Been meaning to post this one for a while ... its still quality tho
Koh Lanta - Trip Report
7 years ago
Monday, February 15, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
New bankroll high
Very quick post as I'm off to the Reds game (rugby union) tonight and need to go get changed.
Bankroll at a new all-time high as I broke through the $800 mark (officially $803.50). Nothing too spectacular to report, just solid/strong results in a few $3.25 45 man games.
I now need 250 FPP's within the next week to get the $40 bonus being offered as part of the PokerStars 40 billionth hand celebrations. Speaking of which, I played cash for a while to try and be on the table of a milestone hand ... GOD I hate cash games!! Three awful suckouts in a matter of 5 minutes. Tournaments & sit'n go's I realise how much I love you ... I didn't mean to cheat on you by playing ring games.
Bankroll at a new all-time high as I broke through the $800 mark (officially $803.50). Nothing too spectacular to report, just solid/strong results in a few $3.25 45 man games.
I now need 250 FPP's within the next week to get the $40 bonus being offered as part of the PokerStars 40 billionth hand celebrations. Speaking of which, I played cash for a while to try and be on the table of a milestone hand ... GOD I hate cash games!! Three awful suckouts in a matter of 5 minutes. Tournaments & sit'n go's I realise how much I love you ... I didn't mean to cheat on you by playing ring games.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
PokerStars 40 Billionth hand
The buzz in the online poker world today was the announcement from PokerStars is that they're getting close to the 40 billionth hand. Here's what people were saying about it at the Two Plus Two poker forums.
PokerStars are having PLENTY of giveaways and promotions to celebrate the milestone. The only question now is how will they top it when they get to 50??
Here's the official announcement:
PokerStars to celebrate 40 billionth hand on February 10, 2010 8:28 AM
PokerStars are having PLENTY of giveaways and promotions to celebrate the milestone. The only question now is how will they top it when they get to 50??
Here's the official announcement:
PokerStars to celebrate 40 billionth hand on February 10, 2010 8:28 AM
After several failed attempts with an abacus, we hired a math major from the local university to do some counting for us, and we've just discovered that PokerStars is not far from hitting its 40 billionth hand.
Forty billion. It's a number that you can't visualize. It's a ridiculously large number of poker hands to be played. In fact, I'd be curious to know how many live poker hands have been played worldwide in the history of the game. Anyone wanna try that out? Send me an e-mail to blog@pokerstars.com.
In the meantime, PokerStars is getting ready to throw a big ol' 40 Billionth Hand party, including everything you have come to expect from these promotions: Multi-table tournaments with big guarantees, milestone hand rewards, special Sit & Go tournaments, first-time depositor freerolls, and a VIP Club instant cash credit.
If you've seen these kinds of promotions before, you might notice a little difference in how you get paid. Instead of winning a specific dollar number for being dealt into a winning hand, you will earn $40 for every VIP Player Point you earned in the previous 40 hands played on that table. When it comes time for the 40 billionth hand, you will earn $400 for every VPP earned in the previous 40 hands at that table. Depending on how many VPPs you're raking in these days, that could end up being some pretty serious cash. Oh, and if I didn't mention it, if you happen to win the milestone hand, PokerStars will double your prize.
As if that wasn't enough, PokerStars is going to host a $4 million guaranteed Sunday Million on February 21st with $1 million guaranteed to first place. There will also be a special $1 million guaranteed $40 buy-in event and other smaller events to celebrate the 40 billionth hand.
Still want more? Well, there will be a series of 40-player SNGs with some bigtime payouts, freerolls for people making their first deposit, and a one-time $40 cash credit for 2,500 FPPs in the VIP Store.
That's how PokerStars celebrates. So, strap on your caffeine IVs and get ready to hit some milestone hands. The next few weeks are going to be very interesting.
For more information and all the details you will need, check out the F40 page.
Monday, February 8, 2010
What goes up ...
After my joy of winning 3 tournaments in a row on Friday night, not surprisingly things didn't go as well over the weekend. Sometimes I question why I bother playing weekends as I'm sure my results on Saturday and Sunday aren't great, especially compared to the weekdays.
Saturday I managed only a couple of cashes with 2 fourths as good as it gets. Sunday I did well in the Sunday Quarter Million satellites but did no good in the $3.25 45 mans with just a couple of min-cashes.
If the weekend felt that I was getting rivered all the time or people hitting 1 and 2 outers, tonight was about losing hands when you make the right play and dominate the opposition cards but they somehow spike their kicker. Ace king < ace ten, ace jack < ace 8 and so on and so on. I got runner-runnered numerous times and thankfully took a break to grab some dinner.
