MTT Missions

I've been experimenting with various forms of MTTs lately... the standard freezeouts, deepstacks, turbos, super turbos, satellites (with various payout structures, each requiring different strategy/aggression), lots between the $3-22 buy-in level, with a growing number of Sunday 1/4 Millions and Double Deuces on Full Tilt.

Sometimes I feel a high inclination to play one form over the other, and focus on that for a day, weekend, or even longer. This blog will be a series of what I deem "Missions", which will be various (bankroll restricted) goals for me to attain in a set amount of time. During and after each, I'll report here with a review of hands and evaluation of strengths and weaknesses, and I would greatly appreciate any input the FTR community may have.

Starting Bankrolls:
Full Tilt Poker - $320 (smaller-field MTTs, satellites)
PokerStars - $965 (large-field MTTs, satellites)
(removed Cake from this list, didn't actually deposit the money and I am not playing there yet)

Target: Mini WSOP Main Event
$100+9, $250k guaranteed (super stack) - July 5th, 15:00
Goal: Win three or more seats to the event via super satellite play.

Foreward: I enjoy playing tournament poker, and I enjoy playing tournaments where I've got a shot to win life changing money. I don't want to gamble recklessly, but I am a poker player at heart and feel that as long as I calculate my risks vs. rewards, I don't mind playing outside my roll.

(Results) Objectives
($165 profit over weekend) Grind a mini T$ bankroll via $4-8 satellites, preferably to $100-150.
(3) Use T$ to play in $26 Token Satellites (Frenzies, Tier Ones, etc.)
(+) Play in $10-26 satellite tournaments for the Main Event (edit: or $750k).
(Just 1) Win three or more seats.

Three seats is a lofty goal, but if I don't win three seats I won't play the tournament. The pre-requisite for this is that I've profited even after buying into the tournament via satellite play. I'll post updates as I go along.

Thursday Night
I played a few satellites, a token frenzy, and a few Tier Ones. Relatively low volume, considering they each took 1-2 hours max.
- Busted a few, cashed a few.
(Initial Cash Outlay: $43~, Prizes: 55 T$ and 2 $26 tokens, for $107. Profit of $64.)
- Busted another Tier One. (Profit: $55.)
I'm not quite there yet, so tomorrow morning I'll load up some more of these suckers. I would like to have ~100 T$ and 3-4 $26 tokens before I attack the Main Event satellites.

Also, my play will be limited on Saturday due to me being an American and all. So tomorrow will be the majority of my play, with a few last minute satellite opportunities on Sunday morning. I'll be interested in seeing if the quality of play is better in satellites to $100+ tournaments... I've never played in them before.

Friday Morning
Busted everything so far. Had a solid top 5% finish in a $8 turbo on Stars, but everything considered, down $35 with this mission. Still have my two tokens... but was hoping for more. Taking a couple hour break to decide what to do this evening.

Came back last night, won another $26 Token and a $55 seat, but took about $40 of entries to get there. We'll see how tomorrow goes...

Sunday AM Update
No play on Saturday due to celebratory activities. I'm calling an audible, and aborting the mission. I thought about it today, and what I've done is effectively consolidate my $/T$ into tokens, and haven't really turned any profit. I think the best way to realize that profit is to either hold onto the $26 tokens until I'm more rolled to play it, or hold onto them until I feel I've plugged some leaks in my satellite game.

I also found out that FTOPS/Mini-FTOPS are coming up, so I'm going to have an extended satellite mission for those. I wish that my first mission could have been a success, but at least I can just edit this post and not bump my thread, haha. Tomorrow will be a standard day where I play the Double Deuce and Sunday 1/4 Million.

Sunday Afternoon
I decided it was illogical to hold onto the tokens "until I'm rolled". I'm comfortable at the $26 level, and there's no way to break those tokens apart... so might as well use 'em. Played a 9-man Satellite to the MSOP ME, came in 3rd/4th via suck-out. Then I played the large $26 satellite to the $750k guaranteed. Won that sucker for $216, a nice BR boost. Will obv not be playing in the tournament.

I may try to do this again in the future. It was a very straightforward-playing tournament. Busted out of the 1/4 Million on Stars.. I hate that tournament's structure, though I continue to play it because I find it to be very +EV. Doing well in the $200k Double Deuce, though we're still quite early.

Anyways, if the ends justify the means, then this mission was a success in my book. Did my BR justice, decided to not play in the big seat I won, and shook off a number of unfortunate hands in the satellites. Look forward to trying it again. FTOPS will provide lots of satellite opportunities!

