Torres 2 Kartajana 2

To end his goalscoring drought Fernando Torres bagged two goals at the weekend in the FA Cup. In my previous post I had related his football experience (frustrating lack of success) to my recent poker one on Pokerstars, until I finally had a good result. Not to be outdone by his brace I took down another Sunday Million Satellite today for $215. Who says success is all in the mind. Me for one.

 

 

PokerStars Tournament #535393902, No Limit Hold'em
Super Satellite
Buy-In: $8.00/$0.16 USD
36 players
Total Prize Pool: $288.00 USD
Target Tournament #565020010 Buy-In: $200.00/15.00 USD
1 tickets to the target tournament

Tournament started 2012/03/20 18:02:55 ET
Tournament finished 2012/03/20 18:16:26 ET
  1: Kartajana (United Kingdom),  (qualified for the target tournament)
  2: serugun (Russia), $16.00
  3: lhbcney (Russia), $16.00
  4: woolydev (United Kingdom), $16.00
  5: MIKE___JJR (Canada), $16.00
  6: chipfreezer (Germany), $9.00

 

Will spend the rest of the week trying to hit the hatrick.

Super Satellite Success - At Last

Finally a good result on Pokerstars. Last night I won $215, playing one of the thirty-six man $8 Sunday Million satellites. I cannot claim that I played particularly well. It was a hyper turbo game so luck was a big factor anyway. I don't play these very often but a bit like Fernando Torrres following his unbelievable goal drought I just needed a break so I took a chance and in a couple of key spots I got lucky. In Torres terms a poor shot deflected over the goalkeeper. But I will happily take it and so would he right now. As usual I will not play the Sunday Million but use my tournament dollars to play sit n gos targeting some Battle Of The Planets prizes as per my last post.     PokerStars Tournament #533531723, No Limit Hold'em Super Satellite Buy-In: $8.00/$0.16 USD 36 players Total Prize Pool: $288.00 USD Target Tournament #564020010 Buy-In: $200.00/15.00 USD 1 ticket to the target tournament Tournament started 2012/03/16 20:49:00 ET Tournament finished 2012/03/16 21:03:16 ET   1: Kartajana (United Kingdom),  (qualified for the target tournament)   2: xTAXATx (Uruguay), $16.00   3: thewienberg (Ireland), $16.00   4: N.Sinister (Brazil), $16.00   5: MrKamorka (Germany), $16.00   6: Ace_Pasty (United Kingdom), $9.00   Good luck Fernando.............

Battle Of The Planets

My Pokerstars year to date has turned pretty disastrous in February and March. My most successful games historically have hit a serious dry spell. I haven't cashed in my forty five man sit n go game for weeks and have almost given up on them for now. My thirty six man Sunday Million satellites games have gone pretty well but I can't cross the finish line. Four second places in my last twenty efforts ($20 for second, $215 ticket for first!). Lost a 7 to 1 chip lead heads up in one and then my AK  lost to A2 in the latest annoying second place. You really do start to feel like your luck button has been switched off as your bankroll goes in free fall. I am in good company in such illogical thinking. Prior to winning the Sunday Million twice in a few months Kev Steele had resolved to no longer play on Pokerstars through frustration over a bad run of luck. See Kevs comment on my post "Inspiration from Kev Steele" from last November.

I need to get back to focusing on my play and not just results. My solution for now is to concentrate on Pokerstars Battle Of The Planets promotion. You play in blocks of twenty sit n gos over a weekly period and gain points to earn cash bonuses and if you do really well can play against other top performers for big a big prize fund. As always I think a change along with a bit of discipline and focus will help me. I am going to start with the 18 man turbos at the $3.50 level and see how I get on. These games will from part of my warm up session before I play the $20 and $50 Jackpot sit n gos on Betfred which tend to conclude my nightly poker sessions.

Coincidentally, Battle Of The Planets was a favourite childhood cartoon of mine and had a main character called Jason like me. So how does that help me playing poker I hear you say. Well who cares, if it changes my luck on Pokerstars I will happily wear a costume too!

G-Force............

February Mini Challenge Complete

February saw an improvement in my performance, particularly in the six man game. My challenge to play one hundred $10 six man non jackpot games was both helpful and profitable. See below.

 

Kartajana

100

$1.12

$10

10%

$112

-

N/A

iPoker

2/1/2012 2/29/2012 S10-10 Spd=T SNG Only

 

As I gained confidence I started playing more of the $20 and $50 Jackpot games with better results. The sample below is only small but gives me encouragement.

 

Kartajana

36

$3.65

$29

6%

$132

-

N/A

iPoker

2/1/2012 2/29/2012 E6-6 S20-50 SNG Only

 

So February saw be back on track, back to profitability, but it was not all wonderful. My ten man game suffered, I struggled playing the Mauis and my activity on Pokerstars saw me endure a poor month. In March I am planning to focus even more on the six man games, both jackpot and non jackpot. On Pokerstars I am dropping down a level and trying to rebuild.

