Stats For $215ers on 2+2 Forums

Greg Zabawa · #1 11-21-2004, 07:40 AM

I won $5,000 in a $50k Guaranteed on Halloween, since then I've played 451 SNGs: 26 are $109s, 1 is a $55, and 424 are $215s. Out of those 451, I have placed In The Money in 167, for a In The Money % of 37.03%. I place first in 10.42%, second in 14.41%, and third in 12.2%.

For a little background on myself. I am a Junior in college, 20 years old, and I had never played a hand of Hold 'em until about 8 months ago. It was a real grind figuring out the game in those early months, I made several $50 deposits, and I my first real success came when I got 3rd in a $5k Guaranteed and took home $550. A few weeks later I won the aforementioned $5,000 and I really haven't looked back since. For some reason, I was able to jump right in on the $215 level and achieve a decent amount of success. At the start of November, my bankroll was $1,100, it now stands at over $16,000. I have kept my SNG stats and I have made exactly $15,151 during the month of November. My friends and I are going crazy thinking about the possibilities of what I could achieve over the course of a year or so. Remember, I only have 8 months of experience and I just recently began studying books and the like.

I guess what this all leads me to are these questions: How does my ITM% compare to the experts here on 2+2? How does it compare to an average player's? Is a 451 tourney sample size a good indicator that I should be able to maintain my 37% cash rate? Any comments and statistics would be greatly appreciated. I'm just an eager young player trying to figure out what I can achieve by playing poker seriously.

fletch · #2 11-21-2004, 08:32 AM

please tell me which books you read

Greg Zabawa · #3 11-21-2004, 08:41 AM

I finished reading Sklansky's Theory of Poker and Hilger's Internet Hold 'Em. I strongly recommend those 2 to anyone. I am currently reading Super Systems (more out of curiosity than any actually knowledge I might gain). Most likely, I am planning on reading Sklansky's books on Hold 'Em.

fletch · #4 11-21-2004, 09:00 AM

do you not think there is a lot of luck involved in tournaments

Greg Zabawa · #5 11-21-2004, 09:04 AM

If there weren't luck involved, I guess I'd win every one. Sorry, that was a Hellmuth quote, but there is a lot of truth to it. Luck is a huge factor, but you cannot control it, so there's no reason to worry about it. You might lose with AA to 99 one time, but you will win in that situation 4 times for every 1 you lose. I learned early on if you let the beats get to you (and there are many) you better find some other method of making money. Being level headed is essential to be a successful poker player.

byronkincaid · #6 11-21-2004, 09:35 AM

imo it could still be short term luck, you'll obviously know more after 1000. Why not stick 10k away in an account somewhere just in case, so you can't lose it all. It's certainly possible that you've got a knack for playing these, some of the best players on here are teenagers. Have you had days where you get bad beat after bad beat after bad beat? They do happen. GL in the WSOP sng. I'm planning on being in it next month.

adanthar · #7 11-21-2004, 05:30 PM

Your ITM is not important. You want to know what your ROI (return on investment- your winnings divided by the buyin) is. As of today, I estimate it's a little over 10%.

That's sustainable at the $215 level (in fact, the max you can do is probably around 15%) but you will have huge downswings that last hundreds of tournaments. You also won't truly know whether you are a winning player for a long time.

However, if you can handle losing 10k in a month, go for it.

Desdia72 · #8 11-21-2004, 05:39 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Your ITM is not important. You want to know what your ROI (return on investment- your winnings divided by the buyin) is. As of today, I estimate it's a little over 10%.

That's sustainable at the $215 level (in fact, the max you can do is probably around 15%) but you will have huge downswings that last hundreds of tournaments. You also won't truly know whether you are a winning player for a long time.

However, if you can handle losing 10k in a month, go for it.

[/ QUOTE ]

losing 10K a month? that almost 47 buy-ins. no one should be playing $215s if they get down that much simply because of "if you can handle it".

Greg Zabawa · #9 11-21-2004, 07:06 PM

Yes, I do have days where I feel like a walking bad beat. Yesterday, for example, I had AA 4 times all day. Each time I raised so I was all-in with 1 caller, or saw the flop with one caller, and I lost all 4. The hands were QJs, Q9o, 77, 33. In fact, one hand the blinds were 25/50, and some crazy lady moves in with 860 chips UTG with QJs. I mean there's simply no excuse for a play that poor. The blinds aren't worth stealing and you'll only get called by a hand you're dominated by. Needless to say I call with AA and lose to a flush. Usually if I sense a day if gonna be rough I'll cut down the tournaments I play.

Greg Zabawa · #10 11-21-2004, 07:10 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Your ITM is not important. You want to know what your ROI (return on investment- your winnings divided by the buyin) is. As of today, I estimate it's a little over 10%.

That's sustainable at the $215 level (in fact, the max you can do is probably around 15%) but you will have huge downswings that last hundreds of tournaments. You also won't truly know whether you are a winning player for a long time.

However, if you can handle losing 10k in a month, go for it.

[/ QUOTE ]

This seems like insane advice to me. I know I've only played 450 tourneys, but a downswing of 10k in a month??? Sure it's possible, but it doesn't seem likely. Usually I will have a day every know and then where I lose $1200 or $800, but it's followed by a string of 2-5 days where I gain back $2,000. Obviously I'll know more as time goes on, but I don't think I play a risky style which helps cut down the variance.