I played NL exclusively for 10 years (from 2007 to 2017) where I built my bankroll up exclusively from poker from scratch to about $50K. During that period I was winning approximately $20-25K a year and using most of that money for going out, dinners with wife, trips etc.

I switched over to PLO in 2017, studied some training materials in depth and have been running great. My bankroll is now over $150K and I have been taking a lot of winnings out in the past 6 months since the bankroll has grown enough that I'm fully rolled for the games I play in. I literally have never played a game where people put their whole stacks in so bad (so different from NL where I feel the edges are much smaller). This weekend I played with a guy that was buying in for $200 at a time and potting it blind for 45 minutes. He lost $2,400 in 45 minutes doing this. Another guy called an all in on a 4 board with just the 8in his hand thinking he had a flush against the nut flush and a 3rd guy called a pot sized river bet with the bottom straight (23 on a 4567x board). I'm not exaggerating about how many of these types of hands I see on a daily basis. The edge a decent player has in these games is insane.

In addition to my normal job I am now playing 5/5 PLO 5 days a week and buy in for $1K. I take 5 buy ins with me. If losing I will buy in another $1k, then $1k and then the last buy in for $2k. In the 2 years I have been playing PLO I have lost the entire $5K on 4 occasions. Most days I get in for $1k or $2k max and leave when I get up $2k to $3k. A couple times a month I get in for $3k to $5k, grind back to even and leave shortly thereafter.

Using this strategy I have been a net winner 23 of 24 months and 19 of those have been five figure months. Each session I either win $2-$3k, come close to break even(by getting stuck early and playing to get back to even or close) or lose what I brought. There is no in-between, but this strategy has been working even though I don't have real big wins since I lock it up pretty quickly once I get up over $3K and call it a day. It keeps me pretty fresh too as when I'm losing I tend to play long sessions to get unstuck/back to even but when I am winning and hit my number I leave even if I've only been playing for an hour.

Anyone else do this? Thoughts on the strategy.

I'm just going to go off the title and ignore your block of text. This strategy, dubbed by Tommy Angelo as "eat like a bird and **** like an elephant", which has also been attacked by author Mike Caro, is a very common leak amongst players. By quitting any time you get slightly ahead, but putting in long hours when you are losing in order to break even, there is a tendency to increase the amount of time when you are in bad games and/or playing poorly, and minimize the amount of times when you are in good games and/or playing well. This will not only decrease your winrate, it will cripple it.

Instead, what you want to do is maximize the amount of time you play when you are playing well and the game is good, and minimize the amount of time you play when you are playing poorly and/or the game is bad.


So, by all means quit, if you are playing poorly, if the whales have busted, if you are tired, if you can't focus, if you have won so much that more than 10% of your bankroll is on the table (and people cover you), or for any number of other reasons, but don't quit in order to generate an artificial series of wins, or to "lock up a win".

How many total hours have you played in PLO?

And because I'm curious to learn the game, what study materials/websites were beneficial to you as you learned the game and transitioned over from NLH?

Just sent you a PM

It sounds like you are playing in a super soft game and making much less than you could with a more conscientious buy in strategy.

Several things to think about:
Why the 1k buy-in? Could other amounts be more profitable?
Are you topping off at fixed thresholds or ever adding on based on game conditions?
Why 4 bullets (or really 5 with a double at the end)? 4 bullets of 200bb is more than you should fire most sessions unless you play a very agrrssive style. For 100bb or less 5+ bullets is more reasonable.

Are there specific reasons for not wanting to play deep? The strategy and ev of playing for exanple 500bb deep is very different.

Have you considered monitoring your physical and mental condition at the table and basing your buyin amounts and departure time on that instead?

Where are you playing? What's the min/max buyin?

Having such a low "stop-win" seems crazy to me...momentum is a big thing in poker and your biggest wins will probably be a few nights out of the year where you play all night as people just dump to you and you can't lose a hand.

