Try poker income what phone do you have?

Alright so i'm going to stay at Rio for the next few nights. So apparently due to my play back in Cleveland/STL/Tunica, I got Platinum with Total Rewards which got me a pretty nice rate at $30/night on average with internet complimentary. Cool!

Been hanging out with people at Rio, played about 4 hours of PLO in 2 sessions. Up $861 total. I already miss the Bike's straddle from any position for any amount structure, I could tell there were guys who definitely wanted to just get it in (potting with any 4 cards when it got to them, betting like 80% of their range on any street).

My favorite hand today:

BTN straddle to $10, both blinds call, I make it $50 with ATT8 from MP, BTN and SB call, BB folds. Both villains are young asians.

Flop J83, pot $160
Very quickly checked around.

Turn 7, pot $160
SB checks, I bet $115, BTN quickly makes it $350, SB folds. I jam for $500 more, he quickly folds. Timing tell... assumed he didn't have any sets/T9xx since he'd at least think about betting the flop, and would fold everything else. