New Goals to Accomplish
Well, I pulled off what I honestly thought was impossible and played 30,000+ hands of poker in what turned out to be a span of 5 days (I had given myself 6). I made some money and that felt great and learned quite a lot about what it takes to be a full time poker player. My respect for those mega-grinders has increased ten-fold thanks to dipping my toe in their waters.
I'll have a summation post about what I learned for my next entry. For now I'd like to talk about what is next for me both at the tables and away from them
AT THE TABLES
With so much volume played in February now, I'm actually in reach of some pretty cool goals. I have 1,360 VPPs to go to unlock my next $50 Stellar Reward, which is cool because I really like getting a free $50 when I can. Also, I am only 2,043 VPPs away from achieving Platinum Star for the first time in my life. I remember one month I got very close but tilted the last day and just said screw it. It just might be the time to get it finally, which would be great because Platinum Star is roughly worth (according to the good people at FPPpro.com) 24% at Full Ring. That may not be 100% accurate but at least it's in the ballpark of the 27% at Full Tilt Poker. Finally, I am 10,000 hands away from putting in 50,000 hands total at 50nl since I returned to PokerStars which for some novel reason is cool. So here's what I might accomplish:
If I played solely at 50nl Full Ring:
- I am 8,500 hands away from unlocking my $50 stellar reward.
- I am 10,000 hands away from playing 50,000 hands total at 50nl
- I am 12,769 hands away from achieving Platinum Star
- I am 550,000 hands away from achieving SuperNova (lol)
Looking at that list, it definitely seems logical that I aim to play 12,800 more hands this month (14 days) which seems super doable.
AWAY FROM THE TABLES
I've eluded to working on a huge project for one of the poker sites I write for and things are starting to really gel. I am not sure how close I am to an announcement, or even if there will be an announcement. I can't presume anything but I'll just say things continue to move in a very positive direction. I'm very excited about it and if you are a fan of online poker you will be too!
Continue to looks for my articles around the internet. I wrote a really good guide about protecting your computer that I highly recommend which you can read by clicking here. Consider this a must read if you play online poker.
read moreChallenge Completed
It's all over and I pulled it off - 30,000 hands in less than week. It took 30.50 hours to accomplish and I ended up in the positive but below my normal win-rate, which I guess is expected.
FINAL NUMBERS:
Hands: 30,113
Profits: +$621.25
Bonuses: +$100
Prop Winnings: +$325
GRAND TOTAL: $1,046.25
Not a bad week of poker. Here's the graph:
You might notice I enjoyed a really rough last session. I guess poker didn't want me to let this get to my head. Here are the two hands that account for that spike downward:
Poker Stars $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players -
UTG: $50.00
UTG+1: $29.40
UTG+2: $63.05 - 31/15/inf over 30 hands
MP1: $61.80
MP2: $50.50
CO: $57.45
Hero (BTN): $54.50
SB: $50.50
BB: $57.85
Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BTN with 7
7
2 folds, UTG+2 raises to $1.50, 3 folds, Hero calls $1.50, SB calls $1.25, 1 fold
Flop: ($5.00) J
6
A (3 players)
SB checks, UTG+2 checks, Hero checks
Turn: ($5.00) A (3 players)
SB checks, UTG+2 checks, Hero checks
River: ($5.00) 7 (3 players)
SB checks, UTG+2 bets $3.50, Hero raises to $12, SB folds, UTG+2 raises to $25, Hero raises to $52.40, UTG+2 raises to $61.55 all in, Hero calls $0.60 all in
Final Pot: $111.00
UTG+2 shows J A (a full house, Aces full of Jacks)
Hero shows 7 7 (a full house, Sevens full of Aces)
UTG+2 wins $108.00
(Rake: $3.00)
Poker Stars $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 7 players -
Hero (SB): $105.90
BB: $50.50
UTG: $100.15
UTG+1: $50.50 - 13/9/3
MP: $112.95
CO: $25.00
BTN: $53.25
CO posts a big blind ($0.50)
Pre Flop: ($1.25) Hero is SB with K K
1 fold, UTG+1 raises to $2.50, 3 folds, Hero raises to $8, 1 fold, UTG+1 calls $5.50
Flop: ($17.00) 7 6 4 (2 players)
Hero bets $13, UTG+1 raises to $26, Hero raises to $75.45, UTG+1 calls $16.50 all in
Turn: ($102.00) 4 (2 players - 1 is all in)
River: ($102.00) T (2 players - 1 is all in)
Final Pot: $102.00
Hero shows K K (two pair, Kings and Fours)
UTG+1 shows A A (two pair, Aces and Fours)
UTG+1 wins $100.00
(Rake: $2.00)
Made the Top Winners at PTR
Having a hot day at the tables, so I decided that maybe just MAYBE I made the PTR top winners for today at 50nl at Stars.
BOOM! Came in 33rd when I ran the query!
(Click to enlarge)
Saturday Mid-Day Update (80.3% completed)
Quick update ... have a couple of more sessions in me at the very least. I highly doubt I have 6k hands left in me tonight, but you never know. I guess there's an outside chance I could be done tonight.
Hands played: 24,082 (80.3%)
Profit: $568.95
Bonuses: $100
Total Profits so far: $668.95
It's still not a great win-rate, but I'll definitely take it and as you can see from the graph life is normalizing and going well. It'll be interesting to see how I feel when this thing is done, assuming that I do finishing it and win the prop bet. I'll save some of the things I've learned for my end of prop bet post.
Graph:
Friday Night Update (70.7% complete)
The old saying "The squeaky wheel gets the grease" definitely applies to poker. If you run bad and bitch on a blog and TwoPlusTwo, you suddenly run good. It's kinda awesome.
I have been 19-tabling for the past 4 sessions and been handling it remarkably well. I've been very surprised actually, I never thought someone could think and play 19 tables, but at these stakes it's definitely possible. Anyways, here's the graph without the bonuses in it:
And here is the customary hand history of the night (SHOCK! It's a GOOD hand!) ... against a reg that I had some history with, we'd been 3 and 4betting each other a lot this session ... his 3bet size was weird and I wasn't letting go. My 4bet size was weird but then I knew by doing it i would have to commit myself. Probably a boner doing that but whatever, it happens.
Poker Stars $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players - View hand 533429
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter
MP2: $53.45
CO: $46.50
BTN: $50.00
SB: $63.00
BB: $65.55
UTG: $28.25
UTG+1: $30.05
Hero (UTG+2): $53.50
MP1: $30.30
Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is UTG+2 with Q Q
UTG calls $0.50, 1 fold, Hero raises to $2.25, 1 fold, MP2 raises to $7.50, 5 folds, Hero raises to $17, MP2 raises to $53.45 all in, Hero calls $36.45
Flop: ($108.15) J Q 4 (2 players - 1 is all in)
Turn: ($108.15) K (2 players - 1 is all in)
River: ($108.15) 4 (2 players - 1 is all in)
Final Pot: $108.15
MP2 shows A A (two pair, Aces and Fours)
Hero shows Q Q (a full house, Queens full of Fours)
Hero wins $105.15
(Rake: $3.00)
About Me
My name is Sean Gibson and I am a poker journalist and part time poker player. I work full time at PokerNewsDaily.com where I host a daily news show called "The Daily Deal" and also handle the bulk of the live player interviews. In terms of poker you will find me playing $1/$3 No Limit Hold'em in Vegas or in Los Angeles (or San Diego) and online playing small stakes games.
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