"Move up in limits as soon as you can."
H. Wasserman, limit guru and Big Brain™
For all you results oriented poker players (and we all are at some level, don't kid yourself into thinking otherwise), what follows is the final score from Maudie's SnG Challenge for November. The buy-ins ranged from $20+fee to $100+fee, with the exception of the $10+fee token satellite.
· SnG Score: 10 cashes out of 18 attempts (56%)
· 3 first, 3 second, 3 third
· 1 token satellite - won token
I plan to continue the SnGs for as long as my confidence will allow or variance hits me upside the head. The token I will use for a guarantee multi - don't know when yet.
During the challenge I thought about my tournament game vs. my ring game. I realized, afer two years of playing seriously, that my most significant gains have been from:
a) Stepping up in levels briefly when the bankroll didn't warrant it*; and
b) From tourneys.
I'm rethinking my online strategy as a result. Until I have sufficient bankroll to be diving headlong into the mid and higher limit tables, I feel I'm wasting energy grinding at the lower limits. The suckout variance at those levels has kept my financial growth at a snail's pace, to be truthful. And it can be excruciatingly boring.
It must also be noted - I do not multi-table or bonus whore. Most of my bankroll has been built steadily playing one table at a time and I have not supplemented the bankroll with additional funds since my initial buy-ins two and a half years ago.
Without, however, the gains I've received from cashing in multi's or, more recently, the SnGs - my bankroll would be half of what is is now. What's interesting, though, is that the low-limit live games have been more profitable in a shorter period of time than the low limit play online. So I don't anticipate abandoning those for a while.
So, for the time being, the low-limit online games won't see me at the tables very much, unless I'm biding time until a tourney starts or donking away with fellow bloggers. Perhaps some time away from them will refresh my attitude or, if I play my cards right (heh), I'll have sufficient funds to bid a not-so-fond farewell to them.
