PokerPilotKH

$0 to $10K - My Way, Update #38

2015-05-13T13:27:00.008-04:00

Spring has Sprung, the grass is ris - I wonder where the birdies is.

Not a lot to report on the Poker front since my last blog, March 1, 2015. I haven't played very much online, just under 200 games. I am slowing this $0 to $10K challenge, as I removed $2K (my just rewards) earlier. I may pick it up in the fall.

I did have a few cashes in Live tourneys:

At York Region Poker League 1st of 89 for $2000
At Lions Club 1st of 45 for $ 660
At Casino Rama 3rd of 79 for $1368
At YRPL #15, Chop for 1st of 78 for $1400

So not a total waste for March and April.

Here is the latest chart:

$0 to $10K - My Way, Update #37

2015-03-01T09:28:00.002-05:00

Here we go again. Another downturn!! Just like the weather during December, January and through all of February - it just won't quit.

Here's the chart:

So I am at $2293.86 as at 28Feb2015, that's $895.67 down in just 600+ games. A drop of 28%! Brrrr!

I'll just keep doing what I do and warmer days will return.

Hope springs eternal in the human Breast .... (Alexander Pope, An Essay on Man)

Fallsview Casino - Niagara Falls

It wasn't all bad in December, January and February. I did have some success on the green felt at The Niagara Fallsview Poker Classic (WPT) in February and at the York Region Poker League (YRPL).

I was 36 out of 1190, at Fallsview, on February 8 and 9, 2015, for a score of $5.58K.

At York Region Poker League I was 1/ 89 for $2K on 27Feb2015.

Maybe the turnaround has started.

$0 to $10K - My Way, Update #36

2014-12-06T09:24:00.002-05:00

It has been two months since my last Blog. Poker continues at a slower pace. Hopefully with the bad weather starting early I will be indoors a lot and thus more games.

I played only 106 games, with little success.

However I did OK playing a few live tournaments and a live cash game. These games do not count towards my $0 to $10K challenge, as that is an online challenge only.

I did win another live tourney at York Region Poker League. Here's the photo.

And here's the chart. After that nice run up from game #3650 to game # 3950 a slow decline is evident. Tournament Poker is so variable!

$0 to $10K - My Way, Update #35

2014-10-02T13:45:00.002-04:00

I am still playing some live Poker. The good month I had on-line continued with this live win and my 5th Royal Flush in an online game of PLO.

September 12, 2014

YRPL Tournament and 2014/15 Championship Qualifying Event #1 - 101 runners.

A happy poker player at 03:30 !

"3 Way Chop at 3:30 in the Morning between the PokerPilot, the AceTenBomber & Angelo K with the PP coming out on top for the trophy! "

$0 to $10K - My Way, Update #34

2014-10-02T13:36:00.000-04:00

Best Month so far.

Now at $3128.31 an increase of $926.84 in only 59 games. In an earlier Blog I have a discussion of "variance". This is a good example of upside variance. It is a win rate that is not sustainable, but I like it right now! The last month is a great example of the poker term "Run Good".

$0 to $10K - My Way, Update #33

2014-09-01T14:52:00.001-04:00

It's been a quiet summer of Poker.

Some travel to Europe and family matters kept me away from the tables. However, when I played I did well.

I was at $1,981.73 on the July 4th entry and I am now at new high of $2,231.95 for a gain of about $200.00.

The last 100 games were quite a rush; doubling my bankroll in 100 games is more than can be expected, at these stakes. (I was down to $1,000 on June 4th.) Yeah me !! lol.

Here's the chart by date:

I prefer the chart by number of games: This chart removes time as a factor and reflects the ups & downs more accurately, I think. Given that this project is approaching it's 3rd year, I am going to consider only the number of games as a reference for future charts.

To cap the summer off, I had another Royal Flush (my 4th) on September 26, 2014.

The challenge continues.

