Dan Harrington Wins 2007 Legends of Poker

This is a little off topic for my blog, but wanted to report that Dan Harrington won the 2007 WPT Legends of Poker Tournament. Dan is my hero--seriously! I credit him for the foundation behind my pre-flop card selection formula. Also, his teaching on m-zone play, although not original to Dan, is critical to proper tournament strategy. If you are interested in his books, I have them listed in my bookstore. For now, here is a report on the final action of the 2007 WPT Legends of Poker Tournament from CardPlayer.com:

Round One: Point - Harrington
In the first major confrontation between these two Pham had the button, and he limped for $120,000. Harrington raised to $420,000, and Pham made the call. The flop came Q 7 3. Harrington bet $350,000 and Pham called. The turn card paired the board with the 7, Harrington checked, Pham bet $450,000, and Harrington thought for a minute before he called. The river card was the 4, Harrington checked, Pham bet $1.5 million, and Harrington quickly called. Pham said, "You've got it," and Harrington showed Q-10 for two pair. Pham mucked and Harrington won the massive pot worth $5.47 million.

Harrington took over the chip lead, but his paramount position was chipped away at by Pham over the next collection of hands. Pham grew his stack to over $6 million and controlled the match with aggressive play, but Harrington picked his spots, and chose them well. He managed to score the second major point of the match after

Round Two: Point – Harrington
Harrington limped for $200,000, Pham raised to $700,000 and Harrington called. The flop rolled out J 9 3, Pham checked, Harrington bet $700,000, Pham moved all in, and Harrington quickly called with [10h9s]. Pham showed [KsQs] for a gutshot straight draw with two overcards. Pham is looking for a king, a queen, or a ten. The turn card was the A, and Pham had nine outs to win the tournament right then and there. The river card was the 8, and Harrington won the pot with a pair of nines to double up in chips and take a commanding lead. It looked like things were about to end and Harrington would be crowned the champion…

That was, until the Dragon doubled up twice to not only jump back into the championship conversation, but almost even out the chip counts once again. The merry-go-round continued to mixed reactions in the crowd as the hour passed 1 a.m.

Action seemed like it might go until the morning until Pham limped for $300,000, and Harrington checked. The flop came 10 5 4, Harrington bet $400,000, and Pham called. The turn card was the A, Harrington bet $1 million, Pham moved all in, and Harrington quickly called with 10 5 for two pair, tens and fives. Pham showed 7 5 for a pair of fives, and he was drawing dead. The meaningless river card was the 3 and Dan Harrington was the 2007 Legends of Poker Champion! He took home $1,634,865 in prize money, a $25,000 WPT Championship seat, and a $10,000 seat in the 2008 Legends of Poker. Pham took home $800,185 for his second place and jumped into first place in the Card Player Player of the Year race with the solid finish.

Congratulations to Dan Harrington!

Don't Give Free Cards!

In my last post I talked about the monster hands I hit in my first and third sit 'n go's the other night. However, I didn't mention the 2nd sit 'n go that I played. That is because I was knocked out, not because of a bad beat but because of a bad play on my part. I wanted to share it here in the hopes that you will learn from my mistakes (hopefully I will also!).

I am playing a No Limit Hold'em, 9 player, $10 + $1 Sit & Go on FullTiltPoker.com. Four players remain (we are on the bubble). Blinds are 40 and 80. I am in the big blind with 1,075 or an M of about 9. I am in the Orange Zone and I am the short stack at the table.

I am dealt [8s Jc]. I plan to fold to any raise. The first to act folds, the button calls 80, the small blind folds and I check. There is 200 in the pot.

*** FLOP *** [8h 6d Js]

This is obviously a great flop for me. With top two pair and no flush draws, I have a medium strength hand. So now I need to decide how to play it. My standard post-flop play here is to bet out about half the pot and hope my opponent comes along for the ride. However, my opponent has been playing very aggressive after the flop. Typically when someone shows weakness he fires a bullet into the pot. I have seen him do this on the flop and the river over and over during this sit n' go. So I decide I will check to him and let him bet, just call the bet with the intention of pushing the river.

I check.
The button bets 160.
I call 160.
There is 520 in the pot. I have 915 left in my stack.

