS12

    1220pm $4.40 NLH Beg DS12

    250pm $2.20 NLH

    345pm $5.50 $2k Gtd NLH SS15

    5pm $3.30 $1k Gtd NLH DS12

    545pm $2.20 $500 Gtd NLH DS12

    725pm $2.20 $1k Gtd NLH DS12

    735pm $7.70 $1k Gtd PLO DS12

    745pm $5.50 $1k Gtd NLH SS12


    If all 12 are played:

    Buy-ins/Day: $56.10

    ABI: $4.68

    BR ABI Ratio: 88


    It should be noted that if I still have 4 tournament tables running, which is unlikely,but possible, then the 1220pm will not be played. 4 tables is my maximum. Also the final 2 tournaments listed are in question. If the 345pm, 5pm, 545pm, and 725pm still have me alive in the tournaments, again unlikely, but possible, then those final 2 will be cancelled. Given the choice of one or the other I will go with the $5.50 as it is a lower buy-in and will help keep the ABI lower along with my overall comfort level with NLH as opposed to PLO.


    For every $100 in rise in BR I can switch out one of these listed with an $11 MTT. The following will occur,

    $500 BR: Replace the 1220pm $4.40 with an $11, when I hit
    $600 BR: Replace the 250pm $2.20 with an $11 MTT
    $700 BR: Replace the 805am $2.20 with an $11 MTT
    $800 BR: Replace the 9am $5.50 with an $11 MTT
    $900 BR: Replace one of the nightly $2.20s or $3.30 with an $11 $8k Gtd MTT


    July did not start off with a bang. The last 2 days of June say a loss of ($23) and the first day of July was another loss of ($17) as I went 2 for 10 with a final table 7th place finish in a $7.70 NLH KO, but running ice cold else where added up to a loss. Down about ($40) since the tournament win so obviously a bit a cold streak, but I keep my ABI ratio between 80 and 100 so I know bankroll management sees me through whatever comes my way. Beginning July 2nd, day 22, with a bankroll of $414 and as always I'll see you at the tables.
  6. #6
    Deep Run In The $1k


    Well, so much for me even considering not playing the tournaments that have more than 200 players. I had decided that I was going to play them anyway but in the back of my mind couldn't help but thinking if it was a waste of time or not. The answer woyld be a resounding not. $5.50 $1k guarantee, 458 players, final table, sixth place finish, $96 return. A special thanks goes out to Lightning36 for the rail on Twitter and watching the table. Thanks bro, you rock.

    Why is it every time I make a decent cash the next day is horrendous sometimes the next few days, but today was the worst day I've had since I started on June 11th. With one tournament to be played I was 1 for 12 in the money with the only positive note of the day was 2 final table appearances in the only 2 cashes I had on day 23. Out of 191 players in a $2.20 NLH KO I finished 5th for a return of $11.38 plus $7 in KOs and in the final tournament of the night a $4.40 Beginner, a final table and 9th place finish for $11.40 and that was it. I could regale you with a slew of bad beats today including the two times I flopped two pair and lost, or the at least three different times I was 2 putted, but the fact of the matter is it was just one of those days. Of course last night I was losing almost as much and the very last tournament of the night was the $96 cash in the $1k, but I know lightning does not strike twice so I had to accept the fact that this was just going to be one of those days.

    I'm really liking this ABI system of bankroll management. It gives me the opportunity to play higher priced tournaments which in theory if I could I cash in them provide higher payouts. Under a standard 100 buy-in bankroll management system I would not be able to play $5.50 tournaments to say nothing of $7.70 tournaments, but the ABI system affords me this luxury. However, the funny thing about ABI is if you research on the internet through poker website and forums you will find a bIg difference of opinion as to just how many ABIs one should have in their bankroll. however, in my opinion, since for years the standard was 100 buy-ins for standard MTT bankroll management I feel 100 ABIs is quite reasonable and if at the start of any day it drops to below 80 then the tournaments played need to be adjusted so that it is back at 100 again as in my own case that would mean eliminating some $7.70s and/or $5.50s. I will do whatever I need to to keep this bankroll safe and to keep increasing profits, work through the cold streaks, and do everything I can to hit my goal of an online bankroll of $2000 or higher on December 27th.

