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)

 

Sunday Million Result - Back To Basics

Sadly this is not a long story but I played pretty well in the limited time I contested this weeks Sunday Million. Early on I struggled to get anything going, whilst at the same time not putting myself at risk. The best hand I got in the first hour was a pair of nines but I kept patient and did not get frustrated. After about an hour and a half I changed tables, now with only half original stack. To keep my stack together I raised in a couple of spots with poor hands when not getting cards when I would look strong after inactivity. This was a lesson learned from the Red Spade Open. The final two hands before the second break playing against the table chip leader sealed my fate. Finally I got two premium hands and against a loose big stack. In the first he tried to bully me off Jacks and put me all in pre-flop. I called and held up against his A8. The very next hand I was dealt aces in the big blind. After a raise and a call the loose chip leader made a big squeeze style raise to around half my stack. This looked very promising. I went all in, the early raiser and caller folded and I faced king jack off suit for a massive boost to my Sunday Million dream. An ace on the flop looked promising but a ten also meant a queen would see me knocked out - her Majesty duly arrived on the turn and I could not fill up on the river. I ended 3767th out of 6397 who played. This final hand could have given me a decent platform to progress in the tournament. Pre-flop I was around 86% to have a well above average stack with just over half the players left. Overall I am happy that I did nothing wrong but am a little frustrated because I don't play enough of these to iron out the variance - I needed my luck to hold. Oh well, not a bad effort. I played a total of forty one MTTs in August, cashing in only four of them for a total of $65. None of my big buy ins went well enough to cash and none of my smaller buy ins went far enough to really matter. As a result I have lost around $500 playing tournament poker in this month, a decent percentage of my profits for the year. I have been keen to take a shot for some time. Hopefully I have got it out of my system. I really need to get back to basics - playing the games I know and love the best. So it is back to grinding the Maui Jackpot Sit N Gos for me. See you at the tables. Later on I checked to see if my Nemesis FaKeOrReaL was still in the tournament. He was not and did not make the money which was no great surprise but what did shock me was his presence at six cash tables of $50-$100 Pot Limit Omaha. Over the six tables he was playing with around $40,000, nearly twice my poker earnings! Just shows the level of player you can compete with in the Sunday Million (In this case a high stakes cash game player). It also shows don't judge a player on the basis of twenty minutes at the same table.

Sunday Million Preparation?

Part of my plan for August is to play the Sunday Million at the end of the month and to also play a handful of $50 multi table tournaments as part of my preparation. I am happy to spend c$500 on what can only be described as speculative entries. I am ready for a change I think from playing low stakes sit n gos. I have lost focus recently and think taking a shot at something a bit different might help. As part of my preparation I have been doing the following:

• I have played a few multi table tournaments at very low stakes with a few min cashes but no great progress.
• I have played quite a few 180 man games in the last month or so with poor results so far. It would appear that I am banned from the final table from these games at the moment.
• I have been watching re-runs of Sunday Million final tables which have been very interesting. One in terms of how deals are done at this stage and two in that the play is very much as you would expect. There is no radical strategy here, most players seem to play sensible but aggressive final table strategy. The trick is getting there I guess.
• I have been re-reading Harrington on Holdem volumes one and two which delivers a solid if conservative approach to MTTs.
• I have been watching some hands of Kev Steele (two time Sunday Million winner) to see if I can pick up some strategic pointers. I believe I have.

Unfortunately my current form and mindset is poor. In fact I have had a disappointing few weeks poker wise and will probably lose quite a few dollars in July. Worse than that on a number occasions I have not enjoyed my poker. Perhaps this is not the right moment to take a shot at a few decent tournaments or maybe it is just what I need to get back on track. I think the latter, especially as I should benefit from I couple of short breaks that I have coming up. Let me know what you think via my latest survey and please feel free to comment.

 

Good luck.

