Three-Step Shinny

One of my favorite things to do when I'm messing around and playing blackjack for fun is to play a step-style bet pattern. I start with one minimum bet and should I win press the bet for a specified amount of hands. If I don't win, I place another single unit bet and try again until I finally hit a run. This betting strategy obviously has nothing to do with skill besides knowing the basic strategy for a 6-deck shoe, and any wins that come from it are purely lucky.

Usually the number is set at 5 or 6 hands. On a $10 bet, this results in either $160 or $320 profit. Of course, winning 5 or 6 hands in a row at blackjack isn't really a plausible win rate, so the profit amount on such a betting strategy is minimal in the long run and is obviously something I would never do on a regular basis. This is purely for fun to see if I can pull it off, and if I do and for some reason I can get this done in under five bets, then obviously the payout is an added bonus to my mental satisfaction.

As Joe and I sat around the apartment with drink in hand on Friday night lamenting the fact that we never play poker anymore, the thoughts of this fun and money-wasting scheme crept into my mind. Of course going to play blackjack after drinks wouldn't be a smart idea for two young 20-somethings who barely pass rent every month.

Why not play poker? We were good at it at one point, and even if we weren't we managed to survive a couple years before we lost it all, and that's enough to make me believe that we can win. Well if don't have the money to waste playing blackjack, we certainly don't have the money to play in a casino-stakes environment. If it were online sure we can play $20 buyins and not worry if we lose.

The problem is that over the past two years we would deposit money online, win while we were sober, and then go into an alcoholic, overextending, shot-taking, donkey-tilting poker bender and lose all we had won in one night. We made an agreement not to do that again after it happened for the fifth time.

So...we had alcohol, we had finished some good dinner, what then would we do? I wanted to play my step betting for fun, while we both have been itching to play poker for a while. Neither of us can really afford to blow money at a casino, but we could play for a little bit. Why not combine the both? How about a step-program shortstack extravaganza?? A Countdown to Robusto.

We made ourselves one more drink before throwing $100 on Full Tilt and devising a step plan. The strategy was to shortstack a 20 big blind stack at 6-max starting with a $20 buyin at the $.50/1NL table. When we got to $40 off of that buyin we'd move to a $1/2 table, after a double-up to $80 we'd go to $2/4 and shortstack until we got to $160+ and then quit. We had five shots at this to see where it would go. If we hit $160 and quit we'd start over again with $20 buyins and do it again.

This isn't anything new, but mostly when stuff like this happens it's a busto needing to reclaim some lost cash by not stopping until he's fully bankrolled again by the end of the night, or losing it all back trying. We were trying to find a happy medium.

The fun part with something like this is that if you can get your money in good and run well, you can profit just as easily as you could with any other run-good gambling. Also, with such a short stack part of the goal is to actually commit yourself to hands that you normally wouldn't force yourself to go busto with, and see what happens. As the Phils like to say, "gambo gambo!"

Here's a couple fun ones from the Countdown to Robusto:


Full Tilt Poker Game #5639095452: Table Cherokee (6 max) - $0.50/$1 - No Limit Hold'em - 0:15:11 ET - 2008/03/15
Seat 1: Kid Crash ($20.30)
Seat 2: Moukar1 ($110.75)
Seat 3: nuK1 ($100), is sitting out
Moukar1 posts the small blind of $0.50
Kid Crash posts the big blind of $1
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Kid Crash [Qc Qd]
Moukar1 raises to $2
Kid Crash raises to $5
Moukar1 raises to $110.75, and is all in
Kid Crash calls $15.30, and is all in
Moukar1 shows [Td Js]
Kid Crash shows [Qc Qd]
Uncalled bet of $90.45 returned to Moukar1
*** FLOP *** [3h 6h 5s]
*** TURN *** [3h 6h 5s] [9h]
*** RIVER *** [3h 6h 5s 9h] [Jh]
Moukar1 shows a pair of Jacks
Kid Crash shows a pair of Queens
Kid Crash wins the pot ($40.10) with a pair of Queens
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $40.60 | Rake $0.50
Board: [3h 6h 5s 9h Jh]
Seat 1: Kid Crash (big blind) showed [Qc Qd] and won ($40.10) with a pair of Queens
Seat 2: Moukar1 (small blind) showed [Td Js] and lost with a pair of Jacks
Seat 3: nuK1 is sitting out


Full Tilt Poker Game #5639212349: Table Egret (6 max) - $0.50/$1 - No Limit Hold'em - 0:25:04 ET - 2008/03/15
Seat 1: pheno ($133.50)
Seat 2: luv4uladies ($142)
Seat 3: martijnvdb ($100)
Seat 4: binxer123 ($113.35)
Seat 5: Kid Crash ($35.60)
Seat 6: Litko ($114.70), is sitting out
binxer123 posts the small blind of $0.50
Kid Crash posts the big blind of $1
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Kid Crash [Ad Jh]
pheno folds
luv4uladies raises to $2
martijnvdb folds
binxer123 folds
Kid Crash raises to $5
luv4uladies calls $3
*** FLOP *** [5s Jc 7s]
Kid Crash bets $7
luv4uladies raises to $14
Kid Crash raises to $30.60, and is all in
luv4uladies calls $16.60
Kid Crash shows [Ad Jh]
luv4uladies shows [Ks Jd]
*** TURN *** [5s Jc 7s] [Kc]
*** RIVER *** [5s Jc 7s Kc] [Tc]
Kid Crash shows a pair of Jacks
luv4uladies shows two pair, Kings and Jacks
luv4uladies wins the pot ($68.70) with two pair, Kings and Jacks
Kid Crash is sitting out
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $71.70 | Rake $3
Board: [5s Jc 7s Kc Tc]
Seat 1: pheno didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: luv4uladies showed [Ks Jd] and won ($68.70) with two pair, Kings and Jacks
Seat 3: martijnvdb (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: binxer123 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: Kid Crash (big blind) showed [Ad Jh] and lost with a pair of Jacks
Seat 6: Litko is sitting out


Full Tilt Poker Game #5640285945: Table Quetonia (6 max) - $1/$2 - No Limit Hold'em - 2:06:40 ET - 2008/03/15
Seat 1: king_rithy ($64)
Seat 2: jbl3rd ($162.35)
Seat 3: phidddle ($540.90)
Seat 4: Hasu_Ninja ($200)
Seat 5: Kid Crash ($46.20)
Seat 6: NiceBigJohn ($385.20)
Hasu_Ninja posts the small blind of $1
Kid Crash posts the big blind of $2
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Kid Crash [Kd Kh]
NiceBigJohn folds
king_rithy raises to $4
jbl3rd folds
phidddle folds
Hasu_Ninja adds $1
Hasu_Ninja folds
Kid Crash raises to $10
king_rithy calls $6
*** FLOP *** [4d 6h 5s]
Kid Crash bets $12
king_rithy raises to $54, and is all in
Kid Crash calls $24.20, and is all in
king_rithy shows [Qd 7d]
Kid Crash shows [Kd Kh]
Uncalled bet of $17.80 returned to king_rithy
*** TURN *** [4d 6h 5s] [Jd]
*** RIVER *** [4d 6h 5s Jd] [3h]
king_rithy shows a straight, Seven high
Kid Crash shows a pair of Kings
king_rithy wins the pot ($90.40) with a straight, Seven high
Kid Crash is sitting out
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $93.40 | Rake $3
Board: [4d 6h 5s Jd 3h]
Seat 1: king_rithy showed [Qd 7d] and won ($90.40) with a straight, Seven high
Seat 2: jbl3rd didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: phidddle (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: Hasu_Ninja (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: Kid Crash (big blind) showed [Kd Kh] and lost with a pair of Kings
Seat 6: NiceBigJohn didn't bet (folded)


Full Tilt Poker Game #5639262596: Table Lamb (6 max) - $1/$2 - No Limit Hold'em - 0:29:23 ET - 2008/03/15
Seat 1: Kid Crash ($38)
Seat 2: drfeelgood133 ($622.60)
Seat 3: ripkeniv ($166)
Seat 4: le_kiki ($207)
Seat 5: jprewis ($370.50)
Seat 6: adyar ($197)
ripkeniv posts the small blind of $1
le_kiki posts the big blind of $2
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Kid Crash [9d 9c]
jprewis calls $2
adyar raises to $9
Kid Crash calls $9
drfeelgood133 raises to $41
ripkeniv folds
le_kiki folds
jprewis has 15 seconds left to act
jprewis folds
adyar folds
Kid Crash calls $29, and is all in
drfeelgood133 shows [Ad Qd]
Kid Crash shows [9d 9c]
Uncalled bet of $3 returned to drfeelgood133
*** FLOP *** [2c 6h 5c]
*** TURN *** [2c 6h 5c] [Ts]
*** RIVER *** [2c 6h 5c Ts] [5h]
drfeelgood133 shows a pair of Fives
Kid Crash shows two pair, Nines and Fives
Kid Crash wins the pot ($87) with two pair, Nines and Fives
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $90 | Rake $3
Board: [2c 6h 5c Ts 5h]
Seat 1: Kid Crash showed [9d 9c] and won ($87) with two pair, Nines and Fives
Seat 2: drfeelgood133 (button) showed [Ad Qd] and lost with a pair of Fives
Seat 3: ripkeniv (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: le_kiki (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: jprewis folded before the Flop
Seat 6: adyar folded before the Flop