Hand 1
End stages of satellite to Fifty-Fifty on FTP. I think 26-27 players get seats, there are 30 left when I do this. My thinking is that he's doing this with a wide range, and I have an Ace. Standard, or do I fold, sit with a little over 4 BBs and hope other weaker players knock themselves out?

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em Tournament, 200/400 Blinds 50 Ante (7 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB (t9600)
Hero (BB) (t2305)
UTG (t5700)
UTG+1 (t9396)
MP1 (t8765)
MP2 (t3110)
CO (t3045)

Hero's M: 2.43

Preflop: Hero is BB with A, 9
5 folds, SB bets t9550 (All-In), Hero ???

Hand 2
Another satellite to the Fifty-Fifty, but this one is pretty early when we're still pretty deep. General thoughts? I check the flop for pot control and to disguise my hand a bit.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em Tournament, 20/40 Blinds (8 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button (t1115)
SB (t1400)
BB (t1905)
UTG (t935)
UTG+1 (t2070)
MP1 (t3435)
Hero (MP2) (t1455)
CO (t3120)

Hero's M: 24.25

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with J, Q
3 folds, Hero bets t120, CO calls t120, 3 folds

Flop: (t300) 10, Q, 7 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets t160, Hero calls t160

Turn: (t620) K (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets t600, Hero ???

Hand 3 I like these satellites to the Fifty-Fifty. Another one from pretty early. I generally don't play this way, but tried it out... I could be overvaluing it, but I've found that doubling up early is especially beneficial in satellites with a smaller % of players receiving seats. So, when I pick up a pair on the flop, I decided to checkbomb him and try to take a thin edge. I still feel this is legitimate, though maybe a bit high variance. Any thoughts?

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em Tournament, 25/50 Blinds (7 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG+1 (t3120)
MP1 (t3195)
MP2 (t3860)
CO (t1065)
SB (t1270)
Hero (BB) (t1100)
UTG (t1330)

Hero's M: 14.67

Preflop: Hero is BB with 10, 8
1 fold, UTG+1 bets t100, 4 folds, Hero calls t50

Flop: (t225) 8, 3, 4 (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG+1 bets t225, Hero ???

I'm going to continue looking for more; I'm sure they're there.

After last week's success with satellites and some continued success throughout this week, I've decided that I'm going to focus primarily on satellites for a while. I really enjoy playing standard MTTs the most, but I'd rather be able to play the $20-50 tournaments whenever I sit down for the 6+ hour grind and be solidly bankrolled for it.

I'm not going to grind cash games or SNGs, I'm going to look for $6-$26 satellites to tournaments with seats worth $55-$216. From Monday to Thursday, I'll play the two $14+1 Fifty-Fifty Satellites with 20 seats and I'll vary between some $26-75 Token Frenzies. On the weekends, I'll play the same as Monday to Thursday, but I'll add in a few other nice satellites, including the weekly $11 Intellipoker thing on Stars and I'll use earned tokens to play in the $750k satellites that pay $216. (I'm up $280 this week playing primarily these games, so hopefully it's not just a sick heater and I'll be able to continue somewhere near this rate.)

I'll report back with results and any interesting hands that I come across.

Mission #2: Bankroll Grind
Objective: Increase bankroll to $5,000, comprised of real dollars, tournament dollars, and $26/75 tokens.

I'll also be seeking out tournaments where there are 10+ seats awarded, but the more the better. I find that I have better results in those larger-field/larger-payout satellites, so I'm not going to be rocking the boat.

Starting Bankroll:
$1,619.87 - Full Tilt and Stars ($/T$/tokens)

July 10 to July 12

Won a few Fifty-Fifty seats, a $750k seat, and the $109 seat to IntelliPoker's monthly tournament -- all unregistered, T$ secured . I'm not sure exactly where the bankroll stands (I'm at work and can't log in, obv.), but I do remember these statistics from HEM:

Weekend Profit (Friday to Sunday): $396 (some of this is included in the above BR figure)
July: $500~
Hourly Rate: ~$30-40, depending on the day.
Current Bankroll: $1,851.87

With the success of the weekend, I'm much more comfortably rolled to continue playing these games. Mission progressing nicely! I will update tonight with accurate BR figures, and will probably wait until the end of the week to update after that.

July 13
I did not play my standard satellites tonight. (That's one thing I follow to the T so far.. if I don't feel like playing, screw it, I'm not playing.) But then I remembered the FTR333 and I want to try to play all of the money added tourneys... great value! Well, won it, so now I've got a mini-bankroll on Bodog too.

+$152 on the night, boosts overall bankroll to... $2,003.92! Great game to all who played.