Poker-- Weekend Summary

Well, an Interesting and successful weekend.

Saturday was fairly sparse due to family committments so I only played 2 SNG's on Pacific. The results were a 3rd and 5th. Loss of $2. 2 Ring games also net a small $.53 loss. Not a great day, but survivable.

Sunday was far better. First, let me track back to Sunday a week ago. I had played 3 SNG's and lost all 3. I have been analyzing to see if there is any corelation between days of the week and times of the day when I play and the results. Currently there does not seem to be any useful statistical data. Since I had played my 3 SNG's last Sunday (10/17) morning, I wondered if the losses were somehow attributable to my not being fully engaged mentally. With this in mind, I played a low limit ring game (.10/.20 7 Stud) on Stars in the morning to get my head in the game. Massive win of $0.86! Remember a win's a win.

Now on to the 11's on Pacific. First SNG was quite unauspicious. No really big playable hands, and I was out 4th. The thought flicked through my mind, "Is today going to be like last Sunday, 3 and out?". Then things improved. Not quite dramatically, but improve they did. I ended up playing 8 SNG's from 11:30a -8:30p. There were several breaks during that period. The results were One 1st, Three 2nds, one 3rd and three 4ths. Very successful in that I made the bubble on 100% of my SNG's. I came within $3 of my daily Win Goal (a $72 profit), and would have exceeded it if I HAD NOT played that final SNG (4th).

Two interesting observations from the day. In the 2nd SNG of the day, In this tourney, I received JJ in crucial situations. In both instances, I got all my money in the pot and won. Now I am always conflicted when I receive JJ. Good enough to get into trouble, not always good enough to get out. The first hand, I was UTG+1 and was low stack 540 with 8 still playing on the last hand of 25-50 blinds. Button put me all-in. Button had AKo and luckily no A no K. Second instance with 100-200 blinds and I had 1160 with 5 players left. I raised to 400 and chip leader, who had been playing every hand, put me all-in. Chip leader had KQ clubs. No K no Q no clubs. This hand moved me to the chip lead at the time, and although I received no premium hands from that point on, finished 2nd.

In the 3rd SNG, I made my work much harder to cash. With 5 players left, I attempted a steal with AT diamonds. With A on flop Ii nibbled with minimum bets. My opponent hit a J on the river to win with AJo, yet I was never ahead in the hand. I blew off 350 in chips on that debacle making a struggling 2nd finish a very good outcome.

The character of each SNG is different. SNG's 2-5 were all tight affairs. Average time 1hr 10 minutes. My one 1st of the day was a 93 minute tourney. SNG's 6 and 7 had aggressive, make that super aggressive player who doubled/tripled up on first couple of hands and pushed to the limit. Average time per tourney 30 minutes with a 2nd & 3rd place finishes.

In the final tourney, the hand I missed playing which surely could have changed my prospects. Chip leader on BB, I was UTG blinds 25-50. I had JJ and smooth called due to my position. Was raised to 260 by short chips who had played very aggressive so far, with 5 players remaining. Chip leader called and I folded. Flop A K J. Agressive player had KQo and won the hand. Had I played, the aggressive player who knocked me out 4th would have been eliminated and I would have been massive chip leader. I think I made the correct play in that situation so no regrets.

Poker--Money Management--Pacific

The following are my RULES for my SNG play at Pacific where I am currently playing at the 10+1 level:

1.) If/when I lose 3 SNG's in a row, I am done for the day. Moral, lose 3 in a row and I'm gone.

2.) If/when I win 2 SNG's in a row (that means 2 consecutive 1st place finishes, not merely cashing) I will move up and play a 30+3 SNG. I will only continue at the 30+3 level with a cash. 4th or worse, back home to the 10+1 level.

3.) My current daily Win Goal is $75. Should I manage to reach $115. I will use my excess to play a 30+3 SNG. All previous rules apply.

4.) This rule is somewhat fluid as it depends on the time of day. Should I reach $100 by late afternoon, I will take $11 of my excess to play a sattelite for the $30,000 guaranteed MTT (multi-tabled Tournament).

Sports betting--Introduction

I will be posting my picks and progress in this area.

The methods I use have are based on a methodology I learned from John Patrick http://www.johnpatrickcasino.com/ . In his message book you can learn very much about how to profit at sports betting. Goal 1, is minimize losses and protect bankroll. Goal 2, mazamixe profits.

Poker--The Start

I am a quintesentially average poker player. I have been attempting to find a profitable niche playing poker. Mostly online.

Currently I am focusing on SNG's (sit n go 1 table tournaments) as I seem to have some facility at that aspect of poker.

I have been concentrating on SNG's for the past 3 weeks, so I haven't played a statisticaly significant number of SNG's to determine a reliable ROI.

My current ROI statistics (thru Friday October 21) include all of my SNG's (all No Limit Hold'em) since September 19 and are as follows:

Pacific 2+.5--Played 63 ROI 21.9%

Pacific 5+.5--Played 8 ROI -43.2%

Pacific 10+1--Played 65 ROI 35.7%

Pacific 30+3--Played 1 ROI 173.7%

Stars 5+.5--Played 15 ROI -34.5%

Stars5+.5 (MT)--Played 3 ROI 63.6%

Several notes for context. On Pacific I cannot multi-table so the number of SNG's played will grow slowly. I am also distinguishing between playing 1 SNG at a time vs. Multi-tabling on Stars. I will be concentrating on multi-tabling on Stars for the present.