*** TURN *** [8h 6d Js] [Ac]

The ace isn't really a bad card for me. If my opponent had an ace, based on what I had seen throughout the tournament, he would have raised preflop, especially short handed. I also think he would have raised with 66 or 88 from the button. Betting out on the flop doesn't really mean he has anything; he has been doing that since the start. I am hoping he is on a weak pair of jacks. Of course, since the board is not paired, it is always possible to have a straight draw on the turn. If that is the case he has about a 16% chance of hitting it on the river if he is on an open-ended straight, and only an 8% if on a gutshot. I like my odds. At this point I still think I have the best hand.

So now what. Do I bet or check and hope for him to bet into me? Well, my original plan was to check the flop, call his bet, and then push the river. However, the pot is currently 520 and I still have 915 left. My goal is to get all my chips into the middle, but pushing is a major overbet. I thought about betting around 300. That would get a third of my chips in now and make a river push appropriate. However, due to my opponents aggressive nature, I decided again to check and then push to his bet.

I check.
The button checks.
The pot is still 520.

DOUGH. That wasn't what I was expecting. I just gave him a free card to draw against me. That wasn't the plan. How dare he not follow the plan!

*** RIVER *** [8h 6d Js Ac] [Td]

Well, I can't say I like the river card. The Td fills a couple of straights. If he was playing KQ, Q9, or 97, I am now beat. I dought he has KQ because he would have raised preflop with a hand like that. But Q9 and 97 both fit his betting patterns. Also, if he was playing a weak jack like JT, I am also beat. The 8% chance of him hitting his straight might have just become a reality.

So now what? Do I check or bet? Well, if I check here I am pretty sure he will bet the river. If I check and call the river I only have one way to win--showdown the best hand. But if I bet I have two ways to win--he can fold and I will win the pot immediately, or I have the best hand at showdown. I decide to bet out and to make it strong--I will bet the pot.

I bet 520.
The button raises 1,960, and is all in.

Great. Not what I wanted to see. I am fairly certain I am beat now. The effective pot is 1875 and I only have 315 left in chips. If I fold here my M will be less than 3--not a scenario that is acceptable to me. I am getting almost 6:1 on my money so I decide to call.

I call 315, and am all in
Uncalled bet of 1,125 returned to the button

*** SHOW DOWN ***
The button shows [9s Qc] a straight, Queen high.
I muck.
The button wins the pot (2,190) with a straight, Queen high.

That's it. I am knocked out of the tournament.

So what do I want you to learn from this example. Simply this...

When you think you have the best hand,
do not give your opponent a free card.

I think I played the hand well until the turn. I was counting on my opponent's aggression to do the betting for me with the intention to push. If it had of worked out, my opponent would not have had the proper odds to call my push. However, if I had bet 300 like I considered, he would not have had the odds either. It is quite possible that he would have called the 300 and we would have ended up all-in anyway. But that isn't the point. The point is that I had the best hand on the turn and should have bet it but instead I gave my opponent a free look at the river to beat me. That was a clear mistake on my part.

In single table sit 'n go's, as in most forms of poker, aggression pays. But don't count on your opponent's aggression to get the chips in the middle. Unless you have a MONSTER hand, put them in yourself. If you opponent comes along for the ride and still draws out on you, that's poker. But don't give him the opportunity without making him pay for it.

Off to lick my wounds.

Got Nuts?

I broke $500 about a week back and following my bankroll rules I moved up to the $20 level. However, I lost three in a row due to bad beats, putting a $60+ dent in my bankroll. So I moved back down to the $10 level. Then, the cards went dead on me and I struggled to get things moving. Last night I had a good run and was able to break the $500 mark again, and as a bonus, picked up a couple of stories to tell.

Quad Aces

During the first sit 'n go I checked the big blind with A-rag. The flop came AAA. I wasn't really sure how to react. Obviously I had flopped the nuts. The question wasn't whether I would continue with the hand, but instead, how to extract as much money as possible from my opponent.

We were about half-way through the tournament and I had noticed that my opponent was very aggressive. First to act, most people would check in this position, hoping their opponent will take a stab at the pot. However, due to the aggression of my opponent I decided to throw in a small bet in the hopes that he would raise me, interpreting my small bet as weakness or as a probing bet. I bet about 1/3rd the pot. To my delight he immediately pushed all-in. I typed in the browser, "Sorry dude," and then called his bet. That was sweet!