After dinner things got better as I started making final tables again. I got a second when my queens got beaten by 6 8 off all-in pre-flop. I had spiked some cards before that so it didn't worry too bad.
I played a couple of $4.40 180 mans and cashed them both. The first I made final table and shoved ace king off over the top of a minraise from the bigstack. He called the substantial raise turning over queen ten suited and of course the first card out is the queen and I'm out in 6suth. In the second, I lost a flip inside the final 18 with 9's against ace ten suited that crippled me and I was eventually out in 16th.
The last couple of tournaments got my bankroll headed back in the right direction after sliding well under $700 its now back over $740.
Saturday I managed only a couple of cashes with 2 fourths as good as it gets. Sunday I did well in the Sunday Quarter Million satellites but did no good in the $3.25 45 mans with just a couple of min-cashes.
If the weekend felt that I was getting rivered all the time or people hitting 1 and 2 outers, tonight was about losing hands when you make the right play and dominate the opposition cards but they somehow spike their kicker. Ace king < ace ten, ace jack < ace 8 and so on and so on. I got runner-runnered numerous times and thankfully took a break to grab some dinner.
After dinner things got better as I started making final tables again. I got a second when my queens got beaten by 6 8 off all-in pre-flop. I had spiked some cards before that so it didn't worry too bad.
I played a couple of $4.40 180 mans and cashed them both. The first I made final table and shoved ace king off over the top of a minraise from the bigstack. He called the substantial raise turning over queen ten suited and of course the first card out is the queen and I'm out in 6suth. In the second, I lost a flip inside the final 18 with 9's against ace ten suited that crippled me and I was eventually out in 16th.
The last couple of tournaments got my bankroll headed back in the right direction after sliding well under $700 its now back over $740.
Friday, February 5, 2010
The trifecta!!
Ok, so sometimes I run good. I've won 2 tournaments in a row before but tonight I went one better and took down 3 in a row!! Trifecta, turkey ... call it what you will be it feels great to take down 3 in succession and obviously its a great boost for the bankroll.
I went for a run after work with some friends, the first exercise I've done in about a week. Yes, I struggled for stamina but it was good to work up a sweat. They were heading out for drinks but I was happy for a quiet night in and to get some games happening on PokerStars.
I was just playing the $3.25 45 man games and I started off fairly solidly with two 6th place finishes in my first three games. I moved up to 5th a few tournaments later and then one miss and the three wins in a row.
I don't even remember too much detail from the individual tournaments except for the last one. Half-way through the tournament I was chipped up and someone shoved massively all-in under the gun and I had queens in the big blind. As expected, he turned over ace king and thankfully my queens held up giving me a massive chip lead which I rode through to the final table. I got down to four handed and shoved ace 4 off on the button and ran in to 7's in the small blind. The river counterfeited his pair which was a huge suck-out but gave me the chip lead and I went in to heads-up with it. My opponent fought back to even up the stacks but I took down a pot or two and then limped with kings in the small blind. The flop came queen jack rag and I bet small on the flop, king on the turn, another small bet and then he led out strong when a 3 came on the river. I re-raised he had to call turning over 2 pair but it wasn't good and it completed my trifecta of wins.
As you can see from the graph below, I'm running quite hot after a couple of very average months. I'm not sure what tournaments SharkScope doesn't track (I'm guessing the Sunday Quarter Million satellites) because my bankroll is about $150 or so more than its ever been, despite it looking about even with a previous high. Bankroll now sits just over $770.
I went for a run after work with some friends, the first exercise I've done in about a week. Yes, I struggled for stamina but it was good to work up a sweat. They were heading out for drinks but I was happy for a quiet night in and to get some games happening on PokerStars.
I was just playing the $3.25 45 man games and I started off fairly solidly with two 6th place finishes in my first three games. I moved up to 5th a few tournaments later and then one miss and the three wins in a row.
I don't even remember too much detail from the individual tournaments except for the last one. Half-way through the tournament I was chipped up and someone shoved massively all-in under the gun and I had queens in the big blind. As expected, he turned over ace king and thankfully my queens held up giving me a massive chip lead which I rode through to the final table. I got down to four handed and shoved ace 4 off on the button and ran in to 7's in the small blind. The river counterfeited his pair which was a huge suck-out but gave me the chip lead and I went in to heads-up with it. My opponent fought back to even up the stacks but I took down a pot or two and then limped with kings in the small blind. The flop came queen jack rag and I bet small on the flop, king on the turn, another small bet and then he led out strong when a 3 came on the river. I re-raised he had to call turning over 2 pair but it wasn't good and it completed my trifecta of wins.
