If It Was Real: 300-Game Report

It's one thing to start strongly in a project.  It's another thing to sustain that momentum.  After 300 live poker tournaments, we're humble enough to admit we've lost a large amount of it.

We'll do a long-term review in a moment, but first let's review our last 20 live tournaments.  It's almost like we were trading stocks, trying to end the fiscal year with positive returns.  We've made six final tables in 20  -- but only two finishes were in the top five, both occurring in December.

We add a second-place and a fifth-place finish to our running total, based on hypothetical entries and payouts at casino tournaments -- and here's where we stand:

BUY-INS: 300 nights x $50 = $15,000

First -- 5 ($2,500)
TIE for first: 1 ($450)

Second - 9 ($3,600)

Third -- 9 ($2,700)
TIE for third: 1 ($250)

Fourth - 12 ($2,400)
TIES for fourth:
4 two-way ($600)
1 three-way ($67)

Fifth -- 15 ($1,500)
TIES for fifth:
4 two-way ($200)
1 three-way ($17)

TOTAL -- 62 for $14,284


Winning $500 out of $1,000 in buy-ins admittedly is not a strong record.  But a check of the overall record shows how much our strength has sapped lately:

FIRST 100 GAMES: 41 final tables; 29 top five finishes; 9 cashes - 45.3% return on pretend investment

SECOND 100 GAMES: 42 final tables; 22 top five finishes; 6 cashes - 24.7% on total 200-game investment

THIRD 100 GAMES: 25 final tables; 11 top five finishes; 2 cashes - down 4.8% on total 300-game investment

Is it simply a case of "the law of averages" catching up with us?  Do too many local players know our habits, and exploit them?  We're open to your comments and ideas -- and we might even try some of them at future tournaments.  But of course, we'll only give you credit after the fact.