Well, this was meant to be the last “scene setting” post before I actually have to man up and give this outrageous proposition an attempt, however I have to go to America for two weeks where internet poker is not something I'll have time for. I'll instead fob you off with a few poker posts just to whet your appetite further.
I'm sure I'm not the first person to try to a run like this, and I'm sure I won't be the last. Between Rounders and the aptly named Chris Moneymaker, I'm convinced umpteen people have given this a shot. Even more recently, the guy who won the APT Macau event was a $5 satellite qualifier – stories are rife about poker players turning a pittance into a fortune.
(I also vaguely remember Full Tilt running something similar years ago with Jesus Ferguson as a marketing ploy, although I've drunken several litres of whiskey since then and I may be having a bit of a moment.)
Anyway, no matter how fun tangents are, lets get back to business. How will I do this? Simples.
I'm going to use a mix of internet and live play. When I play live, there are a few free-to-enter pub poker leagues that I'll give a shot at, and online obviously means freerolls. The pub league stuff, I will admit, I'm not confident on. I won the first “season” to get through to the finals tournaments and everything when it was a standard format no problem, however the second “season” is a turbo tournament with 15 minute blinds, and the amounts doubling each time to boot. Its an odd blend of needing to be ultra aggressive yet, because its league based, having to outlast the other lemmings. It is a fun format, and rather stressful, but you need the skill of a sack of potatoes to play it.
Freerolls, are much the same for the first few levels. You get the people who just shove with anything to try to accumulate chips as quickly as they can, but once the field thins of them they turn into pretty competitive games.
With any live progress, I will just go as far as I can in tournaments and then re-invest the cash in either online play or bigger stakes tournaments. With any and all freeroll winnings, I expect a mix of one table Sit and Go's (I'm forever playing them...) and tournaments with decent guarantees and low buy ins.
So that is it, the modus operandi. In theory it all sounds perfectly reasonable. In practice...
Tuesday, 1 September 2009
Wednesday, 26 August 2009
The Rules of the Game
In order to take part in my metaphorical land grab, I will abide by a certain set of rules. Contrary to what certain people who enjoy shouting at public events feel, a few rules are always needed. In order to try what I'm trying fairly, the following shall be observed. Also, this will be treated as a version 1.1 of the rules, as I'm sure that some will need to be added and tinkered with a bit. Anyway, to business...
1) No Cash Games!
I will try to do all of this via tournament. With a cash game, I can just earn a few bucks off of a freeroll or something and then just sit on a table and wait for the big hands while trying not to get blinded out. That just seems to be against the whole spirit of the experiment, ya dig?
2) Multiple Poker Rooms!
I'll let myself use multiple poker rooms, however rules must be obeyed. Some poker sites have better low stakes sit and go's, some have good guaranteed for low buy in tournaments. Either way, I'll have to use a few. But the rule must stand that if I move money between sites, I can't use any sign up bonus', and I must re-invest everything. I also can't play using existing accounts.
3) No side games!
Some sites, PKR for example, offer little side games such as Blackjack, Roulette and Casino Hold'em. If I'm a dollar or two short of a buy in, I sometimes use these to earn a quick buck. However, not in this little experiment we have. To quote the surrender monkeys, c'est interdit.
4) No topping up the money!
No matter how tempted I am, I must not top up the account. I don't care how bad a beat that may put me out, how stupid a call... if I loose it all and go back to scratch, so be it.
That's it for now. If you can think of any others, please let me know in the comment section. I'm tempted to say I'm not allowed to play with any of my real money accounts with money I have anyway, but I don't know. There are times when I would like to be able to just play. Let me know what you think.
1) No Cash Games!
I will try to do all of this via tournament. With a cash game, I can just earn a few bucks off of a freeroll or something and then just sit on a table and wait for the big hands while trying not to get blinded out. That just seems to be against the whole spirit of the experiment, ya dig?
2) Multiple Poker Rooms!
I'll let myself use multiple poker rooms, however rules must be obeyed. Some poker sites have better low stakes sit and go's, some have good guaranteed for low buy in tournaments. Either way, I'll have to use a few. But the rule must stand that if I move money between sites, I can't use any sign up bonus', and I must re-invest everything. I also can't play using existing accounts.
3) No side games!
Some sites, PKR for example, offer little side games such as Blackjack, Roulette and Casino Hold'em. If I'm a dollar or two short of a buy in, I sometimes use these to earn a quick buck. However, not in this little experiment we have. To quote the surrender monkeys, c'est interdit.
4) No topping up the money!
No matter how tempted I am, I must not top up the account. I don't care how bad a beat that may put me out, how stupid a call... if I loose it all and go back to scratch, so be it.
That's it for now. If you can think of any others, please let me know in the comment section. I'm tempted to say I'm not allowed to play with any of my real money accounts with money I have anyway, but I don't know. There are times when I would like to be able to just play. Let me know what you think.
Monday, 24 August 2009
Welcome!
Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to this shiny new blog. I am The Card Shrimp, and please let me take your coats. Would you like a drink?
The idea behind this is to test whether it is actually possible, as many of the overly glamorised poker adverts would have you believe, to start from a bankroll of $0 and turn it into something meaningful.
Now, confession time. No, I am not a complete newbie to the poker world. I've played for a few years (with varying degrees of success) and sort of know what I'm doing. I am hardly the best poker player out there, but I can do okay. I play a nice mix of online and live, however shy away from cash tables. I'm a tight player, cash tables just seem to clash with my style.
The thinking behind doing this is that playing for real money is becoming a tad dull. I don't play for huge stakes live, and frankly online if I pay for more than $20 its a small miracle. I think I've been getting a bit bleurgh about my play recently, and so want a new challenge without staking lots of money. This is it. Can I turn a starting balance of $0 into something worthwhile.
Right, now all that boring stuff is out of the way lets get down to business. Coming up this week will be the rules of engagement and how I plan to do it. Then the fun part begins...
The Card Shrimp
The idea behind this is to test whether it is actually possible, as many of the overly glamorised poker adverts would have you believe, to start from a bankroll of $0 and turn it into something meaningful.
Now, confession time. No, I am not a complete newbie to the poker world. I've played for a few years (with varying degrees of success) and sort of know what I'm doing. I am hardly the best poker player out there, but I can do okay. I play a nice mix of online and live, however shy away from cash tables. I'm a tight player, cash tables just seem to clash with my style.
The thinking behind doing this is that playing for real money is becoming a tad dull. I don't play for huge stakes live, and frankly online if I pay for more than $20 its a small miracle. I think I've been getting a bit bleurgh about my play recently, and so want a new challenge without staking lots of money. This is it. Can I turn a starting balance of $0 into something worthwhile.
Right, now all that boring stuff is out of the way lets get down to business. Coming up this week will be the rules of engagement and how I plan to do it. Then the fun part begins...
The Card Shrimp
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