    And now for the personal update which anyone who has been reading my blog for any length of time knows it that means one thing, women lol. I have recently been talking to a woman who lives in Las Vegas who I will call "Misty". There is also another woman that I met online who is in Las Vegas who I will call "Candy". Now this is an interesting scenario because in the short time that I have come to know "Misty" I have some very strong feelings for her and she does for me as well, but we are both so guarded in areas of the heart the best thing to do would be to get to know each other for the next 6 months and then when we meet in person in Las Vegas see where it goes, however, to be honest, I've never spent that long before being hooked up with anybody. Then there's "Candy who drops every hint in the world that she wants to hook up when I'm out in Las Vegas, but she goes about it the wrong way. She tries to get overly sexual with me in text and chat and that's just not me. Let's face it the old adage is still true even in the 21st century. There are two kinds of girls in this world those you mess around with and those you marry. I'm an in person kind of guy and yes, while it is true I hopped more beds with various women than they have in a Motel 6 some chick getting all frisky with me over texting is not my idea of fun lol. However, I'm still talking to her and quite frankly it wouldn't be bad to have a couple of more Las Vegas gals set up before I go out there. The fact of the matter is I've already got at least three or four dates set up for as soon as I get out to Las Vegas but these are just brief chance encounters with nothing serious coming from.

    Then of course there is "Deanna" who I am meeting next month as she lives a couple hours from me and she's going to drive out and we'll grab some lunch together and go do whatever. Now "Deanna" is actually a platonic friend at least that's the way I look at it. I'm hoping she doesn't have any different ideas because quite frankly nothing could ever work with us. Even if I wanted to get in a relationship with her she has a 10 year old son and the lifestyle I'm going to be entering as a Las Vegas full time professional poker player is not really the best person to get involved with when there's a kid in the equation. Not to mention why get involved with somebody unless they have every intention of going with me to Las Vegas. It doesn't make any sense as why put your heart out there for something when you're going to have to say goodbye to her in six months, who needs that kind of heartbreak, so I'm really hoping "Deanna" and I are on the same page on this.

    Well that's all for now ladies and gents. Here's to hoping tomorrow is a little better, no, make that a lot better on the tournament tables and we can increase that 15% ROI that I have for July so far. I'm not exactly sure what time or what tournaments I'm going to be playing tomorrow. I need to go over to Walmart to pick up some food in the morning unless I set my clock for 6 and make the trip over there early and get back in time. As for the night tournaments me, my roommate "Jennifer" and her, well I'm not sure what they are, boyfriend/friend/friend with benefits, but he's been staying with us for at least 3 weeks now so god knows what they are, but at any rate the three of us may be going to see a fireworks show tomorrow night and quite frankly I could use an evening off, but I'm still not sure what I'm going to do tomorrow night. So anyway have a great night, sleep well, and I'll see you at the tables.
  7. #7
    Another Deep Run In The $1k


    I had another deep run in the $5.50 $1k Gtd on day 24. This is the exact same tournament that I finished 6th out of 478 players for a $96 return just a couple of days ago. I've always said my best tournaments are those that have the longest blind levels and the highest starting stacks due to my overall approach and playing style and this particular tournament happens to be a super stack with $5000 in starting chips.


    Day 25

    Started day 25 with a bankroll of $588. Went 0 for the first 6 played and down ($50) it looked like another cold streak hit following a nice cash, the in the last 4 of the night I went 3 for 4 including an 18th/635 in the $1500 for a $18.09 return and a 48th/1568 in the $7500 for $21.16 and a min cash so when it was said and done the days loss was less than ($6).


    Day 26

    I decided that each and every day I start poker for the day my day will begin with an ABI of no lower than 90 and if it is lower I will swap out a higher priced tournaments for lower priced ones for as many days as it takes. I want it above 100, but will go as low as 90 to give me some latitude in my play schedule, but absolutely no lower than that. This is somewhat of a concern to me regarding my move to Las Vegas for if I in fact only hit my goal of a $2000 bankroll from what I can tell the 3 to 4 tournaments I will be playing each day will be mostly $65 buy-ins. Actually there will be a $50 mixed in and a $55 on some days, but if I go with the highest number in figuring the ABI I am better off and if I use that $65 figure then that means with a $2000 dollar bankroll I will have an ABI of 30 starting out. That's not exactly a comfortable feeling at all, but the only saving grace is that at least two of those tournaments I am pretty sure will only have 30 or 40 runners and at most 60 or 65 and the fact is online half the fields I face are in excess of 100 players and the other half are in excess of 300, so with the disparity in field size I'm going to be hoping for the best that that's enough to overcome the low bankroll / ABI ratio that I will have in Vegas. The other option of course is to exceed expectations as far as what my Bovada bankroll is that I'll be taking to Vegas with me. As of the morning of day 26 I was setting a pace for $2492 which is nearly $500 above expectation, but the only reason it was at that was the $155 cash the other night giving me an ROI for the month of July so far of 70% and I know that's not sustainable so that current bankroll pace that you see on the right hand side of my blog will fluctuate from day to day at times by several hundred dollars.

