I was mostly talking about online MTTs where u actually can play more tournaments in a month than in 5 years on the live felt.

Yea most ppl just need to man the **** up

GL today boss <3

There's a difference between mental despair and feeling stress. I'm actually a very even keeled person and although I feel a bit of frustration from time to time at the tables it never bleeds over into my actual mood or daily life. But there's still a baseline of stress in a career filled with variance and higher variance games are just inherently going to be much more stressful. Having a healthy financial situation definitely helps for sure but if you have a 500k net worth and take a nasty beat really deep in a tourney with 200k to the winner that's still going to hurt. It'd be very hard for the vast majority of people to actually have so much money to where the result of some of these tourneys isn't meaningful to their life. Two players of exact equal skill who play the same schedule over their career have a huge spectrum of results that they can fall into which has a huge effect on the direction of their life. Honestly none of this is worth spending too much time thinking about since it's out of your control and there's a ton of variance in life, not just in poker. But imo the human aspect of how we approach/deal with variance in life/poker is much more interesting than the mechanics of playing the game.

I think most do just man up and grind on through. It would prob benefit people to have a more reasonable picture of what they are getting into though. Most people think they have more control over things than they do and it leads to more stress/poor mental health.

Nice soul read. And try it on rinse and repeat around 3-4 times in the past 3 years :-(

Thanks Tyman. It's a good question. I think for me:

1) I've always enjoyed large field MTT's, especially when there was the Stars tournament leaderboard. I like how MTT's have a nice beginning, middle, and end.

2) In the past I've had weaknesses with tilt control, martingaling while trying to count Blackjack and martingaling HU SNGS. I think tournaments suit my personality well because I can limit losses to just the buy-ins at hand and I seem to never tilt while playing them.

3) Long term I think tournaments are just more sustainable and will be the last format standing once the robots come over and completely solve the rest. I also think competition in the other game formats is much tougher.

Thanks malice. Hope your Sunday went better than mine. Yeah I think my goal is to just get so good that I don't have to worry about the run bad when it comes. It's a nice target to keep in mind but the near misses do hurt sometimes.

I agree with this. When you put it that way that Sunday Million run was bullshit!

This is MTT life

WCOOP Second Sunday Update

Absolute brutal day today. Kicked off by bubbling the $215 Warmup to my friend alexos.

PokerStars - 5000/10000 Ante 1250 NL - Holdem - 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (CO): 42.89 BB
BTN: 60.17 BB
SB: 31.23 BB
BB: 19.99 BB
UTG: 30.5 BB
UTG+1: 96.08 BB
MP: 7.35 BB
MP+1: 27.76 BB
MP+2: 9.94 BB

9 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.62 BB) Hero has Q A

fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 2 BB, BTN raises to 6 BB, fold, fold, Hero raises to 42.77 BB and is all-in, BTN calls 36.77 BB

Flop: (88.16 BB, 2 players) 7 5 J

Turn: (88.16 BB, 2 players) 2

River: (88.16 BB, 2 players) 3

Hero shows Q A (High Card, Ace)
(Pre 28%, Flop 18%, Turn 7%)
BTN shows K K (One Pair, Kings)
(Pre 72%, Flop 82%, Turn 93%)
BTN wins 88.16 BB

These spots are always weird versus friends but I just try to play GTO-type ranges without leaning too far into overfolding or exploiting. He's a strong player so I didn't really want to be OOP against him. It is close to the money but that just cuts both ways (he can be looser to exploit me and I have to be tighter).

This one was pretty lame. At one point I had 100bb like 100 off the money and ended up maybe 5 short where 400+ are paid. Absolute loser move by me.

Bubbled the 109 Hyper and got 18th in the 215 Supersonic almost at the same time losing to A8 with river A's. This Supersonic hand was a very unpleasant experience would not try again

PokerStars - 12500/25000 Ante 6250 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

CO: 13.25 BB
BTN: 14.36 BB
Hero (SB): 10.1 BB
BB: 16.86 BB
UTG: 21.83 BB
MP: 34.55 BB

6 players post ante of 0.25 BB, Hero posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 3 BB) Hero has 8 8

fold, fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 9.85 BB and is all-in, BB calls 8.85 BB

Flop: (21.2 BB, 2 players) 9 4 J

Turn: (21.2 BB, 2 players) K

River: (21.2 BB, 2 players) A

Hero shows 8 8 (One Pair, Eights)
(Pre 70%, Flop 81%, Turn 93%)
BB shows 8 A (One Pair, Aces)
(Pre 30%, Flop 19%, Turn 7%)
BB wins 21.2 BB

But the worst part of Sunday for me was the final table of the 200e UCOP 6-Max Event on Microgaming

Absolute boosted dolt runs:

-284k adjusted, +1.3m actual
-36.42 bb/100 adjusted, +137.12 actual

Total chips in play were about 1.835m so he just basically won everything off me. ILL GOTTEN GAINS if you ask me.

6-handed with me at 83.46bb vs him at 6bb he wins KJcc>AQo (40%)
6-handed with me at 82bb vs him at 10.55bb he wins QcJs>KdKc on Jd2s4d (18%)
4-handed with me at 62bb and him at 24bb he makes an absolutely outrageous -1.75% prize call with KQdd>A4o (45%)

and then 4-handed again with me at 37bb, him at 52bb, and the other 2 guys at 15bb and 12bb I 3x AKhh SB vs BB, he shoves 37bb with A9s, and the flop runs out 5c6s5h7c8s (29%). At that point I stopped believing there is a God.

Parlay all of those and guess what? You have AIDS now just like me. Took at least 6+ high equity brutal rivers today. I don't really meme riverStars or care which streets come where but today I noticed a trend of getting absolute punished on the river. Both high stakes hypers, the 1K PKO, etc etc etc. Think the run bad has set in and I just have to play through it. The funny thing is everyone feels like they're running bad because nobody posts the samples where they're just crushing their expected chips or ev. But I can assure you of one thing after having played almost a hundred thousand tournaments. **** like this does not happen often. So hats off to you FLAXiYATZY whatever the fk that means. Well played. But f your mother and your extended family.

Please don't take the previous paragraph too seriously! I hope it doesn't come across angry or bitter or anything because that's not how I feel right now. I'm joking, except the part where I said f FLAXiYATZY's mum. I'm mostly just tired and excited to see what happens for the rest of WCOOP, but also slightly wistful because I feel WCOOP ending soon and the schedules will be absolutely terrible once the series stuff is done.

I do feel I made some mental progress though. The old me would have really liked to win that 6k Euro to lock up a Sunday Saver. But now I don't really care about saving Sundays it looks like. Getting 4th for 2.2k or something instead means I had a losing Sunday but I'm okay with that. Even when that disgusting Ace hit the river in the Supersonic, which was actually kind of devastating, I kind of shook it off. I think my game is getting really strong overall and I'm manufacturing a lot of shots. It's just a blessing being able to sit and play tournament poker every day for big prizes.

I have a $55 6-Max day two to play tomorrow and then I'm picking up my coach/backer from the airport. In the chat with jdawg and kleath, I even called that I would be day 2ing this POS $55 tournament after busting all of the other big ones. But I'll do my best and we'll see what happens.

Amazing, loving these posts!

Post WCOOP Reflections



Top Finishes

8/1330 in WCOOP-57-M $1,050 Thursday Thrill for $16k
16/2770 in WCOOP-13-M $530 Sunday Million for $7k
137/2236 in WCOOP-70-H $5,200 Main Event for $17k

Close Calls

7/338 in 250e W Series Turbo Championship
17/1305 $215 Battle Royale
21/826 250e GALACTIC-131 250e Super Thursday
21/1237 $215 Sunday Bounty Builder
18/751 $215 Sunday Supersonic
18/1433 Hotter $55

Highest Equity Spots

These hands were all worth low to mid five figures so very exciting stuff. I ran pretty well in these tournaments but crapped out at the end. It just inspires me to get better so that my doubles mean more and I have more chips next time to survive these spots even better.

1. FT of the Thrill, my bustout hand. Have BTN on 80%+ in this spot and probably ATC is possible.

PokerStars - 70000/140000 Ante 17500 NL - Holdem - 8 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

morans350 (MP+1): 87.69 BB
Fabaz (CO): 24.27 BB
com 157 (BTN): 126.91 BB
YugiohPro (SB): 26.93 BB
VladTheSlaye (BB): 49.68 BB
jeanjrg1 (UTG): 21.94 BB
KKremate (UTG+1): 106.51 BB
NUMBJkE (MP): 31.06 BB

8 players post ante of 0.13 BB, YugiohPro posts SB 0.5 BB, VladTheSlaye posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.5 BB) YugiohPro has 9 A

fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, com 157 raises to 2.1 BB, YugiohPro raises to 26.81 BB and is all-in, VladTheSlaye raises to 49.56 BB and is all-in, fold

Flop: (56.71 BB, 2 players) J T J

Turn: (56.71 BB, 2 players) 3

River: (56.71 BB, 2 players) Q

YugiohPro shows 9 A (One Pair, Jacks)
(Pre 25%, Flop 19%, Turn 14%)
VladTheSlaye shows A K (Straight, Ace High)
(Pre 75%, Flop 81%, Turn 86%)
VladTheSlaye wins 56.71 BB

2. 18 left in the $530 Million.

