It was a good answer. Thanks for helping/elucidating. I guess knowing what it takes I’m just not interested. Sorry to call it a trick. The issue in this game was not playing enough hands pre, not so much postflop. Although the one time I did gamble pre I scooped which no one was happy about. Go figure.

The freedom issue is in doing as I please without having to answer to anyone. I’d rather play the game that runs normally than have to change my style in a better game. If I were to play I would be at the behest of the degen whale, constantly worried about what he thinks about my game. Seems like a recipe for disaster. No thanks!

RTP: Poker offers a certain lifestyle that you can’t find elsewhere and having to answer to someone else is just antithetical to that existence for me anyway. For a full time pro with no other income then I understand the saying that the whale is the boss.

There's more than one way to skin a cat. I mostly play a very nitty style myself so I probably wouldn't get invited to many private games. But playing loose aggressive can still be a very profitable playstyle. Look at Tom Dwan on all the high stakes poker season or Garret from Live at the Bike. They both mix it up plenty while also crushing the games. Even though people know they're good they're also not afraid to mix it up and have fun. Whales would much rather play with guys like that than you or me who just sit there and play tight ABC poker. So if you want to get invited to private games while also not giving up edge, learn to play a solid loose aggressive winning strat.

Just keep studying and you’ll find spots to “give action” that are natural. There must be +EV/neutral spots you’re missing.

Can you do something simple that is neutral EV like betting the color of the flops, bet certain cards coming on the flop, betting on the game on TV with proper odds, etc... It may not always have to be the way you play yours cards, but more how you present yourself and what image you give off. Straddle if others are straddling, etc...

I nearly always straddle in straddle games no question. I have sports bet a couple times. I get it in with 9- and 8-high AI pre. I gamble ya’ll...they just don’t want a winner in their game and they make up reasons why post hoc. I’m a really good plo player and I am -EV for everyone else at the table. This particular game I shipped pre closing the action six ways with a rundown. It was pure gamble no one was pushing an edge. I scooped. Then suddenly everyone started complaining about how I wasn’t playing enough hands as if I was obliged to start giving action with garbage while card dead. It was comical.

Lynn said something in her latest vlog that resonated given my session last night. She doesn’t take it seriously enough when she plays too small stakes.

At 1/2 plo5, I GII with JT864ds three ways and lost $350. Then GII AA nfd bdnfd and bottom pair v middle set in srp spr 3.5 and lost another $400. My version of punts. (Probably not as bad as others’ but still.) Tinder date went well, gonna be a second. Had to explain that poker isn’t like most forms of gambling. “Oh you actually make money?” Lol.

Set another record session. Feeling hyper yet also exhausted. Wanted to go out to party then just went home to crash.

Been on a bit of a BE stretch the past few sessions. This exchange overheard at 5/T while I was playing in the game at MGMNH last night:

player: "you [dealer] kinda look like [name] tennis pro."

dealer: "thanks I guess, although it's kinda a double-edged sword to be compared to him because he was a homosexual who died of AIDS." .... :O

If the statement was "it's a double-edged sword to be compard to him because he's black/muslim/hispanic and died of sickle cell/AIDS/whatever," what do you think would happen to this dealer?

Sadly, this is an ongoing theme in my poker journey - blatant homophobia by dealers who think they should share their beliefs with the rest of the table. The last one was at MD Live. Pfft.

Ran fine at 2/5 (had to up the aggression factor to squeeze out those BBs), ran poorly at 1/2 plo5 (top set + wrap + ndf lost to worse fd and gutter), folded a pocket pair pre in a 3! pot at 10/25 and would've flopped a set (...!) against an OP and top pair (debatable whether I would have gotten the double...flop was K-high and 3! V was blocking the nfd with AA...rec had KQ though). Life goes on.

Random updates from home game with friends:

No more beef with threats dude so far

Supervisor who blamed me for situation with threats dude reportedly fired (don’t know details)

Annoying bad reg in big Omaha game keeps heckling me for being card dead and tries to kill my action

I organized the 5/5 plo for the first time

I’m playing hold em better now that I’ve played 5/5 a bunch (less scared money)

I’m friggin exhausted.

