Cobere's Operation Reload

Cobere's Operation Reload
08/22/06

As some of you may know, I recently went bust despite some modest success in smaller MTTs on Full Tilt.
This was due to a number of factors, including (but not limited to):

• *Playing above my bankroll in NL full ring (some 100NL with <10 buyins, shots at 200NL)
  *Playing above my bankroll in MTT's (some $75 and $100 direct buyins, lots of $26s and qualifiers to big events)
  *Playing on low grade tilt
  *Playing on super premium tilt (98 octane)
  *Lack of consistent self-analysis of PT stats, HHs, bankroll status, etc
  *Failure to post HHs on FTR forums to reap the valuable insights of my esteemed peers.
  *Lack of a solid plan with defined bankroll targets, goals, limitations/protections
  *Lack of feedback on progress from aforementioned esteemed peers.

I've taken some steps to address these issues, and plan on detailing them in another post (or even a blog). I'd like to focus on the last two in this forum - a solid bankroll plan for your examination and a place I can provide updates on my progress.

These are items that I promised myself that I would have in place prior to depositing any more money in my accounts. Even though I may lose my job in a couple weeks, I have about $1000 safely earmarked for my new bankroll (yes I do have plenty more socked away for living expenses).

My favorite format to play has got to be MTTs, and I seem to have a demonstrated knack for going deep in the smaller ones that I've played, and even a couple bigger ones. I like NL full ring as well, and get into the differences between the two. So those are the formats I want to focus on at first, and I've also listed some secondaries that I would like to play at some point.

I would very much appreciate any feedback on what I've detailed below:

Thanks,
cobere

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
These are recommendations from Fox's article titled Basic Bankroll Management found on pocketfives.com here: http://www.pocketfives.com/5C57520F-...240CB3E59.aspx


PRO:
Hold'em: 550 Big Bets
NL Holdem: 45 Buy Ins
SNG: 65 Entries
MTT: 200 Entries

Protected
Hold'em: 400 Big Bets
NL Holdem: 25 Buy Ins
SNG: 45 Entires
MTT: 100 Entries

UnProtected
Hold'em: 300 Big Bets
NL Holdem: 15 Buy Ins
SNG: 20 Entires
MTT: 40 Entries

He also suggests setting up a floor/ceiling set of targets to guide the moves up or down in limits, which I will use below in my outline.

What I want to play: NL full ring and MTTs on FullTilt

• Plan:
  *Deposit $600 (possible 50% reload bonus up to $300)
  *Keep track of Ring and MTT bankrolls separately via spreadsheet
  *Use my 2738 Full Tilt Points for MTTs and qualifiers, etc
  *Re-assess regularly and adjust floor/ceiling guidelines to be more protected as I move up

• Full Ring NL
  *Play 25NL at 15 buyins ($375) with 10/20 floor/ceiling
  *Establish initial 10 buyin floor, drop to 10NL if < $250
  *Target 0.5 - $450 at 10NL for 20 buyins at 25NL
  *Target 1 - $1000 at 25NL for 20 buyins at 50NL, new floor $500
  *Target 2 - $2000 at 50NL for 20 buyins at 100NL, new floor $1000

• MTTs
  *Play $5.50 MTTs at 40 buy-ins ($225) with 20/60 floor/ceiling
  *Establish initial 20 buyin floor, drop to the $1 MTTs (ugh) if < $110
  *Target 1 - $660 for 60 buyins at $10+$1, new floor $220
  *Target 2 - $1500 for 60 buyins at $24+$2, new floor $500
  *Take occasional shots at the $26 xxK Guaranteed tourneys if I can win entry tokens via FTPs or $6.60 2-table SNGs (top 4 get tokens)

What I also want to play eventually: 180s, Turbo SNGs, Limit Full Ring, and Gauntlet!! on Stars

• *Existing bankroll on Stars < $100. Designate $400 here, possibly wait and see how I do with my discipline on Full Tilt before depositing.
  *Use existing BR to continue playing $0.10/$0.20 Limit for "practice". I'd like to hone my limit game for trips to the local brick & mortars. Eventually designate some bankroll here to move up levels. This would be BR priority #1 for any new deposits.
  *I enjoy the SNG format, and I'm getting some coaching on my play in these (thanks to vqc). I need to research my stats on these a little further before I sink any money into them. BR priority #2.
  *I also really like the 180s format. Will bankroll for the $4.40s with a goal to hit before I play the $22s.
  *Definitely having fun with the Gauntlet IV tournies, even tho I got a late start. Will continue to play these as I can, with an eye on season V.

Oh, and this operation comes complete with a new Ray for my avatar. He still can't see his cards, but he looks like he is having more fun than the last one.

I would say:

minimum of 20 buyins for FR
minimum of 100 buyins for MTTs
def. keep records
keep your BR all on one site if possible

Originally Posted by Irisheyes

I would say:

keep your BR all on one site if possible

why?

I dunno, probably more of a psychalogical thing that I have. I always feel like I'm playing under-rolled otherwise. I guess it doesn't apply to most people.

Well, I don't think I'm going to scatter across multiple sites. I do get rakeback for signing up at Caribbean Sun through FTR long ago - haven't played there in ages.

