Yesterday headed to Aria, got on the 5/10 list and played about 2 hours of 2/5 while I waited. I was really happy with everything and made a small profit before getting called for 5/10. I checked the game out and saw enough unfamiliar faces to want to sit down. Unfortunately I was taking the seat of one of them and the other left shortly after. After about 2 hours the game was horrible and I booked a small loser deciding to grab a bite to eat.

After I came back the 5/10 game was still bad so it was either 2/5nl or the 2/5 PLO game going on. I have really been wanting to play some PLO lately but the game looked pretty bad with 3 known good regs in the game and everyone seemed to be playing tight. Checking bravo I noticed a 1/2 PLO had started at the V so I decided to go check it out and if it wasn't good I'd just play some 2/5 there.

The game was pretty decent. There were mostly short stacks but everyone was playing very loose/passive preflop and letting me take it away postflop. There was only one other good player sitting relatively deep but he seemed to be letting me have my way as well. I was surprised at how fast I adjusted back to PLO given how long its been since I played. I made a couple plays where I even surprised myself that I remembered the concepts behind them. I also had a ton of fun and didn't want to leave but after about 3.5 hours I was too tired, and the game was close to breaking so I booked a pretty solid win for that game. I had way too much fun in the game so I'll probably end up playing more PLO when the 5/10 games aren't good.

Side note: At the Aria while walking to the bathroom I was scoping out the PLO game and not watching where I was walking. I ended up slamming my shin right into one of the little drink tables they have there, ended up with about a quarter sized goose-egg a few inches under my knee. Man this job is dangerous

get workers comp!

good to see that you're finding parts of the job to still be fun. would suck to burn out--don't let that happen!

Man that was a great explanation !!

Thanks for the laugh - I do hope that you are ok.

Have enjoyed reading this. 5/10nl, 2/5nl, 2/5plo, 1/2plo - love the game selection discipline.

haha yea I'm fine.

Yea I'm getting more used to being able to switch between games.

Similar situation today, played 2/5nl for half an hour, got into the 5/10 game for half an hour, then got called for 2/5 PLO which looked amazing and played that the rest of my day.

It was a great game, but unfortunately I might have ruined it (or made it better depending on who you ask). While 6 handed, several players were straddling and then a couple wanted to start doing a Mississippi straddle, where basically you can straddle from anywhere, with the button getting first priority. I don't really like it because it forces the blinds to correctly play tight, but I didn't want to be the guy that stops people from straddling, so I for some reason suggest doing a "rock" straddle, which means whoever wins the pot puts in a $10 straddle which acts as a Mississippi. Well they loved this, but it turned into a $20 straddle because people decided to put an extra 10 on it most of the time, and sometimes guys would re-straddle to 40.

So basically what ended up happening is the game turned into nothing but nut-peddling because with the straddles every pot would be super bloated and multiway (also makes every pot take like 5 minutes which just gets super annoying). Which is fine as long as people are still playing bad, but the majority of the players figure out quick that they're gonna need the nuts, and money doesn't go in as light. Luckily there were a couple action junkies still driving the action but I didn't really like the situation because besides making the game into a boring nut-peddling affair, the game was too big for me to be playing in. So around midnight I picked up with a small loss.

Certainly an interesting night nonetheless.

Stick with PLO and welcome to the dark side. GGOAT action is silly crazy

I really appreciate the long responses!

Yesterday I got a late start and it turned out to be great because just as I was leaving the Bellagio tweeted out that they had just started a 2/5 PLO. I'm just thinking "yea, I'm in". When I got there the game was 4 or 5 handed and during the 7 hours I played we were between 6 handed and heads up. It was absolutely insane. I played really well by my estimation but caught some crazy variance. I was never up, and within 2 hours was in for all I had on me. I battled back to even only to get knocked down again, but in the end booked a very small loser, small enough that it was basically break even. By my recollection is was the largest deficit I had ever come back from in a single session. Because we were shorthanded there were so many hands that I'm not even going to try to remember them all. I do remember launching 3 massive bluffs, succeeding on 2 of them. Its weird how PLO games bigger than 1/2 or 1/3 are pretty scarce in Vegas and I play in two of the craziest PLO games I've ever seen in back to back days.