The Royal Flush

However, things continued to improve. How could things improve you might ask? I'll tell ya! During the third sit 'n go I was on the button with KQ spades. A middle position player raised 3x and the cut-off called. I called and the blinds folded giving me position.

The flop came 4c As Ts, a royal flush draw. The pre-flop raiser bet about half the pot and the cut-off seat folded. I immediately thought about the quad aces I had flopped earlier. Maybe this was going to be another big hand! At this point I was on a draw so I just smooth called. I had the "correct" odds to call, but it really wouldn't have mattered... I am drawing to a royal flush. I ain't goin' nowhere!

The turn brings another spade completing my ace-high nut flush. My opponent has a little over 500 chips left and I have him covered. He checks to me. I thought about pushing all in here, after all I have the best hand. However, I REALLY wanted to see the river card for a chance to make my royal flush. Also, by giving him a free card, maybe his hand will improve and I will get more action. So I just checked, also hoping he would translate that as weakness.

The river brings the golden card, the jack of spades, to complete my royal flush. YA BABY! My opponent had a little over 500 chips left. He checks to me. Typically at this point I would think about how to get the rest of his money in the pot. But strangely enough, that wasn't my primary concern. My goal at this point was to show down my hand. After all, if you don't get a chance to show your royal flush, did it really happen (you know, the tree in the woods thing!)? But there is no way I am going to check the absolute nuts on the river. So I decided to make a small bet and hope that he called.

I bet 200, just under half of his remaining chips. He thought for a few seconds and then pushed all in. YA BABY (again!)!! I insta-called and was able to show down my royal flush (and knock him out at the same time).

Here's a screen shot from Tournament Indicator, the poker calculator that I use while playing tournament poker online. Not that I needed a calculator for this hand, but it is an invaluable tool for making solid decisions during sit 'n go's.

That was the hand I needed to get things moving. I went on to cash in this one and the next two, finally breaking the $500 mark. I played two $20 games after this and cashed in one, adding about $10 in profit. So I finished the night at about $515 with a couple of good stories to tell. Tonight I will focus on the $20 tables. Maybe my run will continue and I can break $600? We'll see!

Full Tilt vs Poker Stars

When I started my quest to turn $50 into $5000 playing sit n' go poker online I opened a new account on Full Tilt Poker. I had previously only played on PokerStars.com but felt my new approach warranted a fresh start. It took a little effort to get used to the interface but it became "normal" after some time at the tables.

A few days ago I wrote about my run of bad beats on Full Tilt. I examined my play and was confident that I was playing correctly. Sometimes the cards just run bad and you need to play through them. However, I was leary about continuing to play and I didn't want to stop playing, so I decided to play a few games on PokerStars.

I played 5 of the $20 sit n' go's on PokerStars and finished in the money in the first 4 (was knocked out of the fifth due to a bad play on my part as opposed to a bad beat!). Through this process I was able to identify some differences between the sites that I wanted to outline here, specifically some items that I like on Full Tilt that I think are lacking with the PokerStars interface.

Color Coding
PokerStars lacks the ability to color code players. As part of my initial profiling, I use the color coding feature in Full Tilt to visually represent the playing history and trends of each of my opponents (see Reading Players Online for more detail). Without this information in front of me I had to keep checking back to the trends in SharkScope.com when facing decisions affected by this information. I really missed this feature when playing on PokerStars.

Player Notes
Both sites give you the ability to take notes about the players. However, with Full Tilt, you can simply hold your mouse over the player's avatar and see the notes. With PokerStars you must double-click the avatar so it brings the notes up in a notes box. In addition, I can see more of the notes information in Full Tilt than PokerStars. As I observe players, taking notes is very important to building a correct profile. Although I can do it with both, I much prefer the Full Tilt interface.

Game History
Both sites allow you to pull up the history for any previous game within the sit 'n go. However, Full Tilt also provides a visual interface. The visual interface is a quick way to see the board and all cards of the players at showdown without having to read through the history text. In addition, I can scroll through the interface and look at the starting hands of all the players that went to showdown. This helps me to quickly look at the card selection for each player. I greatly missed this feature while playing on PokerStars.