PokerStars - 125000/250000 Ante 32500 NL - Holdem - 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

U_Key_U (UTG+1): 70.4 BB
YugiohPro (MP): 18.38 BB
MCvisitor (MP+1): 16.41 BB
mexican222 (MP+2): 31.4 BB
MrSwingKK (CO): 14.28 BB
ArtPokerReg (BTN): 23.41 BB
Djorgo (SB): 4.68 BB
FDBtazz (BB): 15.18 BB
OhBarmaa (UTG): 22.76 BB

9 players post ante of 0.13 BB, Djorgo posts SB 0.5 BB, FDBtazz posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.67 BB) YugiohPro has A Q

fold, fold, YugiohPro raises to 18.25 BB and is all-in, fold, fold, MrSwingKK calls 14.15 BB and is all-in, fold, fold, fold

Flop: (30.96 BB, 2 players) K 7 4

Turn: (30.96 BB, 2 players) 3

River: (30.96 BB, 2 players) T

YugiohPro shows A Q (High Card, Ace)
(Pre 43%, Flop 25%, Turn 14%)
MrSwingKK shows J J (One Pair, Jacks)
(Pre 57%, Flop 75%, Turn 86%)
MrSwingKK wins 30.96 BB

3. 16 left in the same $530 Million

PokerStars - 150000/300000 Ante 37500 NL - Holdem - 8 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

U_Key_U (UTG+1): 77.3 BB
YugiohPro (MP): 7.82 BB
MCvisitor (MP+1): 12.55 BB
mexican222 (CO): 17.41 BB
MrSwingKK (BTN): 24.16 BB
ArtPokerReg (SB): 18.21 BB
FDBtazz (BB): 9.48 BB
OhBarmaa (UTG): 13.83 BB

8 players post ante of 0.13 BB, ArtPokerReg posts SB 0.5 BB, FDBtazz posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.5 BB) YugiohPro has Q 8

fold, fold, YugiohPro raises to 7.7 BB and is all-in, MCvisitor raises to 12.42 BB and is all-in, fold, MrSwingKK raises to 24.03 BB and is all-in, fold, fold

Flop: (35.04 BB, 3 players) T K Q

Turn: (35.04 BB, 3 players) T

River: (35.04 BB, 3 players) 2

MCvisitor shows K A (Two Pair, Kings and Tens)

Main Pot [25.59 BB]: (Pre 38%, Flop 54%, Turn 74%)
Side Pot#1 [9.45 BB]: (Pre 45%, Flop 71%, Turn 79%)

MrSwingKK shows J J (Two Pair, Jacks and Tens)

Main Pot [25.59 BB]: (Pre 37%, Flop 27%, Turn 21%)
Side Pot#1 [9.45 BB]: (Pre 55%, Flop 29%, Turn 21%)

YugiohPro shows Q 8 (Two Pair, Queens and Tens)

Main Pot [25.59 BB]: (Pre 25%, Flop 18%, Turn 5%)

MCvisitor wins 35.04 BB

4. 137 left in the $5,200 WCOOP Main

PokerStars - 40000/80000 Ante 10000 NL (8 max) - Holdem - 8 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

YugiohPro (SB): 18.75 BB
klem90 (BB): 52.44 BB
outzhara (UTG): 21.03 BB
motreanu90 (UTG+1): 22.52 BB
cocojamb0 (MP): 32.7 BB
timurbaik (MP+1): 53.89 BB
Ship It 2010 (CO): 48.57 BB
jAkDAriPAA (BTN): 217.29 BB

8 players post ante of 0.13 BB, YugiohPro posts SB 0.5 BB, klem90 posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.5 BB) YugiohPro has J K

fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, jAkDAriPAA raises to 2.3 BB, YugiohPro raises to 18.63 BB and is all-in, fold, jAkDAriPAA calls 16.33 BB

Flop: (39.26 BB, 2 players) 4 5 A

Turn: (39.26 BB, 2 players) 7

River: (39.26 BB, 2 players) 9

YugiohPro shows J K (High Card, Ace)
(Pre 43%, Flop 7%, Turn 0%)
jAkDAriPAA shows A 8 (One Pair, Aces)
(Pre 57%, Flop 93%, Turn 100%)
jAkDAriPAA wins 39.26 BB
************************************************** **************************

It was a much better series for me this time around results wise. Probably looking at around +25k during this stretch once the Main Event comes in which is much better than losing 50k+. This WCOOP has also taken me past the 6-figure point for the year and reasonably close to my peak before the massive downswing. These things shouldn't matter and I want to get to a point where I don't care about these silly arbitrary inflection points. But I'm not there mentally yet.

My experiences the past few weeks 1-Tabling the Million, the Thrill, and the Main Event have given me some of the biggest "thrills" I've had since I was a beginner and are right up there with my Warmup win as a freelancer and my WSOP Main Event Run. It's a bit bittersweet to fall just short of really life changing, goal-realizing, family-security-securing, orgasm-inducing money but that's ok. Nothing comes that easy.

I said before this WCOOP that I was on the right path and I would end up okay no matter what happens and I meant it. This outcome, "close but no cigar," is actually one of the better outcomes and it has inspired me to do even more work to become an absolute monster. I've been in this game a long time and in that time I've seen peers or students become high roller crushers, idols go broke and lose it all, and inspiring stories of people who just love poker reaching the top of the mountain.

During this WCOOP I've realized I no longer want to be the best megatabler in the world or put short term hourly above my growth as a poker player. I've had a long history of doing quite well at low to midstakes with a 20 table grind and I think I've built skills in that area that are hard to duplicate. But I've also built a lot of bad habits including not fully using my time bank and making actions without thinking.

Moving forward I will be sticking to an 8 table cap and marking literally every spot in PIO where I could have made a more optimal decision. I want to become an absolute monster and 18 tabling midstakes isn't going to get me there. I'm very inspired by threads like the Linus thread where he moved up from the low stakes to Z500 and more.

I'm a bit behind on some poker industry posting but I'll be back with some analysis of my grind on different sites during WCOOP, the news about Microgaming shutting down, and more.

Been looking forward to your recap, congrats on the positive wcoop mate. Interested to see your progression after dropping down to 8!

nice read indeed !

keep m coming.

gl

Yes, I was waiting for your recap since I actually railed you in the WCOOP ME and saw your bust-out. I thought you'd be crushed by getting "close but no cigar", but to see your positive attitude here really shows you're on the right track and shows me I need to feel that way too (about my track record in liveaments).

I would like to hear your comment on multiple 25k's running daily on GG while Stars have only few a year.

in

cool thread

Call

How is this even a comparison?

-BD

Thanks for the comments guys. lol @ acbarone. Good call.

It's been a while since my last update. Over a month actually which is just unacceptable. I'm nearing the one year anniversary of leaving PokerStars and it's been a good year. Will have a full recap on that date.

Poker Update

At some points I just didn't have much to post. I'm still on a great track, the competition is still butter soft, and the world keeps turning. I really enjoyed Bounty Builder Series. It was really refreshing to not have such a homogeneous schedule. Every new day was a delightful surprise. I actually ended up playing 8 days in a row and then had to rest a bit after that. Fun times.
During this period, the games were super good and I was firing a lot of the branded $530 events. Some of them had 79-81 scores which is incredible on a $500! Took some heavy hits there but I will continue selecting for the best HS games.

There's been a lot of close calls in this stretch. 22nd in a massive $215 BBS with 55k to the winner, 5th in the Hotter $82 with its absurd payout structure, 5th in the $530 Rake or Break this past Sunday (where it broke again instead of raking), 40th in the Warmup where I lost AA<TT for a 100+bb pot. And so the cookie crumbles. Looks like I'm stuck about 7k at $83 ABI since October 1st, about 8k of that coming from 11 $530's, with my biggest win being 3306 Euros. I actually haven't even checked my results up until now which is an improvement on mindset, I suppose. And it's encouraging being able to hold steady in my regular games to stay afloat despite losing at good spots in $500+ and not binking anything huge.

I haven't quite been able to always stick to 8 tables but table count is definitely slimmer, in that 6-10 range mostly. One thing I'm trying to stick to is not fiddling with lobbies while playing, saving those for the sync breaks, which has been challenging. I'm still trying to reach monster status so I end up marking 40+ hands a session that I sim later. My WWSF has increased a whole percentage point and various metrics (fold to cbet etc) have improved significantly. Still plenty of work to do!