The only reason I am thinking about splitting off some to Stars is that there are certain things there I want to do that I can't do on Full Tilt. Gauntlet, for one, and the 180s.

I think also that even though my NL ring and my MTT rolls will both be together on Full Tilt, I was planning on keeping them separate and distinct. That is, no taking shots at big MTTs with my ring winnings, and vice-versa. I did that before when I had a bunch of MTT cashes in a row, they went pretty quick.

hey,
i think its a bad idea to want to mix mtts and full ring when you are getting started into poker. i know you have been playing for a little while but since you haven't won alot of money from poker, you have some leaks. its alot easier to fix those leaks by focusing on one thing, like mtts OR full ring. not both.

with that said, i think you are probably better at mtts; you seem to have more success in them. the problem is, its hard to build up a nice bankroll fast with mtts because of their structure. also, variance in them can be brutal, especially in larger fields. i dont know how the mtts are on full tilt, so i can't really say.

have you thought about playing on pokerstars? they have $4+.4 mtts capped at 180 people running non stop. you could multi table them without ever risking much of your bankroll. also when you get bored of mtts, try playing sngs so you can use what you know about tournaments to make some $.

hope this helps
gabe

yeah learning ring and MTT isn't quite French and Chinese at the same time, but maybe French and Cajun.

I think the MTTs on FT are a bit smaller, which I guess is good. I can't imagine trying to build a roll on MTTs. SNGs or ring are the way to go IMO until you get at least over 1k, 5k is probably better for your mental health.

Good luck. BR mgmt is easily the most important and hardest part.

You should play the guantlets I play for sure, I am a super donkey in them.

Off to a pretty good start. Three days does not a career make, however.


Tournament Log

08/25/06 Deposit $225.00

• Current Balance: $365.83
  NET: $140.83

$5.50 MTTs
Entries -- 8
Bubbles -- 2
Cashes -- 2
Final Tables -- 1
Best Finish -- 5
Biggest Payout -- $173.90

Other Misc -- One $1 Turbo, and one shot at an $11 as a reward for the FT finish. Haven't found much to spend FTPs on yet, mostly just subqualifiers so I haven't played any.

Ring Sessions

08/25/06 Deposit $375.00

• Current Balance: $470.14
  NET: $94.60

25NL Full Ring
Hands -- 1015
PTBB/100 -- 18.44
PTBB/hour -- 23.07

I have no delusions of sustaining this rate, but its a nice start. Mostly 2-tabling, about 8 hours total.

Well, I took the advice of several people and dquit messing with ring while I am trying to focus on the finer points of tournament play. So, I took my ring bankroll and merged it into my MTT bankroll. Also decided to play SNGs to generate some additional income. Took some more advice and am not separating out my BR in terms of SNGs and MTTs. I've got buyin guidelines for both, and am moving up/down in both as determined by the BR.

My goals for MTT remain the same:

MTTs
*Play $5.50 MTTs at 40 buy-ins ($225) with 20/60 floor/ceiling
*Establish initial 20 buyin floor, drop to the $1 MTTs if < $110
*Target 1 - $660 for 60 buyins at $10+$1, new floor $220
*Target 2 - $1500 for 60 buyins at $24+$2, new floor $500
*Take occasional shots at the $26 xxK Guaranteed tourneys if I can win entry tokens via FTPs or $6.60 2-table SNGs (top 4 get tokens)

But with the transfer in from ring, and a couple of wins in the $5.50s, Target 1 has been met. My current BR is ~$900, so I'm playing $11s at 80 buyins. Still taking the occasional shot at the $26s, got an ITM in the $20K Guarantee the other day.

For SNGs:

*Playing $23 single table Turbos at 35 buyins ($805)
*Floor of 20 buyins, drop to $11s if BR<$460
*Target 1 - $1440 for 40 buyins at $36

Will put together some stats on how I've been doing and post them shortly.

Tournament Log

08/25/06 Deposit $225.00
08/25/06 Deposit from ring $362.79

• Current Balance: $869.64
  NET: $281.85

$5.50 MTTs
Entries -- 54
Cost -- $297.00
Winnings -- $553.47
Net -- $256.47
ROI -- 86.4%
ITM -- 16.7% (9)
FT -- 5.6% (3)
Wins -- 3.7% (2)
[/list]
$11 MTTs
Entries -- 19
Cost -- $209.00
Winnings -- $406.29
Net -- $197.29
ROI -- 94.4%
ITM -- 10.5% (2)
FT -- 5.3% (1)
Wins -- 5.3% (1)

Throw in the misc $26 tourneys and a couple of satellites, and here are my overall stats for MTT
[/list]
MTT Overall
Entries -- 82
Cost -- $755.00
Winnings -- $1,116.15
Net -- $361.15
ROI -- 47.8%
ITM -- 15.9% (13)
FT -- 4.9% (4)
Wins -- 3.7% (3)

So far, I'm pretty happy with that. A couple more wins and I can move up to the $26s where they have guaranteed prize pools. One note about the stats, I'm not including the "token SNGs" in the entry count and ITM%, but I am including my net, as those tokens that I am winning are entries for the $26s. The format I'm doing best at is the $8.70 2-table turbos, where top 5 get a $26 token and 6th gets a $14 consolation. Net positive on those, which offsets some of my entry costs.