Final Table Report - 10/28/19

After a dry spell, another victory on the $20 Freebies.  Also finished at the bubble on the same tourney later the same day (5th place; 4 get paid).

Non-Cash Winnings
Date	Site	Name	Position	Field	Winnings
10/28/19	888 NJ	$20 Freebies Freeroll	2	31	$5 tourney tix

TwoPlusTwo Threads of Interest

A lot of interesting content at twoplustwo:

• Concept of the Week Thread -- a large collection of threads of a variety of poker concepts.
• Best of Low-Stakes Threads -- a "best of" collection.
• Best of High-Stakes Threads -- another "best of" collection.
• Microstakes Strategy -- threads aimed at microstakes.

Final Table Report - 10/21/19

A decent run today.  A few good flops near the end to take me to fifth place in two tournaments.

Cash Winnings
Date	Site	Name	Position	Field	Winnings
10/19/19	888 NJ	$100 Daily Freeroll	5	176	$4.60
10/19/19	888 NJ	$50 Daily Freeroll	5	168	$2.90

Eight Days of $20 Freeroll

I've had some phenomenal luck on the $20 Freebies Freeroll in the past eight days.  Looking at games play starting on October 13, 2019 (@ 6:05am) and ending with the tournament on October 21, 2019 @ 6:05am, I see the following:

• 16 tournaments played.
• Reached the final table in 10 tournaments -- 62.5%.
• In the money 6 times -- 37.5%.

As discussed in a previous post, I should've been ITM in a recent match. (A combination of bad strategy on my part, and unexpected play on by a character on the table.)  That would've put my ITM % over 40%.  (That would rank with my best ITM%--see here.)

Amazing!  I hope my good luck holds. 😎

Should've Folded QQ & AK Preflop

Played in the $20 Freebies freeroll this evening.  On the final table, there was a lucky break where 3 people were knocked out in an all-in.  After that, I was fourth out of five (& 4 get paid). The fifth person was "sitting out" and slowly being blinded out.

I had QQ in early position with the 5th person in the big blind and all-in.  I called the big blind with two others.  I was expecting everyone to check down so that any one of us would take out the fifth.  (Explicit coordination is not permitted, but this type of implicit agreement would've benefited the group vis-a-vis the player on the bubble.)

But, with an ace on the table, someone bet.... with junk! I folded to the bet (as a pair of aces would've taken me out), but I would have won and us four would've been paid.  Ugh! 🤢 Instead the big blind took it and continued to survive while sitting out.

An orbit later, I had AK in early position and called again.  (I should've checked my stack before doing this--see below--since I had so few blinds left.) I folded again against a raiser.

The next hand I was "all in" in the big blind.  I had AQ but Q7 took me out when a 7 landed.  Ugh. 🤢

Out 5th place.  No ITM.  The "sitting out" player got paid.

I should've folded those two hands (or maybe went all-in with QQ) and let the others take out the player.

Non-Cash Winnings
Date	Site	Name	Position	Field	Winnings
10/20/19	888 NJ	$20 Freebies Freeroll	5	98	n/a

Final Table Report - 10/19/19

Two ITM final tables today.

Cash Winnings
Date	Site	Name	Position	Field	Winnings
10/19/19	PartyPoker NJ	$50 Freeroll	5	136	$2.00
Non-Cash Winnings
Date	Site	Name	Position	Field	Winnings
10/19/19	888 NJ	$20 Freebies Freeroll	3	62	$5 tourney tix

Final Table Report - 10/18/19

Just made final table.  All in w/ 77... against two players (each with JA).  Things were going well until the river... "hello, Mr. Ace!"

According to the Cards Chat odds calculator, I had a 61.82% pre-flop to win.  See also here (heads up calc).  By the turn, my equity went up to about 90%.  Well, 1-out-of-10 happened and I was gone.

Cash Winnings
Date	Site	Name	Position	Field	Winnings
10/18/19	888 NJ	$100 Bonus Freeroll	9	152	$2.10

It All Nets to Zero

Well, playing all those 10 cent Blasts haven't done me all that good.

According to PokerProLabs (as of 10/18/19 @ 6:50pm):

Game	Games Played	Average Profit	Average ROI %	Total Profit	Buy-In	ITM %	Wins/Loses
10c BLAST	556	$0.00	0	$0.00	$0.10	41.91	233/323

Final Table Report - 10/16/19

Another ITM on the $20 Freebies Freeroll (in addition to a no-ITM finish yesterday).  Of the last 6 events, 5 final tables and 4 ITM finishes.

Non-Cash Winnings
Date	Site	Name	Position	Field	Winnings
10/16/19	888 NJ	$20 Freebies Freeroll	2	39	$5 tourney tix

Final Table Report - 10-15-19

Continuing my streak, another ITM for the $20 freeroll.  ITM on 4 out of the last 5 games (and final table in all five).