 

Don't forget to vote in my survey for which game I will play as a mini challenge in May.

 

Cheers and good luck

Which Jackpot Sit N Go To Play? You Decide.

Over the last few weeks I have blogged about the four key Jackpot Sit N Go's - Dirty Dozen, Maui, Rio and Fort Knox. I have reported on my record in these games, talked about strategy and profit potential. I am now handing over to my legion (well handful) of readers the decision in terms of which Jackpot variant I will play in May as part of a mini challenge. Please vote in my survey to help decide. Factors to consider could be: The game that has provided me a consistent win rate (Maui)  The game with the best consolation bonus potential (Fort Knox) The game which is most fun (?) The easiest game to profit from (Dirty Dozen) The game I have come closest to winning the Jackpot (Rio) Maybe you just don't want me to play the game you play (?) The game which is the toughest challenge (Fort Knox) Ultimately I should probably focus on the the game I am most comfortable with at that time. One other factor could be to always play the Jackpot game with the biggest rolled over amount. Certainly it would be a little frustrating to win a jackpot of $15000 when it was $45000 a few weeks earlier. Anyway, for that month I will follow your choice. Poker is all about making good decisions. Please make one for me.

Fort Knox Jackpot Sit N Go

The Fort Knox Jackpot Games are the highest buyin with the biggest potential rewards. The format is the same as the Rios but the six players pay $50 plus $9 rake to win $150, $90 or $60. This is the game I have played the least. I am uncomfortable at this buy in level yet I have a good record albeit with a small volume. During a good spell in 2009 I won two consolation bonuses for $750 each. Combined with the results below, this is gives me by far the best rate per game and yet I do not play them much. Ultimately a bad session can easily cost £200 which is more than I am relaxed about. I have never had a shot at the main Jackpot which starts at £50,000 and often rolls up to some very big numbers. It is currently $125,000.

Kartajana

229

$2.85

$50

5%

$653

-

N/A

iPoker

S50-50 SNG Only

One thing I do differently with the Fort Knox games is apply strict game selection, analysing my opponents via Sharkscope prior to signing up for a game. If two poor players are signed up I will jump in. I would also only play a couple at once when playing at this level. I have played a few games this year but my strategy is still a little off, though I am getting there slowly. Below are the opponents I played in a game I won in January.

need80kfast          7,074 -$4.28   $63   -6% -$30,305   - 70 iPoker SNG Only x pawn147       386 -$24.14   $115   -25% -$9,316   Tilt 66 iPoker SNG Only x PokerGrafter          20,838 $1.08   $54   3% $22,438   - 82 iPoker SNG Only x prepare4glory          88 -$4.03   $15   -33% -$355   - 53 iPoker SNG Only x shnores          118 -$2.9   $13   1% -$342   - 54 iPoker SNG Only There is a big range of talent in this game but despite one very solid regular and another experienced player there is value from the weaker players. In this game I doubled up early against Pawn147 who was playing way too loose. When I three bet his fourth consecutive opening raise we ended up all in (my AK holding on to beat his AQ). This double up set me up for the win. The key in these games is controlled aggression. You need to be active early to get the chips off the poorer players. The use of position can be crucial here as the structure restricts ones options before too long. All in coin flips however need to be avoided until needed later on. The hardest part is playing to win when instinct often edges you towards cashing. The fear of losing must be avoided at all costs. Cashing here is fine but third only wins you $1. Regular firsts and seconds are needed to be successful.

I have the bankroll to play these games. I have a good record in them. I could win a lot by playing them....................

Time to go for gold?

Rio Jackpot Sit N Go

Prior to taking on my Maui challenge last year my favoured jackpot sit n go was the $20 Rio game. Six players paying a $3.50 rake and looking to cash for $60, $36 or $24. Six win gives you at least $25,000. Six top twos wins $300. I have won the consolation three times. I have also played for the Jackpot three times, always coming third. Two of these games were very creditable efforts and I came very close. The other time I let myself down, played way too tight and never gave myself a chance. I am currently working on a blog post on how to win that final game, an approach that would apply to all the jackpot formats. Watch this space. My record to date in these games is below. When you take into account the rakeback potential, the consolations and the missed jackpot opportunities I should probably play them a lot more. I am currently working on my six man game following a poor re-introduction to them in January.

 

Kartajana

1,370

$0.63

$20

3%

$861

Hot

N/A

iPoker

E6-6 S20-20 SNG Only

 

Part of the problem with the Rios is the structure. Only a 1000 chips and fairly fast moving levels means there is not a lot of play available and you often get four or more players when the blinds are very high. Sure you can still apply strategy at this push/fold stage but luck becomes a bigger part. Back in 2009 I had Poker tuition from Jennifear a top sit n go player. When she considered this jackpot structure and the $3.50 rake she simply said "Never play these games again." I didn't listen and argued my case about some of the very poor players playing these games making them an attractive option. When I get my strategy back on track in these games and have better mental control over the variance they can produce I could really do well. Until then save me a seat.................