Back to the MTT Grindage

My last blog post was pretty small and weak so I thought I would take a look back at my recent MTT grinding from the 28th of Feb on.

My scores since I got back to the MTT grind have been pretty sweet and those of note are...

3x Monte Binks (28th + 29th of Feb and the DS Sat one on the 10th of March)
Canadian Bink and a 2nd
Late Night Bink
Atlantis DS Bink

Over the last two weeks the gods have obviously allowed me to run good but you have to then pounce on these opportunities when they come along.  My conversion of FT's into binks is highly impressive (even if I do say so myself :P) and the only low lights thus far regarding deep runs have been the 2nd in the Canadian a 4th place finish I had in one of the Primes and a bubble finish in another Monte.  I mention the low points because they give me more food for thought than the binks because in the MTT game Binks = a job completed and a feeling of relief wheras anything else is just a different losing finish.

The 2nd in the Canadian was a struggle once I managed to grind to HU.  I was a 6 to 1 dog and managed to grind my way back upto even but I was having a lot of trouble against this particular villain.  It was probably the only contest where I just couldn't manage to define the villains tendencies and I'm still left wondering if I got pwned on an epic scale or if they just run like Jesus on heat.  The problem was that he was showing a lot of particularly weird (bad) folds with hands that should have called and that had me beat but then on the other hand he was playing bk when I had marginal holdings.  I'm still confused as to how I struggled so bad in this HU battle considering on paper it should have probably been the easiest villain to get the better of.  Either the gods handed me my arse on a plate or the villain did and credit where its due imo, WP.

The Recent Prime FT was by far the most frustrating.  Sometimes it doesn't happen for you and I guess you just have to accept it.  I was brutally card dead throughout and had to fold the only premium I received.  with 9 left EP shortie jams and Wygie (100k) Jams his stack in from MP.  I'm in the bb with 90k (blinds 1250/2500) with AK and have no option but to fold.  Calling would just be so bad in this spot as Wygie is a solid reg and his range is JJ+ and doesn't turn up often enough with AQ so I groan and fold.  Wygie flips over his Kings and takes the pot.  You cant get results oriented even tho I would have spiked a 3 outer on the river (don't I always? :P).  This FT was probably the most difficult of those Ive recently been on and having a good solid reg to my left and the chippie sat beside them made for a rather frustrating experience.  When I say I was card dead I mean for me :D.  As the blinds climbed up and the players fell my airballing 3bets were getting 4bet shoved on and every time I stole an orbit I faced a 3bet the time after.  There isn't a great deal one can do when your not catching and getting played bk at all the time so I guess I cant grumble too much.  The frustration comes from being that deep and failing to turn that stack depth into a top 3 at least but it happens.

Managing to get my hands on 3 Montes out of 8 since my return to the grind is pretty sweet given my relatively poor overall record in the event.  Self titled bubble boy to doubling my binking column is obviously sweet, only 5 behind the Fox now....fml you bot :P

I was probably more chuffed with taking down the Atlantis than I was any of the other events.  Its probably the main regular low stake event on PKR and I have played it many times without even getting a sniff at making an FT and it was on my list of Regular MTT's to bink (Aussie and The Open being the other two).  Once I got lucky bvb and doubled with a 3 outer after hitting TP I pretty much ran over the table.  A table full of ladderers none of whom will play bk with 10bb+ without a premium hand is by far the easiest to grind down and that's just how it went.

I also played that unmentionable event many times.....bollocks, ok "The Open".  I hate it with a passion, the structures horrible, the players are horrible, everythings just horrible.  Just one time for the love of god let me bink it so I can leave it alone forever more.  I made the final 2 tables 3 times out of 5/6 entrances and failed to make any final table appearances.  The Open sucks and I suck at The Open.

Grinding the Saturday schedule made me realise how much sick value I'm usually missing out on.  With the super soft fields and the DS structures of some of the events its a regs dream but the grinding life and outside commitments are how they are.

In my next blog post I want to delve into Final Table appearances and the processes I go through to try and convert that into a top 3 finish/bink.