I'll be attempting to turn $100 into $5,000 exclusively through playing 6-max Double or Nothing (DoN) SnG's over the next few months. Here's the rules I have decided to set for the challenge:
-Starting with an even $100.00 CAD in my Bodog account, I will need to reach $5,000 CAD (aka $4,900 profit) before July 1st.
-I may top up my account to $100, a maximum of 3 separate times, if it's ever needed.
If I lose:
-25% of the amount I did not earn will be donated to charity. I will pick out a few options and start a poll here if it seems like I'm going to fail the challenge.
-Example: If I only make it to $1,000/5,000, I am $4,000 away from completing the challenge. So, I'll need to donate 25% * 4,000 = $1,000.
If I win:
-I'll be spending a minimum of $2,000 in buy-ins for MTT's, with a minimum buy-in of $500 for each tournament I play. This will probably be my last chance to win big in this game, and I hope to have the opportunity to give it a shot.
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Welcome everybody to my first ever PG&C thread. I've decided to start this challenge because I currently have a lot of free time, and I'm going to take one last stab at playing serious poker.
Like a lot of people on this site, I got into poker when I was 18, and I became obsessed with the idea of making millions, and playing for huge amounts of money. And, like a lot of other people, I peaked at live 1/2, and gave the game up for a normal life. In the past four years, poker has been just a small part of my life, and instead I've been focused on getting my degree.
With just a few months to go before I graduate, I've decided that I want to get one last rush out of the game of poker. My challenge goal isn't all that extreme, but I also have 9 credit hours this semester, and a job lined up for late April (fingers crossed it doesn't get cancelled again), which could seriously limit my time. However, I feel really motivated to show off what I can do in these Double or Nothing games, because they have been my bread and butter over the last few years.
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Why I love/hate Double or Nothing SnG's
Positives:
-I came from a 6-max cash background, and so I've always sucked at heads-up and short handed play. Lucky for me, these games immediately end once there are 3 people left.
-ICM pressure starts immediately, and ramps up intensely as the game goes on. In a ~30 minute SnG, there's so much excitement going on because the ICM pressure gets very intense, very quickly.
-DoN's require a unique skillset, which requires specific study to be good at. I can excel at this one, not completely insignificant area of poker, just because it's so unique.
Negatives:
-Collusion. When I used to play these games five years ago, I used to get an email from Bovada roughly every 30 days, because they had banned cheaters in my game, and so they were reimbursing me ~$50-200. I have not had a single email/reimbursement since then, even when I've specifically sent in reports myself. So while it may be possible that every cheater decided to stop cheating ~5 years ago, it seems to me like you're probably still dealing with people colluding in your games, they just aren't being banned/their money isn't being given back to the players.
-The lack of growth potential. I play on Bodog (which is pooled with Ignition players), and there is not much incentive to play above the $20 games. Collusion is rampant in the $50/$100 games, and it's extremely tilt inducing to be in a game where people are working as a team to take you down. You can still make good money in the games, but you're fighting an uphill battle.
-The non-transferability of skills. If you get really good at DoN's, then want to branch off into other forms of poker, you're going to be really limited. Unless you're transitioning to another satellite-type structure, your playstyle will need to completely change.
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Historically, I've been able to achieve win rates of up to 61% over a few hundred game samples. As shady as it sounds, I don't have any evidence to back this up because I've been tracking wins/losses using a notepad on my computer, and deleting the results pretty often.
I hope that this thread will prove my worth in these games. I know this first post was long, and without a lot of exciting content, but it's simply an introduction to this challenge. I'm looking forward to let you guys know about my tactics in these games, how I study for them, and also to be able to share stories about poker and my life.
I'll be back tonight to share the results of the first day of this challenge.