WPN/BCP has shut down for Korean customers. Not sure why our IPs are suddenly targeted and denied but it's a shame. That now makes it GGNetwork, Party, and WPN that are all refusing service. I still have my hands full with Stars, Stars.FRESPT, Winamax, 888, and some IPoker but it's getting to the point where one more major site pulling out and I'll really have to consider moving.

I forced myself to watch Elliot Roe's Mental Game course on Runitonce. It definitely contained quite a few useful nuggets. And I'm speaking as someone who's always hated on things like this in the past, even in this very thread.

Life Update

I'm going to be writing a few articles for pokerfuse/Poker Industry PRO. Poker Industry PRO was my favorite poker publication while working at PokerStars and literally at the top of my daily industry bookmarks along with CalvinAyre, PokerNews, and others. I'm so poker and family focused that I don't get the time to read and write as much as I want to. I figured writing like this will keep me busy in the industry, allow me to keep my writing sharp, and hopefully provide some benefit to the readers. And I'm very glad they accepted me. I have three pieces "in the tuck," the first on my favorite tournament series, MicroMillions. These are more objective news reporting type pieces for now and my position isn't permanent so we'll see how this develops. I'm very excited to get to work writing though.

On the bright side, for the purposes of this thread, it seems likely that many of the "real talk" subjects I want to discuss will be staying in this blog. The idea is to write 1-2 pieces for Fuse Media and then write a more personal piece in this blog. The first piece I've had in my mind for a while now will be called "PokerStars and Fiduciary Duty" juxtaposing the fiduciary duty that Stars has towards its shareholders, not neglected, with the fiduciary duty it might have to its MTT customers, which is neglected. How Stars's oppressive approach to guarantee setting might be actually stunting the entire industry AND their bottom line. I haven't gone too deep in exploring this yet but that's the rough outlines of this one. It's going to be a hot one.

Now I know this is something I've wanted to do for a while and promised but I just never had the time line up. So I'll be offering a freeroll in this thread for the rest of the year, and then I will reevaluate:

For every set of assignments I receive, I'll also have to write an in depth post on this blog about an industry issue that is near and dear to me. Personal updates don't count. If I publish another round of assignments before writing this post, I'll send the money I earn from the previous articles to posters in this thread. I'll pick posters in between assignment cycles randomly and if I'm paid for multiple articles there will be multiple winners. This freeroll will end if my freelance work arrangement ends.

Hi, long time reader, but first time poster . I'd be really interested on your thoughts of their downfall, especially now that they've announced to be shut down. I've played on the site since 2006 and have kept shaking my head over their weird decisions for years.

You got it playboy Will be right up. Next 3 posts on this blog will be one on Stars.com, one on MPN, and one on 888. Working titles for the 888 piece include:

Rake or Break? Rake or NO!
Rake or Broken? The Sad Journey of 888
888? Wait Wait Wait!

Looking forward to the articles, as you been told, you're a good writer and can shed some unique light on the current environment with your background working for ps. Glgl

Cannot wait for these posts. I’ve lurked in your threads for years. MTT threads are the best because you really feel the roller coasters.

I’ve never had the chance to put in a full schedule in the MicroMillions but like you I love the series and what it stands for. It’s a chance for anyone to play a series and get a decent score.

Thanks guys

Had a great Sunday grind despite running poorly. I haven't been running great since October but have been maintaining I suppose. EV was very good. I got off to a good start with an early win in an $82 hyper. The big one of the day was 11th in the $109 Bounty Builder. Ended up paying 45k to 1st and I got $4K (3k bounties +1k) total. Ended up out-bountying everyone at the FT except the winner (an elite reg) which I find amusing. At one point I had something like 70+bb and I saw the elite reg get in 10bb dominated at the other table and win and spin up to 70+ himself. It's interesting to see how tournaments can ebb and flow in that way. I lost a huge pot with 99<22 for 80+bb (BvB he shoved over my open for 40+bb) and never really recovered.

I was excited to see my first article on MicroMillions was posted on PokerFuse. Overall it's been a very smooth and gratifying process to collaborate with my editor, receive relevant feedback from him, send another draft, and then have it posted.

https://pokerfuse.com/news/poker-roo...you-need-know/

I'm working on my PokerStars piece. It's getting a bit wordy so I'll post it in parts. I'm actually considering attaching a vlog to it. I need a space where I can discuss the lobby on screen so I polished off my old Twitch setup for that purpose.

