All or Nothing

I'm trying out something nutty.

I recently got rakeback and a deposit bonus for my account. In order to grind the bonus, I've come up with a wacky way to play at 5nl Rush. Here are my rules:

1) I buy in for only 40bbs, and I do not top up.
2) Any premium hand (AA, KK, QQ, AK) I automatically shove.
3) Any speculative hand (PPs, SCs) I limp or call a small raise if odds allow.
4) Quick fold anything else

An addition to #3.... 3a if you will:
3a) If I hit my speculative hand big, I shove.

Now, I would never play like this for real. I find that this style is not very profitable without counting the bonus I've been generating. But with the bonus, I'm breaking even or often making a small profit... and I've gotten unlucky way more often than not.

It seems like I'd be losing tons of value by shoving 40bbs with AA. I am losing value, but not as much as you think. The funny thing is, people seem to call my shoves VERY light (I've seen KQ, A7, and 66 among other hands). It's as if the shove looks as stupid as it is, so they think I must have no clue what I'm doing. I'm letting them level themselves into a call.

I've had some vicious suckouts - one that comes to mind was AA vs. T9, lost to a straight on the river - but I double up enough to make up for losses and beat the rake... with the help of the bonus, of course. When I'm done with the bonus, I'm headed back to my bread & butter SNGs.

But, when the next Fast 50 shows up, I know what I'm doing. ;)

(Stay tuned for some HH's of some of my "All or Nothing" hands!)

Wow, it's been a while since I posted here. I really should start posting more as part of my attempt to get a little more serious with my poker game. I will be having more time at home to focus on playing - the kids will be going to summer programs for two days a week during the day - so I'm really going to work hard on developing my game.

I'm working on another BAP proposal. This one involves the Step tournaments on Full Tilt. I've played in step tournaments on UltimateBet and did well in them (reached step 7 of 10 in a WSOP challenge), so I'm familiar with the format. This time, instead of working up the ladder, I plan on grinding and then converting for cash value when the system allows me to. Also, I hope to have access to rakeback by that time, which will help me generate a small bit of extra revenue.

More details to come.

My First BAP

In order to solve the problem of being underrolled for 5nl, I decided on a whim to run a Buy-A-Piece (BAP) on Full Tilt's message boards. Basically, a bunch of people give me money to play poker with, and I get a small share of the profits that I make off of it. It's going really well so far. I've already made over $20 in just 3 days at 5nl Rush, about $10 of which comes back to me.

The swing of variance is definitely coming back to me. I've gotten AA and KK probably about 20 times since the BAP began, and I've been getting paid by them as well. I'm hitting flops, hitting draws, getting people to fold to my light 3-bets and bluff c-bets... it all seems to be working. Either I'm on a big heater, or 5nl is a much better fit for me than 2nl.

Hopefully I can keep this up. The BAP runs through the entire month.

It's All Going Wrong

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

I'm so frustrated. Either I suck at poker or I'm going through a tough downswing lately. It seems everything I do turns out badly.

I jumped up to 5nl to play Rush Poker (kind of like Poker on speed), in order to grind out some fast bonus points to earn a cash bonus release from Full Tilt. I'm slightly underrolled for it, but that's not the problem. Neither is the skill level, nor the setting of Rush Poker. In fact, I'm really enjoying the whole Rush Poker thing; it prevents me from losing concentration due to boredom.

Anyways... the problem is the terrible luck I've been hitting. Any time there is a big pot on the table, I seem to be on the losing end. I flop a set in a 3-bet pot, villain flops a straight. I decide to slowplay AK and hit an ace on the flop, my opponent - QQ - spikes a set on the turn. And when I finally do get dealt pocket kings and hit a third king on the flop? My opponent check/folds the flop. Woot.

I don't think I'm doing anything wrong. I'm just waiting for this swing to come back in the other direction.

