“You might be a pro, but you’re still not as good as me” type of brag, I’d say.

https://youtu.be/1x2AkGsIhcc

Makes sense as a brag. Also this beat is sick.

Up $800 something from 5/T tonight, a little at PLO too where I was largely card dead. Nice to book a win though. Ran into something with AT973hh on 973hh, new presumably pro bet, I raised, he called, turn 2s, he c/r, I folded. He showed 97 ostensibly for the chop (sure...). Called it at this point since I was tired and the game stunk anyway.

Sometimes when you beat a rec they play back at you the next time you are in a hand together to try to get you back. It can be a pretty profitable bluff catching spot. Just food for thought.

Good sesh, up a lot of dumbo dollars at PLO and 5/T, finally some run good in the latter (long overdue) thanks to a table games player, very nice fellow who ran into OPs a few times. Down a few hundo at 2/5, got rivered by a fish, but more than made up for it elsewhere.

After 5/T broke, PLO GII AQ975 w/nut hearts on Q96hh and scoop against wrap and K-high hearts and a shorty's ?? (AA?).

Wwyd?

3! AThh $125, unknown MAWG UTG limp/calls, pfr (reg) calls, flop Td8h2h, $185 into $390, call, call. Turn: 2c. X, donk $375 into $945, call, utg limper c/r $1,000, call, ?. $1,200 eff. now. Calling $625 to win around $3,500.

Last day of 2020. Phew. Finally starting to feel like poker is worth my time in $.

Happy New Year! Finished strong and set another monthly record. Was discussing with a fellow player tonight and I might move closer to the casino since my current round trip commute is 1 hour 20 minutes a day. Put $50k on a condo or something. New year’s resolution?

I crossed the (sans-promo) $100k mark with last night's win, just in time too.

2020 was a little rocky due to covid (and I didn't grind online a whole lot), so results are not particularly robust, but the trend towards the end of the year is quite promising. Here's to more rungood in 2021!



I wished my clients Happy New Year and I got blessings and family photos and "I am so happy" texts back. Now that's rungood.

Good start to 2021. Someone said it's gonna be my year (hope so!). Someone else joked I'm the best player in the room . . . "because he always knows how to get there."

Just played 5/T yesterday, KQs > 53o on K525K was the biggest one. Went around pot sizing but someone at the table later suggested overbet jamming 2x pot instead. I wonder. Chopped 6s6h v. K9cc on 567cc, reg $25, I raise, wild dude 3! flop $300, reg call, I 4! $850, wild folds, reg calls again, GII Ac turn, he donks small, I jam $450, we chop (quads for me on second runout). This was the best way to play it for many reasons esp. unblocking cc, double call is often a draw, and spewtard could have a variety of holdings too, even if beat I have the most equity 3 ways. Jam turn good / +EV though I am always behind at this point.

Fitness goals for this month: 2 sets of crunches & 2 sets of push-ups a day, 1 jog per week.

Fitness goal today: 30 crunches x2, 15 pushups x2. Complete!

This is not meant to be an exhausting routine, more like what Jnandez suggested which was something to focus you mentally. Too much physical exertion detracts from poker performance. It's all energy in the end.

Lost some at PLO, some at 5/T/25 (the straddle adds up!), won some at 2/5 for a $700 loss or so, 2p+bd wrap + bdfd + nut gutter didn't hold against AA+pair+nfd (55/45) in 4! pot. Played far too long yesterday, gotta get back to a routine.

Running some numbers more from last year and it was certainly a milestone year results-wise, even if not in terms of raw $$ won. (Can partly thank the shutdown for that.) 6.7 bb/hr. omaha (including the big game where I lost and online where I won less, without those games, 13 bb/hr. live), an insane $10k downswing due mainly to HE followed by an even bigger ($14k) upswing at HE, giving me a 3 bb/hr overall there, overall 5 bb/hr. across all games and stakes. I am winning at 5/T now over 350 hours, if modestly, but I suspect that will only increase as time goes on and variance smoothes out (hopefully fewer oversetting situations than the last 350 hours).