$0 to $10K - My Way, Update #32

2014-07-04T09:53:00.003-04:00

Canada Day

4th of July

I am getting close to a new high. I attach my chart and a sample of my Excel database.

$0 to $10K - My Way, Update #31

2014-06-24T11:41:00.003-04:00

The challenge continues. Since my recent monetary withdrawal from PokerStars, I have been playing on the Party Poker site. I have had a very good run.

Balance as at 24June 2014 = $1917.14.

Here's the chart by number of games:

$0 to $10K - My Way, Update #30

2014-05-05T18:23:00.000-04:00

Time to make a withdrawal!

I have decided to take some of my "Just Rewards"! After over two years and 3500+ games it's time to take some profits. The chart below summarizes my progress in my $0 to $10K challenge. I peaked at $2059.42 and after the withdrawal, I still have enough to play with and continue the challenge.

Having never cashed out from an on-line Poker site, I wanted to test the process. The withdrawal from PokerStars was as advertised. I requested a cheque on 26Apr 2014 and received it on 05May 2014. That's 9 days and well within the promised times.

Thanks PokerStars.

Winner Winner - Chicken Dinner! (YRPL #11 - 28Feb 2014)

2014-03-01T11:50:00.001-05:00

$0 to $10K - My Way, Update #29

2014-02-26T13:46:00.002-05:00

Things are looking up!

As at January 31, 2014 I have $1930.23 in my bankroll. So, not a bad January and start to 2014. Maybe my hand reviews and yearly review is paying off. Maybe I just got lucky?

I promised myself that I would not play any more cash games in the $10K challenge in 2014.

But... I did and won $145.01 in January. A game known as "$0.05 / $0.10 No Limit Omaha High/Low" is just so much fun... and I think one should have a little fun while one grinds away! The grind continues...................

$0 to $10K - My Way, Update #28

2014-02-26T13:27:00.003-05:00

2013 - Year In Review

It`s all about the bottom line, right?

I started the year with $1,806.85 and finished with $1,387.41. That's a loss of $419.44 or 23.2%.

My maximum bankroll was $2080.79 and my minimum bankroll was $612.00. So it was quite a ride in 2013.

Here's the 2013 chart:

On the 24th of April and the 7th of June I lost 14% and 21% of my bankroll for a huge hit.
I did have a great 25th of September with a 74% increase in my then depleted bankroll. (I finished 2nd out of 1,715 players for $514.50 on a $2.75 buy-in.)

My poorest performance was in cash games where I made $2,178.80 but lost $2,417.80 for a net loss of $239.00. (I'll avoid cash games in 2014.)

My best games were the low buy-in Sit n Go's. An 18 person, $7.00 game, was my bread and butter profit, followed by the low buy-in large field tournaments. So, I'll play more of these in 2014 until my bankroll gets above $3,000.00.

Better luck next year, as the grind will continue.

$0 to $10K - My Way, Update #27

2013-10-02T10:26:00.003-04:00

Two year anniversary of this challenge!

Just had a nice cash. 2nd out of 1715, in a $2.75 buy-in on PokerStars, for $515. That's just what I need to get my challenge restarted. Did you notice the $2.75 buy-in? I am still playing micro stakes, in an effort to rebuild my Bankroll.

Now at $1192.81. Here's the chart.

Those spikes are essential to have.

This is very typical of Tournament Poker. Lots of small loses while you wait for the big score.

This can be very challenging for those who hate to lose. It is why Bankroll Management is such a key to success in Poker.

I started this $0 to $10K challenge to test the Bankroll Management techniques, discussed much earlier in this Blog and reproduced below;

Here's my original post from September 2011. (I have been at this for two years!)

How much money can I earn, starting with $0?

As an experiment, I have decided to try to earn as much as possible, $10,000 even, starting with $0.00.

