Archive for July, 2008
SNG Bankroll project update 5.
Tuesday, July 15th, 2008 | Poker Articles, Poker Bankroll Building, Poker Projects | No Comments
Brief update about my SNG project. I have now played 56 SNG, which is still far to few to predict whether I am a winning player on the limit I am playing at. I am up 5$ since my last update a week ago, played 20 SNGs. That is not very satisfying, but it also becomes more and more clear that the rake is “eating” up the profit.
Statistics are now:
Stats so far:
SNG Played: 56
Rake: $36
In the money: 38 times. 67.8%.
Net profit: $49
Michael, July 15th.
Malta news
Saturday, July 12th, 2008 | Poker and Life | No Comments
So the PokerBRB team is gathered in Malta for the next couple of weeks. It is meant to be a vacation but we probably can’t avoid turning the subject in to our projects Poker Bankroll Builder and this blog.
It started great when Mark was so kind to invite us on a big expensive fishing trip by spending some of his poker winnings. Like us he was really fired up for this trip and couldn’t wait for the day to come.
The day was good at least for some of us. Mark had a good start by catching a 5-6 kg Albacore Tuna and was really on fire – but then he turned his attention to new records for some reason…….he started getting really sick due to the rocking boat. Mark managed to break the unofficial record of largest number of pukes on a single fishing trip – the record is now set at the number of 20 J……congrats to you Mark J.
We continued fishing with great success and ended up catching a total of 6 Albacore Tuna between 5 and 8 kg….really amazing. Here I think it’s worth giving a special thanks to Mark’s continuous effort to lure the fish to the boat by feeding them directly from the railing J J J. It wouldn’t have worked without you.
In the end we all had a nice trip and it was great fun. Including Mark – though you might be able to think of other ways to spend your poker winnings than a long session of sea sickness J. Well…we are grateful for the trip and the whole experience.
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Top 11 bad poker habits_the first three
Wednesday, July 9th, 2008 | Poker Articles, Poker Strategy | 1 Comment
We all have bad habits when we play online poker. Identifying the bad poker habits and putting them into writing might help getting rid of some of them. Therefore we have collected our own worst poker habits and put them into writing below. Feel free to share your own bad poker habits with the rest of the PokerBRB community. For your information the bad poker habits listed below have not been put into a prioritized list yet, we have great plans to make a poll on the PokerBRB forum to decide the exact order.
Bad poker habit number one: Throwing your chips away when you are low stacked
When you are low stacked in tournaments or SNG’s it is important to be very selective with the han hands you play. In general you are better off picking your hand to do battle with and then go all in. Simply calling with drawing hands will drain your chip stack even further.
Here’s an example from a speed SNG I played recently. Blinds are 100/200, I have 1300 chips and pick up J10 (clubs) under the gun. I haven’t had a playable hand throughout the SNG so suddenly J10 looks good and I call. A few other players also call until the last player to act (the button i.e. the player in the best position) raises to 600 (damn!). The small blind folds and the big blind calls. I also reluctantly call since the pot odds are good, but secretly I am already kicking myself for ending up in the position; I have 700 chips left and I am second to act in a raised pot with J10 (clubs). Of course I don’t hit anything on the flop and have to check then fold to the button’s continuation bet. A few hands later I am knocked out. I would have been much better off folding the J10 and waiting until I was in position to make a move.
Bad poker habit number two: Playing drawing hands out of position
Drawing hands such as suited connectors (89 etc.) are played best in position. It’s as simple as that. You want to see a flop as cheaply as possible and when you call out of position this is never guaranteed.
Bad poker habit number 3: Slow playing big hands preflop
If you don’t raise preflop with your big hands your opponent’s hand ranges are very large. However if you raise preflop and it is called you can narrow down the hand range and have some information about which hand your opponent might have. It will furthermore narrow down the number of opponents. It is not at all ideal to sit with AA against 4-5 opponents on the flop. The chances are a lot higher that somebody picked up a good hand.
Here’sa typical example of what could happen if you don’t raise preflop. You have been playing in game where you havepicked up 3 or 4 great hands just to watch everyone fold to your 5xBB preflop raise. You then pick up black pocket rockets in early position and decide to simply call hoping somebody will raise later. To your disgust 5 of your opponents just call, and the flop comes 367 (2 hearts). You bet the pot and get a reraise and two calls thrown back at you. You choose to reluctantly fold your AA and your three remaining opponents end up all in showing QJ (hearts), (45 offsuit) and 88; the player with QJ catches a flush on the river and wins the pot. With a preflop raise the players with 45 and QJ would have most likely folded. In conclusion, unless you have a really good read on your opponents you should not slowplay your big hands.’
