Quicker Exit Than Last Year...

I didn't make to the dinner break this year :-(

The big lesson learned is that one is crippled without rebuy power in a rebuy tourney--duh. I'm especially disappointed that all three times I got knocked out (the two satellites and the tourney), I was all-in and ahead before the flop and got bad-beat on the flop. I wish I could have one at least one of these.

First of all, the stats: 879 entrants, 81 paying places. The $1K entry fee got you 2K in chips. You could rebuy at anytime with a stack of 2K chips or less for $1K (2K more chips) or $2K (4K more chips)--I'm pretty sure that's right, but going in, I thought you could only rebuy for $1K/2K chips until the break, then you could do the big rebuy. The rebuys need to be made in tournament or casino chips--no cash. I didn't see where I placed...

Unlike last year, there were no interesting hands of mine to talk about. I started off by shaking hands with Amarillo Slim to get some karma, but a guy at my table said maybe that wasn't such a good idea since he hadn't won anything in a long while. The Master was sitting at a table behind me--maybe I should have shook his hand instead. Strike 1.

With rebuys, everyone else was playing fast and loose. One guy rebought once right away for $1K and twice more during play, and once more for $2K right before the break. On one hand, he made a $3K call with a pair of 2s and lost to Js--pretty unbelievable. I would have liked to see how he fared going forward seeing that he was in for at least $6K (I don't remember what his two during-play rebuys were).

Part of the table image was people putting their 1K/5K tournament/casino chips on the table to show they were ready to rebuy. One guy from France didn't realize that you couldn't rebuy with cash, but an English guy sitting next to him graciously gave him 4K in chips for $2K from the French guy's wad of $10K--the English guy had at least $10K in chips in his pouch. I say graciously because the French guy had busted out, and you need to make a rebuy before the cards come back around after your busted hand.

Only one guy (I didn't recognize him, but he was a bracelet winner), didn't rebuy besides me, but he had a series of monster hands, the first being flopping a straight with J-10, going all-in, and getting two callers. He probably had 8k in chips at the first break.

At the first break, I was down to 700 in chips (from 2K)--I had "won" only one hand. That qualified me for low stack (maybe in the tournament) which was compounded even more when everyone (except that one guy) rebought. Strike 2.

So the rest of the play after the first break was uneventful. I eventually went all-in from the button after two guys limped in. One guy thought about it for a while and called. The other guy folded. I flipped over Q-J and he flipped over 10-9. A nine comes on the flop and the turn and river were of no help to me. I couldn't blame the guy for calling since the size of my stack was small relative to his, but still I want to whine again about losing after being ahead all three times I played and losing. But that's poker...Strike 3.

It's so lame to say "I didn't get any cards," but I really really really really really didn't get any cards. Without rebuy power, I probably played a little tighter than usual, but the plan of playing tight against loose players and pouncing when getting something pre-flop failed to materialize without getting anything. So if there is a next year, I'll either not play a tourney with rebuys or have enough ammo to do so.

Satellite Suckouts...

Bought the $1K ticket for tomorrow (no additional entry fee).

Played two satellites ($175 + $225 = $400), so I had to kick in an additional $100 into the kitty since we had a total of $1300. Two suckout stories:

The first one, I made it to heads up against an old dude who looked like my plumber. He had about 5x stack on me and offered to give me back my satellite entry fee. I whined for a bit more, but he said no, so we played it. Second hand, I go all in (K-6) and he calls (Q-4). He hits is Q on the flop. Turn gives me an outside straight draw in addition to outs with the K. Fifth street = nada.

The second one was more quick and painless, but still a suckout loss. One guy out already. I went all in with a slightly smaller stack than the eventual caller. I was ahead--he made his inside straight.

So I'll just play the $1K tomorrow without any rebuys. As Dylan would say, I'm getting my bad strokes out before the tourney...

Moving Day, Part Deux...

Just to be clear, now that we're at $950, that means that, at this point, I'll up the kitty so there's enough for the seat + 1 satellite.

BTW, I have a lunch bet with one of my investors--he's/she's betting that we won't get to $1K before 6pm tonight. I'm tasting that 20x20 at In-N-Out as we speak...

Moving Day...

Well, moving day in the sense that my fat whatever is getting on a plane with AP to go from 55 degrees to 105 degrees. We are presently at $850 which means, as per my last post, I will definitely buy a seat now. Another $50 and it's a seat + one satellite guaranteed.

Remember, even at $850, I might get the fever and kick in the extra coin to also play a satellite. Also remember that , as per a previous post, I'm only playing 1 satellite if I have to kick in extra funds for the seat + satellite. If we get investment beyond seat + x satellites, I'll kick in funds to make it x+1 satellites.

Got all that???

Countdown to WSOP...

We are now at $700. If we get to $800, I'll kick in the rest to guarantee me a seat (note that's different from my last email I sent out). Otherwise, I'd have to use the monies in satellites (at this point, I have to do that). If we get to $900, I'll kick in additional funds to get a seat AND play one satellite (also different from the email I sent out).

Remember:

• If it's at $800 and I kick in an additional $200, my share jumps to 30%.
• If it's at $900 and I kick in an additional $300 (seat + 1 satellite), my share jumps to $33%.

I'm assuming the seat is $1,000--there might be an additional "fee" (I can't remember). If there is, I'll boost my share accordingly...

Cheers, CSH

One more thing. I might need to "buy" more shares (thus diluting the return on investment) in order to make things work:

<$1K:

1. Let's say I lose some satellites and have $75 left. Well, that's not enough for another satellite, so I'll invest more money up to the point that I can play a satellite (thus diluting the return on investment for everyone else). If I lose that one (and thus be out of money), I'll decide whether I want to invest more money (thus diluting return on investment even further) to play another satellite. Note that if I didn't do that, investors would have no chance of getting a return on their investment.
2. The other possibility is that if we are close to the entry fee in terms of investment, I might simply supplement the pool to guarantee that I can pay the entry fee (thus diluting the pool). I'll dilute the pool only enough to buy the entry fee and play just one satellite.
   

>$1K:

• I'll possibly dilute at each level ($1K, $2K, $3K, and $4K) only once in order to have enough money to buy a satellite. For example, let's say that somehow I get to $1,075. I'll buy enough shares to cover the difference between the satellite entry fee and the $75. If I lose, that's it--I'll just wait for the tournament. If I win and lose so that I'm back down to a total that doesn't give me enough money to play another satellite (for example, $1,050--$1K for the entry fee and $50 remaining), I'll stop and distribute the remainder after paying the tournament entry fee. If I win and go to the next level ($2K), I'll make up the difference only once to play a satellite, and so on...
  

Here's my current thinking on strategy. The total amount of money invested will influence my behavior. Let's start from the bottom since that's where we are now:

<$1K: I'll use the money to play satellites to get to the $1K entry fee. If I reach more than $1K, the >$1K strategy below applies.

>$1K: I'll use $1K for the entry fee. Anything above the $1K, I will use in satellites. If I reach more than $1K (so a total of >$2K), the >$2K strategy below applies.

>$2K: I'll use $2K for the entry fee and one re-buy. Anything above the $2K, I will use in satellites. If I reach more than $1K (so a total of >$3K), the >$3K strategy below applies.

>$3K: , I'll use $3K for the entry fee and one or two re-buys. Anything above the $3K, I will use in satellites. If I reach more than $1K (so a total of >$3K), the >$4K strategy below applies.

>$4K: I'll use $4K for the entry fee and two re-buys. Anything above the $4K, I will use in satellites. Whatever I win in those satellites I will return to the investors regardless of the tournament outcome.