Latest Tournament Results

So far, October has been a very good month for me in playing tournaments, especially non Hold-Em games.

A few days ago I managed my first cash in my freeroll mission. A couple days later I followed it up in a 520 person event by cashing and finishing in 40th place. This was a NLHE event.

Last night, while the in-laws were eating, drinking and being merry during Thanksgiving I was playing in a 1000 person RAZZ Multi Table Tournament. Even though this wasn't for real money the goal was still the same. I found that the competition was very soft and I really learned a lot reading hands and putting pressure on my opponents. After several hours had passed, and my fair share of hands that held up I made my way to the final table, out of 8 players remaining I was in 4th.

When the dust settled and all was said and done I managed to get 3rd place overall in the tournament. The hand that crippled me was when my 8-6 got crushed by my opponents wheel. I felt I played very well, especially against a large, if not strong field.

Nothing keeps a person motivated to play in more tournaments like some strong finishes.

poker

First cash with free account

Today I managed to cash in my first free tournament playing under my "no deposit" account on Full Tilt. The part that I feel the best about is the fact that I was able to get 3rd place out of the 1270 entrants in a game that I have never played before. That game is Pot Limit Omaha Hi. I have played lots of Omaha Hi/Lo but Hi only was still a mystery to me.

In terms of my play I feel that I did well. I know I got really lucky on two hands early on in the tournament but for most of the tournament I have just been playing the hands I feel are solid and hitting strong boards. I played aggressive and I didn't get check raised very often so when that did happen I was very sure that I was beaten. Near the end I also got lucky and hit my flush draw on the river, but we were all in on the flop when I had top pair and, the nut flush draw and a back-door straight draw. Poker can sometimes be about catching draws, and with the number of outs it was a great chance for me to double up at a key moment of the tournament. Once we got to the final two tables I just coasted to the final table without much difficulty. The two hands that knocked me out were basically well played by both of us. My two pair with straight and flush draw was beaten by a set, and my Flush was then beaten by a full house. It was a very good way to go out, compared to a bad beat. I won't be losing sleep about my play tonight.

So now I have some real cash in my account ($20.00) and I've pulled off the first goal in this experiment, get a cash. Goal two, start playing in micro limit cash games. I'll do this if my buy in for that micro limit is less then 5% of my overall bankroll.

The lowest limit is $0.05-$0.10. At that limit, $10 is my buy in for that limit. So, $200 is my bankroll goal before I'll be ready to hit those micro tables with the proper bankroll.

Full Freeroll Registration < 60 Seconds

I just signed into my first free roll tournament at Full Tilt for my experiment. It took less then 60 seconds for the maximum number of entrants (2700) to be reached. Now I just have to wait 40 minutes for the tournament to start...

I played solid throughout the tournament. I should have played a pocket pair of nines in early position. Would have tripled up against two high aces.

Had AK in middle position. Raised 3X BB. (This was fourth hand that I raised pre-flop.)
Two callers.

Flop 5-A-2

I bet out 3/4 of the pot and was re-raised by the button. No need to wait for something better as only 1% are paid. Called and was against A5 (two pair). No help on turn and river.

30 minutes and I played OK. I could have easily been up against a bluff (considering the four hands earlier) a weaker kicker such as AJ or AQ and I still technically had 6 outs on the turn. Later on in the tournament, near the money I may have laid it down but I'd rather have lots of chips early on in a free roll then spend too much time waiting for monster hands.

Here's My Mission

I you have any basic knowledge of poker, and its personalities then you have no doubt seen this gentleman:

His name is Chris "Jesus" Ferguson and he is one of the most well known, respected poker players out there. One of the things that make him so remarkable is the fact that he is constantly challenging himself, and his poker. One of these challenges is an attempt to turn nothing into $10,000.

For this experiment he entered into free rolls offered by Full Tilt Poker and by using strict bankroll management techniques he aims to turn his initial investment of nothing into $10,000. He has done this once before, using $1.

I love the idea of this type of challenge and I have decided to do the same. I have just opened an account at Full Tilt Poker and I am going to try to do the same thing. My goal though is to reach one hundred thousand dollars rather then just ten thousand.

The only rule is that I'm not going to deposit any money into this account, ever. In the future I plan to add more poker rooms and I am not placing any restriction in the games I play. The goal here is to try to make something from nothing. Even though I'm not placing a time guideline on this experiment I would like to have this experiment to pay for my trip and tournament entry into the WSOP 2008, one year from now.

I plan to also use poker tracking software and these blogs to keep track of my progress. I do expect this to take a lot of time and effort but I plan to build my online bankroll up using nothing but poker skill. By the time all is said and done, I'll be able to stand proud and tell people that I never once gambled using this free account.

Here goes nothing...