Full Tilt Poker Game #5639422581: Table Goldspur (6 max) - $2/$4 - No Limit Hold'em - 0:43:18 ET - 2008/03/15
Seat 1: Bullseye900 ($86.50)
Seat 2: StKolbe ($354.95)
Seat 3: Century2005 ($150)
Seat 4: smallboy3215 ($554.40)
Seat 5: Kid Crash ($96.80)
Seat 6: thelilbearbeeny ($557.60)
thelilbearbeeny posts the small blind of $2
Bullseye900 posts the big blind of $4
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Kid Crash [Jc Js]
StKolbe folds
Century2005 folds
smallboy3215 folds
Kid Crash raises to $12
thelilbearbeeny raises to $40
Bullseye900 folds
Kid Crash raises to $96.80, and is all in
thelilbearbeeny calls $56.80
Kid Crash shows [Jc Js]
thelilbearbeeny shows [Kc Ah]
*** FLOP *** [Qc 8h Ks]
*** TURN *** [Qc 8h Ks] [3d]
*** RIVER *** [Qc 8h Ks 3d] [2h]
Kid Crash shows a pair of Jacks
thelilbearbeeny shows a pair of Kings
thelilbearbeeny wins the pot ($194.60) with a pair of Kings
Kid Crash is sitting out
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $197.60 | Rake $3
Board: [Qc 8h Ks 3d 2h]
Seat 1: Bullseye900 (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: StKolbe didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: Century2005 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: smallboy3215 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: Kid Crash (button) showed [Jc Js] and lost with a pair of Jacks
Seat 6: thelilbearbeeny (small blind) showed [Kc Ah] and won ($194.60) with a pair of Kings


Full Tilt Poker Game #5639642796: Table Goldring (6 max) - $2/$4 - No Limit Hold'em - 1:03:08 ET - 2008/03/15
Seat 1: bosshagz ($226.60)
Seat 2: homeboi49 ($96)
Seat 3: GiVeMeTheCake ($449)
Seat 4: NigelWinters ($448.30)
Seat 5: kevy34 ($62.50)
Seat 6: Kid Crash ($95.95)
kevy34 posts the small blind of $2
Kid Crash posts the big blind of $4
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Kid Crash [7c 6h]
bosshagz raises to $14
homeboi49 folds
GiVeMeTheCake folds
NigelWinters folds
kevy34 folds
Kid Crash folds
Uncalled bet of $10 returned to bosshagz
bosshagz mucks
bosshagz wins the pot ($10)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $10 | Rake $0
Seat 1: bosshagz collected ($10), mucked
Seat 2: homeboi49 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: GiVeMeTheCake didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: NigelWinters (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: kevy34 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: Kid Crash (big blind) folded before the Flop


Full Tilt Poker Game #5639646782: Table Goldring (6 max) - $2/$4 - No Limit Hold'em - 1:03:31 ET - 2008/03/15
Seat 1: bosshagz ($232.60)
Seat 2: homeboi49 ($96)
Seat 3: GiVeMeTheCake ($449)
Seat 4: NigelWinters ($448.30)
Seat 5: kevy34 ($60.50)
Seat 6: Kid Crash ($91.95)
Kid Crash posts the small blind of $2
bosshagz is sitting out
homeboi49 posts the big blind of $4
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Kid Crash [7d 6d]
GiVeMeTheCake folds
NigelWinters folds
kevy34 folds
bosshagz stands up
BubbleBoy87 adds $400
Kid Crash raises to $12
homeboi49 calls $8
*** FLOP *** [7s 6s Ad]
Kid Crash bets $16
homeboi49 raises to $84, and is all in
Kid Crash calls $63.95, and is all in
homeboi49 shows [Jd Ah]
Kid Crash shows [7d 6d]
Uncalled bet of $4.05 returned to homeboi49
*** TURN *** [7s 6s Ad] [7c]
*** RIVER *** [7s 6s Ad 7c] [4h]
homeboi49 shows two pair, Aces and Sevens
Kid Crash shows a full house, Sevens full of Sixes
Kid Crash wins the pot ($180.90) with a full house, Sevens full of Sixes
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $183.90 | Rake $3
Board: [7s 6s Ad 7c 4h]
Seat 1: bosshagz is sitting out
Seat 2: homeboi49 (big blind) showed [Jd Ah] and lost with two pair, Aces and Sevens
Seat 3: GiVeMeTheCake didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: NigelWinters didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: kevy34 (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: Kid Crash (small blind) showed [7d 6d] and won ($180.90) with a full house, Sevens full of Sixes


Some hands sucked. Some hands made me lozl. Some hands made me fist pump. Overall by the end of the night I had two shots at the $2/4, the first one I flipped JJ vs AK and lost. The second one I got in the right position and held up. After $100, playing all night, and losing and winning some the final tally in my cashier was...$100. Night having fun, playing some cards, gambling, and of course drinking, and I broke even. Good enough for me!

While it might be a little while before I get back into the game, I have a feeling that I will be back to gambo in this style a bit more.