last month I got in about 10,000 hands and eeked out a $600 profit playing 6max PLO50 – PLO200.  The majority of the work was done at PLO50 (6500 hands), where i lost 120 bucks.  I made about 700 over 2800 hands of PLO100, and 12 bucks at PLO200 (1200 hands).  Overall I’m feeling ok about my progress thus far and do think that the 3 levels of PLO I’ve been playing do play quite differently.  In the PLO200 games my opponents are playing very fit or fold and giving up on most flops that they don’t hit perfectly, w/ most Cbets taking pots down.  I have been playing less tables and been playing very loose and aggressive which is hopefully creating a good image for me to get paid off.  I’m hoping people equate my moves pre-flop w/ an inability to play post flop, and I can get my good hands paid off.  Also, once I’m playing I am trying to focus on where my edge is coming from against the opponents at my table.  These are some of the questions I like to ask myself while playing:

-Do I want to steal lots of small pots or show down in big pots?

-Do I want to be the aggressor or do I want to trap?

-Is the player on my left punishing me?

-Am I (can I?) punishing the player on my right?

-Who is the worst player at the table and how do I beat them?

-Who is the best player at the table and how do I beat them?

-Whats my image?  and do my opponents know this?

In another post I stated that November would be a pretty big poker month for me due to my lady friend taking part in NanoWriMo and writing a novel this month.  I thought about making hand goals or money goals, but once I make hand goals I focus more on number of hands rather than playing poker.  So, instead of that I’m going to be trying to take lots of shots this month (probably in the second half), play bigger games and push myself to get better at poker.  I’m planning on playing a few of the FTOPS events and I’m pretty excited about the addition of the 7game this time around.  I’m looking to play these MTTs:

-Event 2, 7game, 11/5

-Event 14, HORSE, 11/10

-Event 16, PLO knockout, 11/11

I have some things I’d like to post about in the future, so I’ll write them here so I don’t forget.  If anyone actually reads this and is interested in one topic or the other, let me know and I’ll write about it next.

-Mixed game MTTs

-3 betting pre-flop in PLO

-Board textures in PLO

As stated in my previous post I’ve been reading Advanced Pot Limit Omaha by Jeff Hwang, and unfortunately I’ve learned the hard way what one chapter is all about.  Jeff talks about going on a heater being the biggest bankroll killer.  Through the first half of september I went on quite a heater running up my BR.  I then took some shots at bigger games, only to play in games i can’t beat, and not quit when I should.  I am now relegated to slumming it up on the PLO 50 tables, until i prove to myself I understand this game well, can beat it, and have a decent bankroll to take another shot.

That said, i think taking shots at bigger games is very valuable and should be done quite often if you are a recreational player.  If it is controlled and you can quit once you lose your set amount, you can gain very valuable experience and become less sensitive to losing at your normal stakes.  you will also play your A game and really focus and should learn something in the process.  If you set it up as a learning experience that your bankroll can handle and only good can come of it.

My plan is to keep at the PLO 50 for this month and build my BR to a point where I can play PLO 100 by November.  At that point my girlfriend is planning on doing NaNoWriMo, which is a month long challenge to write a novel.  I plan on taking that time and doing some major grinding.  I’ll keep you posted!

I feel like I have been slacking recently, going on auto pilot more often, and not paying enough attention while playing.  As I have been trying to learn PLO I have been reading lots of books.  I am currently reading Jeff Hwang’s second PLO book “Advanced Pot-Limit Omaha Volume I: Small Ball and Short-Handed Play”.  I’m only about 40 pages into the 500+ page monster, and I like the book so far.  The first section deals w/ floating, which is calling bets in early streets to make plays at the pot in later streets.  That said, making certain plays and advanced moves is based on your opponents playing styles and what you can figure out from their previous (in)actions.  Its great if a book tells you a play to make, but if you do not apply it in the correct situation, you are making mistakes.  Not paying attention to my opponents is something that has caused my game to be stagnant for quite some time.  When I was learning limit holdem (the first poker game I learned), I was very focused on hand equities and playing a game where it didn’t really matter what my opponents held, I had the best of it, and was going to just ram and jam the pot.  I got pretty good at this approach and was able to do well in mid-stakes games in 2005-2007.  But, needless to say, as the games get tougher and you switch from limit to no-limit/pot-limit, understanding your opponents becomes crucial.

Since starting to learn PLO I have given up using a HUD.  I want to play at least my first 10k hands w/ out it.  I realize its extremely valuable to have, but I’m trying my hardest to stay off auto-pilot and to think everything through along w/ generating some great notes/reads.  Unfortunately, I found myself on auto-pilot yesterday, not using a HUD, in a game where I still have a lot to learn, which is pretty much the worst thing I could be doing.  To combat this I am trying to create a system for developing reads on other players.  I too often find myself just writing an entire hand history in the note box, which is valuable, but not as useful a shorter, more generic note.  So, to try and fix this, I’m going to look at the notes I made yesterday, and try to think of some better things I can do in the future along w/ a game plan of how to exploit what I have learned about this opponent.