Today I met up with some of the LVL'ers for lunch at the V and played some 2/5 after. I got in a solid session, the only big hand was against Squid, in which he schooled me on how to win a flip, my AK against his QQ all in preflop. I was pretty card dead for most of the session but came back pretty well and booked yet another small loss (seems to be the theme lately).

I haven't booked any serious wins lately and seem to keep booking small losses, which just keep chipping away at me. Fortunately I've been much better with getting hours in, having played 6.5+ hours all of the last 4 days. I also am very happy with how I've been playing so the results will pick up eventually, but this month has been my worst one so far, though its mostly because of a few big 5/10 losses.

while i am in fact expert at flipping you are one of the best at set over setting if memory serves. I am quite dissapointed that you made no mention of how the local expert schooled the table as to how to properly get min value from a set

During your time playing 5-10, do you think there is enough good games to play 30 to 50 hours a week?

haha yea that is true.

What a joke that guy is, got min value with set vs. Squid's overpair and proceeded to lecture me on how great of a play it was.

Hard to say, I only have like 60 hours of 5/10. There probably is, but not if you want to play on a regular schedule, which I do. You'd have to jump around and play mostly weekends and long days/late nights depending on when the games are good. That just doesn't work for me. When I was on my regular schedule of going to the V and playing 2/5 every day I was so much more focused. Lately with jumping all over the place my mind has just been out of whack. I'd rather go in, play 2/5 and jump into the 5/10 games when they are good. Perhaps this will change if I get to where I think I can beat a reggy 5/10 game for more than an average 2/5, but I'm not there yet.

With that being said, if you don't mind jumping around casinos and playing inconsistent hours, you probably can find good games for 30-40 hrs/week.

I was happy to see a pretty good 5/10 lineup yesterday at the V even though I didn't play. So right now I'll probably go in, play 2/5, and game select the 5/10 games. This will get much easier during the deepstack as there will be multiple tables, which should have me playing mostly 5/10.

I thought getting min value from a set was my strong point - it is good to hear there are others out there.

Last two days I've gone in to the V with the game plan of playing 2/5 and game selecting 5/10. I haven't actually played any 5/10, though I have been close to jumping in twice, but both times before I could get in the game the spots had left.

Yesterday I booked a decent winner and felt really good about my session. I was about even when I did a table change chasing a drunk player who I had played with briefly at the must move game. The change ended up paying off as I was able to win a few nice pots from him, making up most of my win.

Today I started out on a tear and I feel like my table thought I was a maniac, though really I was just getting a lot of good hands preflop so I was opening a lot. I wasn't able to turn it into anything huge, but I had a decent chunk of profit before moving tables, again following a fish, though a different one than yesterday. The table was great, but the couple big pots I played ended up being losers and my win turned into a loss. I'm pretty happy though still, because I got myself on the best table and played well, not much more I can ask for.

This week was pretty meh results wise, and honestly I was surprised to see I came out ahead (albeit a tiny amount) given how much I felt I was struggling to put up any type of win. I also got in 39 hours, which is by far the most since the holidays, and a pace I think I am capable of maintaining.

I'm been so much more comfortable just going in to the V and playing instead of jumping around. There's something about playing on a consistent schedule at one place that just really helps my mindset. Also, the more I play at the cramped rooms at Aria/Bellagio the more I like the V. I think I'm going to stick with what I've been doing the last few days in playing 2/5 and game selecting 5/10. In doing so I don't think I'd be giving up much because even though Aria/Bellagio get more consistent 5/10 action, the games during the week aren't often worth playing so I'd probably end up playing 5/10 only on weekends, during which the V always has 5/10 action anyways.

Smart idea

getting used to a changing environment is pretty important if you are planning on moving around in the future. comfort zone can really lul some (probably marginal type) players into a false sense of security.

But I understand the home court ideology.

Been hitting the V again the last few days. Wednesday and Thursday were all 2/5. I played really well and also ran well and booked a couple really nice winners. Not to say I played perfect, still made some mistakes in small pots, but I don't really have any interesting hands.