Turbo Booster

I'm really starting to like these Super Turbo SnG's. They fit my schedule - I can play at least one in the time I have between my two jobs on double shift days - and I'm pretty decent at them, as well. All you need is a strong pre-flop game and an understanding of how to play shortstacked. I have both of these. I've been playing well in them so far, and I have a 50% ITM stat to prove it. I know, it's still a small sample, but I feel really good playing these.

It just drives me nuts when I play well and variance bites me in the ass. The hands that have recently knocked me out (or put me on the way there) include QQ < KTs (his flush hit on the river), A9 < QJ (queen on the river), and this gem below:

BB: t575 M = 4.79
Hero (UTG): t405 M = 3.38
CO: t790 M = 6.58
BTN: t625 M = 5.21
SB: t305 M = 2.54

Pre Flop: (t120) Hero is UTG with Kh Kc
Hero raises to t405 all in, 2 folds, SB calls t265 all in, 1 fold

Flop: (t690) 5d Ah 2d

Turn: (t690) 6h

River: (t690) Jd

[b]Final Pot:[/b] t690
Hero shows Kh Kc (a pair of Kings)
SB shows 4d 7d (a flush, Jack high)
SB wins t690

River screws me again. I mean, I know I want these calls because they make me money in the long run, but come on.

Hey, Look At Me! I'm Profitable!

I'm not quite sure how it happened, but I stumbled into a little project involving one of the regulars on the Full Tilt Poker message boards. He's working on a strategy guide for a type of tournament call "Super Turbos" - basically, tournaments with fast-rising blind levels. He was giving some money to some people to test out his guide, and splitting the profits with these people in trade for the guide itself.

I somehow got involved, and it seems as if I have developed a knack for these tournaments.

Following his guide, I've so far made a profit of $8.50 from playing these tournies... an ROI (return on investment) of over 100% so far. I doubt I will be able to keep my ROI that high, but it's still a good start. I'm also having fun making a profit for someone else and making money for myself in the process. I may try and run a BAP (buy-a-piece, where other players on the boards invest in your poker game) and see how it goes.

I Guess My Luck Could Be Worse (a.k.a. Helping Out Haiti)

I still haven't had the time to play as much poker as I would like this year, due to work schedules and the fact that I've been sick for the past week or so. Last week, though, I decided to play in a charity tournament on Full Tilt where the tournament fees were donated to the relief effort in Haiti. I figured if I'm going to play poker, it should be for a good cause, right?

My bankroll was too small for even the smallest tournament, but I entered it anyway: a $5 + $5 (basically spending the money I won from the tournament in the previous post). I was doing pretty well, but I could only avoid the idiots for so very long:


BTN: t6835 M = 22.78
Hero (SB): t3098 M = 10.33
BB: t1501 M = 5.00
UTG: t3095 M = 10.32
UTG+1: t8470 M = 28.23
UTG+2: t6920 M = 23.07
MP1: t7929 M = 26.43
MP2: t1975 M = 6.58
CO: t7995 M = 26.65

Pre Flop: (t300) Hero is SB with 5h 5c
4 folds, MP2 calls t200, 2 folds, Hero raises to t3098 all in, BB calls t1301 all in, MP2 calls t1775 all in

Flop: (t5451) 9c 3s 7s

Turn: (t5451) Td

River: (t5451) Qc

Final Pot: t5451
Hero shows 5h 5c (a pair of Fives)
BB shows 6c Ah (Ace Queen high)
MP2 shows Qh 6h (a pair of Queens)
MP2 wins t948
MP2 wins t4503

Yup. That's two players calling all-in with cruddy hands, the worst of which ends up spiking a queen on the river to win the pot. I can't imagine anyone thinking that calling all-in with Q6 suited is a good idea in this situation.

But this is me. I make the right play in the right situation, and get a wrong result. It's frustrating. I take comfort in making the right play, though. That's all I can do. After that, it's all in the fall of the cards.