Chasing Chris Ferguson

Ok I admit I am not a big Football fan, but I know enough to understand a field goal gives the team three extra points. If money is points in my BR then I kicked the field goal! My BR goal was to have $1k by the end of April, but I didn’t make it.

My BR had been flopping around like a fish in & out of water at around the $800-850 mark. It dipped to $779 on Friday night, then back up to $810 before I bought in to a few “donkaments” and didn’t win.

Last night (Friday) I bounced in and out of ring games on PokerStars, whatever Stud H/L game that looked good, from $1/$2 to $2/4 and not doing much good, up maybe $22. I then decided to get in the $3/6 that I had been watching and sat down with $120. The game wasn’t jamming but the pots were consistently $40 or more. I got lucky, when I drew to a 2356 I caught the 4 and it gave me a 2 way winner.  Things went good and I played super tight and it paid off.   

Not only did I reach my April goal, even if I was a day late, I surpassed it. By not leaving the 3/6 table when I got to the $1k mark, I made an extra $200, my field goal!

I am positive Chris Ferguson’s bankroll management plan is excellent, it has to be as it worked for him. Mine is different to say the least. One point I differ with him on is when to leave the table. My idea is to minimize loses and maximize wins. Therefore I set a stop loss point, say $50 in a 3/6 game, and if I lose that I leave. If I don’t lose it I stay and hopefully win more. I also leave if I miss 3 draws or get 1 or 2 good hands beat, even if they didn’t cost me the $50. I also may leave if the little poker guy in my head says to (ok not always do I listen to him, I admit) but last night I was tired and just wanted to quit, so I did, even though I hadn’t lost any chips back or missed a hand.  To put my BR plan simply, leave when things are bad, stay when things are going good. Leave when/if the cards turn sour and never chase a loss.

As I have said before, interesting comparison between Linda and myself is, she got her BR mainly off tournaments, mine mostly is from ring games. Because of this, if she scores (and I believe she will) then her BR will make mine look like chump change. I will never play big enough to score a few grand in a ring game, but she can in a tournament.

Yes, I still play the tourneys, or Donkaments as I call them.  I just do not have the patience level Linda does. I was in the $11 $55k guaranteed yesterday and had not played a hand, just anted off my chips by first break. This was NOT a game anyone was going to steal the antes in either. There were 2 players who seemed to just go all-in every hand. On the button I raised with 8-8 and got put all-in by AK. Him I beat when the board came 8-6-2, it was the 3rd all-in guy who snapped my set when a Queen came on the river..the perfect (and only catch) to his pocket queens. Sure he had the best pre-flop, but can’t they miss just once? Guess not.

Same senario in the $3.30 rebuy $30k guaranteed donkament. There were THREE players who went all-in every hand they played then did a re-buy. They paid $3 a hand. I played nothing until I picked up 10-10 on the button. Of course I was up against 2 of the all-in suicide bombers, so I went for it. One had Q-9 off suit, the other had K-J off suit. Makes me laugh what these players think is a good hand….not to worry, Miss Q-9 hit a Q on the turn and my fate was sealed.  Sure I could have pitched it, but why? What am I waiting for A-A? K-K? Honestly I have NOT seen a hand like that in 8 tourneys.

I have no clue how to play these donkamaniacs who would just as soon put you all-in with a 6-5 off as play A-A. And yes, the last A-A I had met that fate sometime about a year ago. Just don’t tell me there is no such thing as luck, I KNOW there is. I just don’t know how or where to get it!

My immediate goal is to build the BR up of course, but not to go below the $1k mark doing it. And of course I am still playing the donkamentmaniac things, but am trying to go for the bigger slice of pie in the guaranteed events. At least if I spend 5-6 hours of my life there, and get extremely lucky, the time invested won’t be wasted. Even the bottom rung of the prize pool ladder pays about $60.

As I write this I am in the $11 $55k guaranteed tournament on PokerStars with 1,969 other hopefuls. So far at least there is only one suicide bomber at my table, raising and playing every hand..I know if I raised with 10-4 off I would get what I deserved…  busted. Not him though, he has a crystal ball. Maybe I can get lucky and muck my way into the money! Only if I can avoid getting bombed…..

Look out Chris…one of us may just catch you yet!!

As a P.S. to my cheating blog……

I got this email from PokerStars support:

Thank you for your report.

PokerStars takes the integrity of its games extremely seriously, and such comments can make players doubt that this is indeed a safe place to play.

Please rest reassured that we have taken appropriate actions.
If there is anything else we may help you with, please let us know.
Regards,
Agnieszka (I won’t EVEN try to pronounce this!)
PokerStars Support Team

Nice to see they handled it, at least I hope they did. I reported an obnoxious little twit that plays in the Stud H/L tournament. I have been on a table with him about 5 times, which I hate. Funny I get thrown in with this guy so much, but only once have I ended up at a table with Linda! Anyway, I reported opusx_jr more than once and was told it was “handled” but apparently not. A few days ago he was at it again, insulting players by calling them “fat toads” when he beat them. Ok, I know fat toad may not be the worst thing you can call someone, but name calling is name calling and should not be allowed.

I was disappointed to get this response when I reported him for the third time:

I have looked over the chat logs, and cannot locate any truly harassing or vulgar comments within them. Our goal at PokerStars is to be a fun place to play, where everyone can feel comfortable. However, there is a certain amount of table talk that
will always be a part of poker. This player’s comments do not appear to
cross the line from “coffeehousing” into abuse or vulgarity. If this player’s comments are something you’d rather do without, you may block their chat by right-clicking on the player image disc, and selecting “Block Chat.”

I take it that you can call players names, as long as you are not vulgar or obscene? And as for “coffeehousing” I can’t say I have been in a coffeehouse (Starbucks) recently and heard customers calling each other stupid fat toads. Maybe I was in the wrong coffeehouse, if so, that is where I will continue to go! Yes, it is true I have ZERO tolerance when it comes to players insulting others. Guess that is why I am a player, not the owner of a poker site!

Grab a chair and join the fun…see you there!

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 3rd, 2008 at 8:26 pm and is filed under Playing and Blogging.