Today I played 2/5 for most of the day, ended up winning a little from my 5.5 hrs there, mostly from making trips against a bad player who turned his missed draw into a bluff on the river. Late in my session I saw a 5/10 lineup that I actually wanted a piece of. I only recognized a couple good players, and the rest were either unknowns or players I knew I had an edge on.

I bought in for 100bb, and though not very tough, the game ended up being on the tight side and I was super card dead. Other than my blinds I had seen 2 flops and had to ditch both without too much further action. So after about an hour and a half I decided I would leave on my big blind.

I ended up getting into a hand with two hands left until I hit the big blind. I raised 88 and got two callers, one behind and one from the blinds. Flop came 865 and I bet out close to the size of the pot. The first player called and the second check-raised. I shoved for my remaining chips, about 70bb, and the caller folded and the check-raiser called. Turn 4, river Q. I table my hand and my opponent tables 77 for a straight. So obviously not how I drew it up but pretty happy to get it in for stacks as a 3:1 favorite in the one significant hand I played. The story of the month seems to be run well at 2/5 and run bad at 5/10. I think theres a good chance that changes once the deepstack starts bringing in more 5/10 action.

That's the days we just hate the pokerzzz. Nice hand though. Good to see that you can make the right shove at the higher stakes. Lots of guys ( myself included) can tighten up in these spots and get passive. Then they pat themselves on the back when they fold the turn cause the guy hit and shoves.

Well this week turned out to be pretty crazy. Saturday and Monday were all 2/5 and Sunday was all 5/10. Both of my 2/5 sessions were pretty huge. Saturday I was at a great table and ran pretty hot, booking a nice win.

Then on Sunday I played 5/10 because of a few spots I saw, one of which was at my 2/5 table the day before. I was up a bit at first but then lost in a few spots and ended up with a losing session. I just could not get anything going and struggled to win any decent sized pot. It was pretty unfortunate too because the spot from my 2/5 table was going through money like water and I got none of it.

Yesterday was one of the craziest 2/5 games I've ever been at. This extremely arrogant baller wannabe kid was winning big and being a complete doucheface after every pot, needling the person that he just beat. For those of you not in the live poker scene, this is very bad etiquette, when you win a pot you shouldn't say anything to the guy you just beat. While he was pissing everyone off, he got under one guy's skin particularly deep. The guy is a semi-reg at the V, and a pretty bad player, but also a nice guy. They exchanged words many times and at one point almost got into a physical confrontation. The kid was just being belligerantly rude and swearing every other word. It got to the point where two different floormen had to give him "final warnings" and for the last hour or two he was there we had to have a floor standing behind the dealer watching our game at all times. I'm shocked he didn't get thrown out, and also disappointed the kid ended up leaving with a huge win, further adding to his arrogance.

My session was pretty interesting too. I didn't get into any major pots with this kid, but before he came in I ran bad in a couple weird spots. First off I ended up getting bluffed off a dry side pot in a 3 way pot. In a straddled pot I raised with AJo and got two callers. I flopped top pair on a A57 board. After a bet and a raise, a relatively short stacked player ended up going all-in on the flop, called by me and one other, very actiony player. The turn brought the 9, putting out a possible flush draw. Now this other guy moves all-in for over 200bb and I fold my hand. Well he had 46, picking up a flush draw to go with his open ended straight draw. So the short stack ends up scooping the 200bb main pot with AJ, which I would have chopped, and the player who bluffed me out got nothing because the side pot between me and him had $0 in it when he bluffed me out of it, so effectively he risked the rest of his stack for no reward. Sort of frustrating but nothing I really could have done because I can't call the shove with AJ.

Then later I flopped trips with AQ on a AA7 board. I checked, the next guy bet and everyone else folded to me. As I'm cutting out a raise, the guy mucks his hand face up because he didn't see that I had cards and thought the hand was over. He had A6, and so once I raised he knew I had him beat because I saw his cards and he folds. I'm confident based on knowing the player that if this doesn't happen I get the 100bb's he had in front of him. Its just such a weird way to run bad. If I'm not in the 10 seat (the reason he couldn't see me) this doesn't happen. If I decide to lead out instead of check raise (I was torn between the two), this also doesn't happen. I'm just gonna tell myself a 6 woulda came on the turn and I would have lost a big pot .