Detachable Chat Box
Both sites allow you to monitor and participate in chat discussions. Watching chat can help you identify players that are on tilt and players that are recreational (maybe talking about the football game or something). With PokerStars the chat is limited to a small box and unless you are watching you can easily miss information. However, with Full Tilt you can detach the chat box and size it as large as your screen will allow. When playing Full Tilt I usually have the chat box detached and expanded the full height of my screen so I can easily see the chat history. Again, greatly missed while playing on PokerStars.

Blind Structure
This isn't really an interface thing, but instead a speed of play thing. As I discussed in my sit 'n go training, the blind structure is fairly similar between the two sites until you get about an hour into it. At that time, PokerStars adds an ante, which in effect reduces your M score and forces you to play faster. I prefer the slower blind structure, which favors skilled players, expecially when late in the tournament. With that said, both structures are faster than a typical multi-table tournament, so not a big issue.

So what is my point? Well, if you are just playing your cards and not really thinking much beyond that, either site will work fine. However, if you are profiling players and want tools to help you track information, Full Tilt is by far the better interface. As a result I still give Full Tilt my vote for the best site for sit 'n go poker online, at least from sites that support players from the United States.

As to the fish, there are plenty to feed on at each site!

Reading Players Online

Developing your ability to read players is an important part of winning at sit 'n go poker tournaments. I came across an interesting video that talks about reading players. I want you to focus on the last part of the video where they discuss initially profiling players. Watch the video and then continue reading.


Obviously, most of the tells that they speak about during the video aren't applicable to online play. But there are some good tidbits of information here. First, pay attention so you can make decisions based on what you observe. Additionally, and the part I want to cover here, profiling your opponents will also help you make good decisions. I follow four steps to profile online players:

1. Determine Win/Loss Trends
2. Determine Playing Styles
3. Observe and Document
4. Put Players on Hands

I will cover all four in detail in my Sit 'N Go Training Series. But I will briefly cover the first one, Determine Win/Loss Trends, here.

Determine Win/Loss Trends

You've all heard the saying, an object in motion tends to stay in motion. Well, the same idea goes for player win/loss trends. A player that has a winning trend will tend to continue winning and a player that has a losing trend will tend to continue losing. Winning players are doing something right at the table that makes them a winning player. Losing players are making consistent mistakes that make them losing players. So how do you determine the winning or losing trends of a player?

Sharkscope.com is a subscription based tool that tracks player information for online sit 'n go tournaments. At the start of each tournament, I pull up the profiles of each player and quickly look at their graphs, ROI, and profit. By looking at the graphs I can quickly tell if they are a winning or losing player.

I use this information to categorize player. If playing at site like Full Tilt Poker, you can color code the player's avatar. Winning players I mark green, losing players I mark red. If they are identified by Sharkscope.com as a "fish", I mark them blue. Sharks I mark in purple. I can usually complete the initial profiling within about 3 to 4 hands. So how do I use this information?

I use this information to determine the amount of "respect" that I initially give a player. If a red or blue player comes in for a raise from early position, I will assume he or she has a weaker starting hand than if a purple or green player were to do the same. Likewise, if a green player calls my flop bet, I would put them on a stronger hand or draw than a red player. Now this isn't 100% fool proof. After all, even the worst players can wake up with a hand. But the key is to start to categorize your opponents and then make adjustments as you observe and learn more about their play.

Following is a table summary for a $10 sit 'n go that I picked at random. The first three players on the list I would mark as green, and the last two, the fish, I would mark as blue. I will initially give more respect to the first three players than I will the last two, because of their playing records.


By clicking on the name of each player you can pull up a graph that shows their winning/losing trend.

For an example, see the graph on the right for depage26. This player is consistently losing at sit 'n go tournaments (and should study my lessons!). That means this player is consistently making bad decisions at the table. This is the type of player that you want to get your money in with when you have a strong hand.

Notice karishnikov's chart looks very different... this is the chart of a winning player. Again, you want to be careful playing against this player. He is doing something right at the table. So tread carefully.

I would strongly encourage you to subscribe to the Sharkscope service (no, I am not an affiliate, but I am a subscriber!). Initially profiling players by looking at their wining/losing patterns is an important first step and well worth the low monthly cost.