    Going into day 26 earnings were at $272.76, but I discovered an anomaly. In tournaments with a $3k starting chip stack I am down a grand total of ($125.07). Since earnings were $272 overall that means earnings in super stacks, $5k in starting chips and the smaller $1500 starting stack tournaments are nearly $400. I have no explanation as to this disparity unless it's just one of those poker mysteries. I could understand if my only profits were from super stacks and losses were from the others, that would be easy explainable, but why I show profits at the $1500 starting stacks and the $5k starting stacks,but not the $3k completely mystifies me. I did some checking. The blind progressions are the same, antes kick in at the same levels. The deep $3k tournaments and the $1500 tournaments are almost always 12 minute blind levels, so it's not that. The only reasonable explanation is that I simply have no deep runs in them yet. One final table top 3 or top 5 appearance in a deep stack will totally change.

    Let's talk daily tournament schedule. I need to remember to eat during the day. Day 25 I nearly threw up and passed out both in the same day. The stimulants on an empty stomach, chasing it down with Mountain Dew and my blood sugar plummeting is not doing me any good. With that said I am looking at a slight tournament schedule change with the new higher bankroll, but still keep my bankroll/ABI ratio above 90 each morning. The Current schedule planned for day 27 is this.


    805am $2.20 PLO Super Stack
    830am $7.70 $500 NLH Deep Stack 15 minute levels
    930am $5.50 $500 NLH Deep Stack
    1030am $7.70 $500 NLH $2 KO Super Stack
    1220pm $4.40 NLH Beg Deep Stack (Only if 4 tournaments not being played at start time)
    250pm $2.20 NLH
    345pm $5.50 $2k NLH Super Stack
    500pm $3.30 $1k NLH Deep Stack
    725pm $2.20 $1k NLH Deep Stack
    735pm $7.70 $1k PLO Deep Stack (Only if already knocked out of either the 345pm or 500pm)
    745pm $5.50 $1k NLH Super Stack

    BR: $560
    Max Buy-ins/Day: $53.90
    ABI: $4.90
    BR/ABI: 114

    The 545pm $2.20 $500 has been dropped so I am sure to have room on my screen for the 745 $5.50 Super Stack. That's the one I have had a 4th and 6th place finish in so to me that's a must play. Obviously super stacks are where I excel and in a perfect world, with appropriate bankroll of course, nearly all tournaments played each day would be a super stack. In fact, the following schedule is what I am shooting for.

    0700am $11 $500 NLH Super Stack
    0830am $7.70 $500 NLH Deep Stack 15 minute levels
    0900am $11 $500 NLH Super Stack
    1030am $7.70 $500 NLH $2KO Super Stack
    1130pm $11 $1k NLH Deep Stack
    0130pm $11 $3k NLH Super Stack
    0330pm $11 $3k NLH Super Stack
    0345pm $5.50 $2k NLH Super Stack
    0735pm $7.70 $1k PLO Deep Stack (Only if already knocked out of 1 tournament 130pm-345pm)
    0745pm $5.50 $1k NLH Super Stack
    0835pm $11 $500 PLO Deep Stack (Only if 4 tournaments not being played at start time)

    Desired BR: $1000
    Max Buy-ins/Day: $100.10
    ABI: $9,10

    After $1000 in the bankroll I will be making rapid transfer withdraws of $650 at a time. The fee will be $60, somewhat steep, but based on a 25% ROI I will be earning $175 a week in earnings with this schedule, and it will be worth the fees to get the withdraw processed in 7 business days. $650 is the maximum allowed once per week.

    When this might happen is up in the air. It took me 25 days to earn $272,but that's an ROI of 47% over the course of 171 tournaments. Is that sustainable? I highly doubt it, but let's just say it takes me 100 days of the 200 to reach a bankroll of $1000, and then let's further assume I make an average of $25/day over the last 100 days that would be $2500+$1000 BR for a total of $3500. Withdrawing in increments of $650 with a $60 fee per withdraw that runs about $325 would give me nearly a $3200 bankroll for Vegas and an ABI there of nearly 50. Would be nice. So my next goal is a bankroll of $1000 on day 100.

