Unexpected Win and A Tale of Greed
Monday, December 7, 2009 at 5:01PM I have an hour left at work until I can escape for 16 hours, at least in a relative sense. I just over-heard my boss have a conversation with a co-worker next to me that sort-of annoyed me so what better time to throw in a post?
Saturday I decided to cram in a few hours of online poker before my party. I didn’t have much time so I jumped into 5 sit-and-go tournaments total around 3:30 p.m. 4 of the tournaments were $12 120-man SNGs, and 1 tournament was an $11 120 man regular SNG. Not sure why I decided to make one of them non-turbo, sort of random there.
Had a great payout as I placed first in one of the $12 turbos. This email confirmation was pretty incredible:
"You finished the tournament in 1st place. A USD 594.00 award has been credited to your Real Money account."
This may not be a lot of money for most, but this is a huge win for me online. I only a $2450 bankroll on PokerStars. When I logged out for the day I had profited over $500 net with the first place win, putting my bankroll at $3,053. I played well, but I’m not going to pretend there isn’t a massive amount of luck involved with any turbo SNG, and that I’m so incredible that my skill made any concept of luck irrelevant. Hell I consider myself lucky if my AA all in preflop holds against 44. I mean you have to be LUCKY NOT to get sucked out during these tournaments, even if you are a huge favorite every-time you get all of your chips in.
What I can say is that overall I was very pleased with my play; especially once it was down to the final 15. I was not scared money, I was playing to win, not bubble out. I also felt I would not have placed 1st in the event without my heads-up research and SNG sessions played during the past few months. I started steam-rolling once it got down to the final 4 players.
I also vividly remember an interaction with my final opponent that was a short tale of greed in my book. Keep in mind that placing first is worth about $200 more than finishing second. At one point there were just 2 players left in the tournament (including myself). With a 2 to 1 chip lead I asked my opponent:
“Hey, would you like me to call an admin? I would be willing to make a 60-40 deal”
He replied:
“NO”
The next hand I pushed his blind all-in with A-10. He snap called with A-5. The A-10 held up and I won. I couldn’t help but type:
“Your loss”
So he lost himself about $80 by not making a deal. Once I get to a certain point in a tournament I think it is wise to make a deal. Considering I only put $12 into this thing and there was an enormous difference between 1st and 2nd place. I would be happy eliminating luck as much as possible at this point and taking away about $510. That’s 42 times my entry fee, not a bad day. Meanwhile, a first place finish with no deal made would win 49 times the entry fee (not much more). If I played it out and finished 2nd I would have received only 33 times the entry fee.
Furthermore, the 16X difference for finishing 2nd is enormous compared to a mere 7X difference if I made a 60/40 deal. I thought my opponent would also be getting great value here considering he only had about a THIRD of the remaining chips, but he must have had a drastically different take on this.
At my bullshit corporate job it would take me about 40 hours to clear just over $500 (considering taxes), and here I am pulling in a $582 profit at the conclusion of a 2-hour tournament. The draws of poker are nearly impossible for me to ignore.
I don’t have the sample size to determine if it is feasible to play mostly SNG turbos and make a profit consistently enough. The variance is ridiculous, but then again the players are far worse. I have a feeling there are people out there who have made a steady income stream on a month-to-month basis playing turbos, but I think you might be living a pretty stressful existence if your livelihood depends on winning SNG turbos.
If anyone has any feedback here please comment?
However, if you play online poker I think it is important to mix it up and take chances in moderation. I really don’t see a problem with taking a small percentage of your cash game winnings to play some turbos (if you are in fact winning your cash games and a solid tournament player). The turbo SNG sessions were not a huge financial risk on my part, but I normally wouldn’t invest much money into turbo SNG tournaments due to the variance and luck involved. I was just pressed for time and wanted to get in some good poker. I figured even if I busted all the tournaments I would have only been down -$59, and I could live with that.
I didn’t place in the other 3 $12 turbos. In the $11 180-man regular I finished 16th, but it was a very small profit margin.
I’m going to cut this post off now. I was going to discuss the party I had and moving home, but that will be broken up into a separate posts at a later time.
Starting Bankroll: $2,507
Ending Bankroll: $3,053
Net Profit: +$546
Man maybe I should consider playing another session with 5 $12 180-man SNG turbos. Strike while I’m hot right?
Cheers,
-bag
Reader Comments (5)
You are better than me I never chop. I don't care about the stats of where i finish I just feel like I have an edge on most people. Unless the blinds got ridiculously high and I was playing a reg then I might consider but imo chops are -ev. Anyways the variance can be ridiculous crazy in this thing. I just came out of a 2k downswing and now on a heater. There are a lot of players out there making consistent money but if it is your only job I def can see how it can be stressful. I mean the money doesn't mean shit to me because I grinded my bankroll up from an initial $75 deposit but the swings still can get annoying. Good luck in the future.
wbmustang
Also, if you have a consistent job I think you really need to evaluate your benefits, salary, savings, etc before just trying the poker thing. Many people try and few succeed but if you have the drive and will to work you will make it.
wb,
Thanks for the thoughts. When you went on your 2k downswing what format were you playing? 45, 90, or 180 person SNG turbos? I also grinded my online bankroll from a small starting amount so I know what you mean.
Good point about the job. I've really been evaluating it intensely over the past half a year and I have concluded this is really my chance to take a shot. If I stuck around here I would be quitting anyway and starting with another job from ground-zero. Even if I left, pursued poker, and failed I really wouldn't be set back much. Maybe I would lose 6-months of "corporate experience?"
Those 6-months seem irrelevant in the overall scheme of life.
-bag
I feel you on that then. I would try to take a Leave Of Absence if anything just to be on the safe side. But, you might be to the point where you really hate your job though. I mean I really wanted to go pro too but I got shitted on this year and learned a lot but maybe that was my price I had to pay. We will see what happens next year. I play 45's and 180's but mainly playing the 180's this month.
wb,
An extended Leave Of Absence is not possible with my position. However, I actually did ask if it would be possible to continue working remotely. Since nothing I really do requires me to be at the office all day (most of my work is in spreadsheets and databases). It was a completely reasonable proposal, but the idea seems pretty much shot down by the bureaucracy. But I hate this job anyway, so salvaging it seems silly.
When I move I'm going to have at least 3 separate bank accounts (a fixed account for rent, an account for bankroll, and an account for everyday living expenses). If I'm running really poorly I plan to step back and at least pick up some part time work in Vegas. I might even immediately begin looking for something part-time. A part time gig might be really important for life balance, even if I can accomplish what I expect on the tables. I may consider coaching tennis even if I am making enough playing cards to support myself, since I love doing it. If my playing bankroll hits a certain minimum I will step back, vigorously job search, and just play live on the weekends until I regroup.
Sorry things didn't work out great, what pushed you away you from going pro? Good luck on the tables, hope that heater is ever-lasting. I'm going to play some 180 turbos tonight, hoping to post later on.
Cheers,
-bag