New Poker Lessons Added

I had some time this evening to continue working on the new sit 'n go training lessons. I have heard from numerous people that the pre-flop strategy has really helped eliminate some of the leaks in their game. My hope is that the next two lessons will help further improve play. Here's a quick summary:

Lesson 6: Post-Flop Play covers the following areas:

• Reading the board--evaluating the strength of your hand.
• Texture of the flop--putting your opponent on a potential draw.
• Determine your response--bet sizing in relation to your strength and your opponents possible holding.

Trying to teach post-flop play can be a challenge because there isn't one correct way to play. Making decisions post-flop are very situational and largely dependent on who you are playing against at the time. I do not get into the people side during this lesson but focus on general advice that you can use to guide your decisions on and after the flop. We will get into the deviations from the general strategy after learning about player profiling.

Lesson 7: On The Bubble Play covers the changes that you should make to your play when you are one position away from the money. In addition I address an area that gets a lot of people into trouble on the bubble: calling all-in bets.

I hope to post lesson 8 and 9 shortly so I can finish the basic section. Then my attention will shift to teaching the advanced strategies, starting with Profiling Players. In my opinion, player profiling is a lot of fun, but I expect it will be the most difficult to write clearly. I will spend some extra time here because player profiling is the most important section of the series. Once you understand the steps needed to profile players, you will be able to use this information to make on-the-fly adjustments to the basic strategy when the situation warrants.

Go to Course Outline

Finally Broke $500, Sorta

As a reminder, I am on a quest to turn $50 into $5000 playing sit n' go poker tournaments online. I have a strict set of bankroll rules that I am following to ensure I never go broke. I have been hovering just below the $500 mark, which is the amount I need to move from the $10 to the $20 buy-in. I won the first sit 'n go I played last night which was enough to break the $500 mark. But it was short lived!

I loaded up a $20 sit n' go. About 20 hands into the tournament I was dealt AA in the small blind. Only one player limped in front, so I made a pot-sized raise. The big blind thought about it for a moment and then called, and the limper folded. Heads up.

The flop came A92, rainbow. I had flopped a set. I thought about slow-playing the set since the board was uncoordinated. However, based on my initial profiling (he was a loose, passive player with a losing track record--to be covered in an upcoming lesson), I was pretty sure the player in the big blind would call a half-pot bet. So that is what I did--bet half the pot.

The big blind thought about it again and then pushed all in. This was an excessive bet based on the size of the blinds and the current pot. This usually means that the player doesn't want any action. Most solid players would just call with a set or two pair here and then raise or push the turn. So I suspected he hit top pair with a weak kicker. But he could have also hit a big hand like two pair or a set and was betting for value, hoping I caught a piece of the flop. Regardless, I had all possible hands beat at this point, so I insta-called! He turned over A5 of clubs for top pair and a backdoor flush and straight draws against my set. The next card was a club, as was the river, giving him a flush to beat my set and knock me out of the tournament. That's poker, as they say!

I will spare you more bad beat stores, but suffice to say that I experienced two similar bad beats on my next two games, which put a small dent in my profit. So, following my bankroll rules of quiting for the night when I lose 3 in a row, I shut it down. My bankroll total ended at $463, about $30 less than I started for the night.

I can't over state the importance of following the bankroll rules. After three bad beats in a row it would have been easy for me to go on tilt or start playing bad draws to try to suck out on people like others were doing to me. But bad beats are part of the game. If I continue playing solid poker, the odds are in my favor. I will win in the long term. The key is to keep playing at a level that allows for variance (swings in my bankroll) so I do not risk my bankroll during the downswings.

Although I am still above my 5% requirement, I will drop back to the $10 level once again until I break the $500 mark. It might be frustrating for some to drop back, viewing it as a failure to win at the higher level. But again, if you want to be a winning player you must establish bankroll rules and then strictly follow them. Otherwise, you can give back your whole hard-earned stack in a single night of bad beats and tilt plays. Patience, patience, patience!

Poker Calculators

I have had a few people contact me regarding the poker calculators that I use during play. A poker calculator is a tool used to calculate odds, identify outs, and track player statistics. My lessons focus on sit 'n go poker tournaments. Therefore, my preferred calculator is designed specifically for tournament play. However, I also use a poker calculator when playing cash games. Here is information on the two poker calculators that I use:

1. Tournament Indicator--If you are primarily a tournament player and want to track M-Zone information, Tournament Indicator is the tool for you. However, Tournament Indicator will not work on cash tables.
   