    So day 26 my body pretty much crashed from the day before. I assume the alarm went off at 730 as per usual but damned if I heard it. I didn't end up getting up till 1130 and for day 26 only ended up playing in four tournaments which I ran like ice. In the $2k Gtd I did not even last an hour and a half as I promptly ran my KK into AA. I follow this up with the $3.30 $1k Gtd and pretty much ran card dead and out of that one within an hour and a half. I decided just to play 2 more tournaments for the night. The $7.70 $1k Gtd PLO and the 5 dollar and $5.50 $1k Gtd NLH Super Stack, the tournament that I've had two top six finishes in. Obviously no matter how bad I'm running I'm going to play that one, but that would be it for today. No matter how I ended up doing in the four tournaments I was guaranteed to end the day with a bankroll of $560. And that's exactly where I ended up. No cashes today. Tomorrow is a new day.


    That;s all for now ladies and gents. Take care one and all, and I'll see you at the tables.
  8. #8
    Approaching $700


    Day 27 started out pretty much like a house on fire as not only did I cash in two of the first five morning tournaments, I took down the $2.20 PLO out of a field of 72 players and finished 3rd in the $7.70 15 minute blind level deep stack a tournament that saw a total of 80 runners. The PLO was worth $43.20 and the 3rd place finish in the $7.70 was worth $84. After the first 5 tournaments played my profit for the day was just shy of $100. I made a couple of slight one day changes to the schedule but no matter what happened the remainder of the day the worst I would come out with would be a bankroll of $619.76 so I was guaranteed a profit for day 27 of at least $59.

    After the decent score from the morning tournaments I decided to drop the 2:50 p.m. $2.20 NLH and instead play the 3:30 p.m. $11 NLH $3k Gtd SS. I also decided to drop the $3.30 1k Gtd DS and the $2.20 $1k Gtd DS for tonight and instead make sure I had room on my screen for the $7.70 1k Gtd PLO and my regular for a dollar and $5.50 $1k Gtd and was originally going to play the 8:35 p.m. $11 $500 Gtd PLO DS, but decided against it and made the 7:45 p.m. tournament the last one of the night. In the $11 43k dollar Gtd I ended up finishing 18th out of 355 runners for an additional return a $40.82. The $7.70 was a quick bust and with the $5.50 $1k underway, the last one of the night, bankroll sat at $671.58 a $111 profit for the day with one to be played.

    With a 6th and a 4th place finish in this particular tournament twice already this month I certainly was not expecting anything big. Hell, with the day I had already I was not expecting anything after the first two cashes and scored a $40 return in the $3k, I did not run real deep, but I did cash in it for $12 and change. Bankroll $684.51.

    Tomorrow's schedule looks like this.

    805am $2.20 PLO Super Stack

    830am $7.70 $500 NLH Deep Stack 15 minute levels

    930am $5.50 $500 NLH Deep Stack

    1030am $7.70 $500 NLH $2 KO Super Stack

    0130pm $11 $3k NLH Super Stack

    0330pm $11 $3k NLH Super Stack

    345pm $5.50 $2k NLH Super Stack

    500pm $3.30 $1k NLH Deep Stack

    735pm $7.70 $1k PLO Deep Stack
    (Only played if knocked out of 330, 345, or 500 tourney by start time)

    745pm $5.50 $1k NLH Super Stack

    BR: $684.51
    Max Buy-ins/Day: $67.10
    ABI: $6.71
    BR/ABI: 102



    Current BR: $684.51

    Earnings: $374.51

    Overall BR Goal: $2000

    Current BR Pace: $3084

    See you at the tables.
  9. #9
    Increasing Bankroll Equals Increasing Buy-Ins


    I only played five tournaments on day 28 as in the evening I need to run some errands the least of which is to get some food. I cannot continue living on nicotine, caffeine, and Mountain Dew as much as I would like to. Only went one for 5 in those tournaments, but the one cash was a third place finish in a field of 59 in the 9 a.m. $11 $500 Gtd NLH for a return of $88. After those I decided to take the rest of the day and night off and go do a little food shopping. Food is actually cheap for me as I usually get those small frozen entrees that cost like a dollar each but the calorie count is low and low saturated fat as well. Some of my favorites are beef and peppers, chicken stir fry and a fried rice and vegetables thing. Something you may or may not know, I don't know if I've ever posted in the blog, but I do suffer from a weight issue and in the last 18 months have dropped approximately 150 pounds. I'm 6 foot 1 so I carry my weight very very well, but I still have another 50 or 60 pounds to go and I will get there especially with as little as I eat lol. I figure with the frozen entrees and the mountain Dew I'm under a thousand calories a day not counting my sweet tooth and cookies here and there lol.

    the schedule for tomorrow will be the following.


