December=Not good

I started December by deciding to make a run at SuperNova 200k on PokerStars. I needed to put in huge volume to do so and was willing to play at a marginal loss to get there. The run up to 200k and the ensuing milestone bonus would have been worth approximately $6k so even if I lost a little at the tables it would be worth it.

There are essentially 2 ways to increase my hourly VPP total: play more tables or play higher stakes. I didn't feel like playing higher stakes made sense so I simply increased tables. I am comfortable and still efficient at 10-12 tables. So as you can imagine when I decided to increase to 16-18 tables of 6-max NLHE it didn't go very well. While I was playing lowish stakes the increased tables apparently was too much and I lost pretty easily. Once I decided to quit the pursuit of 200k I stopped playing NLHE and just focused back on PLO8. That helped to bring my cash game losses under control but not enough to get even. Also, in spite of 3 final tables (a 2nd, 4th and 7th) on the on-line tournament side, I ended up essentially break even in tournaments.

On-line cash -$893
On-line tournaments -$83
Stars FPP value (18,599 VPP x 3.5factor x 1.5 cents per) +$976.48
Full Tilt rakeback +$160.18
Live cash +$1,247.00
Live tournament -$720

Total $687.66

So overall a pretty disappointing month and a pretty big waste of time. I was close in a few tournaments, most notably the FTP $40k when I finished 11th after having a Top 10 stack from 100 players all the way down to the final table bubble. Also, the live tournament results are a bit distorted since one bricked $1,500 buy-in is so much more heavily weighted than cashes in my normal Tuesday and Thursday night $100 and $150 buy-in tournaments.

Oh well, hopefully January and 2011 will be a bit better. I am going to concentrate on playing a few less tables and a little less on VPP production. I mean Holdem/Omaha Manager does a lot in terms of stats on opponents, etc. but there is nothing as valuable as paying close attention and observing the opponents directly. We'll see how that approach helps out.

In any event, here are my biggest cash game wins and losses for the month. First the win...BTN was playing like 75/50 so I probably should be 3 betting it pre against his range. As it is I get it in as a roughly 60/40 favorite against his (mostly) one-way hand.

Poker Stars $400.00 Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo - 6 players - View hand 1103963
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

MP: $277.20
CO: $336.65
BTN: $323.00
Hero (SB): $200.00
BB: $231.00
UTG: $200.00

Pre Flop: ($6.00) Hero is SB with Q T 3 A
3 folds, BTN raises to $14, Hero calls $12, BB calls $10

Flop: ($42.00) 5 J 4 (3 players)
Hero checks, BB checks, BTN bets $39.90, Hero raises to $159.60, BB raises to $217, BTN folds, Hero calls $26.40 all in

Turn: ($453.90) Q (2 players - 1 is all in)

River: ($453.90) 2 (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $453.90
Hero shows Q T 3 A
BB shows 7 8 3 6
Hero wins $225.45
Hero wins $225.45
(Rake: $3.00)

Biggest loser of the month...here I get it in pre against a pretty fishy regular. Awkward hand but I get it in as a 55/45 favorite only to see him bink one of the 3 10s in the deck.

Poker Stars $400.00 Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo - 6 players - View hand 1103965
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

Hero (UTG): $498.65
MP: $211.25
CO: $427.30
BTN: $113.80
SB: $250.40
BB: $243.00

Pre Flop: ($6.00) Hero is UTG with Q 5 A 2
Hero raises to $12, 1 fold, CO calls $12, 1 fold, SB raises to $52, 1 fold, Hero raises to $172, 1 fold, SB raises to $250.40, Hero calls $78.40

Flop: ($516.80) 7 8 K (2 players)

Turn: ($516.80) T (2 players)

River: ($516.80) K (2 players)

Final Pot: $516.80
Hero shows Q 5 A 2
SB shows T 5 2 A
SB wins $513.80
(Rake: $3.00)