October Update

October was both the Best and Worst month of my poker "career". It started with sooooo much potential. I was up over $1500 in the first week and took down my first MTT. Then the bottom fell out of the sky. I finished down $700 for the month at the cash tables. Like most down swings it was a mix of bad luck and bad play. I haven't dropped down but have decided to watch more videos and limit myself to 1 or 2 tables until I get my swagger back.

Here are a few hands that epitomize my cash game sessions for the month.

Hand #1: Suicidally Unlucky

Full Tilt Poker, $1/$2 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 8 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

Hero (MP1): $196.10
MP2: $204.60
CO: $177.95
BTN: $130.55
SB: $167
BB: $108
UTG: $159.70
UTG+1: $154.20

Pre-Flop: 5 5 dealt to Hero (MP1)

2 folds, Hero raises to $7, 4 folds, BB calls $5

Flop: ($15) 2 8 5 (2 Players)
BB bets $15, Hero raises to $40, BB raises to $65, Hero raises to $189.10 and is All-In, BB calls $36 and is All-In
Turn: ($217) 4 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: ($217) T (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $217 Pot ($3 Rake)
Hero showed 5 5 (a flush, Ten high) and LOST (-$108 NET)
BB showed A K (a flush, Ace high) and WON $214 (+$106 NET)

Hand #2: Donk Play
Full Tilt Poker, $1/$2 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

BB: $36.75
UTG: $172.10
MP: $214.35
CO: $121.80
BTN: $298.90
Hero (SB): $130.30

Pre-Flop: A J dealt to Hero (SB)

3 folds, BTN raises to $7, Hero raises to $24, BB folds, BTN raises to $59, Hero raises to $130.30 and is All-In, BTN calls $71.30

Flop: ($262.60) 7 7 4 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Turn: ($262.60) 2 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: ($262.60) A (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $262.60 Pot ($3 Rake)
BTN showed A K (two pair, Aces and Sevens) and WON $259.60 (+$129.30 NET)
Hero showed A J (two pair, Aces and Sevens) and LOST (-$130.30 NET)

I'm determined to be a solid, winning cash game player, so I am going to really work to improve my play. It's ridicuolus that I am a member of not 1, not 2, but 3 training sites and rarely watch the videos. Hopefully, that will change before it's necessary to become a News Year's Resolution. I love playing MTTs, but know if I ever want to pursue a full time career in poker, cash game success is a requirement.

So that is the bad. The Best part of the month was my MTT results. I cashed for more than $10k in MTTs for the month. Coming into October, I had one lone Final Table appearance back in 2005 in a $6 MTT. I chopped it for about $800. Here are my five final table cashes for October.

Date

Buyin

Tournament/Event

Place

Entrants

Winnings

10/3/2008

$10

NL Hold'em+Rebuys

1

556

$4,230.00

10/4/2008

$50

NL Hold'em+Rebuys

7

184

$725.63

10/17/2008

$24

NL Hold'em

3

702

$1,422.25

10/23/2008

$24

NL Hold'em

5

682

$750.20

10/31/2008

$50

NL Hold'em

3

853

$4,100.00

Please excuse the screwed up formatting. Those are first, seventh, third, fifth and third place finishes. It sucks that I could only pull out one win.

It's exciting for me to think about how good I could become if I could hookup with a good, winning poker coach. Anyone up for the task?

I could just pray that I'm a luckbox for the rest of my life.

Hand #3: Donks Rule
Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold'em Tournament, 15,000/30,000 Blinds, 4,000 Ante, 3 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

Hero (BB): 1,583,445
BTN: 663,058
SB: 428,997
Pre-Flop: (57,000) 5 T dealt to Hero (BB)
BTN raises to 78,550, SB folds, Hero calls 48,550
Flop: (184,100) 5 6 8 (2 Players)
Hero checks, BTN bets 100,250, Hero raises to 1,500,895 and is All-In, BTN calls 480,258 and is All-In
Turn: (1,345,116) T (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: (1,345,116) 2 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: 1,345,116 Pot
Hero showed 5 T (two pair, Tens and Fives) and WON 1,345,116 (+682,058 NET)
BTN showed J J (a pair of Jacks) and LOST (-663,058 NET)