The blog of Mr. Pi - the regular SNG player.

[Mr. Pi]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=locIxsfpgp4

I would like to welcome everybody. (don't get scared because of the sadish song at the beginning - it won't be that melancolic.) I hope you'll find something useful while reading my lines. I will try to post some useful stuff in every entry of mine (except this one). The main goal is always to grow as a player imo, and I doubt that you would read blogs for anything else after all - even if you don't realize it.

What can you expect from this blog:

Most prolly this place will be my little sanctuary. I am planning to write about every adventure with my buddy - poker. Will express my feelings, bad or good runs, general thoughts, the really really REALLY interesting hands, some philosophy and basically everything what i feel good and useful to share.

A bit of my past messing around ( won't go into big details since I hate that in other starting blog posts too)

- Started aprox 2 years ago. Failing at Pokerstars freerolls badly.
- After ~ half year got $50 from some nice site who wanted to teach me the game too - read the BRM rules and didn't give a damn about the rest.
- Played around 100k hands of cash on NL2 and NL5. Won around $300 in total.
- Locked my account for half a year - exams were coming and I knew I'm not strong.
- Since last years June (account got unlocked) I started to play SNGs and ran pretty well.
- Went from the $2.20s till the $33s on FTP and I'm currently grinding the latter.

What I'm proud of:
Never ever went broke.
I tilt quite a lot but even when I do I still play bareable.

What I suck at:
Math. Seriously. Still can't calculate by head that how much do I have to call if somebody shoved over my raise. (Calculator owns)
Overthinking stuff. Making fancy checkraises vs reg doublebarrels? not the idea of the month.

I'm also good at not crying too much while in downswings but thats not really a poker skill...or is it?

About the present:

I usually play 300-400 SNGS/month 4tabling the regular (5 min blinds) FTP Sit-N-Gos. Yeah lol volume but as a compensation I try to pay attention to every hand and constantly try to fix leaks in my game.

In February I ran extremely hot - 18% roi trhough ~300 games - I know its unattainable, but I don't mind. I have an ROI of 11% over 2.3k games in total, and if you would ask me I would say that its not real.

I hope you liked this little debut post of mine, you can expect me posting monthly, or maybe a bit more frequently.

As a bonus because u read the whole thing:

A little "TypographyTruth" :

http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kvc2iixrh31qzw0uno1_500.jpg

Good luck at the tables and seeya in my next entry,
Mr. Pi :)

[dodi89]

Hm, I really think you should increase your vulume. Even if your ROI would be something like 5% on 10 tables, you would earn more money. Think about it:)

GL!

[Mr. Pi]

Yeah ure absolutely right on that one. I know that I could earn more money by playing more games at a time, but there are kindof 3 reasons why I still only 4-5 table.

The first would be that I want to take an in depth look at every hand which I play, to get creative and to find more + EV lines with every new hand. So in one (Four) word: I want to improve. I can increase my tables after I know that I kinda am at my best shape regarding all the concepts of an SNG (still far from that).

The second would be that I don't want to butcher my game and by playing 10+ tables I would feel I do. I love to take creative ( but not spewy ) lines and to outplay the 16tabling profitmaximalizing reg. Secretly I hope that I will be able to do that while me masstabling someday too.

And the third reason would be the fact that with a higher ROI swings are less likely. So I rather learn a solid 8-10% ROI game (yeah I sound like a douche) and maybe implement somehow that slowly in -as you said - 10 tabling session.

As a conclusion I could say: growing as a player > money for me at the moment.

Thanks if you read it cuz it became kind of long,
Pi :)

[dodi89]

Okay I understand it. The third point is not relevant though because when you play more sng-s swings are (higher of course but) shorter in game number period. Oh, hopefully you get my point.

But yeah, I understand your point as well, so good luck bro:)

[Mr. Pi]

Aright so one day I found myself thinking about this whole poker thing. That what does it mean to me and that where is it going. I have been playing SNGs since like 6 months and poker since like 1.5 years now so it seems like a good idea to set cement in a concrete idea of where should this whole thing go. I take this whole thing seriously enough to make a plan for myself and to be able to stick to it.