I certainly feel like one of the best players in the live omaha games, so that's probably where I'll keep playing moving forward, mixing in as much 5/T as I can. 2/5 is pretty much a dead letter for me at this point. Given very poor results last year including lots of runbad with AA, I don't find the 2/5 to be a particularly good game as it used to be, especially considering the alternatives.

Speaking of which, played 2/5 for a couple hours while waiting for plo to open up again after a dinner break, got AA, got donked into for almost pot twice, $175 into $250 river, fold, on 678K4 runout. V said he had a set of 6s. He later limped JJ EP so I totally believed him.

Pretty boring session yesterday, one of those no big flops/raise-and-miss days. -$120.

Pushups and crunches complete yesterday and today.

Was reflecting on my progress and I pretty regularly have been making in one session what I used to make in a month. Sweet! I wonder if I'll eventually be making in one session what I now make in a month? I see 2p2-ers who've been grinding longer than me posting sick results and it gets me exited for what's to come. (I really wanna make it as a high-stakes pro one day!)

Good sesh up $4k+ something from plo5, down a little at 5/T. Staying humble and grateful!

Some sessions deserve a longer post. Last night's was one of them.

Mr. Jay was a nice 70-year-old government retiree with kids and grandchildren for whom he was planning on opening educational funds. On a lark he decided to start playing casino poker. He'd always enjoyed home games with his buddies, but the host stopped holding them due to the shutdown. He was the envy of every table he joined. Calling raises with gutshots and such. Because he rarely won at showdown, his blue line was undeniably negative. I was at a mediocre 5/T when I spotted him playing at the 1-2 5-card next to me, the table I had left over an hour ago before Mr. Jay joined. Upon taking an open seat there (how, as luck would happen, it was open, I have no clue), hero saw to his delight not only Mr. Jay, but two other noteworthy whales, in addition to the usual couple of bad regs. It was a juicy game. The type of game careers are made of. I just had to wait for my spot.

A4982. Fold.

2269T. Fold.

KKK26. Fold.

It seemed I would never have my chance to get involved with Mr. Jay, who as usual was raising nearly every hand. In the meantime, he was building a huge stack, sun-running like God in every pot he was involved in. He had the table covered, hovering over $4k.

Finally, I am dealt a playable: KJ988ds. I limp/call Mr. Jay's raise and it goes six ways to a flop of:

Q-8-2r. I have middle set. At first I am apprehensive. Does someone have top set? It's not uncommon for set over set to happen at PLO5. Quite ordinary, in fact. Out of position, I decided to check and evaluate. To my delight, Mr. Jay took the betting lead, but fired small, a clear sizing tell for him. The player to his left, a decent semi-reg, flatted. He would never do that with QQQ with wraps out there. No one else seemed interested. It was on me and I knew what to do. "POT!" as I smashed down my entire stack, $50 more than the pot. Unsurprisingly, they both called.

Turn: 9, bringing a backdoor diamond draw which I blocked with my J8dd. I tossed in my last $50. If someone has JT for the straight (very likely), I was priced in anyway. Surprisingly, with money behind they both just called again.

River: Qs. The death card, I thought. Either of them could have flopped queens up. In fact, it's a common leak of recreational players in PLO5 to continue with non-nutted hands like these. But the river checked through. Mr. Jay quickly showed first, as he always does out of fear of misreading his hand. I see a Q.... "Oh no," I shrink. It was followed by JT34, and I was safe. He slowplayed the turn with the nut straight. The player to his left shook his head and showed a Q as well, but mucked the rest as I tabled my hand. "Full house!" the dealer shouted. "John wins," as he pushed me the pot. Now I had chips to work with - around $2,000. And Mr. Jay was still sitting on over $3k.

Time goes by and I fold, uneventfully passing the time as the game went on around me, waiting for a hand. Then it came: T9876ss. I limped UTG. A raise ahead of me. Mr. Jay re-pots, to $110. The initial raiser has more than a raise behind, so if I call the $110 I am committing myself to calling over $700, assuming Mr. Jay re-pots again. I ponder my decision for a moment. "I didn't come to this game to fold this hand now," I whisper to myself. I call the $110. As expected, the short stack goes all-in for $250. Mr. Jay quickly slides out two red stacks, capped by five black chips. The dealer announces: "Seven-hundred dollars." I call and pray, leaving myself $1,400 behind.