I actually went on to run really well, mostly in one pot where my AA held up in a 3 way all-in, and booked my biggest 2/5 win yet. If those other two spots don't go the way they did, it could have been monstrous, but I'm still pretty happy with the result.

This week I had a bunch of big 2/5 wins but every time I've ventured into 5/10 I've gotten crushed. It really seems that lately I'm just running bad at 5/10 because at 2/5 I just win so many more pots, whereas at 5/10 its a struggle to win even average pots. I understand that 5/10 players are going to fight harder for pots but I mean in my 6.5 hours at 5/10 the other day, other than stealing the blinds, I won 3 hands. So even though I know its going to be harder to take down pots uncontested than at 2/5, it shouldn't be that much harder. Just gotta keep working on my game like I have been and sooner or later the cards will even out.

Gonna take today off and get ready to hit it hard this week with DSE coming to town.

Do you feel that you're playing style changes when you play 5/10? Although there are more pros, the fish are just as terrible as the lower games.

Yea, this is something I noticed earlier and have been working on, but I still end up doing weird stuff some times because I tell myself "its 5/10, I have to make <insert stupid call or bad, overly aggressive raise here> because the game is played differently up here".

I've had it mostly on lock down lately but even Sunday I made a 3 bet that made no sense just because it was 5/10. There are some adjustments I feel need to be made but I've definitely been over-adjusting.

And Robfarha. Haven't been on Skype in a while been busy with move.

Changing too many things in 5/10 is a problem I have and your prob doing the same. It's not thattttt different

Hey guys, wanted to post a month review type thing just to keep my goals in check that I set in the beginning of the year. I'll first get the session reviews out of the way since they're pretty boring this time around.

I've put in two 7+ hour sessions the last two days and booked small losers both times. Just wasn't able to get anything going either time and made a couple small, bonehead mistakes in each session where I just turned my brain off for no reason at all. I still played well overall and was able to limit the damage in both sessions.

So, I'm just gonna list my goals and discuss a little bit:

1. Keep Improving: I've been doing a lot of hand reviews and have discovered a couple leaks to work on, so I think this is going well. I feel way more confident at 2/5 than I ever have and hope to get there with 5/10 as well.

2. Beat 5/10: Well at least this month this was a huge fail and I'm stuck in 5/10 for the month. A big month at 2/5 kept the month profitable though so I'm optimistic looking forward.

3. Plan for WSOP: Still pondering, not much progress made there.

Non-poker:

1. Improve Health: I've kept my 4 day/week workout schedule and have done very well with my eating habits, keeping splurges to my allotted one meal per week. As of Monday I was 220 after coming back from the holidays at 230.

2. Read a non-poker book: Finished Storm Front, the first novel of the Dresden Files and am already half way through A Random Walk Down Wall Street.

.........................

All in all pretty happy with that. I've been grinding some serious hours lately, and got up to 128.5 hours on the month after starting extremely slow. The plan for this month is to grind hard while the DSE is in town, which will likely include a decent amount of 5/10. I was close to jumping in today, but there was only 1 table and I want to see 2 or 3 so I know the game is good. I've been feeling really good lately and am ready to put in a ton of hours this month, hopefully I can make it my biggest month yet volume-wise.

As always enjoy your updates, best wishes T.

....

As the new year is here I looked at my graph from last year and made some choices, one of which is to NOT play as many hours this year.

It sounds like you're putting in the hours, and thats a good thing and I'm happy for you. However I think the burn-out rate can come sooner if a guy over does it.

Two very good things... something as simple as mixing in a walk every morning does wonders for a mind and soul.

WSOP in town... cash game nirvana, and take time to play several of the daily donkaments.

cushlash you know what the max/min buyin is for PLO2/5 @aria ? allvegaspoker just has 1/3$ PLO and there its 200$min/500$max..