Non-Cash Winnings
Date	Site	Name	Position	Field	Winnings
10/15/19	888 NJ	$20 Freebies Freeroll	4	34	$5 tourney tix

This time I had bad phone connection and so missed at least one (likely) profitable hand: JJ.  But, I benefited from questionable play from the at-one-time chip leader. Specifically, he was calling "all-ins" too often, and ended up losing an all-in with A8 against A9 (an 8 had landed on the flop but the river delivered the 9).  At that point of the game I had 3-4 big blinds -- well behind everyone else.  In my opinion, I think he should've waited me out and it wasn't the time for betting all-in with A8.  (The caller had substantially more chips and so probably could've still cashed if he had a loss.)

PokerProlabs now lists by ITM % on this tourney at 10.62%. 

Final Table Report - 10-14-19

Another ITM finish in the $20 freeroll.  For the last four I've paid, I have 4 final table appearances, and 3 cashes!

Non-Cash Winnings
Date	Site	Name	Position	Field	Winnings
10/14/19	888 NJ	$20 Freebies Freeroll	3	99	$5 tourney tix

I will admit that a bit of luck played a big role.  On final table I went all-in with QQ only to be called with AA.  I ended up landing a Q on the turn and knocked out the other player.  See equity calc. Early in the tourney I hit a flush that I really needed to supplement my stack.  Still that's the way the poker goes sometimes...

Better lucky than good?

Achievements

It looks like SharkScope gives out "achievements" when you play.  I've gotten a number of them.  Interesting.

You can view them here. 😏

Final Table Report - 10-13-19

Well, an interesting day.  Made it to the final table of the three 888 NJ $20 Freerolls (6:05am, 12:05pm and 6:05pm).  Cashed in two of them. 👍 Pretty excited by that.

Non-Cash Winnings
Date	Site	Name	Position	Field	Winnings
10/13/19	888 NJ	$20 Freebies Freeroll	3	85	$5 tourney tix
10/13/19	888 NJ	$20 Freebies Freeroll	4	83	$5 tourney tix

I've had more success in this tournament lately.  It's one of the tourneys I enjoy the most.  (Now I need to learn to convert those tourney tix into real bucks. 💸)

I had an ITM % on October 6, 2019 of 8.61% for this tournament.  It's currently at 9.82%.

A Lawsuit Has Been Filed

The Mike Postle cheating allegation controversy continues unabated.  In my opinion, after reading material and watching videos, I think the allegations are likely true.  (But I have an open mind -- there's a 0.2% chance I could be convinced otherwise. 😉 )

At least one lawsuit has been filed.  The papers are available here.

Helpfully, a reddit post has taken the time to summarize it.  Enjoy!

80K played - 80% done

On an upper trend. Slow moving, but improving.

	Rating	Cumulative	# of Hands	Cumulative
Day 61	10.3	14.97	1000	62098
Day 62	8.94	14.87	1000	63098
Day 63	13.11	14.84	1000	64098
Day 64	11.2	14.8	1000	65098
Day 65	12.92	14.77	1001	66099
Day 66	10.42	14.7	1000	67099
Day 67	9.93	14.64	1005	68104
Day 68	12.9	14.61	1000	69104
Day 69	10.17	14.58	1000	70104
Day 70	12.59	14.56	1012	71116
Day 71	15.56	14.57	1000	72116
Day 72	13.13	14.55	1000	73116
Day 73	8.2	14.43	1000	74116
Day 74	14.8	14.48	1000	75116
Day 75	12.82	14.46	1004	76120
Day 76	10.16	14.4	1001	77121
Day 77	10.07	14.35	1000	78121
Day 78	9.52	14.22	1000	79121
Day 79	8.13	14.14	1000	80121
Day 80	10.93	14.1	1002	81123

Here's info after each 20K:

	Cumulative	Cumulative
After 20K	16.51	20567
After 40K	15.31	40939
After 60K	15.07	61098
After 80K	14.10	81123

Final Table Report - 10-11-19

A fun one tonight.  Two final tables in one night.

In the first, a 4th place finish. (My AK losing to KK.  See equity calc.  I had a flush draw that didn't end up connecting.) In the second, a 3rd place finish.  Adding that one to my trophy case.

Cash Winnings
Date	Site	Name	Position	Field	Winnings
10/11/19	888 NJ	$100 Bonus Freeroll	4	167	$6.10
10/11/19	888 NJ	$50 Freeroll	3	162	$4.30

Final Table Report - 10-10-19

Another finish for my trophy case.  Happy to cash in the $20 freeroll (& earn a $5 tourney ticket).