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Sit and go poker bankroll project, #4
Wednesday, July 9th, 2008 | Poker Articles, Poker Bankroll Building, Poker Projects | No Comments
I haven’t been playing as much as I hoped the previous week for several reasons. The Internet was down one of the days because the town I live in on Malta, Sliema, had an electicity break down. So no Internet for half a day. I also hit a bad run of losses. For me that is three SNG lost in a row (remember that 50% of the participants recieve a prize in the SNGs I play).
My personal rule is that I stop playing if I hit such a bad run. I know three in a row is not much, but from experience I know that I change my game after a minor loosing streak. My profit horizon changes from a long term to a short term view. That is, I tend to be more willing to call coin flip situations, where I could wait for a better position to put all my chips in the middle.
Statistics are now:
Stats so far:
SNG Played: 36
Rake: $26
In the money: 18 times. 69.2%.
Net profit: $43
So down $23 since my last update.
I mentioned in my previous update, Sit and go poker bankroll project #3, that I would explain how Harringtons M can be used in SNG and how people often do not take this term into into consideration.
Harringtons “M” refers to a ratio of your chip stack compared to the blinds. The number gives an indication of how much preasure you are under because of the blinds.
If your M is 5 or under your only option is fold or all in. Many players do not take this into consideration and simply limp in. The result will often be that a player in a later position raises the pot or that you do not not hit anything on the flop and fold the hand to a raise.
The correct play would be to either go all in or to fold and wait for a better position. An all in would in most situation be the correct play.
Michael, July 9th.
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Bankroll Building Skills – Persistence
Saturday, July 5th, 2008 | Poker Articles, Poker Bankroll Building, Poker Bankroll Management | 1 Comment
The skill – persistence – will be the next one to describe in the series of Bankroll Management skills . First a short definition of persistence:
… ability to maintain action towards the goal of a project regardless of your current feelings toward the project. The ability to press on even if you fell like quitting…
When done by the book, building a bankroll through bankroll management is a slow process. In addition it may seem boring at times, since you will always be accustomed to the size of the pot and consequently will experience relatively few great adrenalin rushes (except for the times where your bankroll allows you to move up in limits). You can also make room for adrenalin boosts by allocating a part of your bankroll to big tournaments or single buyins at high limits, but really Bankroll management is all about a steadily increasing income over time with reduced risk of big losses and you have to come to terms with this.
Why is it important?
Persistence is the key to stay within your predetermined boundaries for Bankroll Management over time. When working on a goal, your motivation will go up and down like waves hitting the shore. Sometimes you will feel motivated – sometimes you will feel very bored, but in the short run its not your motivation that will produce result – it’s your action within the predetermined boundaries.
Persistence is vital even for players with great poker talents. Persistence is often the main difference between unsuccessful players with talent and the successful players. I think that a person with a strong determination and persistence will have all possibilities at his hand if he maintains focus on his goal ahead.
How is persistence developed?
The most important thing in my experience is that my goal continues being a big inspiration to me. Persistence is not stubbornness – so if you don’t feel a great desire for the goal you probably will not succeed.
When you aim too low you will most likely at some point experience a lack of motivation for Bankroll Management. Your goals must result in a drive and inspiration that can maintain motivation throughout the course of the project. Persistent motivation is based in great visions, where you are not intimidated by the size of your goal.
So before starting a bankroll management project it is important to explicit write down your visions or goals. And during the periods with low motivation in your bankroll building process you can use these written words to boost your energy and desire to stay on track in your poker bankroll building project.
Other articles in this series:
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short stack strategy_applied_update 1
Thursday, July 3rd, 2008 | Poker Articles, Poker Bankroll Building, Poker Projects | No Comments
My Short Stack Strategy Project covers a series of 5 posts in total.
Other posts in this series:
- short stack strategy_applied_update 2
- short stack strategy_applied_update 3
- short stack strategy_applied_update 4
- short stack strategy_applied_update 5
Basically I am on fire on the poker tables with my new short stack strategy. I am playing the 25$ max buyin No Limit full ring tables at Everest Poker, and buying in with 5$. Whenever I reach 4$ on a table I make a 1$ rebuy to 5$, and if I lose my stack I make a full rebuy to 5$.
