Countdown to Limit Challenge and Blogging End of MTT
T minus 6 days and counting until my Texas Holdem Limit Challenge begins. I am gearing up for it and looking forward to forcing myself to go into unchartered territory. I have been preparing for the challenge for about two months now. I have read and reread Small Stakes Hold’em: Winning With Expert Play. I am in the process of working out the test hands and should be done with that by Sunday of this week-end. I have to decide on several things.
First of all, which site should I do this on? My original plan was to do it on Poker Stars but now am considering Titan Poker as the site to play at. I think I will start on Poker Stars as I had planned but reserve the right to change to Titan for any reason.
Should I multitable? I think I will start out on just one table so that I can give it my sole attention and maximize my chances for playing to the best of my ability. By playing on one table I will be able to get better reads on others at the table. The calling stations, the loose cannons, etc. If I think I am getting bored and that I am not paying it the attention I should, then I might as well open a second table so that I will pay more attention to what I am doing as there should be a little more action. The most I will ever multitable is just two tables.
Should I put a limit on my losses for that day? Yes, I think I will limit my losses to the amount of my buy-in or less so that I don’t keep reloading and the next thing I know I have used up the entire bank account in one lousy session of badbeats and tilted hands.
Should I put a limit on the amount I win before I cease playing for that day? I think I will develop a formula that as long as I am winning I will continue to play but if I have several losing hands and I see my winnings start to dwindle down, then I will stop playing for that day. For instance, if I win $10 dollars in the first half hour to an hour of playing and then I start to see that amount drop down because of blinds or some hands that don’t pan out for whatever reason, then I think I will stop for that day while I still am showing a profit.
I think that I will be able to do all right as long as I stay patient, don’t play too many hands, don’t chase too many draws, etc. I would like to be tight/aggressive and will work on making that my persona.
Blogging Absolute Micro-Limit Holdem MTT
Late stages of $2 MTT on Absolute. 300 plus start and are going on 3rd hour of play.
1:00 AM Dealt 3/7 Off suit - Fold. I split pot in an earlier hand when my Ace/Queen was matched by another Ace/Queen.
1:01 AM Dealt Q/2 - Fold
1:02 AM Dealt Ace/10 - Raise it 4Xs the B/B and I Win the blinds
I'm dealt Pocket Nines, I limp in only to get called by two all ins, I fold. A Set of Sixes beats Ace/Jack. Jack comes out on the flop, but the six came up on the turn for the set and a huge stack of chips. One less player.
I am at $7210 dollars, 26th place out of 27 players. Down to 3 tables. Blinds are $100/$500
1:06 AM Dealt 4/2 off - Fold
I'm dealt Pocket deuces and I fold to a preflop raise of 3 Xs big blind. Two other go all in against the raiser and he makes a set with pocket sevens and takes out one guy and short stacks another. Good laydown by me, LOL, with my pocket deuces.
I'm dealt Pocket Rockets in the BB and I go all in. I'm called by one player who shows J/K. He gets his two pair when J/K come on the flop but the 3rd card is a 5 and another 5 comes on the turn to pair the board and my Ace/Five beats his Jack/King and I win!!
Dealt J/9 fold
1:11AM $13,470, Blinds $1200/$600 w/ $100 blinds, I am 18th out of 19 players
Dealt 5/2 - fold
Dealt 9/Jack off - Fold
Big Stack at $69,500
1:13AM - Ace/5 folded to preflop raise, in BB. Raiser shows Pocket Queens after he gets one caller and raises the flop. Queens hold up. Good laydown.
Dealt Q/2 in SB, folded
Dealt 5/King of Hearts on Button. Fold - showdown between two others, pocket 10s loses to trip queens.
1:19AM - 4/2 off - fold - Still 19 players left.
Dealt 7/Queen off - Fold
Dealt 10/King offsuit in BB -limp in, flop is A/4/9, call with $3200 and take pot
Dealt 7/queen offsuit - flop is 7/3/2/2/k, I win against pair of 3s
1:30AM I'm dealt Q/K spades - raise to $4800 (4 times the BB) one caller. Flop is rag/Queen/rag with two spades. I have flush draw and Top Pair. I push all in and am called and he shows Pocket Kings. No spade on turn or river and I am out in 18th place.
$2 MTT, 18th place out of 337 players, $6.65 in winnings, and one heck of a lot of fun playing.
First of all, which site should I do this on? My original plan was to do it on Poker Stars but now am considering Titan Poker as the site to play at. I think I will start on Poker Stars as I had planned but reserve the right to change to Titan for any reason.
Should I multitable? I think I will start out on just one table so that I can give it my sole attention and maximize my chances for playing to the best of my ability. By playing on one table I will be able to get better reads on others at the table. The calling stations, the loose cannons, etc. If I think I am getting bored and that I am not paying it the attention I should, then I might as well open a second table so that I will pay more attention to what I am doing as there should be a little more action. The most I will ever multitable is just two tables.
