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If I 3-bet the BB almost certainly folds. If the UTG opener then flats (quite likely in a freeroll) I win a full double on that flop. If I knew both their hole cards that's exactly what I would have done. However without that knowledge I prefer to see a flop in position for 2BB rather than 3-bet to 5BB at the risk of getting shoved on or flatted. 2/3rds of the times when I 3-bet and get flatted I'll miss the flop. My c-bet is then going to cost me another 6BB+, if I'm shoved on at that point I've squandered 36% of my stack.
I didn't want to make a high-variance all-in play for 25BBs while comfortably above average close to the bubble. If I had a decent bankroll behind me I'd go for it, in this unusual circumstance when even a min-cash is precious as I try to scrape together a few quid I prefer to take a lower variance approach in certain spots like this.
Knowing these challenges help inspire others feels great and gives me more than enough motivation to maintain the diary through the tough times. It's an easy job during the hot streaks, most of the diaries that fizzle out do so when the writer hits a barren spell of results and loses the will to post.
Closing Balances; Cash £6.44 Poker Points 405
Up 74p today
I enjoyed a solid start to the 12-30pm Freezing Freeroll today; up to 1.5x starting stack within two levels. But I came unstuck early in level 4 when a beat with one card to come (KK<TJo with 72JQ on the board) cost me a large pot that would have put me on 7.7K with the average at 3.6K. No worries, I wanted the villain to call my turn shove. I’m fully aware that the chips will go the other way once every nine times, when that happens all I can do is take it on the chin and move on to the next hand. I fought hard but couldn’t find a way back, busting a few orbits later when one of my 10BB open-shoves was called by 45s that managed to beat my overcards.
In the 2-15pm game I fared somewhat better. After earlier skirmishes didn’t go my way I was nursing a short stack for several levels. After dropping to only 10BB at 75/150 I went on a sweet heater that turned my 1.5K into 16K, though by then blinds had risen to 400/800. So as the tournament entered the shallow stack push/fold I was sitting on 20 big blinds, slightly above average. I negotiated the bubble successfully, though a terrible run of hole cards then forced me to blind down to only 3BB with the average at 10BB.
My demise came in 19th place of 468 (+131 rebuys/add-ons) for 74p when I shoved K6s, the strongest hole cards I had seen for several orbits, into A9o and failed to improve. To be honest I was so short at that point I’d have needed at least another couple of doubles to stand any chance of making final table.
At the moment I’m considering using my balance to play in 55p HU STTs. I’ve been playing hundreds of these on another site lately to help me clear a sign-up bonus, so I have had plenty of practice under my belt. The alternative is 60p DYMs. What is making lean towards the HU games is the cheaper rake; 10% compared to 20% in the DYMs. The trouble with HU games is that it’s harder to table select. I’ll probably have to sit down first and play whoever turns up. Table selection is much easier in the DYMs, in those I can wait for 4 or 5 players to sit before deciding whether I like the table or not. If I do opt for 55p HU games I want to prepare as well as possible, I’ll probably rail a bunch of games and check stats on Sharkscope before taking on the regulars.
An annoyance I've mentioned before is the away players in these freerolls. Without fail at least one or two always seem to survive to the bubble, even though only around 11% of the field are being paid.
The player involved in the hands below (I have editted out his s/name) cashed in the 2-15pm Freezing Freeroll today, even though he sat out with a red time bar throughout. He won't believe his luck when he sees the result. Without doubt this guy outlasted many of the players who battled at the tables after spending 50p on rebuys and add-ons (131 were purchased, 52 spots were paid). The away player won a series of miracle all-ins, including 59o />KK, and was somehow was sitting on 150% of the starting 3000 chip starting stack during level 17, which was being played after the bubble had burst.
That's unfair on the entrants who'd spent money on rebuys and add-ons in my opinion. There's a simple solution; an away players cards should be killed, ie he cannot win a pot at showdown. That's what happens in live tournaments, and also at most other online poker rooms.
Player M***** is sitting out;
/>Beginning a new hand.612731772
/>sudee posted a small blind 800.
/>M***** posted a big blind 1,470.
/>paulf114 folded
/>forku folded
/>TOOTHACHE called for 1,600.
/>Arch999 folded
/>sudee has gone all in for 8,620.
