Another Deep Run

I ended up playing in a big $2 tournament last night that had 631 entrants.  I had no intention of playing but my fellow blogger pokerpace was playing so I figured I would jump in it.  I flopped a straight in two different hands early on in the tournament and built up a nice stack pretty quickly.  With plenty of chips I cruised deep in the tournament with the luxury of being able to wait for premium hands to play with. 

I still had an average stack when we got down to 3 tables.  Now this is where I always seem to have trouble advancing further.  The blinds are starting to get really big and i'm not picking up any playable hands.  I have about 30k in chips and the blinds are 1k/2k.  I don't like trying to pick up the blinds by raising with nothing.  At this point I would have to put in about 20% of my stack for a decent size raise.  If somebody comes over the top of me and moves all in I have to fold.  Even worse if somebody just calls it is pretty much mandatory that I have to put out a continuation bet and try and pick up the pot whether I hit my hand on the flop or not.  With the pot now at around 15k i would need to bet at the very minimum 5k to try and get somebody to lay down their hand.  Now I have bluffed off 1/3 of my chips in one hand.  Or do I surrender the hand right when somebody calls and let them take control of the hand and just check and fold if they bet?  I definitely need some help in this area of my game. 

After a couple of unsuccessful attempts at picking up some blinds my stack dwindled down to 17k with the blinds at 1k/2k.  I picked up AJh in early position and I pushed all in hoping to pick up the blinds or maybe getting really lucky and doubling up.  Unfortunately for me and all my big poker dreams I got called by KK and was knocked out in 26th place and was awarded $5.36 for my troubles.  I really enjoy playing the big tournaments but it doesn't seem to be very profitable for me.  I don't know if it is just a numbers game and if I keep playing them one day the stars will align and I will make the final table and maybe even win one.  Even still I think that I could use some training on how to adjust my game for MTTs.  Up to this point I haven't kept track on how much I have spent on entries into tournaments but I am curious on where my bankroll would be if I never played any.  From now on I am going to keep track to determine whether I should be playing them at all and will have to stop if it is having a negative effect on my bankroll.


Started  =  $93.69

                +  19.26

Total    =  $112.95

Just Call Me Bubble Boy!!!!

Okay, I'm back.  I went on a roller coaster ride for a couple of days.  Honestly, I didn't want to post a loss and that is why I haven't posted.  If I really want to be serious about this I have to be realistic and know that I am not going to have a winning session every time I sit down at the tables.  I also have committed the ultimate sin in bankroll management a few times in the past couple of days.  I didn't cash in a couple of $5 sngs in a row, which tells me that either I am not playing well or that the poker gods are real and they really do hate me.  Instead of taking a break I decide to do the dumbest thing I can think of and move up to the $10 sng with the flawed thinking that if I win I can easily make up for what I have lost.  Until I lost that one.  OUCH.  Now I am really in trouble. 

I know that a lot of poker players and gamblers in general make this mistake.  But I don't want to be one of these players.  That is why I am confessing my sins here.  I have put my transgressions in writing for the entire world (the 5 of you) to see.   Forgive me my trespasses as I forgive them that trespass against me (3 outers on the river).

I have been trying a lot of the KO tourneys and a few of the large $2 tourneys.  I did go really deep in a few of them and came up a little short when it would get down to 2 tables.  If I played a couple hands differently I could of just as easily been posting a big increase in my bankroll instead of a loss here but I am happy with my play and that is all I can ask for.  If I can keep playing this way and going deep then eventually I know I will take down a big score.  I feel like it's only a matter of time I just have to be patient and play my game.  I actually had the chip lead in one and was 2nd in another and I felt like I should have went deeper in both of them.

I was 2nd in chips with 90 players left.  I ended up taking 10th for $14.85.  1st place paid $297

I was chip leader with 29 players left.  I ended up going out in 15th with a hand that I played horribly.  I should of at least made the final table.  1st place paid  $144

My total was actually a lot lower at one point but i tightened up again and started playing decent poker and brought it back up to a somewhat respectable number. 

Started  =  $123.80

                   - 30.11          

Total     =    $93.69