Another Sunday Million Satellite Win

I know this is getting a bit repetitive but last night I won another thirty-six man satellite for $215. I am having a decent year on Pokerstars thanks to these games. Hopefully confidence from this success will spill over into my Rio Challenge. Again I am cashing in my seat but I am seriously giving some thought to playing in the big one in August (the Sunday before Bank Holiday Monday) as part of a multi-table tournament period. I do enjoy them and believe I would be pretty decent (at the lower levels at least). If only I had the time.   PokerStars Tournament #566296308, No Limit Hold'em Super Satellite Buy-In: $8.00/$0.80 USD 36 players Total Prize Pool: $288.00 USD Target Tournament #574020010 Buy-In: $200.00/15.00 USD 1 tickets to the target tournament Tournament started 2012/05/26 17:18:21 ET Tournament finished 2012/05/26 18:34:12 ET   1: Kartajana (United Kingdom),  (qualified for the target tournament)   2: 77sharkboy77 (Spain), $20.00   3: nachoelpunto (Spain), $20.00   4: kukino3569 (Slovakia), $20.00   5: Mefestofel (Russia), $13.00   6: fradof (Spain)   Good Luck

Inspiration from Kev Steele

Kevin Steele is similar to me in many ways. He started playing Poker around six years ago. He is a regular on Pokerstars and Betfred Poker. He hails from the North of England. He is around the same age to me. He has a professional administrative position. He is a successful sit n go player and plays a lot of Maui Jackpot Sit n Gos. Indeed we have played against each other many times. There is one very significant difference:   Kev has had massive success at multi table tournaments, recently taking down the Sunday Million for the second time. In the last few months he has pocketed the best part of $300,000! including a $12500 win on Beftred (see link). http://www.pokerlistings.com/uk-amateur-wins-second-sunday-million-in-four-months-75416

When I look at his sit n go stats compared to mine I wonder if I should stop pissing about at the lower level games, get some balls and take a shot at the big games. One big problem is that I don't really have the time for a MTT schedule. The most I can dedicate is a few hours a night. Like Kev I have a full time job but I also have a wife and young kids. I suspect he has not. If he has even more respect is due. I cannot contemplate taking on the twelve hour marathon that is the Sunday Million and playing well througout. The last time I got a good nights sleep Bill Clinton was in the Whitehouse.

kevsteele	232	$1.69	$12	6%	$393	-	68	PokerStars	SNG Only	x
kevsteele	3,001	$0.83	$7	10%	$2,503	-	70	iPoker	SNG Only Betfred	x
Kartajana	3,615	$0.99	$6	18%	$3,588	-	72	PokerStars	SNG Only	x
Kartajana	7,367	$0.67	$9	9%	$4,910	-	69	iPoker	SNG Only Betfred

This has certainly given me something to think about as I come to the end of a year and contemplate my poker future.

Well done Kev. Congratulations. Fantastic effort.


...................
A few days after posting this I played against Kev in a couple of Maui games. We had an a bit of a chat about missed jackpot opportunities and how some coin tosses are more important than others.  He then kindly read my blog and commented as below. Amazing how things work out. He could easily have gone to Las Vegas for the main event, busted early and stayed way down on the poker radar. Good luck with the hatrick bid Kev!!!

Sunday Million Satellite Win

My good run in June continues as I took down an $8 satellite to the Sunday Million on Pokerstars worth $215. I had no intention of playing the big one so I have cashed in. Generally things have not gone well on Pokerstars this year but there have now been a couple of highlights to keep me on top on this site. This particular game has been a money spinning one for me in the past and can generate some weak opponents. The downside is that the games don't fill up that often. I will be trying to play one again soon! PokerStars Tournament #405649691, No Limit Hold'em Super Satellite Buy-In: $8.00/$0.80 USD 36 players Total Prize Pool: $288.00 USD Target Tournament #425020010 Buy-In: $200.00/15.00 USD 1 tickets to the target tournament Tournament started 2011/06/18 19:09:02 ET Tournament finished 2011/06/18 20:01:09 ET   1: Kartajana (United Kingdom),  (qualified for the target tournament)   2: gn4ppa (United Kingdom), $20.00   3: IHATEKOPS (Canada), $20.00   4: BlåPolly (Sweden), $20.00   5: pimskiegrunn (Netherlands), $13.00   6: R0bHal (Canada), I have been struggling a little this month to find my form on the Maui games. Despite my recent holiday I am a little jaded with the Maui games and have had a recent poor run of luck. Maybe I am just a little too focused on my results rather than the quality of my play.

The games on Pokerstars and Full Tilt serve, I think, as a positive distraction from my Maui grinding. I certainly have a lot of respect for those playing a lot more Maui games than I do.

For the rest of June I play well........ win or lose. Good luck.