    830am $7.70 $500 NLH Deep Stack 15 minute levels

    900am $11 $500 NLH Super Stack

    930am $5.50 $500 NLH Deep Stack

    1030am $7.70 $500 NLH $2 KO Super Stack
    1220pm. $4.40 NLH Beg Deep Stack

    130pm. $11 $3k NLH Super Stack

    330pm $11 $3k NLH Super Stack

    345pm $5.50 $2k NLH Super Stack

    500pm $3.30 $1k NLH Deep Stack

    735pm $7.70 $1k PLO Deep Stack
    (Only played if knocked out of the 330pm, 345pm, or 500pm tournament)

    745pm $5.50 $1k NLH Super Stack


    BR: $738.91
    Max Buy-ins/Day: $80.30
    ABI: $7.30
    BR/ABI 101



    The $2.20 PLO has been swapped out with the $11 9 a.m. tournament and I have completely eliminated the $2.20 NLH at 2:50 p.m. As the bankroll rises I will be adding an 1130am $11 deep stack and switching out the 9:30 a.m. $5.50 tournament with a 7am $11 NLH Super Stack.

    I am getting closer and closer to that magic $1000 bankroll and the perfect schedule of tournaments in my opinion listed below.

    0700am $11 $500 NLH Super Stack
    0830am $7.70 $500 NLH Deep Stack 15 minute levels
    0900am $11 $500 NLH Super Stack
    1030am $7.70 $500 NLH $2KO Super Stack
    1130pm $11 $1k NLH Deep Stack
    0130pm $11 $3k NLH Super Stack
    0330pm $11 $3k NLH Super Stack
    0345pm $5.50 $2k NLH Super Stack
    0530pm $11 $10k NLH Super Stack
    0735pm $7.70 $1k PLO Deep Stack (Only played if out of the 330, 345, or 530 tournament)
    0745pm $5.50 $1k NLH Super Stack

    Desired BR: $1000
    Max Buy-ins/Day: $100.10
    ABI: $9.10
    BR/ABI 109


    The only problem with this $1000 bankroll plan and the corresponding tournaments is that my plan is every time I get the bankroll up to $1,710 to make a $650 plus $60 fee withdrawal via rapid money transfer. This will keep the bankroll at around $1,000, but the problem I see is if I go with that steadfast rule of a starting ABI of 100 each morning, I'm going to have to switch things out on a day to day basis on the days where I end up losing money and there will be days like that. However, switching back that 9:30 a.m. $5.50 or adding the 12:20 p.m. $4.40 tournament back in or simply adding back one ir two of the $2.20s or $3.30 deepstacks in the early evening should not be a major issue.

    Now for the personal life.

    OMG there was some seriously fkd up crap going on yesterday. Check this out. My friend "Brandi" the one in Tampa who I might spend a couple of months with as me and her are just friends, no really guys we are, anyway she posted on my facebook a nice post about our friendship and me being her guardian angel and how I'm able to ground her and bring her back to reality as necessary. Our friendship has become such that we really have bonded like we were brother and sister even though we've never actually met. I replied and the ending of my reply was "friends forever babe" Well, all the sudden my phone gets blown up in text from "Candy" who took one look at that post, and specifically that reply, and went through the roof. It should be pointed out that "Candy" and I are not in a relationship lol. Yes, she is one of the ones I I have a date set up with my first week in Vegas but hell I got a date with "Misti" that week also. Besides if circumstances were different when I get to Vegas "Misti" and I would definitely be involved in a long term relationship but since she's planning on moving to Washington State we have realized there's no sense in it, but the underlying feelings are still there and since she's not going to be moving until at least the spring/summer of 2016 if not later, God only knows what's going to happen between us when I get there. We text and talk every day without fail. Well, to make things even more complicated, as "Candy" and I were talking later that night a few hours after her blowing her stack over the Facebook post, she comes out and tells me the reason she got so upset is because she's falling in love with me which is something I already suspected anyway. Great, just great, did I mention things are not exactly settled between me and "Misti" Yeah this is going to get very interesting very fast. Now "Misti" knows about "Candy" but "Candy" does not know about "Misti" and if I want to stay alive I better keep it that way lmao.