2. Hold'em Indicator--If you are primarily a cash game player, or you play both cash and tournaments, Hold'em Indicator works with both. However, Hold'em Indicator does not include the M-Zone calculations during tournament play.

I use both products because the M-Zone information in Tournament Indicator is so valuable while playing tournaments. Both products are made by the same company and they offer a free lifetime license (if signing up to a new site. Or you can purchase a license if you already have accounts at the supported websites. For more information click the links above.

Sit 'n Go Poker Book

About a month ago, the new book by Collin Moshman, Sit 'n Go Strategy, started shipping. I finally completed reading through the book. This is the only book (that I am aware of) that focuses exclusively on single table sit 'n go poker tournaments. A lot of the information is a repeat of that which you can find already on the net (including in my lessons). However, I think every level of player can benefit from the tidbits of information contained within. It is worth the price of entry. Here is more on the book:

Sit 'n Go Strategy
by Collin Moshman

Sit and go poker tournaments are one table events starting with nine or ten players that usually pay the top three places. They have become very popular on the Internet and are now being spread in brick and mortar cardrooms as well. But they are not standard no-limit poker tournaments since the required strategy to be successful is different, and those who understand the proper approach have found these events to be highly profitable.

ORDER NOW!

• Master expected value, tournament equity, and fundamental poker concepts,
• Distinguish between earning chips and earning money,
• Develop an ultra-aggressive late game strategy to steal all the chips when the blinds are high and your opponents are tightening their play,
• Play multiple tables, incorporate tracking software, and seize online-only edges,
• Exploit recreational players in your table selection and game-play strategy, and
• Maximize your sit 'n go profits by treating each game as a business investment.

Whether you want extra income or a full-time sit and go career, Sit 'N Go Strategy provides you with all the tools you need for ultimate success at the tables.

ORDER NOW!

Sit 'n Go Poker Lessons

I was contacted via e-mail today by someone reading through my sit 'n go poker lessons. He commented that he was benefiting from the information on the site. That is always great to hear! He also asked why there are only links for the first five lessons. I sent him back an e-mail and explained, but I will post the answer here also. It is pretty simple... I am still writing the lessons!

I added an e-mail subscription to this blog so that you can receive copies of my postings automatically via e-mail. So if you want to be informed when I post new lessons, be sure to subscribe to the e-mail list (see the subscribe box on the right panel of this blog). Whenever I post a new lesson I will be sure to note it here so you are informed.

That's it for now. Gotta go play some poker!

Patience, Patience, Patience!

My goal last night was to break the $500 mark. I am anxious to move up from the $10 level to the $20 level. But I will not break my bankroll rules to do it. I fired up Full Tilt and joined one of the sit 'n go tables. Once the table filled and we were seated I realized that I had joined a 6 person table instead of my normal 9 person table. LOL! The strategies that I teach are designed for 9 person tables. However, I decided to apply them to this short handed table to see how they worked out. The odds of making the money are the same... 3:1. However, I prefer the 9 person tables because the profit is greater when you win.

Anyway, the very first hand I am dealt QQ on the button. One player limps from middle position and it is folded to me, so I put in a pot-sized raise. I was hoping to just pick up the limp and the blinds. The small blind folds and the big blind min-reraises. The player in middle position calls the reraise as do I.

The flop comes J62 rainbow. The first two players check over to me and I put in a half-pot bet. Both players call. At this point my warning bells are going off. Did one of them flop a set? Maybe one has AJ and is calling with top pair? Why would both of them call?

Regardless, the turn comes a K, same suite as the 6. The BB checks and the middle position player pushes all-in. Now I am thinking he has a K and my QQ is no good. I fold my hand. Then the BB calls the all-in. The cards roll over and the BB shows AQ of the same suite as the K6 (so he has flush draw/straight draw), and the other player shows a KJ for two pair. The BB catches his flush draw on the river and knocks out the other player. That's poker.

By the time this hand was over, I had lost half my chips. And this is on the first hand! So not only am I sitting at a table that I didn't intend to play, but I am also the short stack!