When I first starting playing the game I bought in for $500. Now that my bankroll is at 150 buy ins I have been buying in for $1,000. The buy in limits are $300 minimum to $3,000 max and the blinds are 5/5 with a 10 straddle(most of the players straddle). $5K is my stop loss in a day that I'm comfortable with. As mentioned in the OP in two years I have only lost that on 4 occasions so it doesn't happen often. I do play a fairly aggressive strategy with tight starting hand standards.

I don't mind playing deep but I have a full time job and allocate approx 15 hours a week to poker. I've been stacking up wins with this strategy and it allows me to play for minimum hours when I run it up quick. One good trait I have is I rarely go on tilt (although it does happen occasionally). By laddering my buy ins it is very rare that I'm leaving with a big loss. I typically get my money in good and many times they are drawing thin. I also always run it twice if my opponent(s) ask although about 30-40% of the player pool only runs it once which I'm always fine with. Running it twice just helps cut down on the variance of bad beats if you are typically getting your money in as the favorite.

I'm from Pennslvania and that is where I cut my teeth on NL. I was transferred to Texas a couple of years ago and that is now where I live/play. PLO is the preferred game here and there are a lot of action junkies. As mentioned in the above response the min is $300 and max is $3,000 buy in. I always buy in for $1,000 and am comfortable with that buy in amount.

Know what your saying about the "stop-win" amount but I've been stacking up wins on a consistent basis and printing money so while I might miss out on a few big wins the multiple $3K wins on a regular basis add up. As mentioned above in the prior answer I also have a full time job so about 15 hours a week is all I can allocate to poker so leaving early a few times a week gives me time to play more the other days (when I can stack up more wins or have time to get unstuck if stuck early).

I thought I would post my thoughts:

1. its one long session
-but...
2. you should have a stop loss
-we are only human

I do 4 buyins S/L

I will add to what others have said. I’m sure you have a good grasp of the game etc. but your strategy works as long as variance has been kind to you. The other bit is more philosophical: do you enjoy the game or locking up a win is most important? For example, you sit down and triple up in 25 minutes. Do you rack up and leave? Do you play on lock down mode? Or do you play for x hours to enjoy the game and it’s challenges?


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If I triple up in 25 minutes I will typically tighten up, play one or two more rounds so it's not an obvious hit and run and then leave. There is typically a list to get in the game so no one really notices if you don't make it obvious(ie win a huge pot and immediately rack up and leave).

You are right about variance possibly being good to me but I do feel I'm one of the top players in the player pool and when I get stuck have a lot of confidence that with patience I can play my way out of it and get unstuck. Typically I can/do and this has helped me stack up wins/minimize losses and continue to make $ which is the reason I'm playing in the first place. I actually think this strategy cuts my variance but I could be wrong, hence the original post.

my instinct has always been to lock up wins, poker is so chaotic and i often just want to preserve a result. but i believe this is the wrong way to play. what pokerplayinggamble referenced is correct imo

i have worked hard to fight this reflex and keep playing during winning sessions, and even harder to try and quit when im losing

Please make sure to include the game is 5 5 10 straddle in your op next time, as you made you sound like you were buying in deep when you really are not.

Even if its technically optional.

Based on that additional information i would recommend you experiment with topping off more agressively and sometimes add-on or rebuy to 1.5k.

Also more information on average stack sizes at the table would be helpful.

I never lock up a win or nit it up after a triple up. I do, however, evaluate the table every orbit and see if this is the correct table for my stack depth (along with many other matrices). For example, I play 1/2 with a $5 bring in. There is a player in my game that buys in for $100 ($100-$500 bi) and will limp or min raise every hand and pot it if anyone raises behind. Once you get stuck in the middle of a 6 way $100 preflop call train, it is hard to let go of any holding. If you are in there with 2 or 3 other deep stacks, you can get hurt really bad and really fast if you are playing deep. If this happens, you need to seat change or leave for an hour (however long your local room allows for ratholing) and come back later.