    Well, fellow players, that's it for now. I'm thinking a nap is in my future today lol and until next time take care, be well, & I'll see you at the tables.
  10. #10
    Knocked Back


    Day 29 and a last second change in my schedule. Always wanting to be a well-rounded poker player, I decided to swap out the 3:30 p.m. $11 $3k Gtd and jump in the 12:05 p.m. $11 $1k Gtd Omaha H/L or better known as PLO8. What caught my eye was this tournament, as a few others that they offer, offers $10k in starting chips, but they reduce the blind levels by 2 minutes. As a player always wanting as long of blind levels as possible and thusly love when I can play an online tournament that are 15 minutes or even 20 minute blind levels of course the 20 minute one is only once a week, the 15 minute blinds I can get one on a daily basis, but the standard on Bovada is 12 minutes, I wasn't sure if the starting chip stack would overcome the loss of 2 minutes per level. I mean $10k is twice what they're Super Stacks offer and I have shown that I have my best results in the Super Stacks, the tournament with the highest starting chips amounts of $5k, but I wanted to try it at least once. I did pretty awesome for the most of the tournament and I hit the final table, but finished a very disappointing 7th for a $48.40 return. Disappointing considering I was chip leader with 18 left, but overall, since I had not played a single hand of PLO8 in over 3 years, I was damn happy with my performance. The fact is that when I went out in this tournament I went out on a huge huge draw, I mean we're talking I must have had 25 different outs and if I had the hand to replay all over again, I would do the exact same thing.

    Overall day 29 went nowhere fast. I did go 4 for 11 in the money, but nothing really really deep so the entire day was basically break even in fact I ended up with a less than $2 profit for the day.
    So on to day 30 heretofor known simply as "the disaster" The current daily schedule listed over on the right hand side of this blog will be played tomorrow and and for the near future. 1 for 14 in the money today and a loss of around ($95) Ouch, I didn't know I could run so bad lol. Some of it was just absolutely ridiculous. All-in with AJs get called by Q2s and the donk piece of trash rivers a 2, I turn a straight and lose to a river flush, KK vs KK and I lose to a runner runner flush, turn top two pair and lose, lost in a set over set situation, and 4 of us all-in and I have the absolute nuts at the time and lose. Yes, this all happened just today. Talk about running bad hideously bad.

    However, always one to you find a positive in an absolute disaster it's made me realize that the 100 ABI number is not sufficient. I have not come to this decision because of the $95 loss today, although a change in the schedule because of the loss had to happen, but the problem is if I lose even $20 or $30 in a day I have to change the schedule on a daily basis and that's getting a little stale.
    I think the 100 number needs to be changed, but to what. The current schedule you see sets my ABI at 126 going into day 31, but it's going to be my lowest level of tournaments I play on a daily basis meaning I'm going to be stubborn and I refuse to return back to the $1.10 tournaments and I refuse to give up the $7.70 tournaments in the morning and the one in the evening. So this schedule can't go any lower than it is, but the question remains how many ABIs do I need to have in order to start bringing $11 tournaments back into the mix. As an example the first one that will be brought back will be the 9 a.m. $11 Super Srack tournament and that will replace the $2.20 PLO, but however, if I decide that in order to do that I would need an ABI of 200, I checked, and I wouldn't be able to start playing that $11 tournament, even if it was just one a day, until my bankroll was $1000. That seems just a touch extreme to me especially considering the time to build up this bankroll is limited. 170 days left.

    The current schedule gives me an ABI of $5.10. So how much of a bankroll do I need?? I decided to go with an ABI number of 150 and ran a few calculations and you know it's funny the way numbers workout because as it turns out if I swap in an $11 tournament and consequently swap out a lower priced one when the bankroll reaches $800 then every increase in the bankroll of $100 allows me to swap in another $11 tournament. If the bankroll decreases by $100, I have to swap out an $11 for a lower priced tournament and this maintains a constant ABI of 150. It turned out the answer was so simple and easy to calculate I should have figured it out before, but I have figured it out now. That means I will not be playing an $11 tournament until the bank roll is at $800 and then if the bank will slips to $700, I would have to swap that $11 tournament back out and replace it with a lower priced one. This is going to make figuring and knowing when to swap in and went to swap out so much easier.


