The More Things Change...

Poker blahs continue. I wanted to play in NYRambler's game last night, but played almost no poker prior to last night. Took one shot at a token on Monday and bubbled (naturally). I didn't feel rolled for a $26 entry, so I skipped it. The final week of NYRambler's series is next Tuesday. I don't know what the game is, but it is a $26 buyin, so get your peep tokens ready. I'm going to try to pick one up over the weekend. I'm actually 5th on his leaderboard, having played only 4 of 12 events (but taking 2nd in 3 of the 4), and I'd hate to miss it.

Managed to play bridemaid at the Skillz game, just the same. I still hate 7 Card Stud, but ship the runner up mobnies.

Made final two tables of Daily Double B, but never really had a chance at the big money, as I rode a short stack from the final 100 players until I went out 18th, when I called from the BB with 96 soooted. I wanted two live, and I had them when the early raiser showed KJ. I felt good when I flopped the flush draw (to his flopped pair), but didn't improve. Oh well.

Bodog continues to fuck me dry without a reacharound. I've now lost 1/2 my bankroll from its high. Twice I went out on preflop all ins with AK v TT, when I'd flop an A, only to see my opponent river a two-outer ten. Both of these times, this was tantalizingly close to the money. I've finished out of the money in approximately 29 of my last 30 tournaments, and more often than not, coming a few spots from the money, or losing a 70/30 for the chiplead, or something similar.

What is it, Bodog hates me because my Google page rank is down? Too bad for them, I guess, since where my roll is now, I can no longer play the $30 and $40 buy-ins. Really, I should be done with the $20 buyins, too, if I were to practice effective bankroll management. Given their sparse MTT options, that means I'll be playing only their $10+1 and $5R unless I manage to take one down, which can only hurt their rake.

Chad raised the question as to what's a more difficult MTT to win, given similarly sized fields, "similar sized field, one double stacked, other not, one 15 minute levels, other 12, and one costs $200, one costs $10."

I think the answer to that particular question is obvious, but is also the wrong question. At Bodog, the fields for $10 buyin MTTs are much much larger than they are for the $30, $40, and $50, much less the $200 buyins. It's simply more difficult to win a larger-field MTT, irrespective of the buyin. The fact that players are (or should be) much better at the $200 level is a double-edged sword. They're capable of making more plays, but they also understand what you're trying to represent with a bet. That simply doesn't happen at $10+1.

As such, you need to navigate a much larger field of much worse players, and ergo, need much more luck. You're less likely to be outplayed, but more likely to be outdrawn.