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I have increased my poker bankroll from 72$ to 125$ during 9 session hours of short stack strategy play. During this time I have made 6 full rebuys due to hands I lost.
Just to remind you, this is my modified Ed Miller short stack strategy (there are a few modification and resolved issues now)
- I will buy in with 20xBB, starting on the 0,15/0,25c tables
- I will rebuy to 20xBB when my stack drops below 15xBB
- I will leave the table whenever I reach 40xBB
- In early position I will raise AA,KK,QQ,JJ,AKs,AKo and 1010 8-10xBB preflop, and always go all in on the flop. I will go all in on preflop reraises
- In middle position I will also raise AQs,99 and AQo, go all in on the flop and on preflop reraises
- In late position I will add 88, AJs, 77, AJo, ATs and KQs to my raising hands, go all in on the flop and on preflop reraises.
- When I am in Big Blind and don’t have an early position starting hand, I check if there are no preflop raises. On the flop I only bet if I hit something good like two pairs, and I only call with drawing hands if the pot odds are ridiculously good.
- When I am in Small Blind and don’t have an early position starting hand, I call up to the big blind if there are no preflop raisers, otherwise I fold. On the flop I only bet if I hit something good like two pairs, and I only call with drawing hands if the pot odds are ridiculously good.
- If I have raised preflop in position and don’t hit the flop I go all in if my opponents check. If they make a significant bet before me I evaluate the situations on a case to case level. I would say I fold the majority of the times when my opponents bet.
In conclusion I really think this short stack strategy works and I will keep you updated with my progress.
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In my excitement I have already made plans for my next increase in limits:
- When I hit 200$, I will buyin with 10$ on the 50$ max buyin No Limit full ring tables at Everest Poker
- If I drop to 150$, I will go back to 5$ buyins at the 25$ tables and wait until I reach 200$ again
- When I reach 400$ I will take a shot at the 100$ max buyin tables with 20$ at a time.
You can keep yourself updated on my progress on my bankroll building thread on the pokerBRB forum.
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PokerBRB July Cash Game Competition
Tuesday, July 1st, 2008 | Poker Freeroll | No Comments
PokerBRB is proud to announce the July Cash Game Competition – the rules are simple.
This is an exclusive offer for people who have signed up through the pokerBRB rakeback sites. You can also enter the PokerBRB Cash Game Competition for free by signing up to VC poker and receiving 10$ free of charge.
Make a deposit at one of the rakeback sites you have signed up to through the PokerBRB website
- Increase your bankroll as much as possible during July
- The player with the highest ROI (Return On Investment) wins
- The prize is 50$ plus 10$ pr. player signing up to the Cash Game Competition, up to a maximum of 150$
- You must be able to provide us with screenshots of your initial balance, your final balance and all the account transactions during the month, otherwise we won’t be able to calculate your ROI.
- You also have to sign up to the July Cash Competition on the PokerBRB website (choose Cash Game Competition/VC poker)
- Further Terms and Conditions apply (but they are not complicated at all)
Have fun
Your PokerBRB team
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Summer holidays have arrived upon us!
Tuesday, July 1st, 2008 | Poker and Life | No Comments
Dear PokerBankrollBlog readers
We are on summer holiday all of July – ahh barbecues on the roof terrace in the Malta flat. This means we will not be posting as much on our blog as usual. You will be able to read new posts every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Be aware that there might be a bit more holiday content in our July posts:-)
Have a nice holiday
Mark, Michael and Anders
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Sit and go bankroll project, #3
Tuesday, July 1st, 2008 | Poker Articles, Poker Bankroll Building, Poker Projects | No Comments
Sit and go poker bankroll project, #3
This is the third update on my sit and go project. I have now doubled my stack, started with $60 and my balance at Inter Poker is now $123.
But rake does lower the profit significantly. I have payed $19 in rake so far. So if I was signed up for a rakeback deal I would have received 30% back.
I am still playing the 50% double up sit and go, as mentioned in the previous updates. It does give the game a different element than normal sit and go´s. People are very tight, but do not seem to take into account which battles they should take and at what time. In my next update I will try to explain how Harrington’s M-value can be used to time your play according to the level of blinds in the sit and go tournaments I play.
Statistics are now:
Stats so far:
SNG Played: 26
Rake: $19
In the money: 18 times. 69.2%.
Net profit: 63$
/Michael
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