/>TOOTHACHE folded
/>Unmatched chips returned to sudee
/>sudee showed Kh,Ks
/>M***** showed 5d,9c
/>Dealing the flop (3d,5c,5h).
/>Dealing the turn (Jd).
/>Dealing the river (3h).
/>sudee has won the hand (260) with Two Pairs, Kings and 5s (Kh,Ks,5c,5h,Jd)
/>M***** has won the hand (4,410) with Full House, 5s and 3s (5d,3d,5c,5h,3h)
/>The hand has finished.
/>Beginning a new hand.612733187
/>sudee posted a small blind 1,000.
/>M***** posted a big blind 2,000.
/>paulf114 folded
/>forku folded
/>TOOTHACHE folded
/>Arch999 folded
/>sudee called for 1,000.
/>M***** checked.
/>Dealing the flop (Js,4h,4c).
/>sudee checked.
/>M***** checked.
/>Dealing the turn (Ac).
/>sudee checked.
/>M***** checked.
/>Dealing the river (3s).
/>sudee checked.
/>M***** checked.
/>sudee showed 6h,9d
/>M***** showed 9c,As
/>M***** has won the hand (4,000) with Two Pairs, Aces and 4s (As,Js,4h,4c,Ac)
/>The hand has finished.
Good Luck.
I've decided to hold back for now. When I do enter the fray I'll probably stay out of the turbo and hyper-turbo games initially to keep the variance down. A slow structure probably gives me the best chance of outplaying a weaker opponent.
Just the one game for me today, the 12-30pm Freezing Freeroll. I was pleased to add to my cash balance by making a 50p min-cash. Tight/aggressive ABC poker and a couple of crucial holds when all-in and called was enough to take me into the money.Closing Balances; Cash £6.94 Poker Points 380
Up 50p today
Once there, with all stacks shallow, I picked up KTs in the cut-off, which was good enough for an open-shove. Unfortunately I found myself in big trouble; the button called with pocket 99 and the big-blind called with AKs. For a split second I thought I was going to luckbox a juicy pot when I spiked a ten on the flop. However the pocket nines improved to a set on the turn to eliminate both opponents.
Fair enough, the shove, call and call were all standard. I know my shove was correct and I’d put all my chips in again if the same situation arose. To go super-deep in these freerolls you need to run very well in post-bubble aipf situations. When all stacks are shallow nitty folds will get you absolutely nowhere, if you want to win all the chips and take the top prize you’re going to have to push your stack every time it’s correct and hope the board runs out in your favour.
nice going mate.
keep it up
(* *)
^
dev
Closing Balances; Cash £6.94 Poker Points 355
(no change)
The 12-30pm Freezing Freeroll was my only game again today. I’m very pleased how I played, however a spot of bad luck in a great spot was the difference between 5th place and 65th place with 90 runners left. I tried hard to fight back but was eliminated short of the money in a standard A6<33 blind vs blind aipf flip.
Tomorrow I'll be too busy to play poker, my next update will be posted on Friday.
Ouch! A hold here puts me in the top five with the bubble looming;
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalanceGaryQQQ Small blind 400.00 400.00 20880.00 mad2002 Big blind 800.00 1200.00 10958.75 Your hole cards K K dewy00724 All-in 3155.00 4355.00 0.00 baden1962 Fold bladerun07 Fold maxwelld08 Fold GaryQQQ Call 2755.00 7110.00 18125.00 mad2002 Raise 4710.00 11820.00 6248.75 GaryQQQ All-in 18125.00 29945.00 0.00 mad2002 All-in 6248.75 36193.75 0.00 GaryQQQ Unmatched bet 9521.25 26672.50 9521.25 GaryQQQ Show K K mad2002 Show 7 7 dewy00724 Show K Q Flop J 6 7 Turn 4 River 7 mad2002 Win Four 7s 26672.50 26672.50
To be honest £6.94 doesn't impress me much, it still leaves £993.06 to go!
Patience ftw.
No change
(Didn’t play today)
Day 23
Closing Balances; Cash £8.84 Poker Points 332
Up £1.90 today
In the 12-30pm Freezing Freeroll an hour spent outplaying my opponents was wrecked by a rather cruel flop as we approached the sharp end. With pocket KK (aka ‘the hand of doom’, see day 21) I raised to 4BB from the button over a serial limper, both blinds folded and the two of us saw the flop. It came down 262, about as good as it gets for my hand. When the villain’s check/raised the flop I didn’t like it, but with only 13BB left behind after my c-bet there was no way I could get away. He flipped over pocket 22 for flopped quad twos and I was out.
