NOVEMBER 2006 ANALYSIS

This proved to be my most consistent month. I got off to my usual fast start, winning some tourneys and earning tickets into bigger tourneys. I didn't perform well in the bigger tourneys but I showed some consistency in the routine online events and was careful not to sabotage myself on the bubble as I have done in the past.

TOURNAMENTS
I cashed in 15 of 82 MTT events. I figure no matter how well I am playing, I will still bust out in the bottom half of entrants nearly half the time due to bad beats or bad cards. I made an early exit 40 times which is right about where I expect it - any more than 50% and I must be donking my chips off; any less and I'm not taking enough chances to gain chips. Of the 50% remaining, my goal is to make the top 25% of entrants at least half the time which in this case would be 20 and I managed the feat 23 times.

Okay, those 23 events encompass all the final tables, cashes and bubble bustouts. Busting out on the bubble is inevitable and acceptable so long as I am making decisions that will more often than not allow me to accumulate enough chips to propel me to the final table and some real paydays. So what is an acceptable cash-to-bubble ratio? I don't really know but let's say 2:3 because that's about where I landed. It seems like a lot of bubble exits but I feel I must take some chances at that stage in the game because I am not looking to go into lockdown mode and sneak into the money but I am looking to double up and become a force going into the later stages of the game. There are occasions when I go into lockdown mode, if I am nursing a short stack and even a double up will not make me much of a force but generally I am pushing some marginal situations in an attempt to accumulate chips when others are in lockdown mode.

So, I actually made money (or earned a ticket) 15 times which is about 18% of the events I played during November. I won one tournament which paid $6710; I made three other final tables, and I placed 20th in a live event at the Commerce. I admit I donked a couple of events in which I was humming along with lots of chips but greed got the best of me and I pushed when I should have just folded but mostly I played good tournament strategy and made some good money. A few times I just got tremendously unlucky in key situations in which I went in with the best of it.

I also made some profit in the STT games. I cashed 6 of 15 which included a beautiful comeback in a $200 game in which I went from the ultra-low stack with nine players remaining and I came back to win the game. I also went 3-3 in $100 heads-up matches. My total tournament take for the month was $8817.

CASH GAMES
I didn't play all that much as usual. I just enjoy playing tournaments more, I guess. I don't always have the focus for the cash games and I hate the swings. I like to play the six-handed games which keep me in action but I am prone to big winning sessions or big losing ones and the losing days are awfully frustrating. My first session of the month netted me a $1200 gain but from then on I was pretty much breaking even. I put a lot of time into lowball and came out of the gate strong but then gave it all back plus some and wound up $49 in the hole. Overall, I netted $1319 in the ring. I also got $180 from bonuses.

ANALYSIS
I would like to see more months like this. I feel I was playing well the whole while even when my luck soured. I was in the black from the get-go and it was only a question of how much could I win. I had some really bad luck during the final week and couldn't make a dime but overall I made just over ten grand so it goes down as the highlight month of my year and a good indicator heading into 2007.

NOV 2006: $10,316.50
YTD 2006: $27,846.50