So here I am now. 4-5tabling the 22s and the 33s - doing pretty well - over a samplesize of 2k games an ROI of 10% which is not that bad. So the question would be that where should I head to. And I basically found 2 options:

1) Try to move higher on stakes and stop at the $110 ones.
2) Try to master multitabling and stay at the 22-33 level for....well for a long time.

After some thinking I chose the 2nd options for several reasons:

1) If I can manage to 16 table with an ROI of 5% my hourly will be pretty gosh damn nice.
2) On the 110s you cannot go for multitabling since you focus on making quality decisions versus mostly regulars.
3) most of the 110$ regs struggle to get out something like 2-3% of ROI and I'm not too sure if thats cool at all.

So mainly because of these reasons my current goal will be to:

Master Multitabling until the beginning of June.

This will be accomplished through some serious training and through some software implementation. I want to be able to play 16 tables non-stop so not playing in sets or anything.

So topic No1: Software

- I heard about a software (not sure bout the name) that builds a grid on your screen and makes you able to switch tables between eachother. I would like to calibrate that so that I could move the tables where I'm around or after bubble to a new location. This way I will be able to focus my brainpower on parts of my session where I really need to make quality decisions.
Side note: I will be cascading all my tables and move ones from the bubble phase to separate locations since those tables will require more considering and et cetera.
- SNG Wizard: Really necessary thing for every SNG grinder. Will get it and use it for my daily session review ( see below )
- WizzHUD: I have no idea if I will need that since I heard stuff that u can integrate SNG Wizz now inside Holdem Manager and then u can import the questionable hands in Wizz with a click of a mouse. If not I'll buy Wizzhud to do that for me and to display the stats of the players inside Wizz.
- Holdem Manager: Absolutely necessary program - Will try to use the whole thing out. Will modify the HUD in a way that it will be clean and easy to read. (Probably colorcoding and displaying every stat which is necessary but nothing too much)
- Table Ninja: The mekka software of the multitablers. I will keybind both the action buttons (fold/call/raise) and both each type of betsize (minbet/half-potbet/3/4 potbet and potbet) of mine to the keyboard to not worry about typing using the numpad or using the raise bar on tables. I also will disable all the poker room annoyances like autoregister to next SNG auto timebank auto sit back and auto I'm ready to make stuff easier.
- AHK (AutoHotKey) Script: I will buy (or try to write) a script which will move my tables to the desired location using the arrows on the keyboard. This way I won't have to click any table and thus I will remove the probability of ruining the flow of the action.
- Table/card mods: I will make myself a good modification for the cards and for the tables itself so that everything will be clear. Black background, bright chips, bright cardbacks, bright dealer button, clean, big and self-explanatory card faces.
- In addition to these I will buy a new mouse with 2 extra buttons and probably a separate numpad board to write specific betsizes with my left hand (not sure about the last one)
Aright so first topic killed.

2nd topic incoming: Learning to handle the Multitabling itself.

I will try to make the learning process as fast as possible and this means some harder learning methods:

Each stages will take ~ 200-500 SNGS to pass depending on how do I feel about the new problems rising at the different stages.
I won't increase the number of tables gradually - instead I will start with 16 tables and will increase the stakes instead.

- First I will play 16 tables of play money (Yes sounds stupid but whatever) and try to make good decisions there. I think the play money is a good place to learn how to handle numerous tables since you are faced to solve easier decisions and the HUD doesn't works either so at first ure playing without so many factors which can modify ur decisions.

- After I feel comfortable with watching all the stacksizes around me before acting and stuff like that on play money tables I will start to play on real money 1.2$ SNGs. Now with stats - with more stuff to consider before acting but against still easy competition I will try to handle again -16 tables.

- After that mastered I will go on the 5.50 limit and do the same. From there to the 11$ and from there to the 22-33$. I know it wont be as easy as it sounds but I'm positive about the success.

