My win-rate for October is now approaching something that looks a bit more humane, after yesterday’s 1k hands running at -9.5BB/100.

Still, 10 days into the October Push, the results have been good. I’ve averaged 3BB/100 at 5.5k hands, which is - unfortunately - fewer hands than I had originally intended, but I’ve been running better than I could have expected. And honestly, bonuses are nice, but winning money is almost always better. On the topic of bonuses, by the way, I re-read what the stipulations are to cash out that $1500 cash bonus at Stars, and it seems I was mistaken; I don’t need Platinum level to get it, I need Supernova. Ironically, I’ll have an easier time clearing Supernova than I will clearing Platinum Star, since Supernova is calculated over the entire year. I only need to play something like 20k hands for the rest of the year to clear that, whereas Platinum would require me to play 20k hands in any given month.

So that’s cool.

Now, in my never-ending strive to get better at this game, I’ve come a long way since the downswing started. I’ve been able to find correct folds much more often, and I’ve become slightly more aggressive on the later streets. And last but not least, I’ve become WAY more aggressive around the button and I’m stealing like crazy now. The positional advantage coupled with the fold equity means that I can - on the button - play many, many hands. Hands that I a year ago wouldn’t be caught dead with. I think my HU games have really helped me in that aspect.

All in all, I’m a much stronger player than I used to be, both skill wise and psychologically. I can still notice myself tilting slightly occasionally, but it’s nowhere near what it used to be. I’m thinking that 2008 is going to be a great year for me and I’m very excited about ending this year in style.

Speaking of style, it’s now only three weeks left until we - Lori and I - go on our delayed honeymoon. We’re going to spend a week in Rome, a city that I’ve been wanting to visit for a long time but never gotten around to. For those of you who are aware of the climate in Italy, I’m sure you can understand why we decided that the end of October is a better time to go than the beginning of August; the heat is simply too much to take. I have a Malaysian coworker who was there last August and HE thought it was too hot.

I’m very excited about the trip. We’ve booked a room in a very nice hotel in the middle of town, with walking distance to just about everything, and my Star Alliance Gold membership (frequent flyer card) is still valid from all the China trips last year, so there’s a very good chance we’ll get bumped up to Business class flying down and back. If nothing else, we’ll get to enjoy the Gold lounge at the airport, which at least takes away some of the pain of travelling via airplane.

/FP