    0700am $11 $500 Gtd NLH Super Stack

    0830am $7.70 $500 Gtd NLH Deep Stack 15 minute levels

    0900am $11 $500 Gtd NLH Super Stack

    1030am $7.70 $500 Gtd NLH $2KO Super Stack

    1130am $11 $1k Gtd NLH Deep Stack
    (Only played if out of 2 of the first 4 tournaments)

    1205pm $11 $1k Gtd Gtd PLO8 $10k Chips / 10 Minute Blinds
    (Only played if out of 1 of the first 4 tournaments)

    0130pm $11 $3k Gtd NLH Super Stack

    0330pm $11 $3k Gtd NLH Super Stack

    0530pm $11 $10k Gtd NLH Super Stack

    0605pm $11 $1k Gtd PLO8 Deep Stack

    0735pm $7.70 $1k Gtd PLO Deep Stack
    (Only if 4 not being played at start time)

    0835pm $11 $500 Gtd PLO Deep Stack
    (Only if 4 not being played at start time)


    It does however throw the original thousand dollar plan right out the window and that will have to be adjusted. The final daily schedule of tournaments that I want to be playing on a daily basis which I have posted below this paragraph, was originally going to be based on a bankroll of $1000, but in order to play all those tournaments listed the bankroll needs to be $1600. That means, although I'm not entirely comfortable keeping that much money on an online poker site, but I don't have much choice, I will run the bank roll up to $2,500 before I make my first $650 plus $60 fee withdraw.

    Well, that's all I have for now. Day 31 is underway and I am already playing the $2.20 PLO and hopefully today, day 31 goes better than yesterday. The $95 loss was painful, but since I pride myself in employing good solid bankroll management practices it was hurtful, but not devastating. In the course of it I have adjusted my bankroll management system even better and improved it in my opinion. I was not exactly thrilled with the fact that the losses added up to more than 10% of the total bankroll, but utilizing an ABI of 150 will solve that problem as well. I was actually expecting to take a hit as I knew an 80% ROI that I was running so far in July was unsustainable and even with the hit yesterday I'm still at a 40% ROI for this month. Take care one and all and I'll see you at the tables.
  11. #11
    Snapping Out Of It In A Huge Way


    Incredible, absolutely incredible is all I can say. Day 32 was wrapped up going 2 for 11, but those two cashes were a 1st place finish in a $4.40 for $117 and a 2nd place finish in the 745pm $5.50 $1k for $320. Bankroll ending day 32 was $1209.83. At the end of day 40 bankroll, if I remember correctly, was $640. Earnings of over $500 in the last two days alone and yet there is one thing that concerns me and that is my in the money finishes.

    It almost seems insanity to think there could be a problem with my recent play, but the fact of the matter is in my last 40 tournaments which covers two full days plus the final 3 tournaments on day 29 I am only 5 for 40 in the money which is only 12.5%, but three of those 5 cashes add up to over $645. I'm really not sure if the the in the money percentage needs to even be a factor because let's face it for cash game players its big blinds per hour they make, but for us tournament players its ROI, return on investment, that is the deciding factor. For the first 12 days of the month of July my ROI is 112.9%. I know that is not sustainable and I fully expect to have a cold streak come back and hit me anytime, but the bottom line question is do I need to be concerned about the in the money percentage even though the earnings are fantastic. Of course, even though I am only 12.5% ITM in my last 40 tournaments for the month of July I am right where I expect to be at 23%, which my ITM percentage goal is 25% and my ROI goal is 25% so I'm right on target for the ITM percentage overall and far exceeding the ROI goal. For now, I'm not going to be overly concerned about it because the overall month so far does have me where I should be for that in the money percentage. Hopefully I can continue making deep runs in the tournaments that I do cash in.

    I know this is going to sound crazy considering my results, but I've actually decided to remove PLO from my scheduled tournaments. I know on the surface it sounds crazy as in PLO tournaments I have 3 final tables with two 3rds and a win, but that all has been with a starting chip stack of $5000 chips. I find PLO, since its such a draw heavy game, you need more starting chips, to get past the hands that you are not winning, the hands where you put some money in the pot, but it's obvious that your opponent has drawn out on you. The $2.20 8:05 a.m. PLO tournament has been eliminated from my schedule and and the other ones available only offer $3000 in starting chips. I'm going to keep PLO8, but its going to be a testing phase as the only cash and final table I have on PLO8 is one that has a $10,000 starting chip stack. Are more chips required in PLO8 as I have found that they are required for me personally in PLO, I don't know, I need a few more tournaments under my belt to test this. It seems different with Holdem although even in that my best results are with the super stack tournaments. it is true I have notched a win in a deep stack tournament and a $1,500 starting stack tournament, but it cannot be denied the more chips I get at the start the better I am. My results show this and I will also be utilizing this approach in trying to find the best tournaments for the price range that I will be playing in Las Vegas. From the looks of things that will be Treasure Island, The Golden Nugget, and The Plaza.

