I really wanted to splurge and play one of the $200 WCOOP events but I just couldn't find the time. :(
Since my last update my Double or Nothing Sit N' Go challenge bankroll is up over $1,000 to $2,584. I'm currently playing the $10 DoNs. My winrate since the last update was only 55.6% giving me a little better than a 3% ROI.
Not a spectacular winrate but it's mainly due to one big downswing.
I started out this update playing the $5.40 DoNs even though my bankroll rules allowed me to play the $10.80 DoNs. There were a couple of reasons why I decided to stick with the $5 DoNs.
First, I just got used to playing a large number of tables and was having fun and showing good results doing so and I didn't want to stop.
The other reason (and this is longer than I wanted but I can't stop talking about new toys) was I needed to replace the TV in my office and decided to use my FPPs to get a new TV from the PokerStars' VIP store. Sticking with the $5 DoNs I was able to generate FPPs faster since moving to the $10 DoNs would mean I would have to play fewer tables.
I had planned to restrict my FPPs to only cash bonuses but just couldn't resist. I'm the type of person that usually goes nuts looking at specs and comparing models before I make any purchasing decision. I hate wasting money and more importantly I hate getting something and then realizing for only a little bit more I could have gotten something better.
The downside is that I start out looking for something that costs let's say $300 and then realize for $50 bucks more I can get something better, and then for only another $25 I can get something even better. Eventually I say screw it if I'm going to spend $200 above my initial $300 budget why not just get the top of the line model!
Unfortunately (or fortunately) I didn't have time to do that and just blindly bought the 26" 720p Samsung HDTV that PokerStars lists on their store. It was the right size and I could do without 1080p in my office. I'm happy with it. The picture quality is good and it has some nice features. My favorite is that it comes with a USB port and I can connect an external drive to play videos from my computer.
OneCall.com seems to be the company that fulfills electronics orders for PokerStars's VIP Store. The TV was listed for $480 when I ordered it for 32,000 FPPs. If I chose to purchase bonuses with those FPPs I would have only been able to get less than $400 worth so it seemed like a good deal. Amazon put it on sale shortly after I ordered it and it would have been a toss-up. Check out Amazon's current price for the Samsung LN26C450 26-Inch 720p 60 Hz LCD HDTV
OK, back to DoNs...
After I earned the FPPs I needed for the TV I finally moved up to the $10 DoNs. I started playing one and then two tables at a time and things were going well. Very well actually.
Since I continued with the $5 DoNs longer than I should have my bankroll could actually support playing more than 2 tables at a time and I quickly moved to about as many as I was playing at the $5 level. That's when the downswing hit and it was a pretty big one. I never hit the point where my bankroll rules told me to move down so I kept at it trying to find my bearings.
Moving up quickly probably wouldn't have been such a big problem but a few weeks went by where I didn't have time to play any poker and I guess I forgot how? I should have eased myself back into it.
At the $10 level players generally make fewer mistakes than they did at the $5 level and I found I needed to focus more to keep myself from making mistakes myself. I dropped back down to 2 tables at a time to pay closer attention and make some adjustments to my game.
I created a custom layout with 5 tables arranged as shown in the image to the right. There's a little bit of overlap but I can still see what's going on.
More important than seeing what's going on, this layout helps me remember the players. This is helpful when there's a player I'm picking up a read on but I don't have enough hands against them for the HUD stats to be reliable.
I'm not good with remembering names or avatars but I'm good at remembering something like the player in the upper right table in seat 1 raises loose and calls shoves light. Playing with my tables stacked doesn't allow me to remember players in that way.
My next step is to play 6 tables. I have a layout where I moved the center table up and added a 6th one just under it. After that 8 tables with a bigger overlap and then I'll see if I can go back to stacking tables.
The challenge is going much slower than I initially thought it would but as long as that chart keeps moving up I guess I can't complain. :)
5 Response to "DoN SnG Challenge Update 12"
Hello
Nice to see your back writing again. And congratulations on the TV ;)
I've been using your spreadsheet for my 1$ Dons. I had a ROI of 141 %. So just yesterday I've moved up to 5$ dons.
I actually want to play normal SNG with the 50/30/20 payout structure but I dont mind grinding the 5$ Dons for a while. SO my question is, should I keep playin the Dons to build my bankroll up or should I switch to normal sng now? I'd like to play the 5$ ones , should I start from 1$ or build a bankroll for 5 ?
Thanks in advance
xecrassy,
I personally like to keep separate bankrolls for different games. That's why I have different spreadsheets for different games. I don't add bonuses to my bankrolls. Instead I use them to start bankrolls for different types of games.
If you want to start playing the standard sng's you might want to consider doing the same unless you want to completely stop playing DoNs.
The $5 standard 9-man SnGs play fairly similar to the $5 DoNs in the early levels.
Antes don't kick in as quickly so stealing blinds doesn't become important until later than they would in a DoN.
Bubble dynamics are quite different as well. In a DoN you don't have to worry about accumulating chips, it's more about survival. In a standard SnG accumulating chips becomes more important at the bubble so you have a better chance of getting 1st place money. That's important to maintain a good ROI.
When you play DoNs it's almost like playing half a normal SnG so they don't give you an opportunity to work on your end game strategy.
It's up to you what you feel comfortable with and what your bankroll can sustain but you might want to consider starting at the $1 SnGs with a separate bankroll so you can work on your end game a bit before tackling the $5 SnGs.
Just stumbled upon your site. I really like it, and I'm very intrigued by your challenge. I started playing some $1+.15 DoN's a couple days ago and I'm winning at a 77% rate. Mind you this is a very small sample (13). I was just wondering what an appropriate sample was to determine win rate, so I can tell how multi-tabling affects it?
Adam,
13 is way too small a sample to give you a good indication of your win rate. Hundreds of games would be better, thousands even more so.
There's a little bit about sample size and variance in a previous post Reader Email About DoNs
Hey, like the site. How many DoNs have you played at each buyin? I play DoNs on stars, 12 tabling $5 turbo at the mo although I plan to move up to a mix of $5 and $10 turbos soon. My alias is Raisy Rat. Cheers.
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