Here's how: I'll enter some freeroll tournaments on the Betfair Poker Site. When I cash in a freeroll I'll win maybe $.02, maybe $0.10, maybe even win the freeroll and earn $1.25. From this small stake I'll play 'micro' level Sit n Go's and try to accumulate some $$$.

My goal is $10K, but I'll have to do very tight 'bankroll management' and it may take a long time in micro stakes, before I can move up to bigger stakes.

For example when I have $1 in my account, I'll never play for more that $0.10. If I have $10.00 in my account, I'll never play for more than $1.00 and so one.

I'll play mostly tournaments, initially, and only with a bankroll greater than $250, would I start playing some micro stakes cash games.

$0 to $10K - My Way, Update #26

2013-09-14T17:06:00.002-04:00

Played some pretty good Poker lately. Maybe this is the turnaround?

$726.35 as at September, Friday the 13th.

2013	Min:	$612.00
2013	Max:	2080.79
2012	Min:	84.11

$0 to $10K - My Way, Update #25

2013-08-05T20:09:00.002-04:00

Ok, I tried everything. Play ABC Poker, Nit it up, move down in stakes, take some time away from the game. Position + Patience = Profit$. I still have had a very bad run.

Here's the chart:

($832.00 as at 14July2013)

Will it turn around? Is this just variance?

Stay tuned!

$0 to $10K - My Way, Update #24

2013-03-06T08:53:00.000-05:00

Loser ? Well it's not that bad, but it has been a while since I won a tournament of any significance. (Nov 17) So, at the moment I feel like a loser and my bankroll reflects my "runbad".

I am now at $1488.59, down from my high of $2089.00 on 05Jan13, or a drop of 28%. Ouch.

So, what to do?Well as I have done before, when I had a losing streak, I'll analyse my play, tighten up my starting hands, play smaller and keep 'getting it in good'. It will turn around. Note that the bankroll management techniques have prevented me from losing it all.

Hendon Mob Listing

2013-01-24T13:45:00.000-05:00

The Hendon Mob is a website with "World's No 1 Poker Player Database".

I was just listed, for my Niagara Fallsview 5th place - last year. Nice to be recognized. I note that the 2013 Fallsview Poker Classic results are listed in the database. Blair Anderson, of the YRPL and 705 Poker is listed.

$0 to $10K - My Way, Update #23

2013-01-08T08:27:00.000-05:00

Bankroll (December 31, 2012): $1,808.65

I started 2012 with a bankroll of $181.30. Using my strict bankroll management techniques, I was limited to a Muti-Table Tournament buy-in of $3.62 (2%) or a Cash game / SnG Tournament buy-in of $9.05 (5%). I have come a long way. I now have $1,808.65, as at 31Dec2012.

I can now play a Multi-Table Tournament with a buy-in of $36 or a Cash game / SnG Tournament with a buy-in of $90.

My plan is to continue what has worked so far; maintain this very conservative buy-in strategy, play a mix of cash games and tournament games on 4 sites (PokerStars, PartyPoker, Betfair and Full Tilt), hope to gradually increase my bankroll and get an occasional big win.

Bankroll (January 8, 2013): $2,006.09. Here's the chart:

3rd Royal Flush

2012-11-26T20:49:00.003-05:00

I was playing a $5 Tournament on Poker Stars and was dealt my 3rd Royal Flush in 3 years! A very rare occurrence!

Here's a link to my previous Royals and a discussion on the odds of getting one.

Kevin has a Royal Flush

$0 to $10K - My Way, Update #22

2012-11-18T10:50:00.000-05:00

Took a shot, won $1500.

I just finished the Canada Cup II online tourney. It was a tough tourney for me. A real grind. I never had more than 15 Big Blinds all night. I finished 34/343. I was in sight of the final table and an all expense trip to the Bahamas, but busted out. My bust out hand, 99's versus villains 77's, he hit a 7 on the turn to bust me. I had only 7 Big Blinds left. Oh well, $1.5K is not a bad return for a $5 buy-in and a $5 add-on. (The payouts listed on the previous Blog were adjusted for the final number of entrants (343))

Using my bankroll rules (2% and 5%) I can now enter a multi table tournament for up to $37 and I can enter a cash game or Sit 'N Go for up to $93. It looks like I can leave the "Micros" stakes (penny poker) and play the "Low" stakes games now.