After the freeroll, and for the first time in this challenge, I took the plunge and risked some money!
At least a week ago I decided the first micro-stakes games I’d risk any of my cash balance on are non-turbo HU STTs. I chose them over DYMs for a couple of reasons; importantly the rake is lower, also I’ve had plenty of practice on another site lately. While ordinarily I always choose turbo or hyper games I feel a slow structure is my best option while I only have a very small number of buy-ins. With this in mind I’ve been railing slow speed micro HU matches for several days, making notes on the regulars and checking stats to help with table selection.
While the scanning the lobby I noticed someone I’m keen to play waiting at a table. The only trouble was that it was a £1.05 table; I’d been intending to enter the fray at 55p. It was such a good table I decided I couldn’t pass the opportunity and bought in for one sixth of my balance. After all the freerolls this felt like a nose-bleed game to me. It went well, I slowly built a significant chip lead, though I had a scare near the end. With my opponent down to only 5BB I saw a free flop when he open-limped (as a trap I assume) with AQo. I flopped two pairs and was fist-pumping when the chips went in. It was a premature celebration though; he doubled with a runner-runner flush! No panic, I still had a decent lead and went on to win the game a few hands later.
When my opponent agreed to a rematch I couldn’t resist the opportunity. I won the second game also, though I have to be honest here; it turned into a walkover when my opponent became permanently disconnected and didn’t return.
I’m thrilled to have won my first two matches which required a cash buy-in. However my balance is still deep in the danger zone and I won’t be letting this small success go to my head. Over the weekend I’ll be entering the great value 10 point Omaha freerolls. I’ll also be keeping a close eye on the STT lobby. Like today I’ll only be prepared to risk some of my cash if I spot a very good table.
Stats, graph and all results so far according to the Sharkscope database;
(click pic or link to enlarge)
http://imageshack.us/a/img826/378/challenge250113.jpg
7464910
SkyPoker 25/01/2013 14:47 NL Hold'em Freeroll 122/304 £0
7474543
SkyPoker 25/01/2013 14:37 NL Hold'em £1 + £0.05 1/2 £0.95
7474251
SkyPoker 25/01/2013 14:26 NL Hold'em £1 + £0.05 1/2 £0.95
7460158
SkyPoker 23/01/2013 15:08 NL Hold'em Freeroll 71/373 £0
7455492
SkyPoker 22/01/2013 14:53 NL Hold'em Freeroll 44/425 £0.5
7455254
SkyPoker 21/01/2013 16:44 NL Hold'em Freeroll 19/468 £0.74
7451059
SkyPoker 21/01/2013 15:02 NL Hold'em Freeroll 226/393 £0
7446422
SkyPoker 20/01/2013 16:14 PL Omaha Hi Freeroll 128/595 £0
7437044
SkyPoker 20/01/2013 15:09 NL Hold'em Freeroll 8/523 £2.5
7440985
SkyPoker 19/01/2013 16:22 PL Omaha Hi Freeroll 308/636 £0
7439932
SkyPoker 19/01/2013 07:56 NL Hold'em Freeroll 145/159 £0
7436052
SkyPoker 18/01/2013 14:54 NL Hold'em Freeroll 364/364 £0
7431796
SkyPoker 17/01/2013 14:52 NL Hold'em Freeroll 165/270 £0
7426992
SkyPoker 16/01/2013 12:16 NL Hold'em Freeroll 51/199 £0
7423173
SkyPoker 15/01/2013 14:49 NL Hold'em Freeroll 14/263 £0.5
7418748
SkyPoker 14/01/2013 14:51 NL Hold'em Freeroll 19/276 £0.42
7414373
SkyPoker 13/01/2013 16:17 PL Omaha Hi Freeroll 157/445 £0
7409876
SkyPoker 12/01/2013 16:12 PL Omaha Hi Freeroll 138/418 £0
7405133
SkyPoker 11/01/2013 14:44 NL Hold'em Freeroll 10/246 £1.15
7401654
SkyPoker 10/01/2013 18:25 NL Hold'em Freeroll 38/314 £0
7401017
SkyPoker 10/01/2013 14:51 NL Hold'em Freeroll 106/217 £0
7397125
SkyPoker 09/01/2013 18:23 NL Hold'em Freeroll 98/315 £0
7396391
SkyPoker 09/01/2013 14:50 NL Hold'em Freeroll 134/227 £0
7392433
SkyPoker 08/01/2013 18:24 NL Hold'em Freeroll 85/325 £0
7391743
SkyPoker 08/01/2013 14:52 NL Hold'em Freeroll 241/247 £0
7387984
SkyPoker 07/01/2013 18:16 NL Hold'em Freeroll 124/343 £0
7387275
