December and 2008 --> 2009

I put in my highest monthly volume ever in December, playing 55 tournaments. This sounds like a lot, but is actually pretty modest in the online world. The results have been confirming my suspicion that I'm actually not horrible at poker and just need to remain focused over the course of a tournament/session and not make any boneheaded plays.

For the most part I played well in December, with a few minor exceptions, and here are the results:

Tourneys - 55
Cashes - 11
Buyins - $260
Winnings - $605
ROI - ~130%

NL $10 Hands - 439
Profit - $24.10
BB/100 - 27.45

Obviously running a bit hot in both tourneys and cash. I think I can sustain an ROI of ~90 in tourneys and a BB/100 of ~12 in these micro cash games.

For all of 2008, this month finally puts me in the black.

Total profit for 2008 - $350.

Not exactly where I wanted to be when 2008 started out. My 2007 numbers were insane, and I was hoping to repeat that in '08, but I highly doubt it would have been sustainable. Nonetheless, I didn't play as high in limits as I anticipated and I played significantly less volume as well. So my 2009 goals look a lot like my 2008 goal. I'm making them a bit more realistic and also more in terms of volume, since that has been my problem.

2009 Goals:

200+ tournaments
Avg Buyin - $5+
ROI - 90%+

40k+ hands cash
9+ BB/100
Start playing NL25 and possibly NL50

Considering my December volume, I think this is attainable if I really care at all about progressing as a player. However, school and internship may get in the way. Hopefully poker can turn into a very lucritive side income for me, but I really do need to work at it much more than I did in '08.

Happy New Year to all! Good luck on the tables and off.

Final Table Blues

This seems to always happen to me after getting heads up. Whatever.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $4.00+$0.40 Tournament, 800/1600 Blinds 150 Ante (2 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (SB) (t214230)

Button (t55770)
Hero's M: 79.34

Preflop: Hero is SB with K, A

Button raises to t55620 (All-In), Hero calls t54020
Flop: (t111540) 8, 10, 6 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Turn: (t111540) 5 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t111540) 3 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: t111540

Results:

Button had J, 10 (one pair, tens).

Hero had K, A (high card, Ace).

Outcome: Button won t111540


PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $4.00+$0.40 Tournament, 1000/2000 Blinds 200 Ante (2 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (SB) (t154010)

Button (t115990)

Hero's M: 45.30
Preflop: Hero is SB with K, A

Button raises to t6000, Hero raises to t20400, Button raises to t34800, Hero raises to t153810 (All-In), Button calls t80990 (All-In)

Flop: (t231980) A, 5, 5 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Turn: (t231980) 6 (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: (t231980) 3 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: t231980

Results:

Button had 6, 6 (full house, sixes over fives).

Hero had K, A (two pair, Aces and fives).
Outcome: Button won t231980


The second hand isn't so bad for the odds, I was a dog going in, but the manner in which it played out. It was brutal. Oh well... I battled for a while after this but ended up getting ~50k in pre with 3's and ran into his jacks, to get second. Again.

Another Blah Month

School ate a huge chunk of my time in the last week or two of November. But in the middle of the month I was able to get in some decent volume, at least for my standards.

I ended up playing ~12 tournaments, cashing only once for a -85% ROI. No big deal I suppose. I am mostly confident in my play lately though, so that's good. If there's one thing I would change, it would be that I loosen up a bit. I'm basically still a nit.

I also got in just under 400 hands of NL $10. Just two one hour sessions, but it's more cash than I've played in the last three months combined. I was up ~$17 at like 22PTBB/100, so that was good. For some reason though, it felt more because I was running pretty hot than playing really well. I'm still too tight in the 6-max format. I think I was running around 14/10 or so. I want to be 18/14 or 18/16 at these levels, possibly going as high as 22/19. Whatever, it's just one more thing I have to work on.

That's all for now. Happy Holidays and whatnot.