So I made it to step 6...

[Outlaw]

Any advice would be appreciated.

Early this week in my spare time for fun I bought into step 2 of the WSOP steps qualifier on stars. 5 games later, I find myself with a ticket to step 6, a $2,100 buy-in SNG.

I am not completely new to these, a few months ago I had made it to step 5 of the PCA, but was a lot less experienced and feel it was basically luck to go that far back then. I remember feeling completely overmatched in that attempt.

This time basically cruised through to step 6, and even though got lucky and won some key races along the way, I pretty much felt in control of the tables most of the time.

The problem is I actually feel a real fear and nervousness I've never actually felt in poker before. Its like that same feeling I had right before I lost my virginity.

My thoughts on the reasons for this are:

1. Twice this year, my bankroll has hit around $1,250-$1,500 and I have cashed out all but about $300 both times. I have only been playing poker about 10 months and my butt puckers big time if the buy-in is more than $15. (It used to pucker at $5, so I know I must be improving)
2. The unknown factor. I really have no idea what to expect.
3. There is a very real chance I could win it and qualify. Anyone else ever feared success?
4. Before step 6 I was playing for fun, now suddenly its serious.

My first instinct is to forget the level I will be playing at and play just as I would a $10 SNG and let the chips fall where they may. I do only have a few FPS invested for crying out loud.

However, just making 6th place would boost my bankroll quiet a bit. In case you don't know, the payout structure for step 6 is as follows:
1. WSOP seat and $2,500
2-3. $1,500
4-5. $1,000
6. $500
7-9- A donkey icon lapelled shirt that says "I made it all the way to step 6 of the WSOP qualifier and all I got was..."

My reason for posting is to see if anyone has crossed this or similar bridges before and has any advice to offer.

1. Should I just be trying to get some dough out of this or should I play super agressive with 6 peeps left and try to get the ticket to vegas? (I know I can play very selectively and almost certainly get at least 4th place)
2. Is it going to be mostly pros or qualifiers? (I noticed I see some of the same names registering again and again)
3. Is there a best time of day to try?
4. Any top pros out there want to play it for me? (just kidding)

I am going to rail a couple of these before I try, so I likely won't give it a whirl until early next week depending on the advice you guys give.

Thanks in advance!
Outlaw (triplej74)

[taipan168]

Is there an option to unregister from the tourney and take the T$? Seriously, that's what I would do if I was you because if your BR is around $1,000 (well, $3,000 including the value of the tourney), a $2,000 tourney is WAY out of your bankroll. Playing out of your BR can make you play scared and therefore not play your A game.

$2,000 is a HUGE boost to your BR - you would be rolled to move straight up to $30-50 SNGs - assuming you can beat them it would be a great step forward in your poker career.

Just my thoughts.

[CTorode]

This is kind of an interesting situation. If you are playing to build a BR, I would say take the money. If you are in poker just to screw around and have a bit of fun, by all means play for that seat!

Its all up to you and what you want. Playing the ME certainly would be exciting, but your chances of going deep or even cashing are very slim.

Personally, I would take the money. But then again, I am playing poker to build a BR, so you may have different feelings

[Outlaw]

You can't take the tournament dollars, unfortunately. If you could, I definately would go that route.

Once you are in the steps "ladder" you are stuck. You've got to play until you either get a seat, or get booted.

What I was saying is, should I play really conservatively to make more money while playing step 6 or should I go for the gusto and try to qualify ?(rather than try to make another $500 or so)

[Monty3038]

I had pondered this then withdrawn from a low-level qualifier that would have bought me into a higher level one... now mind you I am no where near at a level where I can get to these things, am just a little $2 player.

But let me equate this to golf. If your mental game is damaged, your physical game is unrecoverable. You have to have your mind in the right place to make the right swing.

I think that applys to poker as well... IMO I would suggest looking at it by that you don't have a lot invested, it is a shot and only a shot. Don't play scared money, what you have invested is ALREADY GONE so play like it doesn't matter. That doesn't mean play stupid, just play normal. I think if you play within your normal game it will truly reflect in your finish, like you said you should be able to hit 4th with no problem.

Hopefully this drivel makes sense and helps, but seriously, play your own game, no scared money at all, you made it this far, you can obviously hang with these guys, so stick it out.

[drmcboy]

If you want to build a roll, play rock tight because you're dog and you may as well just hope you can fold to a nice cash or the deck smacks you in the face. Don't get fancy against busto_soon.

[Outlaw]

I've railed one of these step 6 sngs and am watching one right now. The play has been surprisingly pretty weak with most people playing scared and folding to any 3-bet.

This one particularly poorly played hand just happened really early on.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t30 (9 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

Sheets (t2955)
senor foldo (t2960)
tittutolle (t2995)
rommel59 (t2950)
Romanicco (t2620)
scossett (t3810)
ros1987 (t2775)
DDBeast (t2980)
mx4ever (t2955)

*** HOLE CARDS ***
mx4ever: folds
sheets: raises 60 to 90
senor foldo: folds
tittutolle: folds
rommel59: calls 90
Romanicco: folds
scossett: folds
ros1987: folds
DDBeast: folds

Flop: (t45) 6, A, 8 (9 players)
sheets bets t150, rommel59 raises to t540, sheets calls t390.

