Suicanes Pokerstars Freeroll Challenge
 

The insane quest? To win the Pokerstars weekly tournament standings by playing only Freerolls. The idea for this challenge came to me after weeks of substandard play (down a whopping $15) and countless quick freeroll outs where I would go all in just for shits and giggles and be done within 15 minutes. Freerolls had a dramatic effect on my money games as well, I simply wouldn't have the patience or desire to hang in very long and I ended up playing shitty cards and making early exits.

I've thought about doing a challenge like this since I first started playing poker online but I've never been in a situation where I could afford the time or had the emotional investment to really care if I played well or not. Well, I havn't played a game in over a week and have had time to focus and get my mind in shape, and now i'm ready to partake of this challenge.

The rules are pretty simple, yet too difficult for me to understand. hxxp://www.pokerstars.com/tlb_tournament_rankings.html explains it.
I couldn't figure out that equation if Pamela Anderson was the prize, But i do know that I finished 2nd in a pokerstars freeroll some weeks back and earned 163 points, so i'm guessing that at the very least 15-20 top 10 finishes will be required. In any event, I'll see where I stand once I play a few (and hopefuly do well) and be able to figure it out a little better where i need to finish. Note that you have to finish in the top 15% of a tournament to earn tournament points.

The rewards? Well, honestly, the challenge is the main thing, but there are 2 other rewards. First, the tournament leaderboard leader at the end of the week gets to play a former WSOP Champion heads up for a $1000, not bad. The 2nd is that multiple top 9 finishes in freerolls allow you more entries to the Weekly tournament, and you can trade in your multiple entries for Tournament Dollars, Tournament dollars are credits available for use to buy in to any other PokerStars tournament.

So, I've registered for the weeks first freeroll and i'm ready to get this dynasty on the road, join me won't you?




SUNDAY
3:00 AM EST Hubble's Hold'em (No Limit) Freeroll- 102nd Place, 24.92 Points Earned, 193rd Place Overall.
1:00 PM EST Newtons Omaha Freeroll
2:30 PM EST Hubble's Hold'em (No Limit) Freeroll
9:00 PM EST Sagans Seven Card Stard Freeroll
MONDAY
3:00 AM EST Hubble's Hold'em (No Limit) Freeroll
2:00 PM EST Omaha Fixed Freeroll
4:00 PM EST Halleys Hold'em Limit Freeroll
9:00 PM EST Hubble's Hold'em (No Limit) Freeroll
TUESDAY
3:00 AM EST Hubble's Hold'em (No Limit) Freeroll
1:00 PM EST Hubbles Hold'em No Limit Freeroll

#1 Tournament #2039018 Hubble's Hold'em (No Limit) Freeroll
Saturday July 25th 3AM EST
4000 Entrants
Point Cutoff: 266th Place

Hour 1
First big gamble that doesn't pay off, 2 guys go all in pre flop, I fold with 9,10o and of course 2 more 9's get rolled out which would of given me a fine early boost.

I win a couple of big hands thanks to dumb opponents, 2 guys went all in with k,7o and pockets 5's, i beat em both easily and tripled my earnings.

At the end of the first hour there are 1450 players left, my stack is $5,160.
Im happy with the way i've played, havn't lost anything big on 1 hand and have stayed tru to my style of passivness *TM Golden Eagle*. My best hand was 4 8's, but it all came with the flop so I was in no position to do anything with it :(


Hour 2
I caught a guy going all in, I drew a Full House and bumped up another $1000.

Another guy goes all in pre flop with j,2o I have K,Ad and call and rack up another $2000 rather easily.

I worked a nice pair of Aces with a K kicker to nab another $2k.

Got caught by an all in for $2,500 by a guy with pocket Q's, I had pocket 10's and lost it, my first big loss, almost an 1:20 into the game.

I rebounded with a nice 2 pair combo to get back up to around $9.500.

And then it happens, 4 people at my table go in for over $2k each, i have pocket JJ's so i join and lose out to pocket AA's, down $4k.

At this point I work a 2 pair to get my money back and then on alternating hands lose and win some of it back, i'm around $8K right now, 1:40 in.

Big gut wrencher as a pot that went for $11k would of been mine if I had stayed in, but the bets were too high for my 8,9h. Of course 2 more 8's and 1 more 9 got flopped. I hate hands like that.

I go all in after 4th street with a flush, K high, and grab a $16k pot, nice.

I get taken for $2,500 when my QKh flops nothing helpful.

Got a flush on 4th street but couldn't do anything with it except take in a $1,800 pot.