Here's my chart with a $1867.84 bankroll going forward.

$0 to $10K - My Way, Update #21

2012-11-17T09:50:00.001-05:00

To Take a Shot or Not Take a Shot, That is the Question.

I have a dilemma. On November 5, 2012 I played a "PokerStars Canada Cup II $5 Satellite Re-buy" tourney, and won it! Yeah me! (I didn't re-buy but I did take the $5 add-on for a total entry fee of $10.)

The prize was an entry into the $530 buy-in PokerStars Canada Cup II tournament or $530 tournament dollars. Tournament dollars can be used for a buy-in to any tournament, so it is real money.

The Canada Cup II tourney is online, until the final table, and then the final 9 get an all expense paid trip to the Bahamas to play off. It's all part of PokerStars Caribbean (PCA) adventure tournament.

Here are the payouts for this tourney.

As you can see the pay outs are substantial, with $62K+ up top and $5K+ for 15th place. The top three also get a $10K buy-in to the PCA main event.

Given that there are about 300 entrants and 15 get paid with the minimum payout of $5,250, it has a huge "positive expected value" (+ev) to play in it.

When I add this $530 win to my bankroll it looks like this:

A very nice jump up. Should I take the $530 buy-in to the Canada Cup II? Does this violate my Bankroll Management challenge? Does it matter? Ok, so it is a violation of the $10K Bankroll Management 'rules' but it is simply too good a shot to pass up. This is why I grind so many hours - to get a shot at a big pay out.

I'll play, tonight, November 17, 2012. Then when (if) I do better than 7th ($10K +) I'll have completed my $0 to $10K challenge and won a nice trip to the Bahamas !! LOL.

If I am not successful I'll be back down to about $400 and the grind will continue.

The Canada Cup tournament starts at 7:00 on PokerStars. Check out the "Tourney-Regional" tab or

follow me on Twitter at @PokerPilotKH.

$0 to $10K - My Way, Update #20

2012-11-02T15:55:00.001-04:00

$500.78, as at October 31, 2012 - Halloween

A nice jump up since my last report, courtesy in part of a York Region Poker League online tourney. I scored $86.50 on a $13.00 buy-in. The earlier part of the month was very good as well.

My 2% rule for a Multi Table Tourney was very slightly stretched as there were 17 players instead of 10 or less. One could argue that it was a Multi Table tournament and so I should have only risked 2% or $8. My 5% rule for a cash game or a Sit 'N Go would have allowed a $20 Buy-In, so I justified it as being close enough. I "took a shot".

Here's the Chart:

With a $500 bankroll I can now risk $25 (5%) for a cash game or a single table Sit 'N Go. I can now enter a $10 (2%) Multi Table Tournament. As I move up in stakes it will allow for bigger wins....... or bigger loses. Let's see what November brings!

$0 to $10K - My Way, Update #19

2012-10-05T17:02:00.003-04:00

$0 to $10K - My Way, One Year Results - $307.63

I started this challenge one year ago. It's an experiment in Poker Bankroll Management. I am trying to build a bankroll from an initial investment of $0 (yes, zero) to $10,000, using a very conservative style of buying into Poker Tournaments and Poker Cash games. See Update #1, below, for details

All my games have been recorded using Holdem Manager software. I have also recorded all financial details on MS Excel spreadsheets. This Blog then becomes my recording of my progress.