The flop: K-6-2r. It is not ideal, but I will have to call if Mr. Jay shoves. Against his most likely holding, aces, I have more than enough equity to get it in. If he is stronger, so be it: that is the risk I took.

Mr. Jay checks.

A sigh of relief washes over me and I check behind.

The turn: 7h, bringing a backdoor flush draw I lack but giving me two pair and a wrap. He checks again. I am likely the favorite now.

"All in," I announce, as I push my entire stack forward. "ALL IN!" the dealer repeats and quickly counts it down, around $1,450. Mr. Jay does not think long or hard before putting in the call.

This is a game careers are made of. I've done my best, but the rest is up to the deck.

The river: 6c. I quickly table my hand, "full house," says the dealer. Mr. Jay shakes his head and turns over aces with the backdoor nut flush draw. The dealer pushes me the pot, one of the biggest I have played.

"You bet?" Mr. Jay asks, annoyed. I wasn't sure what, if anything, to say to this nice retiree with grandchildren whose educational funds I just subtracted from. "I had two pair and a wrap," I nearly protested, as if to defend my destructive actions.

He picked up what remained of his stack and left. I walked away that day with one of my biggest single-day profits ever. But I never felt more conflicted.

It is interesting how we feel conflicted in these situations, when, really, we shouldn’t. Sometimes it’s easier when our opponents aren’t so friendly or good hearted. Anyway, I’m sure Jay will think the matter through, and probably return, maybe not to PLO5 (if he doesn’t get why you bet 2pair/wrap for value on the turn against his range). There’s definitely a skill to being a good winner (charm, humility, grace, decorum, etc.,), which, we can neglect, sometimes, in the excitement of raking in a big pot. Sounds like you handled it as well as one can expect.

Why shouldn’t we feel conflicted? Isn’t dedicating one’s time and effort to taking someone’s money in a game they are destined to lose in somewhat unethical?

Seems like taking advantage of people/predatory, as I’ve said before.

Decent session today, called it somewhat early after a long day at work. Just low on energy, need to recoup.

I did some research into the ethics of poker and one thing that caught my attention was that it’s immoral to use one’s intelligence to harm others. Another thing was that smarter people are probably better at distributing/using wealth than less smart people. So...I don’t know where that leaves things.

I'd probably raise anything that isn't nut suit with highish pair that I feel good enough to play. I know you can't iso very much, but it's still better. I'd l/r a bunch of really good hands, but this is obviously not one of those. Honestly this might just be a fold.

In these games I just avoid playing many hands that I am not happy to mash the pot with. TAG and all that.


So like, that's a very good reason to not play this hand, esp multiway.

Oh baby. My favourite thing to say.


NOooooooo


NOOOooOOOOooOOO

So 5 and 6 card PLO are a game of combos. You basically wants nuts with redraw or nutted combo draws. Your hand? Not that good for that. Just fold. ezpz.

You really don't. Kxxxx have you cruuuushed. K6 has you DEAD. Plus the mainpot is contested by another player too.

Turn is good tho.

Yeah, I am glad you won, but I'll be honest, I think you massacred the hand. Gotta be tight! And I'm no nit either, it's just how it is.

My response to that is: there is no ethical consumption under capitalism.

Everyone is free to make their own decision as to whether they are willing to sit in the game and risk real money due to chance and skill. Mr. Jay has made his decision and you've made yours. As long as everyone is polite and civil to each other during this game, I don't really see a conflict.

But if you are conflicted (and thus have more of a conscious than me), you could perhaps consider talking to Mr. Jay off the table. I'm not exactly sure what that conversation would be, but perhaps something along the lines of that you (with respect) believe he might be in over his head skill-wise for money he'd better be sure he can afford to lose.

GimoG

Inky, I don't know much about PLO4, but purrfect rundowns (especially T-high and better) have some of the best equity aside from AA in PLO5. I've run some equity sims in ppt and we're looking at 46%+ against an AA-heavy range. I am just never folding this hand against Mr. Jay given how horrifically he plays post-flop and my positional advantage, and knowing he has AA like 110% of the time when he makes it $700. While against a tougher opponent I would not be as willing to gamble, against him I very much am.