Many people go on tilt in this situation. They view their chips in comparison to the other players at the table and think that they are out of it, so they push in with any half decent cards. However, with half my chips and still in the yellow m-zone, I am still in good shape, regardless of the chip stacks of the other players. I have come back from much worse situations to win in the past. So I just continued to play my standard game.

I was card dead for about 15 hands and I watched the blinds slowly chew away at my chip stack. However, I was determined to continue playing my strategy, regardless of the result. This was a key lesson in patience for me. I really wanted to just get it over so that I could load up a new 9 person table and start fresh. However, I waited patiently for the right cards, the right position, and the right situations to make my moves. As a result, I was able to slowly build my chip stack back up to the original 1500 in chips.

Within a few short hands, I ended up heads up with the "fish" at the table who had lucked out on a big rush of cards and knocked out the other players. He had me out-chipped by about 5:1. But I continued to be patient and wait for the right situations. Finally I was able to take him down and win the sit 'n go.

In this example the key to winning was patience. I teach in my lessons that these single table sit 'n go's are about survival. It is about waiting patiently for the right situations to make your moves. Without patience I would have pushed my cards in early and moved on to the next game. But instead I was able to make it to heads up and eventually out play a weaker opponent.

I am still about $12 short from my $500 target so I will have to wait until another night to move up to the $20 level. Back to the 9 person tables!

Bankroll Management Is Critical

I wish I had started tracking my progress from the first day I started this program. But I didn't. At least I am tracking it now. Thinking back on a key area, I wanted to share my thoughts on bankroll management.

When I first started applying the strategies that I teach on my website I had some immediate success. I opened a new account at Full Tilt Poker and I was off and running. Within about 5 games I had doubled my initial deposit. However, I went on a run of "bad beats" and gave it all back, and then some. I was almost broke (again) when I turned it around. This time I built a larger profit, but once again, gave it all back I did go broke (see the 100 games point on the graph).

When I thought about what had happened, both times I ran into bad cards, bad luck, but mostly bad play (on my part). But I kept playing hoping for things to turn around. The second time I reasoned that I was just playing against inferior players and that is why they kept sucking out on me. So I moved up to higher levels assuming I would run into better players. But by this time I was on tilt and played poorly.

To counter this problem I implemented some bankroll rules that I strictly adhere to today. As you can see by the graph, I am on an upward trend once again, and this time I am not giving it back! My bankroll rules are pretty simple:

• Apply the 5% and 25x rules.
• If you lose 3 times, quite for the day.
• Withdraw 10% per week.

For details on each of these rules, see my Bankroll Management Lesson. It is now the first lesson that I teach on my site. However, I do not think most people will take it seriously. But you can see by my graph that until I implemented my bankroll rules I was doomed for a roller coaster ride of wins followed by loses... big loses! So I would encourage you to read the lesson and adhere to it closely.

I am still only a couple of months into my quest to turn $50 into $5000 by playing sit 'n go poker tournaments online. However, I am close to breaking the $500 mark. I am currently playing $10 sit 'n go's which is the highest stakes allowed by my bankroll rules. Once I break $500 I will move to the $20 tables. $500 may not seem like a lot of money, but remember, I started with $50 and slugged it out at the $2 and $5 tables for the last two months to build it up. I now have 10 times the bankroll I started with and I am almost 10% of the way to my goal. I am confident that I will get there.

Return to Sit N Go Poker Course.

Introduction

My name is Thomas Kennedy and I am an online sit 'n go poker specialist. Like many, I started playing poker online in 2003, shortly after watching Chris Moneymaker win the WSOP Main Event. I understood the basics and had some early success playing Limit Texas Hold'em. However, each attempt at moving to No-limit Texas Hold'em was unsuccessful; I went broke numerous times trying to learn the game.

Extremely frustrated, I took about 6 months off to study the game. I read numerous books and spent hours on the play money tables fine tuning my approach. Over time I acquired the knowledge and best practices necessary to build a real money bankroll playing poker online.

I have created a training program that will teach others how to apply what I have learned so you to can build a poker bankroll starting with only $50. I plan to use this blog to track my daily progress, so keep coming back to see how I am doing. My goal is to turn my $50 into $5000.

See you at the tables!