FPM Strategy: Learn From My Mistakes
I’ll come out and say it, I made a few mistakes in making my picks for the second FPM event, the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open.
On the surface, I did the right thing. I was cautious and I rewarded myself for making a few nice picks at EPT Deauville. I decided not to drop six of my players in order to avoid a big agent fee. But, upon further review, it’s clear that some of my moves were incorrect in this game.
It’s simple, if there was no 5% agent fee when you remove a player, there would be zero strategy involved, it would be as simple as dropping all your players and picking a fresh, brand-new batch of 10 to 12 players for the next one.
But, when you think about it, in the worst of scenarios, it would cost you 50K to drop all your players – that is, if all of your 1M cap is used with your selections. So, it’s easy to see that there actually is a reason not to drop your players after each and every event. So, my theory isn’t totally wrong. However, this cannot keep you from making moves that cost you points in the end.
For instance, keeping Vanessa Rousso, Philippe Boucher and Jake Cody was the wrong move. I kept Boucher, for example, because he should be playing the LAPC and Bay 101 in the coming weeks, but it would have cost me $500 to drop him … this was a terrible move on my part. I had a similar thought process with regards to Rousso and Cody with EPT London coming … but EPT London is a month away – bad move.
The simple fact of the matter is, I left valuable points on the table at WPT Lucky Hearts.
On the flip side, I still believe I made the right call in keeping Paul Tedeschi, Ismael Bojang and ElkY.
I expect Tedeschi (France) and Bojan (Belgium) to play the WPT National Series Brussels event coming up later this week. I would have returned both of these players to my lineup had I released them for WPT Lucky Hearts. Plus, the market price for both of these players has gone up since I picked them up, so, I would have needed to pay the 5% agent fee PLUS would have had to purchase them at a higher market price than I got them for in the first place.
As for ElkY, I expect him to play LAPC and the Bay 101 before making his way to the UK to play EPT London. That’s three big tournaments where ElkY could very well run good in. I could have switched out ElkY for Joe Serock since Serock got hot around this time last year.
But I’m convinced that paying over 24K in fees to drop ElkY would have been a wrong move since my guy tells me that ElkY has a tremendous opportunity to pickup some precious points in upcoming events. Now ElkY may fall flat on his face or may decide that LA and San Jose before London is just too much poker (I doubt that) – if that’s the case, then I shall suffer the consequences.
Just one last thing. There are a ton of great poker players who are available at the 15K or less mark. So, don’t be afraid to make a move that may cost you cap space later on if you feel it’s the right move, I’m sure you’ll be able to sniff out a few gems at a lower market price.
We all need to remember that the FPM is in its infancy. There are several ways to play the game and we will all reap the benefits of a great move and suffer the consequences when making a wrong one. The important thing is that you’re having fun with this fantastic Facebook App!
Live and learn friends, live and learn 
Lineups for WPT Lucky Hearts are now locked but if you head on over to Facebook and signup to play the GPI Fantasy Poker Manager – you still have plenty of time to make your selections for our next event!
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