Very yawn card dead session Saturday. Sad; should be a very good day normally, but ran bad in AIEV and otherwise couldn't pick up a hand. Dope song (multiple versions) been listening to on repeat lately. The tempo really picks up around 2:20-3:15 and then gets off the hook. Incredible soprano. "Diva Dance" (from The Fifth Element). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7Dh5QoXv2c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPf2ANjUbrY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJl2uPNsJEk

Sobering loss, bad day, probably worst ever actually (by a little). A4 lost HU against 98 on 567T3 no flush versus huge river overbet. Ouch. It's all good, my mistake for sitting in a bad Tuesday game to begin with and not racking up sooner.

Slowing the precipitous drop in monthly profits the last two sessions, mostly uneventful. Take this for what it's worth given my experience playing hold 'em and omaha, but I believe that bad players play hold 'em like omaha and play omaha like hold 'em, while really good players know when to switch from one to the other. (It mostly comes down to blockers, knowing who your opponent is, and also what they think of you.)

This is a work in progress...did I mention I want to create a plo5 strat guide?

Overheard at the table the other night: “his [referring to my] laugh is like hugging a teddy bear.” Lol.

When too many rich/privileged/egotistical people congregate in the same confrontational setting, nothing good can follow.

Edit: it's important not to let a negative environment influence your character. When that becomes too difficult, it's time to change environments.

Yum. Sometimes it's good to change it up. Record session! KK held multiway in l/rr 3! pot v. AA and K6.

Still letting that session gel. First time I felt like I needed a security escort to my car, tipped the guy $5 for his trouble. Dealer who dealt the big hand got $65. Hedge fund guy next to me in game mentioned he helped pass the law that has helped our clients get out of prison (small world!), we chatted and I made a point of asking if he knew any potential funders. Was looking like a lame month for poker until this session, now another record. What a turn of events! Always grateful. (Glad I re-upped my recurring donation to givewell charity for malaria prevention. Karma...!)

I've been thinking lately about what I want to do with whatever money I have when my time comes and I will have much of it donated to my current and similar organizations to fund relief efforts to reverse the overincarceration problem and help people with mental illness. Probably some malaria prevention and some LGBTQ+ youth assistance as well.

I applaud your giving. That's something I'm hoping to do more of as well.

Speaking of giving, set up recurring donations today to two LGBT youth assistance organizations for those at risk. Why wait until the inevitable happens to start giving to causes near and dear to my heart? I can certainly afford it, especially since it's looking like my income from the big omaha game, if I continue to run well, is going to be over $100/hr., which will amount to a tidy annual side hustle and enable me to play less poker in general (hooray!). In fact, took a couple nights off after that record score, rested, saw some old friends, a very nice change of pace. Played very short session tonight (booked small but decent $600 win, bringing monthly profit even higher somehow) before hanging with a new poker friend. Watched the bi-curious episode of South Park together, what a friggin' classic, and quite apropos given my donations today.

I feel once again like I have reached another milestone in my poker journey, one that will finally involve .. . ironically. . . playing less poker.

Fun Qs:

If you consistently get it in with more equity than your opponent but you are both +EV, who will win more money over time and have a higher winrate?

How often does someone flop a set if 5 people see a flop in PLO5?

What is the likelihood someone has flopped the nuts in PLO5 multi-way?

Which game was that?

5/5/25 btn straddle plo5...it's a juicier/bigger game than the one I normally play.

Assuming this is the only thing we ever do, how can the answer be anything other than obvious "us"?

GamImissingsomething?G

The point is to get it in as ++EV as possible to win as much as possible. 60/40s are very routine in PLO5, we want to be on the 60% side!

Also wanted to share this story:

One day Albert Einstein wrote on the blackboard in front of his students:
9x1 = 9
9 x2 = 18
9 x 3 = 27
9 x 4 = 36
9 x 5 = 45
9 x 6 = 54
9 x 7 = 63
9 x 8 = 72
9 x 9 = 81
9x10 = 91

His students mocked him and made fun of him because he had made a mistake, as the correct answer for 9 x10 is 90.

Albert Einstein waited for everyone to shut up and said: "Despite me answering the first 9 questions correctly, no one congratulated me. Instead, when I got one wrong, everyone started laughing. This means that despite being very successful, society will only notice the smallest mistake and make fun of it. Don't let simple criticism destroy your dreams."

^yes, that is why it's essential that thread creators as well as poker professionals support each other

imo

This probably never happened by the way, it's just a story on facebook.