O-Poker

Below is a quick weekly update on the $50k Challenge.

Everything is still progressing very well. I have been playing mostly 2/4 NL Cash games and have experimented a little with 3/6NL and 5/10NL. The plan has been to move up to the next level as I reach 20x Max Buy-in. The only problem I see with the move to the 3/6 NL tables is the lack of players at that level. Pokerstars usually has only 1 or 2 tables of short handed 3/6 NL running as compared to 12-20 at the 2/4 NL. This doesn't lend itself to picking the optimum table. I may have to start playing some at Party where the selection should be a lot better.

Starting Bankroll - $2,592 (1/1/06)
NL Short Handed Cash Games (YTD) - Profit of $8,808
SNGs, MTTs, Donations, Misc. (YTD) - Profit of $184
Bonus (YTD) - Profit of $273
Live Games (YTD) - Loss of $450
Total Profit - $8,815
Profit since last update (1 week) - $2,124

Current Bankroll - $11,407

I'll post detailed stats at the end of the month. Let me know if there are any particular stats that you would like to see.

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Thanks for everyone's comments yesterday on my finish in the Paradise $150k guarantee tourney. I have to say that I had mixed emotions when I busted out of the tourney. On the glass half full side - I finished 20th for $1,100 on a $20 investment (not too bad). On the glass half empty side - The payouts increased drastically for the final 10 players with 1st place getting over $40k. It stung to get so close to the big payouts - escpecially since I don't play a lot of tourneys.

Paradise's blind structure made the tourney a little difficult torwards the end. At one point the biggest stack at my table was around $50,000 with the blinds at 2k/4k plus antes and about to go up to 3k/6k plus antes. The biggest stack bascially had a M of 5.5. (Stack as compared to pot).

As the blinds went up to 3k/6k, I only had 31k in chips and it was almost my Big Blind. The bubble had just burst between 20th and 21st and it was time to make a move again. I pushed with KJ while the table was still shorthanded and the BB with $41k thought for a while and then finally called with A9s. KJ didn't improve and I was out in 20th.

A railbird criticized me for the push, which I thought was pretty funny. I only had 2.3x the pot. It is a key advantage to be the first to act with the added fold equity. I had pushed several times over the last 100 hands and was only called a few times. The three times that I was called I had a hand (AK, AJ, JJ), so it gave the impression that I was only pushing with good hands. The BB had to have a very good hand to call my bet because the call pretty much meant his tourney life. All the factors lead to my push. I am pretty sure that if we hadn't just gone from 21 to 20 remaining that the BB would have folded.

OK - back to work.

Good luck at the tables,
cmitch