    When I woke up this morning, day 32 of 200, I'd found that Bovada had credited me with my remaining $40 bonus. I quite frankly, thought they had forgotten about it after they had credited me with the first $10 and I wasn't even going to bother mentioning anything to them about it, but on their own accord they decided to put the remaining $40 in all at once. Basically what they did was recently applied it to my tournament buy-ins so the first several of them on day 32 were free, but no matter how you look at it, it was free money. It was from the original $100 deposit I made and a 50% deposit bonus so that's why I have earned $50 in bonus money.

    So the new updated daily schedule is on the right hand side of my blog for those of you reading this on blogger and for those of you reading this from one of the poker forums forums that I post on, I will post the updated daily schedule below this paragraph. That updated schedule includes four $11 tournaments and the maximum ABI will be $8.18 and with the current bankroll that gives me a BR/ABI ratio of 148 about as close to 150 as I'm going to get.


    Current Daily Schedule

    700am $11 NLH SS

    830am $7.70 NLH DS/15

    900am $11 NLH SS

    1030am $7.70 NLH KO SS

    1205pm $11 PLO8

    130pm $11 NLH $3k

    345pm $5.50 NLH

    500pm $3.30 NLH

    725pm $2.20 NLH
    (If 2 being played)

    745pm $5.50 NLH

    Current BR: $1209.83
    Max Buy-ins/Day: $75.90
    Max ABI: $8.18
    Est BR/ABI Ratio: 148



    Day 32 I got up at 10 a.m. and since the 7:45 p.m. tournament didn't end until after 2 a.m. and I was texting with "Misty" till 3 a.m. I decided to hell with it no sense in sleeping now when the new schedule shows me playing a tournament at 7 a.m. Popped a couple caffeine pills, almost threw them up, and am just pulling an all nighter into day 33. Assuming I don't have another deep run in the 7:45 p.m. tournament on day 33, I this Poker Run will probably go in the neighborhood of 36 straight hours. My body is already sending me nasty messages about it, but I've got to push myself to the limit if necessary. The final rewards from all of this are way too important.

    Finally, I did the final tweaking on the final daily schedule that I am working towards and when I reach it, which I am only $400 away from doing so, I will actually be playing less tournament than usual and the final one of my poker workday will be earlier than it is now. Take a look.

    0700am $11 $500 Gtd NLH Super Stack

    0830am $7.70 $500 Gtd NLH Deep Stack 15 Min levels

    0900am $11 $500 Gtd NLH Super Stack

    1030am $7.70 $500 Gtd NLH $2KO Super Stack

    1205pm $11 $1k Gtd Gtd PLO8 $10k Chips/10 Mins

    0130pm $11 $3k Gtd NLH Super Stack

    0330pm $11 $3k Gtd NLH Super Stack

    0530pm $11 $10k Gtd NLH Super Stack

    605 pm $11 PLO8 $1k Deep Stack

    Required BR: $1600
    Max Buy-ins/Day: $92.40
    ABI: $10.27
    BR/ABI Ratioo 155


    $1600 to implement this schedule fully. The last tournament of the day starting at 605pm which should get me done with my poker day by midnight and allow me more sleep. I almost hate dropping the 745pm $5.50 as that's the one I have a 2nd, 4th, and 6th in within the last two weeks, but running deep in it goes til after 1 or 2am. I need to stay fresh in order to run these earnings as high as possible. $1600 to implement it fully, and if the bankroll drops by $100 I swap out a $11 tournament with one $5.50 or lower priced, and then swap back in as the bankroll gets that $100 back and so on. When bankroll reaches $2500, which at present I am half way there I will be making a withdrawal of $650 plus $60 fee via rapid transfer. This is allowed by Bovada once a week, but since I only expect to earn around $160/wk with this finalized schedule that will not be an issue, but with the way things have gone thus far I am ready for anything.

    That's all for now. 20 hours into this approximately 36 hour poker run. Right now bankroll pace is running at $5700, $3700 higher than the $2000 goal I set, but I fully expect things to even out dramatically in very short order. The 7am $11 $500 Gtd gets underway in less than 30 minutes. Have a great day one and all, and as always, I'll see you at the tables.

    Current BR: $1209.83

    Starting BR: $300

    Bonuses: $50

    Earnings: $859.83

    Overall BR Goal: $2000

    Current BR Pace: $5724

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