PLO5:

Hand	Pot equity	Wins	Ties
AA	53.60%	318,248	6,653
T9876	46.40%	275,099	6,653

PLO4:
ProPokerTools Omaha Hi Simulation
600,000 trials (Randomized)
[/table]

Hand	Pot equity	Wins	Ties
AA	59.13%	353,764	2,091
T987	40.87%	244,145	2,091

And as to folding pre with KJ988: I totally get where you are coming from, and against a pool of decent regs, I agree, but as I said, this game was special and so I was trying to get involved with anything remotely playable. In tougher line-ups I would 100% fold this though. I think I have enough post-flop awareness to get away from set-over-set scenarios, which is why I checked and evaluated this time before GII. If I am playing this, it should probably be for a raise though, I agree.

GG, next time I see him I will have a quick talk with him. Thanks for the idea.

I don’t believe you need to feel conflicted, let alone predatory, if you’re able to confirm a few details, such as: can this player (e.g. Jay) afford the game, does he understand that he might lose, and, perhaps, does he understand there are different skill levels. If he just thinks poker is gambling, like roulette, and he is donking money he can’t afford to lose in a way that is clearly addictive, then the conflict is a genuine ethical concern. I applaud players/pros who effectively sit out due to ethical concerns, but I’ve experienced a few situations where I’ve projected these ethical concerns onto whales, when in reality, they can afford it, understand they’re a dog in the game, but like the combination of a skill challenge and the thrill of gambling.

Upon further review I think the rundown hand against Jay was ambitious. My 46% equity is my all in equity if we GII pre and my flop equity is considerably lower. Debatable whether the chance to play a big pot with this particular player justifies the call...Inky makes good points as always. I do have 40% against AA otf though, assuming the jams all his AAs. Thanks Inky!

Up around $1k tonight, most PLO5 thanks to Mr. Jay again, who I was extra nice to today to make up for the other night. (I did not talk to him privately since I thought I might offend him by suggesting he was no good at the game.)

A little 5/T with legendary action player. Someone in hand who lost demanded to see third player's cards (who also lost and mucked, but cards did not touch the muck) in a 3-way all in situation where one person scooped. Floor declined to retrieve the cards. Allowed but unethical?

Quote of the night: "I know a bunch of cosplayers when I see them."

- Reg referring to protesters who stormed the Capitol building yesterday

Both allowed and ethical. In cash games you can never really be forced to show cards. But you may lose the right to contest pot or be pushed winning pot in certain situations.

I think in a game like 5C PLO, hands in general are going to have close raw equity, and that's not what matters. What matters is whether you have hands that can value bet/raise/get it in, and on multiple streets.

Also comparing it to AA is not good either, since AA is.... not that good in 5C.

Like to begin with AA has 59% equity against like a 90% range. Having 46.5% isn't like... much better than 41% you know?

T987ds is a WAY stronger hand in comparison.

In both comparisons vs AA, we have a 5% gain compared to a 90% range, BUT T987ds is going to have a value bettable hand or can get it in with a big equity advantage postflop way more in 4 card than 5 cards. Our suits are much more likely covered and we can barely bluff catch in 5 card comparatively, and when we do get it in, we're much more rarely getting in vs two pair or worse, because everyone know straights are easy to have (this is where having high equity matters less because you won't get paid as much when you have straights) and also you're far more likely to be covered by the stronger AA that play fast (in 5 card you flat or even fold AA far more often), like AA876 etc.

Ah I only just read this. Well I explained it for nothing maybe, but I hope it expands on it.

Yeah, certainly there are lots of situations where we can still get it in okay, but basically when you look at all the downsides and upsides it adds together a picture where you get it in okay or slight edge, or sorta deadish, when on flop and high spr. That's why limping it in particular is not great (or limp calling and ending up at a reasonably high spr.

The thing is, Mr Jay may be loose and not selective with hands so maybe the flop is whatever, but our hand itself is going to end up in pots with more reasonable players where we're in a lot of pain even if we get two pair or pair and straight draw and such, especially multiway with money behind.