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..