Turn: (t1125) 7 (9 players)
checks, rommel59 bets t720, sheets raises to t2325, rommel59 calls t1600 (All-In).

River: (t5770) 2 (9 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: t5765

Results in white below:
SB doesn't show.
BB doesn't show.
UTG doesn't show.
has As Ks (one pair, aces).
MP1 doesn't show.
MP2 doesn't show.
rommel59 has 8d 8h (three of a kind, eights).
CO doesn't show.
Button doesn't show.
Outcome: rommel59 wins t5765. .

???

[Ryski]

Alright here is my advice. If you made it to step 6 you are playing pretty well - furthest I made it was Step 4 then I got coolered hard AA < 44 on a board [8 5 4 A 4 ]. You invested X amount of fpp's into getting here and I'd play rock tight like drmcboy said and try for a nice cash. If you cash, the minimum is 500. I'd take 250 of that and put it towards my bankroll and then spend the other 250 ( or just more fpp's ) toward trying to repeat that and buy-in to the low level steps many times. The next time I get up to Step 6 if that happens, I won't be playing on scared money because a) I've already profited from the situation, b) I just got a shitload of fpp's from the double fpp for steps in june, and c) I've done it before.

Btw, practice good game selection. I suggest Thursday/Friday nights and try to avoid games with players: Jorj95, Stevie444, Busto_soon, lilholdem954, ch0ppy, and a couple others I can't remember off the top of my head. You'll play against some of them but the less at that table the better. I watch these games a lot because of the insane payout structure it's almost like a winner takes all....unless you are coming from a lower level step in which just cashing is awesome.

[Outlaw]

Thanks for the advice guys. I am going to sit on it through the weekend and set aside a specific time to give it a whirl. If the table looks like a bunch of sharks I'll wait until a better situation comes along. I definately want to cash here, even though I am pretty much freerolling already, my bankroll could use the jumpstart.

I especially like Ryski's advice. If I manage to cash, I will set aside X amount of it to buy-in to step two again. However, I have already made enough fps to try step 2, so its freeroll time again no matter what.

By the way, I am watching a step 6 game going right now, its the toughest table I've seen.. there ar still 7 players left 70 minutes in. The last two tables I watched only had about 4 at the same point and were done at an hour 30. busto_soon (just shoved with j8 and got called with aq, now short-stacked) is in the game, anyone recognize anyone else?

I also just noticed that 3 of the players in the game have already qualified for the ME. Why the heck are the playing over and over again still?

Thanks again!

Tj

[RML604]

My guess is most of these players qualified for this tourny the same exact way you did, so there's no reason to assume that any/all of them will be far better than you. I'm also guessing that you're not the only one out of the nine who is nervous about the stakes.

As for how you approach the tourny, it just depends on what you want out of it. I would personally approach it like a normal SnG. Chances are if you play solid already (and I'm guessing you do since you made it this far), playing for first is going to get you in the money anyway, and it'll give you a chance to win it all.

The only difference I would imagine is that the table will be much tighter than usual, since nobody wants to get knocked out in 7th, 8th, or 9th (not that anybody ever does want to, but you know what I mean). I supposed it depends on the field, but I would imagine a lot of people play scared in these, so I would expect a pretty tight table.

[Ryski]

My guess is most of these players qualified for this tourny the same exact way you did, so there's no reason to assume that any/all of them will be far better than you. I'm also guessing that you're not the only one out of the nine who is nervous about the stakes.

Most of the people up here are sharks and bought directly into Step 5 multiple times to qualify for the step 6's. The regulars grind these steps so on the contrary I would expect a very solid table. At most there might be one other person that is nervous but the rest of them have played these tables 100 times or so =p. If you look at these tables you see the same names over and over again.

The tables I've seen are pretty tight early but when the blinds get high there are many more re-raises than the normal SnG's.

[Outlaw]

I'm guessing they "grind" steps to get a good return on their fpps? So they are preying on people like me lol

And grind might be an understatement, I've seen the same 3 guys in every single step 6 today.. like 8 of them.. that's insane.. when do they sleep so I can jump in.

[bjsaust]

I would so become the worlds biggest nit until I was in some money.

[ponyboy]

I would almost have the opposite standpoint. Since you know probably 1/2 the table is going to be in the same sit you are, I'd play aggressive because people would be more willing to fold to strength to try to place ITM which means lots of blinds available.

One of my philosophies is to play the opposite of what the rest of the table is doing. If you play scared you're not in the right frame of mind. Just my .02.

[Outlaw]

I would almost have the opposite standpoint. Since you know probably 1/2 the table is going to be in the same sit you are, I'd play aggressive because people would be more willing to fold to strength to try to place ITM which means lots of blinds available.

