A Different Kind of Poker Challenge

I participated in a unique challenge that was posted in a thread here and it was really interesting to say the least.

The rules are: (copied from the post)

1) You must play at one table 100 continuous hands.

2) You must see the flop 100%.

3) You must attempt at least one pre-flop raise (PFR), if possible. We're going for 100% PFR on PT stats, so open raising and calling a 3B is fine. If it is capped to you, your PFR may not be 100%.

4) You can only buy in for 50 Big Bets.
(Stakes $.02/$.04. - 50 Big Bets = $2.00 buy in)

I played this at a Limit Hold 'Em, $.02/.04 Full Ring Table (9 handed) at Poker Stars . The reason being is this challenge is something I didn't feel comfortable with. I don't play loose at all pre-flop and this would get expensive if I tried it against players at my normal stakes. Once people adjust to your style their opening range will widen because you look like a spew monkey to them.

I tried this twice and had two totally different results. The first attempt had me busto in 28 hands (I won a $5.00 prize for this as the player to bust the quickest).

I felt frustrated raising hands like 62 off-suit and/or having to call a player's 3-bet after I open raised in early position. I knew I had little value and didn't like throwing away 3 small bets pre-flop and check folding flop after flop, or donking with a small pair and folding to raises on later streets. It wore on me pretty quickly.

The next attempt was better as I started hitting flops and running good. The table also got shorter after a few people commented on how stupid my style was and left.

Overall I got more comfortable with this sort of retarded style of playing. It clearly is a losing proposition in the long run and I don't advocate anyone consistently playing like this. But for a short stretch it opens your eyes to the value of post-flop play. That's where the most money is won in this game. Making a small mistake pre-flop is OK if you don't compound it on later streets. You must be able to hand read and know how your opponents will react to you play.

I posted the stats of this challenge below from Poker Tracker. You'll notice in the second row that my pre-flop raise (PFR) number is below 100%. In a couple of hands the play was folded around to the Small Blind who folded instead of having to call another raise from me, the idiot, in the Big Blind.

Stats :

Session 1

Hands played - 28
VPIP - 100%
Pre-Flop Raise - 100%
$ Won ($2.00)
BB/100 - (178.57)

Session 2

Hands Played - 100
VPIP - 99%
Pre-Flop Raise - 100%
$ Won - $1.53
BB/100 - +38.25




If anyone else is inspired to try this please let me know how your results turned out and what you learned from it. I'd be interested to hear.

Good luck on the felt and may the good cards hit your hand..

Update

One of the parameters set in 2+2 of doing this 15 Big Bet Challenge is to complete it in 3 hours and see how far you can make it up the ladder. That doesn't work too well for me as I may be interrupted with work, which was the case today. But I'll try to stick to the requirements and see how it goes.

I finished off the .05/.10 level in 144 hands. I was really card dead for about 6 orbits and saw a ton of action being thrown around. Needless to say, I was licking my chops and eager to see some hands come my way.

Most of the players are so weak passive it isn't even funny. Patience is key and you'll get paid off with your good hands like this one. I was hoping for some more action after seeing the other guys' hands, but alas.....

Thanks to Deuces Cracked for the hand history converter.


Poker Stars $0.05/$0.10 Limit Hold'em - 6 players

The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter



Pre Flop: (1.4 SB) Hero is MP with 9 9

1 fold, Hero raises, 1 fold, BTN calls, SB calls, BB calls



Flop: (8 SB) 3 9 9 (4 players)

SB bets, BB folds, Hero calls, BTN calls



Turn: (5.5 BB) 8 (3 players)

SB checks, Hero bets, BTN calls, SB calls



River: (8.5 BB) 2 (3 players)

SB checks, Hero bets, BTN calls, SB calls



Final Pot: 11.5 BB

BTN mucks Qd Qh

SB mucks Jc As

Hero shows 9s 9h (four of a kind, Nines)

Hero wins 11 BB

(Rake: $0.05)

So I'm on to the next level after playing a little over an hour. I'll be back at it later this evening and hopefully have some good news to report.

Run Good

A Micro Limit Challenge.......

Since I'm focusing more on Limit Hold 'Em I'm doing a challenge I read about on 2+2 in the Micro Limit Hold 'Em Section called the 15BB challenge.

You start with 15 Big Bets at a very low level. Once you make 15 BBs you move up to the next level. I'm starting at the .02/.04 level with $.60 and I'll move up to .05/.10 once I have $1.50. From there I'll move up to .10/.20 when I have $3.00, and so on and so on.

I just finished the .02/.04 level on Poker Stars in 38 hands playing some 6-max (my normal game now) and will continue tomorrow during the day. I actually did it in 15 hands after flopping quad 10's and getting action from 3 players but sadly didn't sit out before the Big Blind hit me.

Four hands later I cap AK pre-flop against a complete maniac. The flop comes 2, 7, 6 and he smooth calls, as well as doing the same on the turn and river (the turn is a 6 and the river is a 10). He beats me with the mighty power house hand of 92 soooted.

I'll keep updating my progress and see how far the 60 cents can take me. I'll post some interesting hand histories that come up.

Good luck on the felt and may the good cards hit your hand...........