I nickle and dime myself out of about $5k over the next 20 minutes, catching nothing on the flop, more than once I think a guy was trying to buy the pot but my goal is tournament points, so I'm not prepared to call that bluff unless I have a killer hand.

At the end of Hour Two I have $15,578, there 305 players left.


Hour 3
2:22 minutes into the game i have passed the tournaments point cut off, I have $14,500.

Guy goes all in, about $15,000 worth, I have pocket QQ's so I decide to call, he shows A5o and the flop doesn't help him at all, im now up to $30K.

I have $28K 2:42 minutes in and get moved to a table with 3 people over $80K, god damnit.

Big hand I should of played but I got out on after the flop, I would of drawn a Flush, K high, and won the pot, but i didn't wanna risk it, I hate hands like that.

Went in with KQc, flop left me with KK's, they kept betting it up, i kept calling, I had 2 pair K's & J's, lost out to a flush, Q high, i'm down to $2,731 and it looks like i'm on my way out. I knew someone else had to have an equal hand, there were 4 face cards on the table, I should of reeled myself in :(

Got trip 8's on my big blind to save me, back up to $10k, now im hanging in there for points, unless i have 2 faces or pocket pair faces i'm staying out.

Had J9o and decided to go all in, 3 clubs came down and I was done, 3 people ended up with a flush, leaving me out of it. I finished in 102nd place.

I thought i played pretty well, I just got piledriven at the end on a table with 4 players over $100K, I needed monster hands to compete and they didn't come. 102nd will give me some points, but this is about endurance more than anything so I consider this a fine start to the challenge. I won't know how many points i've earned until the tournament is over but i'm gonna grab some rice-a-roni and chill and then head to bed.

The next Tournament is a Omaha game at 1pm, about 7 hours from, it's not my strong suit but I'm gonna try and make it, I will need to nab a few hours sleep though.

P.S. If anyone wants to be a darling and make me a chart based on top 266 finishers in a 4000 man freeroll I would certainly appreciate that, I downloaded the excel file off of their website but it tells me that I need Excel 97 in order to edit the file, and I don't have that.

Finished: 102nd Place
Points Earned: 24.92

I just lost....4 Aces to a FUCKIN ROYAL FLUSH!!!......4 Aces dont lose!!!! GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LOL, on the bright side, that will likely never happen again, so you can put it behind you, :D

#2 Tournament #2090289 Newtons Omaha Freeroll
Sunday July 25th 1PM EST
Entrants: 4000
Point Cutoff: 266

Omaha is really hard for me to give play by play on, mainly becuase I'm to busy concentrating, it really is a bitch to focus on for me, so the details will be light.

At the end of the first hour there are 1859 players left and I have $3,740. This is a very odd game for a poker newbie, more than once i relied on 3 of my cards :( and got caught going in when I shouldn't have. It seems that people will pay anything to see the flop since there are alot of possibilites for flush and straight draw, I'm playing well but still not 100% in tune with the game.
Playing this and the Hold'em tourney at 2:30 will be tough.

Well, 1:26 minute in and im out, not a very good 2nd hour, I got caught up in the going in alot and banked on 2 pairs more than I should of and it cost me with straights and flushes, I'm dissapointed that I didn't keep my composure.

Finished: 1326th Place
Points Earned: 0

#3 Tournament #2089892 Hubbles No Limit Hold'Em Freeroll
Sunday July 25th 2:30PM EST
Entrants: 4000
Point Cutoff: 266


The 24.92 Points I earned in the first Tournament are alot fewer than I expected to get for a 102nd place finish, this is gonna be alot harder than I imagined :)

I'm up $600 after 10 minutes, a good, smart table.

Guy goes all in with a Q8o, I have AQo so I call, of course another 8 is all that flops and i'm down to $600.

I had 3 K's post flop so I went all in and got caught with A Straight, thems the breaks. Not a good Sunday so far, 2 tournaments, no points.

There are games at 9pm and 3am tonight, If the gaggle of malcontents I refer to as my friends want to watch the Japanese Hardcore Wrestling PPV tonight then i'll be missing the 9pm 7 Card Stud & probably will miss the 3am as well due to a need of sleep. Maybe this wasn't the brightest idea I ever had.

Finished: 1926th place
Points Earned: 0

ill be in sagans which starts in about an hour...whats your nme on pokerstars?

suicane75, but i know i aint makin the 3am, and i wont be home till tommorow evening, I think I underestimated this thing, lol.

Freeroll chart
 

Here is the chart you wanted up to 266. I think this levels off too much for my taste. Anyway, once you make it in the points I think this means that there really isn't any reason to hold out for a couple of positions you might as well gamble as 166 is less than 5 points more than 266. Good luck and let me know if you want any other charts.