SkyPoker 07/01/2013 14:51 NL Hold'em Freeroll 75/236 £0
7382930
SkyPoker 06/01/2013 16:24 PL Omaha Hi Freeroll 51/472 £0.5
7377862
SkyPoker 05/01/2013 16:09 PL Omaha Hi Freeroll 25/401 £0.63
7373420
SkyPoker 04/01/2013 18:22 NL Hold'em Freeroll 146/358 £0
7372815
SkyPoker 04/01/2013 14:47 NL Hold'em Freeroll 46/212 £0
7368751
SkyPoker 03/01/2013 18:24 NL Hold'em Freeroll 54/354 £0
7368047
SkyPoker 03/01/2013 14:48 NL Hold'em Freeroll 121/242 £0
belsibub03£8.90
Day 24
Closing Balances; Cash £8.84 Poker Points 322(no change)
My only game today was the Omaha freeroll. I couldn’t get anything going and spent nearly an hour folding pre and missing flops. When down to 10BB I finally managed to flop a set of threes on 38Qr, my stack went in ahead but I was unable hold against pocket kings which improved to a higher set on the turn.
Just a quick q as dont know as only reached 500 c4p, in a month, twice and that was ages ago.
If at the start of the month you had 1000 points and then made 600 that month, when u get your c4p payment does it take the 600 back so you still only have 1000 points left?
Thanks and GL.
If you earn 500 to 999 poker points then 500 points will get taken for your C4P payment. So if you earn 600 ponits they will take 500, leave you 100, and award you £4.80 in cash (0.8p x 600).
The next tier is 1,000 to 1,999 poker points, if you finish anywhere in that range 1,000 will be taken at the end of the month. And so it goes on through the levels.
In December I deliberately kept under 500 points so that I could manipulate my points balance to exactly 1,000 points to start this BR challenge.
If you enjoy playing freerolls and think the 500 Poker Points are worth more in Freeroll entries than £4.00 in cash (the C4P value of 500 points) you should opt out of C4P.
Closing Balances; Cash £9.79 Poker Points 313
Up 95p today
The only tournament I entered today was the Omaha freeroll. It was to no avail, I didn’t get much going and busted in 142/468 with 52 paid, my exit coming just as the dozens of away players were beginning to blind out.
Another HU STT win boosted my balance. With my poker points running out I now often scan the lobby keeping an eye on the £1.05 or 55p HU games. I saw a good table again at £1.05 and bought in.
When I’d ground my opponent down to less than 25% of the chips in play I had AKs aipf versus his A4s for the win, but he got there to double. When I’m properly rolled for my games I can laugh these off, though when you’re sitting only eight buy-ins it really stings, it was a good reminder to me why sensible BRM is so important. Anyway, I kept my cool and went on to take the win. The poker gods kindly evened up the luck factor at the end; my JT beat AT aipf in the final hand.
Closing Balances;
Cash £10.24 Poker Points 289
Up 45p today
The cards still aren’t falling my way in the freerolls. Once again I made a disappointingly early exit in the 12-30pm. When getting short I got my stack in on the right side of a 60/40 but found myself on the rail. With only 289 points left it's beginning to look like I’m going to be left with no more than a few small min-cashes to show for my 1,000 points.
In the early afternoon, a time when not many micro-stakes games run, I patiently waited for a good HU STT. Eventually one came along, though I had to make do with a turbo structured 55p game. I managed to win for a pleasing success rate of 4/4 in HU matches so far. That pushed my cash balance through the £10.00 barrier, the first landmark of note in this challenge.
Progress is very slow at the moment because I’m only looking at HU STTs and my tiny cash balance forces me to table select very carefully. When the balance builds to a more comfortable level I’ll be prepared to take on a wider range of opponents in the HU games, I’ll also start looking at DYMs. When I get to that point my volume will increase hence giving my balance the opportunity to grow at a faster rate.