Should I put a limit on my losses for that day? Yes, I think I will limit my losses to the amount of my buy-in or less so that I don’t keep reloading and the next thing I know I have used up the entire bank account in one lousy session of badbeats and tilted hands.
Should I put a limit on the amount I win before I cease playing for that day? I think I will develop a formula that as long as I am winning I will continue to play but if I have several losing hands and I see my winnings start to dwindle down, then I will stop playing for that day. For instance, if I win $10 dollars in the first half hour to an hour of playing and then I start to see that amount drop down because of blinds or some hands that don’t pan out for whatever reason, then I think I will stop for that day while I still am showing a profit.
I think that I will be able to do all right as long as I stay patient, don’t play too many hands, don’t chase too many draws, etc. I would like to be tight/aggressive and will work on making that my persona.
Blogging Absolute Micro-Limit Holdem MTT
Late stages of $2 MTT on Absolute. 300 plus start and are going on 3rd hour of play.
1:00 AM Dealt 3/7 Off suit - Fold. I split pot in an earlier hand when my Ace/Queen was matched by another Ace/Queen.
1:01 AM Dealt Q/2 - Fold
1:02 AM Dealt Ace/10 - Raise it 4Xs the B/B and I Win the blinds
I'm dealt Pocket Nines, I limp in only to get called by two all ins, I fold. A Set of Sixes beats Ace/Jack. Jack comes out on the flop, but the six came up on the turn for the set and a huge stack of chips. One less player.
I am at $7210 dollars, 26th place out of 27 players. Down to 3 tables. Blinds are $100/$500
1:06 AM Dealt 4/2 off - Fold
I'm dealt Pocket deuces and I fold to a preflop raise of 3 Xs big blind. Two other go all in against the raiser and he makes a set with pocket sevens and takes out one guy and short stacks another. Good laydown by me, LOL, with my pocket deuces.
I'm dealt Pocket Rockets in the BB and I go all in. I'm called by one player who shows J/K. He gets his two pair when J/K come on the flop but the 3rd card is a 5 and another 5 comes on the turn to pair the board and my Ace/Five beats his Jack/King and I win!!
Dealt J/9 fold
1:11AM $13,470, Blinds $1200/$600 w/ $100 blinds, I am 18th out of 19 players
Dealt 5/2 - fold
Dealt 9/Jack off - Fold
Big Stack at $69,500
1:13AM - Ace/5 folded to preflop raise, in BB. Raiser shows Pocket Queens after he gets one caller and raises the flop. Queens hold up. Good laydown.
Dealt Q/2 in SB, folded
Dealt 5/King of Hearts on Button. Fold - showdown between two others, pocket 10s loses to trip queens.
1:19AM - 4/2 off - fold - Still 19 players left.
Dealt 7/Queen off - Fold
Dealt 10/King offsuit in BB -limp in, flop is A/4/9, call with $3200 and take pot
Dealt 7/queen offsuit - flop is 7/3/2/2/k, I win against pair of 3s
1:30AM I'm dealt Q/K spades - raise to $4800 (4 times the BB) one caller. Flop is rag/Queen/rag with two spades. I have flush draw and Top Pair. I push all in and am called and he shows Pocket Kings. No spade on turn or river and I am out in 18th place.
$2 MTT, 18th place out of 337 players, $6.65 in winnings, and one heck of a lot of fun playing.
posted by Wolverine Fan | Sunday, July 23, 2006
1 Comments:
Some quick answers for your questions:
where to play
Do it on a site that has plenty of players to have multiple 5+ table options for your given limit during the times you're likely to play. Less than that and you could find yourself sitting days in a rock garden that can make the challenge more work than it should be for the tiny profits you may squeeze out of the stones.
to multitable, or not to multitable
I think the answer to this question is a for sure maybe. It depends on how you plan to play. If you're going to play ABC poker which doesn't require much thinking or attention to the table since you're playing premium hands with odds then multi-table. If on the other hand you're looking use more 'moves' in your play and play the players as much as your playing the cards, single table. I'd wager that you'll make more at the lower limits playing ABC, and as you hit the mid and higher limits in your challenge you'll be more profitable single tabling and paying closer attention.
limit your losses?
Probably not with a few caveats. Do a mental healthcheck before you reload. If you're not in a good place don't reload, better to walk away than tilt away your challenge roll. It's probably a good idea but the practice I used in my challenge was to single table and buy in for my whole challenge bankroll. This did two things for me. I had an immediate feedback loop on my progress since it was sitting right there in front of me, and it helped me focus on making plays that were more likely to grow the stack than shrink it. Then again, what do I know I only broke even on my challenge.
limit your winnings?
This is a trick question right? Play as long as the table is good. I've seen and personally was a vicitim of this early on, you double or triple up fairly quickly and then the chips start sliding away. The cause is usually because you started playing stupid instead of maintaining your game. Big stacks seem to beg for loose calls, don't do it. If you're playing limit poker, you can't bully anyone with your big stack so don't do it. Each hand you play should be played like you just sat down at the table (with the benefit of knowing a little bit more about your table mates each time).
Good luck, I hope your challenge goes well for you, I'll be watching.
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