November Review - December Plan

I wrapped up November on a sour note with heads up games. I was up about 32 buyins at one point in the month, ended the month up 27 buyins. Still a good month for a part-time player, but part of the loss in the end was a huge pot (almost double buyin each) when I misplayed the turn. (I had KK against an OAD - flop had a lower pair - turn brought trips to the board. I should have slowed down on the turn, figuring if he has quads I will lose less, and I might win more if he does not. I foolishly bet the turn, and when he pushed the river I was priced in, especially since he had pushed light many times before.)

I was upset with myself over that and took time off from heads up poker. HU poker is strange. It is so different from 6-max or full ring or SNGs. In those, a lot of the decisions are really automatic and you can play OK even if not feeling optimally. HU NL Cash games are so player dependent that if I am not in my top mental condition I should not play.

Since my bad night at HU, I have started playing at Cake Poker - mostly 6-max NL 1/2, and done well. I jumped back into a HU game last night for the first time and won, although I would have only been even for the HU match if it were not for my 99 beating KK by having the 4 hearts on board match my 9 of hearts.

All in all, things are going well. I will continue the HU NL Cash game series soon (I think I actually have the next one mostly written). I had been thinking of jumping more to 2/4 NL HU cash games, but I am not sure I am emotionally ready for those big swings. I have been consistently taking money out of my BR (funding IRAs and Roth IRAs, etc.), perhaps I need to grow my bankroll a bit more and then I would feel more comfortable attacking the bigger games.