As you can see from the graph below, I'm running quite hot after a couple of very average months. I'm not sure what tournaments SharkScope doesn't track (I'm guessing the Sunday Quarter Million satellites) because my bankroll is about $150 or so more than its ever been, despite it looking about even with a previous high. Bankroll now sits just over $770.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Assassinato - SUPER Tuesday
It was a rough festive season for Alex Fitzgerald (aka Assassinato), if you read his blog you'll know exactly what I'm talking about.
The poker tables hadn't been any better for him but over the last week or so he's been taking caring of business, sorting sh*t out and getting his head back in the game. I'm sure last week he even mentioned that he felt there was a big score just around the corner for him.
It began with a 2nd place in a $22 rebuy on Full Tilt Poker on Sunday, earning him $11.5K for his efforts. For most that would be a substantial prize but for Alex that essentially covers his buy-ins for a couple of days, especially when you take in to account the horses he has working for him. Yesterday tho was the real "cream". Another second place finish, this time in the Super Tuesday tournament on PokerStars, good for a $51K payday!! $51K ... just a crazy number when you think about it. I haven't asked him but I believe that's his biggest payday, check his blog later today or tomorrow as I'm sure there will be some mention of it.
I watched the tournament from about 100 players down. The rail was restricted to players that had a buy-in for the tournament which was $1000 so that ruled me out. So while I couldn't actually comment, I watched closely as Alex went from a short-stack with about 55 to go and then doubled up again and again until he was in a strong position.
There was some clown/heckler on the rail, RedDogPoker giving him and a few others shit for the way they were playing. I'm sure RedDog's favourite player is Phil Helmuth because it sounds like he just waits for aces and anything less is bad play.
With 3 players left Alex several times was short-stack but took down a huge pot from the chip leader and had a dominant stack. Unfortunately one of the players got their stack back up a little by catching a card on the river to stop Alex's 10 high winning the hand (yes, you read that right) and knocking him out. When it actually came to heads-up, Assassinato had a 4:1 chip lead but his opponent slowly climbed his way back up and soon had the lead. Several times Alex 3 or 4-bet folded pre-flop so things weren't going his way. I had to head out before the battle was over but saw the result on Facebook that he had come in second.
I'm sure he's a little disappointed to finish second again when he had a great shot at the win, but really ... $51K, hard to be unhappy. Well done Alex, I'm guessing there was some celebrations in Costa Rica last night!!
Monday, February 1, 2010
January, the month that was
With January now over its time to look back and review.
Its been a good month and a profitable one for me. Last month saw my bankroll drop below $300 at one point which was a concern not for the money but because it had been my 4th losing month in a row. Prior to that I had four profitable months so it was disappointing to have plateaud and no longer be moving forward.
So here are my OPR numbers for January:
January broke a few records for me. Firstly it was my most profitable so far surpassing the previous best back in April of $211. Secondly it was a new record games played as I chased the PokerStars SilverStar VIP level. It surpassed August when I played 402 and the 451 from this month doesn't even include the 70 18 man games I played last night.
Another good stat was the 10 first place finishes which is a new monthly record. Back in August I had 7 wins and 12 seconds compared to this month's 10 and 8. The actual first places make such a difference and I'm pleased with first to second ratio which I think shows the improvement in my final table and heads-up play.
The next goal is to get my bankroll over $1000 (currently at $640) which would be a significant milestone after starting with just $12. I had hoped to do it sooner but I'm still learning and developing my game so just getting there will be great.
After a crazy last week of non-stop grinding, I'm taking a few days off to have a break, get to the gym and catch up on a few other things. When I get back on PokerStars again I'll be back playing the $3.25 45 games and maybe some 18 mans as well.
Its been a good month and a profitable one for me. Last month saw my bankroll drop below $300 at one point which was a concern not for the money but because it had been my 4th losing month in a row. Prior to that I had four profitable months so it was disappointing to have plateaud and no longer be moving forward.
So here are my OPR numbers for January:
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January broke a few records for me. Firstly it was my most profitable so far surpassing the previous best back in April of $211. Secondly it was a new record games played as I chased the PokerStars SilverStar VIP level. It surpassed August when I played 402 and the 451 from this month doesn't even include the 70 18 man games I played last night.
Another good stat was the 10 first place finishes which is a new monthly record. Back in August I had 7 wins and 12 seconds compared to this month's 10 and 8. The actual first places make such a difference and I'm pleased with first to second ratio which I think shows the improvement in my final table and heads-up play.
The next goal is to get my bankroll over $1000 (currently at $640) which would be a significant milestone after starting with just $12. I had hoped to do it sooner but I'm still learning and developing my game so just getting there will be great.
After a crazy last week of non-stop grinding, I'm taking a few days off to have a break, get to the gym and catch up on a few other things. When I get back on PokerStars again I'll be back playing the $3.25 45 games and maybe some 18 mans as well.
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