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Ladbrokes Poker Cruise IV 2011
Goal: To win $30 daily the next 200 days on average and buy my way into the Ladbrokes Poker Cruise IV 2011.
Bankroll: $50 as a start with $450 more behind to reload if the variance is against me.
Games: Pot Limit Omaha, maximum stake 0.25-0.50 regardless of the size of the bankroll
Player Nick: Faradou
Current bankroll: $326.80, 937.04 player points
Intro
March 20, 2010
Our family really likes to go on poker cruises. The nature of a cruise where the only thing you can do is relax and enjoy a good time with your family is the very best vacation for us. Sitting down at nights in the restaurant and be treated with an excellent meal prepared by one of the many chefs onboard Royal Caribbean’s cruise ships is a pleasure and real quality time for a family. Our last Cruise in 2009 on board the biggest cruise ship in the world at that time, Freedom Of the Seas was the best vacation ever. This floating hotel with the many activities and tons of great poker players had everything any land based resort could offer and we all agreed that we had to do this again. My wife and I have been on Cruises with Party Poker in 2004, 2005 and 2006 and with Classic Poker in 2009. It is time to go back on a cruise in 2011, this time on board the even bigger ship, Oasis of the Seas, which has room for 6296 passengers.
I have decided to try and win the cruise by playing low stakes cash game Pot Limit Omaha more or less on a daily basis until I have earned enough to buy the ticket. The reason for choosing Pot Limit Omaha as the game is that I find it one of the more valuable games to play these days since it get a lot of attention in the medias because of players like Isildur1, Durrrr, Phil Galfond and many other famous high stakes players. This make a lot of players that are reasonable good at No limit Texas Hold’Em wanting to try this “new” game and I hope it will be fairly easy to pocket around $30 daily. As I do not have time to play every day then I need to put in some longer sessions when I have the time but I am not going to play to achieve the exact money goal at any point in time since poker is a game where you need to be fresh and fit when playing.
By writing this small blog about my quest I also hope to show other hobby poker players that small wins accumulates fast and that winning a great vacation is an obtainable goal. I often wonder why poker has become a game where players aim to win tons of cash in a hurry instead of finding the games and the players they can beat and slowly but surely build a bankroll instead of making deposits on a regular basis. I believe $30 daily winnings the next 200 days is an achievable goal and should I be wrong then I did not lose much trying to win my way on the cruise ship and can still afford to buy my vacation and join all the Ladbrokes Poker players onboard Ladbrokes Poker Cruise 2011. See you all onboard for a pint and some exiting poker tournaments.
March 21, 2010
I did not use my Ladbrokes Poker account for a while and when logging in I found the account was set to Neteller deposits. Since I seldom use Neteller these days due to the fact that the service level do not meet my standards (and unfortunately for Neteller they are not even high) then I skipped this E-wallet long time ago. It took me a while to understand that Ladbrokes Poker support had to help me change my preferred deposit method but the live chat fixed this small issue in a heart beat. I made my initial $50 deposit and took a look at the poker lobby to familiarize myself with the software. I am normally a regular at Classic Poker since I like that software and the professional management a lot, but returning to Ladbrokes Poker was indeed a pleasure. I have always (since 2001) played at big brand sites since I know that my money and personal data are safe and secure on those sites but I have also found some hidden gems in the poker industry where the level of service are beyond what any of the big brands have ever provided me as a player. Recreational players like me enjoy to be answered in a swift manner since I do not have too much time to spend on online poker.
I took a quick glance at the offline tournament event lobby to see the online qualifying tournaments running for the Ladbrokes Poker Cruise IV 2011 just in case some overlay tournament was about to begin. I realized that the action towards the poker cruise has not really begun yet. However 27 players are already qualified and this make me belief that more than 500+ players will participate on the poker cruise next year and as always I am looking forward to meet players who love the game of poker and a pint of beer which is guaranteed to find when the tournament buy ins are not ridiculous high.