Player 1:
made a big call w/ just AAxx in a big pot

I could rewrite this note to say “does not like folding AAxx hands”, or “will take overpairs to showdown.”  On top of it all, the situation is kind of vague and I don’t know how much I can really get out of this note.  I guess that main thing would be to value bet this guy more w/ marginal hands because he seems to pay off, and to try to bluff him less.

Player 2:
just called flop CB w/ under wrap, CRAI (small raise) on turn when picked up FD

I could rewrite this to say “plays non-nut draws passively on flop”.  Not sure what I can do as far as a game plan perspective goes.

Player 3:
played flopped quads very passively OOP

made small donk bet w/ TPNK
^^ donked big on turn w/ TP + gutter, checked when rivered set w/ lots of staright cards on board

“plays big hands passively OOP”, “donk bets on flop are weak”, “river betting range could be polarized”
Game Plan:  raise flop donk bets?  try to make river bluffs once he has shown weakness?  The main problem I run into here is that I know something about his play, but don’t know if he is capable of releasing a hand.  What I do know about him is that he checks when strong, and bets when weak (which maybe should be in my revised notes).

Player 4:
CB 2/3 pot in 3B pot IP, and folded to CR, A54 rainbow flop

opened UTG, CB montone connected flop, 12 into 16
^^ bet pot on turn that put another club and straight card on board
^^ bet very small on river (value or blocker?)

CB mid pair w/ gutter
^^ bet when made trips
^^ bet small on river w/ trips/ and TK

didnt VB nut flush when board paired on river (bet draw on flop, bet when made on turn)

kept pressure on w/ AAxx, w/ straight draw (big pot, deep)

I’ve got quite a few notes on Player 4, he was one of the tougher players during the session.
“aggressive post flop”, “seems to always CB”,  “small bets on the river look like value blockers”
Game Plan:  use his aggressive nature against him, go for CR’s on flop w/ bluffs and good hands.  His small and non-bets on the river could be attacked, but again, I’m not sure what he is capable of folding.

Player 5:
just called on flop w/ TP, kickers, gutter, and NFD

raised flop in 3B pot w/ trips on FD board

opend w/ KKAx ss, CB 22 into 30 w/ top set, on FD board
bet a little less than pot on turn
checked river, possible straight on board.

just called PFR on button w/ AAxx (not good aces)

called some pretty big bets on flop and turn, heads up, w/ 3rd NF (always CC OOP)

“aggressive when has it”, “doesn’t player TP + extras aggressively”, “CC non-nut hands OOP that have SD value”
Game Plan:  fold when he is active and you don’t have it.  Shovel money in when you have nuts against him.

Anywho, while i think the specific notes are good, I think just getting some good old basic reads:  loose/tight, passive/aggressive, tricky/straight forward should be my major focus right now, as I have trouble using the information I am filing away.  Hopefully this post gets me back on track, taking better notes, and maybe helps someone else out too.  If you have any note taking methods or tricks, let me know!

I have started to learn and play PLO, and have had break even results for a few thousand hands.  Here is a hand a ran into at the end of my session yesterday that I may look back on and say, easy fold, easy call, or the classic “it depends”

Hi Everyone!  I’m answering EB’s call from the other show when he said the blogs had been lacking lately.  I have been wanting to start one up for some time now and his rally cry was enough to push me over the edge.  Since this is my first post I’ll give a little background on myself:

I presently live in the greater DC metro area, grew up in NJ, and graduated from Virginia Tech in 2004.  I started playing cards w/ college buddies around 2003 when the poker boom hit hard.  I made my first deposit online sometime in 2003, played terrible, but thought I was amazing.  I sucked, but read all the books I could and was pointed to the 2+2 community by a high school friend that was crushing the online games at the time.  I grew my bankroll playing the .5/1 limit holdem games and bonus whoring every site I could find.  I eventually worked my way up to the 5/10 6max limit holdem games in 2006, while playing NLHE MTTs and SNGs on the side.  In 2006 I ran hotter than the sun, first winning a ’step higher’ tourney on party poker for 10k, then winning the party poker sunday million guarantee  for 157k.  Finally, near the end of the year I got second in the party poker 750k guarantee for another 90k.  Looking back at the results, I probably played well, but ran amazing, and everyone else played reeeeeally bad back then.  I withdrew a large majority of the money I had won (luckily there weren’t really any nosebleed games then, otherwise this story might have a sad ending), paid my taxes, and invested it.  In 2006 the UIGEA was passed, party poker left the US, and I toned down my poker playing.  The limit cash games I liked to play were drying up and everyone was playing NL cash games.

Over the next couple years I tried learning SnGs and NL holdem cash games.  I have had mediocre results in each flavor, with better results in SnGs than cash.

Today, I am more excited about poker than back in 2004 when I first starting to learn.  This is because I have now started learning all the other poker games as well.  I started playing the .05/.10 HORSE ring games, small stakes SnGs, small stakes MTTs, and reading any book I can get my hands on.  I recently had a very good result in a bigger buyin HORSE tourney, and am playing 7/8 game on stars and tilt, along with lots of 6max PLO.

I am going to try and update this blog once a week w/ some poker thoughts, experiences, and hands.