Non-Cash Winnings
Date	Site	Name	Position	Field	Winnings
10/10/19	888 NJ	$20 Freebies Freeroll	1	37	$5 tourney tix

Three Mistakes

After complaining about my in-the-money percentage in the $20 freeroll (see this post), I was successful in securing a $5 tourney ticket.

In the process I saw three mistakes players made (in my opinion):

1. Limping & Not Raising.  My first hand of the day was Ace/Ten offsuit and I was in the big blind.  Two players limped in (that is, they called the big blind without raising).  This allowed me to see the flop for free.  There was an Ace and Ten on the flop giving me two pair.  But the end of the hand another Ten landed -- a full house!  I was able to triple my stack on the first hand of the tournament and knocked two opponents out.  Not sure if I would've folded to a raise -- but I don't fold if the cards are free.  Neither do your opponents.
2. Not Calling with Great Pot Odds.  In this tournament four players get paid.  When the table was down to five players, the following happened.  The player on the bubble was blinding out.  In fact, he was in the big blind and was "all in".  The small blind could call with a minimal bet.  Although I don't recall the exactly numbers it was something like 150 chips versus a pot of 3000.  I believe it represented less than 10% of the small blinds stack.  More importantly, that teeny tiny little bet, if won, would've knocked the other player out and vaulted us all into the money.  The amount of the bet would've been inconsequential and could've ended the game.  Instead the player of the bubble got a free pass and took down the pot (with antes) uncontested. 
3. Raising at the Bubble.  The next time the player on the bubble was "all in," he had two callers.  For some reason, one of those players raised (same player as discussed in #2) and the other player folded. I really don't know why.  All players receive the same prize -- so chip accumulation is no longer important; survival is.  If the other player folded the best hand (and the raiser actually had the worst hand), the player on the bubble would've received another huge windfall. Alternatively, if the other player had a great hand and went "all in," what would have the raiser done?  Checking all the way through would've been the easiest way for victory.  I don't see the logic of raising at all.   

In any case, a fun tournament.

ITM% Update

A small update on my ITM%.  Not too much change since I last measured.

Site	Name	ITM %	ITM %
888 NJ	$50 Daily Freeroll	41.43%	41.46%
888 NJ	$100 Daily Freeroll	33.96%	34.92%
WSOJ NJ	$100 Daily Freeroll	26.67%	26.09%
PartyPoker NJ	$20 Freeroll	24.44%	25.25%
PartyPoker NJ	$50 Freeroll	21.24%	22.00%
PartyPoker NJ	$10 Freeroll	21.21%	18.75%
WSOJ NJ	$25 Daily Freeroll	19.23%	19.23%
888 NJ	$20 Freebies Freeroll	9.38%	8.61%

Measured at around 4:30pm on October 5, 2019 from PokerProLabs.  The left column is my first measurement.  The other is the most recent one.

I would like to up my win rate on the $20 Freebies Freeroll.  There are 4 winners with a $5 tourney ticket each.  This is a short-stacked tourney so I think I need to study push/shove strategy more.

Final Table Report - 10-5-19

A bronze finish for the trophy case. :)

Cash Winnings
Date	Site	Name	Position	Field	Winnings
10/5/19	PartyPoker NJ	$50 Freeroll	3	188	$5.00

I had AA on the final hand.  I raised and got called.  The third player went all-in.  I called.  Unfortunately a flush landed and the chip leader sweeped himself to victory.

Is Postle a cheat?

In my opinion, the evidence appears to be mounting.  Lots of interesting content out there.

See, for example [language warning]:  Doug Polk Analysis; Andreas Froehli Poker.  A summary article is here.

The hands I've seen look pretty damning--but it's possible there's some type of selection bias.  According to this article, Mike Postle said the following:

I’m having a third party compile a large amount of hands disproving this. I play reckless, high-variance poker. While most decisions are correct, I’m wrong often too.

It would be good to get someone doing a systematic study of the issue.  If I had to bet, however, I'd put money on something untoward going on.

Here is a list of ten suspicious hands:

1. Bluff Catches with Kings Despite Multiple Players Behind Him 
2. Calls Two Preflop All-Ins With Five-High 
3. Floats Five-High Three Ways, Bluffs All In on Turn 
4. Induces a Bluff, Then Reshoves Weak Pair on River 
5. Check-Calls Down Against Two Players, Donk-Shoves River When Everyone Misses 
6. Cold-Calls Six-High Against a Four-Bet, Gets 440 Big Blinds in While Ahead on Turn 
7. Loses the Minimum After River Cooler 
8. Executes Huge Re-Bluff in Large Pot With Players Behind 
9. Barrels All In With Air Against Two Check-Calls on Dangerous Board 
10. Gets in Second Pair After Huge Preflop Action Multiple Ways

Update:  Here is a really good summary article.

A reddit thread with a video claiming to highlight when the cheating started.