One of my philosophies is to play the opposite of what the rest of the table is doing. If you play scared you're not in the right frame of mind. Just my .02.

I have watched a few of these and there are at least 3 people that play really aggressive from the get go. So I guess what i'll do is let a couple of rounds go by and see what the table dynamics are and then act accordingly.

[yourfather]

I assume the guys who are playing a ton of these are shooting for first they way its weighted. So personally I would play tight as hell, because cashing at all woudl be nice. You could prob fold into the money just about.

[Outlaw]

I am playing in my step 6 right now if anyone wants to come rail me. Its room #91078589, my name is triplej74.

One person has busted already. I've had nothing but junk so far and haven't played a hand.

Updates:
-5 people left, I'm ranked 4. I made the money, woohoo. Now its all gravy.

-Now 4 people left. On break now, I am the extreme short stack. I will have an M of just under 3 now.. time to start shoving, wish me luck.

-Holy crapola I just doubled up twice in 2 hands.. had Q10s vs 66 and caught a 10, had AA vs JJ and no jacks, and just shoved again with QQ and no one called.

[Outlaw]

I'm out 4th for $1,000 (a 1,750 fpp investment, not bad).

So close yet so far.

I called the short stack with AJs, he had Q10s, flop Q88.

As the short stack I shoved with 1010, calledby QKo, it comes QJ6 9 3

I'm okay with the outcome. I made it 3 people from the ME and got my money in good twice the last two hands.. that's poker.

In reality I am very far from being ready to compete in the WSOP.. but I guess a few past chmpions were as well. Maybe next time I win those races.

Thanks for the help everyone, see you at the tables.

Tj

[yourfather]

Congrats. I would be wildly psyched to take down a G. Not a bad outcome at all. Not cashing would have been pretty tragic here.

[Ryski]

That's awesome man. Congrats. Now take a portion of that cash and apply it toward buying into multiple Step 1-Step2 and try to repeat. This time play for first =p.

[taipan168]

Well done, congratulations, that's a very nice cash!

[Outlaw]

That's awesome man. Congrats. Now take a portion of that cash and apply it toward buying into multiple Step 1-Step2 and try to repeat. This time play for first =p.

Thanks. I have enough fpps to buy back into step 2 again, I will do that again.

And yes, I will play for first next time

[mcatdog]

Great job, but I would suggest just playing games you're rolled for instead of playing the lottery again. Some of the comments you made, especially the one I quoted below, show a lack of understanding of SnGs and I doubt you're a winner in the steps.

I know I can play very selectively and almost certainly get at least 4th place

Don't take this the wrong way, great score and I'm happy for you.

[Outlaw]

Great job, but I would suggest just playing games you're rolled for instead of playing the lottery again. Some of the comments you made, especially the one I quoted below, show a lack of understanding of SnGs and I doubt you're a winner in the steps.

Don't take this the wrong way, great score and I'm happy for you.

Thanks for the input, don't worry I'm not taking it the wrong way. I know I am inexperienced and not ready or rolled for the higher end SNGs. I wasn't doing anything else with the fpps, however, so I figured I'd take a shot. No matter what happened, I wasn't losing anything and gaining a lot of experience against top competition.

Curiously, how does that statement show a lack of understanding? In my experience its easy to reach the bubble in an SNG (with the bubble being 4), but that shouldn't be anyone's goal.. its a losing strategy. For the purposes of this step 6, the bonus of tripleing or quadrupling my BR far outweighed any selfish reasons I might of had in trying to qualify. If I had played my normal SNG game and busted out 7th, I wouldn't sleep very well tonight.

Tj

[bjsaust]

Yeah, listen to mcatdog, awesome cash now keep it!

[Outlaw]

Darn, was almost an even better day.. top prize was 7k. My QQ lost to AJs, even caught a set and he hit a 4 flush on the river... woulda been in the top 5 with 16 left.

PokerStars Tournament #90369583, No Limit Hold'emBuy-In: $5.00/$0.502133 playersTotal Prize Pool: $41600.00 Tournament started - 2008/06/06 - 18:00:00 (ET)

Dear triplej74, You finished the tournament in 16th place. A $174.72 award has been credited to your Real Money account. You earned 198.61 tournament leader points in this tournament.

[bjsaust]

Yeah, I had a very similar finish in the same tourney a couple months back, very frustrating to get so close.

[mcatdog]

The competition in Step 6 is very very tough and you won't be able to fold into the top 4 when few if any people are donking themselves out.

I've made final 2 tables of a big Stars rebuy like 6 times and never made the final table, so annoying.

[Outlaw]

The competition in Step 6 is very very tough and you won't be able to fold into the top 4 when few if any people are donking themselves out.

Yes, I found this out fast. I was ranked 5/7 50 minutes in and really was forced to open up at that point.

I've made final 2 tables of a big Stars rebuy like 6 times and never made the final table, so annoying.

Yes it sucks really hard.. 8 hours of work for a lousy $150 bucks when the final table is pretty much assured if you win that one big hand..