Sunday Million Result

 

Remember, remember the fifth of November. This has nothing to do with the gunpowder plot of 1605. No this was the day in 2023 that I played the Sunday Million, the most famous weekly online poker tournament. Over ten thousand players, no doubt including plenty of pros, playing/battling for the $1 million dollar prize pool. Not only did I play, but I played well, enjoyed it and landed my largest haul since my return to poker. What a result!

Rewind a couple of weeks before the tournament, I had absolutely no plans to play it. However, via a series of satellite qualifiers, initially using a free 50 cent entry I built this up to $1.50, then $10, then the $109 required for bigger tournaments. I could have used it for the chance to win entry to some of the Pokerstars regional live tournaments in the UK. I have never played live though so realising that I could use my token to play the Sunday Million and also seeing that the following Sunday worked well for me in terms of timing and family commitments, a plan was made to play. I was also very attracted to the fact the Sunday Million is now a progressive bounty tournament, meaning that even if I didn’t make the final 15% of players to cash I had a chance of winning at least $25 for any player I knocked out.

The early stages of the tournament went well, especially given I am not used to playing so deep, with 50,000 chips initially and thus plenty of room to manoeuvre. Quite soon I hit a significant hand, my Jacks catching another Jack on the flop against Aces. My opponent could not let them go as I pressed my advantage and so I had an early double up and the boost of a $25 knockout. A perfect start for an inexperienced player at this level. It meant I had a lot more chips than most and I had already achieved one of my goals, to turn my entry into real cash. The next few hours I progressed cautiously but confidently in the right moments and managed to build up my stack, keeping above the average and taking out another couple of players. There were only a couple of small setbacks where I tried but failed to take out a couple of short stacked players.

As we closed in on the bubble I did tighten up a little as we neared a massive personal poker objective – to cash in the Sunday Million. In truth I have only played twice before and had never really come close to cashing so I was thrilled at this growing realisation. Not only that I had a competitive stack. More importantly, I was playing well, relaxed and enjoying myself, determined to press on once the bubble burst. Despite the presence of more experienced high level players this is ultimately the same game for all and at times I can play it well. Having played for four or five hours I made the final 1500 or so players and cashed for $87.48. I had a workable stack and had already made a further $193.75 in knockout bonuses. Having already achieved my initial goals and more my new aim now was to push on try to qualify for day two of the tournament. At around 2am UK time the game is paused and the final c150 players return at 6pm Monday to fight for the big cash prizes. At this point I got aces for the first time and was able to achieve a significant double up. I now had around 900,000 chips and was in the top one hundred players!

Unfortunately, that would be my peak position. The blinds were now starting to get much bigger and I had less wiggle room. Soon the game was largely all-in or fold which simplifies things a little but also makes you more dependent on getting good cards. Better, more experienced players than me would not need them and simply pick spots to push or put pressure on others. I survived a bit longer winning a 99 v AJ race but soon after my 77 lost to AQ and I was out in 301^st place (out of 10262), an hour or so too early to make day two. I got a further $129.92 for my finishing position giving me over $400 in total plus a massive boost to my poker confidence. My bankroll is now over $1600 and I will try more concertedly to qualify for the big one again. In the results e-mail Pokerstars send they always say we hope you had fun. Most importantly, I really did. I am looking forward to the next one. 

Take care

Jason (Kartajana)

 

High Lights

 

In the last month or so I have won a couple of multi-table tournaments as my return to poker continues. Both are regular games that I play almost daily. The results were as follows:

1^st of 256 players, $3 buy in. $140 return

1^st of 307 players, $1 buy in. $58 return

Nothing life changing but when you are first out of three hundred or so players at anything it naturally feels good and is a boost to confidence. It is also a boost to my bankroll as my return winnings now surges past $1000. I have also played in a few higher buy in games without making an impact. I will keep pushing forward though in my search for more highlights.

Good luck at the tables.

Jason

Poker Zone

 

A year into my return to poker I finally pushed through the $500 profit level that had eluded me thus far. A fourth place in a $3 tournament featuring 290 players snagged me just short of $50 dollars and that feeling of satisfaction from achieving a medium term goal. The journey over the year has been far from constant progress though and it was only really in the last couple of months that my form has been particularly strong. I have struggled with variance, confidence, fatigue and my ability to reach the zone – that mystical place of optimum poker playing. Lately I have found it quite often with success leading to further success. A good mind set is so important to playing poker well.

In the $3 tournament above one of many key hands demonstrates my improved zone like approach. With the final table now active I was one of the shortest stacks, even though I had just doubled up. I was trying to sneak up the ladder a spot or two but now maybe I could push for more. I was dealt 88 in first position with eight players remaining. Given the stack sizes and blinds an all in shove was a completely legitimate move, perhaps the only and obvious move. Usually aggression pays. However, I now maybe had more time to take a more cautious approach. I folded and what occurred in the hand without me showed I would have been out in eighth place. Something inside me, some weird combination of intuition, math, patience and control told me to fold. This is the zone my friends. Buoyed by this significant fold I was able to progress much further and secure fourth place and a satisfying score. 

The key question, a year on, is what now? More of the same steady progress or do I push on to try to achieve more at slightly higher levels. I can’t devote much more time to poker but I could test myself at the next level up and see if my return is greater. Of course, I have the solid option here of dropping down a level during a bad run. I will progressively give it a go and see where I can take my poker in 2023 and beyond.

Play well and good luck.

Cheers

Jason