WBCOOP 2010 Recap

So, being firmly entrenched in the frugal poker endeavor, I am always looking for a way to start/build the bankroll with no risk. Thanks to a heads up by the illustrious Oh Captain, I was notified that PokerStars (which I have $0.00 of real money at) was holding a series of freerolls for active bloggers. (Amazingly this blog qualified even with the lack of action for >6 months). I ended up actually participating in three events, without making it on for the main event on Sunday.

The first event that I participated in was on Wednesday, January 27th at 5 pm in my time zone. Although I missed the first 45 minutes, I sat down with still a little over 1000 in chips. Two hands later, I was over 4000 and after folding for about 5 more hands, I busted both of the remaining players (because in my table of 9, only 3 were actually playing) with pocket kings... From there it went relatively decently until my AK was broken by J10 getting the Ace high straight on the turn, leaving me with a draw to a full house, which of course was not fulfilled. But...

PokerStars Tournament #280000003, No Limit Hold'em
Freeroll
1843 players
$5096.50 USD added to the prize pool by PokerStars
Total Prize Pool: $5096.50 USD
Tournament started 2010/01/27 18:00:00 ET


Dear deebakes,

You finished the tournament in 81st place.

You have won an admission ticket to 'SCOOP - $11 Entry'. This ticket allows you to participate only in a tournament of this type. Tickets are not redeemable for cash or Tournament US Dollars; if you register and then unregister from the tournament, your ticket will be returned.

To view your available tournament tickets, go to Requests > Tournament Tickets in the main lobby.

You earned 18.98 tournament leader points in this tournament. For information about our tournament leader board, see our web site at http://www.pokerstars.com/poker/tournaments/leader-board/

The second event I played in was on Friday night, January 29th. Because I am a degenerate, I signed up for this 8-game tournament, having no experience with most of the mixed games on a website at the least, and I don't think I have ever played Limit Omaha H/L (what a screwy game this is). Since I had no experience (and because I reached my Full Tilt Iron Man goal for the month of January), I played some play money 8-game at PokerStars on Thursday to get a sense of how discards are handled in 2-7 triple draw (which I crushed at in the tournament) and a little more Stud experience, while quadrupling my play money chips. I did okay in the stud versions during the actual tournament, and by okay I mean not losing a ton of money and probably breaking even in the end. Where I felt I had the biggest edge was in the PLO (which I have played a ton at Full Tilt) and the 2-7 triple draw, which I need to play more in the cash game after I get knocked out of my monthly poker group :) When was all said and done, here are the results:

PokerStars Tournament #280000005, 8-Game
Freeroll
1536 players
$5096.50 USD added to the prize pool by PokerStars
Total Prize Pool: $5096.50 USD
Tournament started 2010/01/29 19:00:00 ET


Dear deebakes,

You finished the tournament in 23rd place.

You have won an admission ticket to 'SCOOP - $33 Entry'. This ticket allows you to participate only in a tournament of this type. Tickets are not redeemable for cash or Tournament US Dollars; if you register and then unregister from the tournament, your ticket will be returned.

To view your available tournament tickets, go to Requests > Tournament Tickets in the main lobby.

You earned 32.52 tournament leader points in this tournament. For information about our tournament leader board, see our web site at http://www.pokerstars.com/poker/tournaments/leader-board/

23rd place! WTF! I'll take it for the first actual 8-game mixed action of relevance.

The last tourney was the Saturday No-Limit Hold Em event. Pretty blah for the most part (again missing the first 30-45 minutes with responsibilities) and played conservatively and again made the "ticket" group:

PokerStars Tournament #280000006, No Limit Hold'em
Freeroll
1939 players
$5096.50 USD added to the prize pool by PokerStars
Total Prize Pool: $5096.50 USD
Tournament started 2010/01/30 15:00:00 ET


Dear deebakes,

You finished the tournament in 100th place.

You have won an admission ticket to 'SCOOP - $11 Entry'. This ticket allows you to participate only in a tournament of this type. Tickets are not redeemable for cash or Tournament US Dollars; if you register and then unregister from the tournament, your ticket will be returned.

To view your available tournament tickets, go to Requests > Tournament Tickets in the main lobby.

You earned 17.52 tournament leader points in this tournament. For information about our tournament leader board, see our web site at http://www.pokerstars.com/poker/tournaments/leader-board/

Two $11 tickets and one $33 ticket to this years SCOOP. Can't wait to look at the schedule and figure out how I can perhaps make the frugal endeavor reap benefits over at Stars! Wish me luck...