October Results

As October comes to a close, it's time for the monthly recap of results. Between work, travel and family stuff, I've not played as much poker as I would have liked. That said, the net results have been pretty good, with a hair over $400 added to the bankroll from cash games, almost $62 from tournaments, and $38 from a few hands of Omaha. Here's the skinny:

Cash Games -  Hold'em
As usual, most of my poker has been grinding in cash games online. Rush, mostly, but I did dabble in some "regular" full-ring games. Overall, I played 19.7K hands of ring games, with nearly 13K of those in $25NL FR, and 4.2K in $50NL. The bad news is that I ended up losing money overall in the $25NL games (down $37 for the month). The good news is I more than made up for it in the $50NL games (up $459 for the month). I'm not quite sure how to explain the losses at $25NL. Part of it is due to a couple of monster coolers I experienced (for example, I lost over $50 on one hand alone when I had a set of nines go down to a runner-runner flush. Ouch), but I really can't explain the rest of the losses. I'm going to look through the data in more detail next week whilst I sit on another long airplane flight over the Pacific. Just glancing at the data, however, makes me think I went on tilt toward the middle of the month. There's a big roller-coaster drop in the data for about a week in the middle that looks very suspicious. I suspect it may be some success syndrome at work, but I'll know more when I dissect the data.

The good news as I said is (obviously) the $50NL results. I averaged nearly 11 ptbb/100 during the month, which is fantastic. In fairness, I think I ran pretty well, but I also just played solid poker, which paid off.  I was definitely more focused during the $50NL games than I was in the $25NL. Playing for $50 at a pop certainly puts the Bug on the edge of his seat, which in turn brings out the A-game. Put another way: I'm almost, but not quite, "scared" to play at these limits, which means I'm really working hand ranges, board texture, my image, etc. I'm also getting off hands more readily, which has clearly saved me some dough. Also, I'm winning a lot more money without showdown than I have historically at the lower stakes. My red-line in the PT3 data actually shows a profit, whereas at the lower stakes you almost never see this. This speaks directly to the change in the players' abilities and skills at the higher stakes; the opp is playing a different type of game up at these limits. Bluffing is more prevalent, and 3- and 4-betting is much more common. A number of times I was on both the giving and receiving end of bet, raise, re-raise, re-re-raise, fold situations. You don't see much of this at the $25NL stakes, and essentially never see it at the $10NL and below. The game looks the same to an outsider, but it sure ain't played the same.

My cash stats have been pretty solid overall. I've been a tad looser than usual, with an overall VPIP of 15.8, and a little more passive than I would have liked, with a PFR of 12.2.  I'm not reading too much into this, however, as the sample size is just 19,000 hands. My position stats are solid, as are my aggression factor (3.4), 3-bet percent (5.4%), and attempt to steal (creeping upward this month to nearly 43%).

Here's my overall cash game chart for the month:

And here's just my $50NL results, which show the red-line effect I mentioned, above:

Cash Games - Omaha
I played just a handful of $10 PLO this month, so I can't really say anything too definitive about the stats. It is worth mentioning, however, that I played a fairly conservative game, with an overall VPIP in the 6max Rush games at 27%, and a lets-see-a-flop-and-then-play-fit-or-fold-poker passive PFR of 9.5%. The secret (for me) in Omaha is to really work hard on getting off non-nut hands and weak draws, and pushing my near-nut and big wrap hands really hard. It's kinda meaningless, but here are the results from the small Omaha data set:

Cash Games - Stud
I played about a hundred hands of microstakes high-low Stud (10/20-cent with 2-cent ante) on 'Tilt. Poker Tracker doesn't record stud results, but I think I made a $1.50 or so. Woo. Hoo.

Live Tournaments
I played one live tournament, and busted well outside the money when I got it all-in with a very loose player with my AT against his A5 on an ace-high board. Of course he spiked his three outer on the river and I was  sent packin'. Sigh.

Online Tournaments
I played 20 online tournaments, mostly Turbo single table SnGs, but also some Rush 130-man MTTs and a handful of super-turbos. My ITM for the month was 45%, and my ROI was a respectable 66.5%. Again, not a big sample size, but I feel pretty good about the results in any case:

Other
I'm still watching at least one poker video per week. Typically this is a 1.5- or 2 hour long Deuces Cracked video taken in 30-minute doses while I exercise on an elliptical machine in the morning. Sometimes it's cash-related, sometimes tournament, and sometimes poker theory. In any case, I truly believe that this "card-io" workout has made a big difference in my overall play and understanding of the game. Watching other very good players at work, listening to their thought processes, understanding their big lay-downs, questioning RR's, etc, have all helped elevate my game. If you aren't watching poker videos, in my humble opinion, you're missing out.

I also downloaded a couple hundred poker "pod casts" last month that I started listening to. These are mostly just high stakes pros being interviewed by a fairly knowledgeable reporter. I'm listening to these in airport lounges and on long airplane flights on my Droid phone, which helps pass the endless delays and travel seat time. Again, it's good stuff to just reinforce basic (and some not so basic) strategies and practices. Bug says: recommended.

Am also re-reading Gus Hansen's "Every Hand Revealed" book. This is a fun book for a poker fan, as you get to re-live every single hand that the Great Dane played in his Aussie Millions win a few years ago. People think of Gus as a crazy loose cannon and wild LAGgy player who plays any two cards. The book helps the reader understand why he plays the way he does, and explains that there really is a fundamental soundness and strategy to the way he plays. I definitely recommend reading this one if you're at all interested in MTTs.

Finally, the only poker on TV I've watched this month has been the 2010 WSOP replays on ESPN. I've watched down to two tables, and I think they wrap up this week with bubble of the final table leading into the November Nine, which I've heard that ESPN will try to broadcast within 24 hours of the live table. Cool beans. I do, however, have one question:  Is there anyone more annoying in the world of poker than Norman Chad?

All-in for now...
-Bug