Here are my one year results:

So, here are some observations:

I played 1879 games: 1433 Tournament style games and 446 Cash games.
In the tournaments, I cashed 31.8% of the games and I won 12.4% of the games.
I have won a total bankroll of $307.63. This is an average of $0.16 per game.
My average, one year, Tourney Cash rate (31.8%) and Tourney Win rate (12.06%) are among the highest rates of any player, recorded online.
As I moved up to higher stakes, in 2012, my win rate dropped, as expected, with the tougher competition. This is expected to continue as I move up in stakes.
There were many small wins and many small losses. A few big wins contributed, greatly, to the overall result. Typical Poker.
Bankroll management really works! I didn't go broke after one year and I made $307.63!

So, do I continue? Playing at the micro stakes and using very tight bankroll management works but it requires considerable time and effort. My last Blog pointed out the exponential growth potential typical in a Poker Tournament and in this exercise. Does this kick in at a bankroll of $500 or $1000 or when? I could buy into a $50 Multi-table tournament, if I had a bankroll of $2500. This seems a long way off. Some large $10 tournaments can have a 1st place prize of $1000+. So I am close to playing these games and moving on up!

$0 to $10K - My Way, Update #18

2012-08-31T17:27:00.003-04:00

$309.98

Well, it's been a pretty good month. The addition of Poker Stars has been helpful. I reached $300 for the first time.

I went from under $100 to over $300 in a month. It is still not very much, but the more I have the more I make. Just like in a Poker Tournament, the returns are exponential.

What is exponential growth? Think the Richter scale for earthquakes, think how a nuclear chain reaction happens or even how population growth occurs. While some may be logarithmic, the point is that the new value is dependent on the old value in much more than a linear fashion. So my Poker Challenge chart, when completed, is likely to look like the green line, below, rather than the red line.

Exponential growth

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The graph illustrates how exponential growth (green) surpasses both linear (red) and cubic (blue) growth.

Green line is Exponential growth

Red line is Linear growth

Blue line is Cubic growth

Exponential growth (including exponential decay when the growth rate is negative) occurs when the growth rate of the value of a mathematical function is proportional to the function's current value. In the case of a discrete domain of definition with equal intervals it is also called geometric growth or geometric decay (the function values form a geometric progression). The exponential growth model is also known as the Malthusian growth model.

The formula for exponential growth of a variable x at the (positive or negative) growth rate r, as time t goes on in discrete intervals (that is, at integer times 0, 1, 2, 3, ...), is

where is the value of x at time 0. For example, with a growth rate of r = 5% = 0.05, going from any integer value of time to the next integer causes x at the second time to be 1.05 times (i.e., 5% larger than) what it was at the previous time.

Now you know!

I am still very careful with my pennies and I am following the very strict "Bankroll Management" techniques that I have used since the start of this adventure.

Here is the chart:

$0 to $10K - My Way, Update #17

2012-07-19T09:39:00.001-04:00

What a roller coaster! In the last six weeks I went from a bankroll of $177 down to $84 and back up to $231. It has been a wild ride with the longest, meanest downturn I have experienced in this challenge. Nothing went right from June 1 to July 15.

Proper Bankroll Management has prevented me from going broke, but just barely. It took so long to get over $100. I was debating giving up the challenge because of the high variance, high rake and time consumed. I shall prevail.

I've added PokerStars tournaments and Cash Games to my challenge. Using both the Betfair and the PokerStars online sites gives me more choice of games in the limited time I have available in the Summer.

I had a very good run in the "Poker Stars Micro Millions" event #61. I finished 43 out of 15,824. Yes that's right over 15,000 players! Wow! I started with 3000 chips and worked that up to 9,851,119 chips. That's a personal high for me in any tournament, Live or Online. I turned $1 into $154.56!

I was in sight of the top prize of more that $10K, but fell short when I shoved 12 BB's with AJs against the BB's AK and lost. Oh well, it was over 5 hours of fun. I had imagined that I could have reached my $10K target had I won this one tourney. Back to the grind.

Here's the chart: