The Best

For the month of August, I’ll be involved in a Prop Bet vs Andrew “L.A.Ruseman” Russel.  Details of the bet are as follows:

  • Prop begins August 1st, 2015, 12:01 AM PST and goes until August 31st, 2015, 11:59 PM PST. All games *started* during that time window are included in the prop.
  • Bet is between Rusemandingo (L.A.Ruseman on PokerStars) and acbarone (abarone68 on PS)
  • Only preRB profit is counted
  • Games that count toward prop are 9-max Hyper SNGs of the following limits on PokerStars: $30, $60, $100, $200 and any other amount over $200 (if Stars introduces them)
  • No volume cap; play as much or as little as you’d like
  • Winner gets $1k

Pretty simple really; Whoever makes the most money in $30+ 9-max Hypers in August will be declared the winner and in addition to bragging rights, receive $1,000 from the loser.

L.A.Ruseman (Ruse) is undoubtedly a great player and has a sick grind ethic, but I’m rather confident in my side.  This all started when Ruse posted the following on 2+2:

His EV graph was solid, no doubt, but I took exception to him calling himself the best at the $30+ 9-max Hypers.  In 2013, I was the most profitable 9-max Hyper player on PokerStars, ergo, the world.  In 2014, I finished in the top five but that’s not because I got worse, but because I started branching out into several other game types.  In fact, I made more $/game in 2014 than I did in 2013, also more than anyone else in the top ten.  And this year, in an era where winrates are dwindling due to reggier games and higher rake, I’m making even more $/game.  Bottom line — I consider myself to be the best 9-max Hyper player in the world and so when another reg lays claim to that title, I’ve got to battle for it.

Of course, a 1-month sample doesn’t definitively tell us anything, but that doesn’t preclude it from being fun.  When Ruse made that post on 2+2, he included his graph of $30+ 9-max Hypers that showed very solid EV.  Not as good as mine, but solid nonetheless.  The kid will almost certainly out-volume me though, he’s been known to play 16+ hour days and that plus his obvious ability doesn’t bode well for me.  My plan is to stick to my peak hour schedule, 10 AM to 4 PM, and mix in some off-peak hours on the side.  This month I got in about 1,500 games and am hoping for at least that amount in August.  You can follow along with the prop/results here as I will be posting frequent updates.

Ran slightly below EV this month in Hypers, hoping to make that up (and more!) during this prop.