Another thing is that (preferably at the beginning of each day) I will make a session reviewal which will cover:

1) Messing around with the HEM filter and finding questionable spots.
2) Digging all the questionable spots inside Wizz and solving them.
3) Posting all the questionable spots which I couldn't solve on the forums.

This will ensure that I don't make any kind of retard moves during my sessions ( or if I do I will realize it right the next day and so I won't do it all over again. ) Also it will give me some sort of confidence during my sessions since every bad move which I make will arise right the next day.

Basically those would be my plans and I will hope to stick to them. If everything goes well I will be able to grind the limits with my nice 6-7% ROI playing around 40-60 tables per day from the regular SNGs.

So these would be my plans for the future,

Oh yeah and I almost forgot the next typography truth:

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5050/5251616097_107c186692.jpg

Cheers,
Pi :)

[dodi89]

Yeah finally you'll do it:) GL man

[castor11]

dodi +1 GL! :)

[Holdenper]

Hey! Nice post man:) GL for your plans. I grinded SnGs up to 22 table (most of the time 15-20table), and imho if u increase the number of tables slowly it could work also (first I played 6 tables, than 8-9-10-12-15, etc). The main thing is that u don't need to rush:) GL

[dodi89]

Hey! Nice post man:) GL for your plans. I grinded SnGs up to 22 table (most of the time 15-20table), and imho if u increase the number of tables slowly it could work also (first I played 6 tables, than 8-9-10-12-15, etc). The main thing is that u don't need to rush:) GL

Except you're playing MTT rush sngs:D:D

Never mind, I'm silly:D

[Mr. Pi]

Aright so how did this month exactly go?

Not bad. Not bad at all. Was playing entirely 22s and 33s. The competition is fairly beatable. There are good regulars who will push and call right, but there is a counter-range against them too.

I constantly try to make creative plays so I am put in lots of marginal spots which hopefully improves my game. If not at the time I play them then afterwards when I review.

So heres the graph for March which kindof looks like a child-drawn pit filled with red goo but hey. I'm feeling good about it.

http://i52.tinypic.com/nlapvn.jpg

Yeah the volume is lol again. I only managed to bring the Gold status too in the FullTilts Iron Man promo but I'm glad even about that too.

In general it was a good month and the really cool thing is that I don't recall myself tilting like not even once during the whole month. Which means like pretty big thumbs up for meh!

Pretty much this was it, the last thing what I would want to mention is this cool BRAG-HAND what I played during the last days of March. Here it is.

Grabbed by Holdem Manager (http://www.holdemmanager.net)
NL Holdem $300(BB) Replayer 22$ SNG
SB ($5,050)
BB ($3,150)
Hero ($5,300)

Dealt to Hero :6h: :As:

Hero raises to $750, fold, BB calls $450

FLOP ($1,650) :3h: :Tc: :Td:

BB checks, Hero bets $799, BB raises to $2,400 (AI), Hero calls $1,601

So opponent is one of the top noch regulars on the limit. He has something like 15% ROI over 3-4 K games. I open A6o from the button with the intention of calling if he shoves but he just called which was surprising.

The board comes :3h: :Tc: :Td: and I feel pretty comfortable with my A high. He has 2.4k infront of him and the pot is 1650. Now I wanted to make a weak looking Cbet. An amount which I could still fold if he shoved. So I decided to bet a bit below half pot and I put 699 to make it look a bigger stack. Which often is an often used thing to make bets more intimidating. Now I kinda new that a good reg will think the exact opposite about this - which would be weakness.

So he instapushed and I instarocketcalled. He was surprised.

TURN ($6,450) :3h: :Tc: :Td: :8d:

RIVER ($6,450) :3h: :Tc: :Td: :8d: :Ac:

BB shows :6s: :5s:
(Pre 33%, Flop 15.5%, Turn 6.8%)

Hero shows :6h: :As:
(Pre 67%, Flop 84.5%, Turn 93.2%)

Hero wins $6,450


Aright so thats about that for now - Heres another "Typography Truth" at the end of the post:

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l6p5zuux4T1qzw0uno1_500.jpg

Have a nice day,
Pi :)

[castor11]

Niiice hand:D

[tob1n]

wow, that is a nicely played hand sir:) and also, great progress! GL!