I returned to the cash game lobby and to my pleasure I found that 5 tables at the €0.05-0.10 level, 11 tables at €0.10-0.20 and 6 tables at €0.25-0.50 was running which in general mean that I will have options to choose and change tables. Playing with a low bankroll require that I have to move tables even with small winnings not to jeopardize my bankroll to much in case other players at the tables have my stack covered. I always play 6 handed tables because I believe other players have a bit harder adjusting to the hands that are playable and the tactics that can be used. Also one lesson I learned over the years on these table stakes are that the number of 3- bets are limited and more or less always mean that your opposition holds AAxx. Any one who is not familiar with the term 3-bet should understand that this is when you raise and get reraised. The initial Blinds are counted as a bet and the raise is the second bet which makes a reraise the third bet. With this kind of information it is fairly easy to play against certain type of players.
I like to raise a lot to gain control over the pot and the position at the table and thus it is important not to invest to much preflop because when someone 3-bet me I always consider folding hands like KKxx to avoid getting into a expensive pot. Holdings like QJT8, 8764 etc. play a lot better against AAxx. Pay attention to players who 3-bet on low stakes PLO since the chance of them holding AA is pretty big and any paired hand you hold is a fair big dog against AAxx holdings.
I managed to do well in my first session and bankroll is up to $108.20 with 26.85 player points to spend on something (have not yet looked properly into the Ladbrokes Poker retention program).
March 22, 2010
I went in to play a session 8:50 GMT today. The lack of tables at the €0.05-0.10 and €0.10-20 made me take a shot at €0.25-0.50 even it is way too high at this point in time. However I found a Ladbrokes Poker table where the biggest stack only had €20 in it and decided to take the risk since no other games was running. I managed to pull off a bluff with.JJ74 double suited and took the balance to $128.61. Being suited is never an excuse for playing a hand in poker but it sure add to the value of the hand as the back door draws and the blocking value should not be underestimated in Pot Limit Omaha
I also played an evening session where I tried 4 tables at €0.05-0.10 and with great success again. The bankroll increased to $159.16 and 60.16 player points. Good start on the quest already more than one day ahead of schedule but has not been run down in any hands yet either. PLO is a game of variance and I have had days with swings of more than 25 buy ins when playing 4 tables. Bankroll management is of great importance in this game and even I am a bit ahead I still have to play very carefully for at least a few more weeks.
March 23, 2010
Played a short but really wild session at €0.05-$0.10. On two tables there was extreme with raising on mediocre hands going on. I was dealt quite some nice hands and some of them held up and I ended the session boosting the bankroll to a bit more than $175. My sessions so far has not been of great length and I need to put more time in as I can not expect to win every day at Ladbrokes since there will be many days where I will not find time to play. My strategy in a wild game is to make sure that my raises with strong hands AAxx, KKxx and run down hands like 9876 allow players behind to reraise. If a player is left with €5 then I will maximum make the raise to €2.5 allowing him to put in a full reraise giving me the opportunity to make another raise and squeeze players already in the pot.
April 4, 2010
I have had a hard time being able to play enough table hours the last two weeks which is troublesome in terms of reaching the $30 a day on average winnings. Things are still going my way and all the raises I make have paid off since the quality of the opponents at lower stake tables is fairly easy to overcome. A continuation bet of half pot is enough to figure if the opposition have a hand or not and thus I profit a lot in all these spots. Account is almost $300 now which is $150 behind schedule. There is not a chance I will rush to catch up and time will show if I get more table hours logged.
Poker is all about discipline. Especially bankroll management is what most players are very bad to control. Even good player see swings of 50 buy ins but to enter a €0.10- €0.20 table with your last €11.09 is plain stupid. Taking shots at higher levels can be warranted if a genuine big fish is sitting otherwise it is all about building the bankroll from the low limits.
Happy Easter to everyone.
