Sa1251 Talks with HUSNG About His Win

July 19th, 2011 - Sa1251 exchanged emails with HUSNG about his recent 2025 games in 9 days challenge.  Sa1251 completed the challenge successfully, turning a profit during those games and completing the games with over six hours to spare.

HUSNG: What was your plan on attacking this bet going into the challenge?  Did that plan change during the bet?

Sa1251: My plan was to play a balanced 225 games per day.  Stupidly, I didn't factor in the time off from April and May and how it would impact my multi tabling skills.  I was extremely drained the first day after 150 games due to the extra attention required for four tabling these games, and the lack of rest.  As the challenge progressed, I became more comfortable with the amount of time required in front of my computer.

HUSNG: You had a few things impact your challenge, both good and bad.  For example, hyper turbos were expanded during the bet, with $60 and $100s added.  A regularly scheduled server restart the morning of the day 9 also completed in about 10 minutes.

Sa1251: The introduction of hyper turbos [at that level] was an extreme negative during this challenge.  It obviously decrased the action from the fish tremendously.  In order to complete the volume, I had to sit regulars a great deal more than I anticipated. 

The server restart was an unexpected obstacle because I was unaware that it was a weekly occurence.  I didn't factor it into my playing time to start the challenge.  When the lobbies disappeared around 3am on Wednesday morning, I calculated the remaining time (about 22 hours) with the number of games necessary (about 260) and realized that even with a one or two hour delay I would have a comfortable amount of time remaining [as long as I was 4 tabling].  Looking back, the server restart might have actually been a blessing in disguise, since it forced me to take a rest and refocus.

One other factor working positively for me was the miserable weather in Puerto Vallarta throughout the challenge.  It was literally raining the entire nine days.  I had no feelings of guilt from not going to the beach, jet skiing, etc. and was able to focus completely on the bet.

HUSNG: Would either of your roommates, PHMERC or HokieGreg, be able to accomplish this bet?

Sa1251: These guys are definitely talented enough to maintain a high ROI over a large amount of games, but I'm not sure how they would react to the necessity of four tabling 12-15 hours a day for a week straight.  While Hokie and I were talking about possible challenges for me, I think he had mentioned 70 games being the most he had played in one day.  To play 225 games daily or nine consecutive days would be a great challenge.

I wouldn't bet against Hokie though, as long as the monetary incentive was there.  PHMERC would have an easier time with the volume side and would have a legitimate shot as long as his mental game was in an excellent state.

HUSNG: At any point in the bet did you feel you had very little chance of succeeding?

Sa1251: I was feeling pessimistic about 30 hours before the challenge was over.  I had already been up for 8 hours and was experiencing a 25 buyin downswing.  I was only up 6 buyins overall and had to three or four table the rest of the challenge.  I was coming to the realization that every game would be important to the ROI side of the bet and the stress was mounting.  I knew that variance in the final 300 games could easily pull me under the breakeven point, and that all the time I had put into this challenge could be for nothing.  As I said before, the server restart actually gave me an hour to take a break and rationalize the situation.  I cooled down and was able to get back to work.  I want to thank a few of my friends specifically: TaediumVitae, DiogoFranco and TCarnage for trying to help me maintain my cool throughout the week and a half.

HUSNG: How does is feel to win this thing?

Sa1251: I'm pretty ecstatic over completing this challenge.  Of course the ~$10,000 that I won is great, but the confidence I've gained in my grinding abilities might be worth more than that and will certainly help me out in the future.

HUSNG: How many hours did you sleep during this bet?

Sa1251: I slept six of the eight nights during the challenge.  My average amount of sleep during those six nights was about six hours.

HUSNG: Any future prop bet plans?  Future plans in general?

Sa1251: I have no plans for prop bets in the near future, but would definitely be open to ideas.  I'll be moving back to the USA in August and plan on grinding on Merge until the US situation clears up (hopefully soon).