PokerStars and the Death of Duty, Part 1

Context: During most of my time at Stars, I was the point man handling guarantees. I ran weekly reports and suggested updates based on the guidance of managers.

It’s 2018. You’re a poker room and you can draft any $215 tournament. You can go big with the Sunday Million or take the safe Big 215. The $1M tournament, at 5000 runners, will net you $75k in fees and the Big 215, at $10k guaranteed, will net you $750. The Sunday Million almost never misses. Easy choice right? Right.

Now let’s go even bigger. You can take the Big 215, with $10k guaranteed, or the Anniversary Sunday Million, with $10M guaranteed. Again, the Big 215 nets you $750 and the Anniversary Sunday Million nets you $750,000. Wowza! And the Sunday Million Anniversary has never missed either! This one’s even easier, right? WRONG.

The Anniversary Sunday Million actually had an overlay of $1.2m dollars in 2018. Might just be the biggest overlay of all time. And this is the problem facing PokerStars.



At the way left of the curve, let's put PokerStars with a conservative investment strategy. PokerStars starts with a very high floor of liquidity so you can leave most of the schedule alone and it will still generate great margins. Other sites don’t have this luxury and we’ll talk about the challenges facing other sites such as 888 and Microgaming in the future.

At the right of the curve, we might see a company like PartyPoker. PartyPoker spends much more on their overlay budget than PokerStars. Keep in mind they are more incentivized to do this because they aren’t the market leader. Spending can be a form of earning market share and this has worked well for Party. But all spending has diminishing returns.

In the middle there’s a sweet spot. If you underexpand with your guarantees, you lose out on revenue. If you overexpand too far, you lose revenues to overlay.

The Sweet Spot is Key

It makes sense for any profit-driven business to find this sweet spot. In my opinion, every tournament operator has a civic responsibility, a sacred duty if you want to call it that, to meet demand properly. If you set your guarantees at the sweet spot, you maximize your own revenues and benefit the players. If you don’t even try to find the sweet spot, you have an unsatisfied customer and hurt your business. And if you’re the market leader, you might ****** the development of the entire industry.

Let's take an example. The Sunday Kickoff back in better days. If you had a choice between a tournament at $100k that clears at 8% margin with occasional misses versus a tournament at $75k that clears at 20% margin, it’s actually a close decision. But the problem comes when people realize the tournament isn’t a sexy $100k any more and stop showing up to the $75k. Then, you make the same decision but now it’s 75k versus 60k. And then again. And suddenly we’re at a $40k Sunday Kickoff.

In my opinion PokerStars hasn’t come close to finding the sweet spot. Their priorities, set by the stock price and their market position, are minimizing loss, reducing risk, and sticking to the script. While this type of inertia is understandable and there are many examples of this from the past (think Blockbuster Video), it’s really hurting the things I’m passionate about.

A good example of this type of thinking is when we added re-entry to all Sunday tournaments, rebranding as Bigger, Hotter, and Bounty Buildier. I assumed guarantees would increase by 25-33%. Instead, we raised guarantees by 0-10% and my heart grew weary. With a different approach it's possible that Bigger/Hotter/Buildier guarantees could have settled around 33% higher than they are now. That could have meant increased revenue for PokerStars. Unfortunately there's been a pretty consistent pattern here, one we see in the recent customer service issues and more (for future articles).

Counterpoint: Guarantee management is a very unwieldy process and it's sometimes better to be safe than sorry. I remember investing a lot of time to doing a large round of guarantee increases. And then I remember that Sunday we missed a bunch of targets randomly. And I found out it was Eastern Orthodox Easter (say that five times in a row) on that day. I didn’t even know there was an Eastern Orthodox Easter.

I remember investing time again and whiffing because of live events we weren’t aware of that we should have been. I remember being DDOSed and having guarantees suffer. I remember Russia payment restrictions and having to manually adjust everything downward. I remember the World Cup suppressing participation. And eventually I remember giving up on the dream of better guarantees for all. And just cutting it all down.

There just wasn't enough time in the day to do everything we wanted to do and still perform routine maintenance and produce series and handle requests from different departments. I'll be back with more on that in Part 2 along with some RAW data from this past Sunday's tournaments.

glad you are back with posts

BTW imo GTD will keep drooping because terrible artificial payouts

As always love these posts - classic laffer curve there too

You busted me fairly deep in this... boat to turned trip 10s... was pulling for you after that.

Enjoy the write ups, keep it up!

Good run! GLGL