[Holdenper]

Sicko T-shirt, I love it:) (btw I love all kind of funny shirts:) ). Nice graph, and nice hand. After u wrote that he's a reg I guessed he wanna make sme sort of stop'n'go! Nice induction by u (pretty bad flop to him 4 doin that:D but that's he's problem:) )

GL

[Mr. Pi]

Thanks guys thanks. Feels good to get some positive opinions by others :)

[Mr. Pi]

Yeah █████ Friday came everybody knows.

There was some chaos at first but everything reestablished quite quickly at Fulltilt so I wasnt/am not too concerned about this whole thing. Cashed out the extra $ from my acc tho because of the "hey I'm afraid fulltilt will get raped by FBI" factor.

I still left a decent bankroll for my stakes tho. But the REAL problem is that since US guys cant join FT the games are pretty much dried up. I constantly see 7-8 regulars registered over eachother on my stake. AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TO DO.

Find another softer gametype? Try and tableselect from these? This is really sick and I don' know,
Pi :(

[babyonboard]

Yeah █████ Friday came everybody knows.

There was some chaos at first but everything reestablished quite quickly at Fulltilt so I wasnt/am not too concerned about this whole thing. Cashed out the extra $ from my acc tho because of the "hey I'm afraid fulltilt will get raped by FBI" factor.

I still left a decent bankroll for my stakes tho. But the REAL problem is that since US guys cant join FT the games are pretty much dried up. I constantly see 7-8 regulars registered over eachother on my stake. AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TO DO.

Find another softer gametype? Try and tableselect from these? This is really sick and I don' know,
Pi :(

hey,
i think waiting and adjusting for the situation will be best. maybe it will be clear which room us players will go to(merge network or cake for example) i think in some weeks we will know more. and tableselecting is also a good choice.

[Mr. Pi]

Yeah I constantly try to tableselect. The main problem with that is that I keep sitting like 1-2 hours only trying to find good tables before I can kick off a 4-6 table session. Feels like a huge waste of time.

Pi :)

[Mr. Pi]

Just a quick update on thing.
I won a free coaching with Collin Moshman a few weeks ago and I learnt quite a few cool stuff during it. I think it was a one hour extremely well spent :).

He pretty much liked my game and at the end of the lesson he asked me if I would be interested to join his team of coaches at Team Moshman. I said that it would be a honor to do so. So since last week I'm an official Team Moshman Coach lol. Basically Moshman introduced me to SNGs with his book: SNG Strategy, and now I am one of his exlclusive members of coaches? Please. This is more than enough.

Pi :)

[castor11]

Just a quick update on thing.
I won a free coaching with Collin Moshman a few weeks ago and I learnt quite a few cool stuff during it. I think it was a one hour extremely well spent :).



Pi :)

Gratulation! GL!

[babyonboard]

Just a quick update on thing.
I won a free coaching with Collin Moshman a few weeks ago and I learnt quite a few cool stuff during it. I think it was a one hour extremely well spent :).

He pretty much liked my game and at the end of the lesson he asked me if I would be interested to join his team of coaches at Team Moshman. I said that it would be a honor to do so. So since last week I'm an official Team Moshman Coach lol. Basically Moshman introduced me to SNGs with his book: SNG Strategy, and now I am one of his exlclusive members of coaches? Please. This is more than enough.

Pi :)

hey it sounds very good, congratulation! how does the team works?

[Mr. Pi]

You fill out an application which will eventually land in the hands of the coach most suitable for you.
Then you make a contract for an amount of time. at least 3 months as far as I heard.

During that 3 month u get coached each week and for that in exchange you pay 50% of ur profits. In addition rakeback medals points and stuff like that remain fully yours. If you have a loosing week you dont owe anything to the team. Simple as that:)

Pi :)

[Holdenper]

w00t?!! Nice job maaan! Moshman is like the pope of all sng players:D very well done & congrats!:)

[Mr. Pi]

Thanks a ton. Feels good to see some positive feedback on the good news. :)

Pi :)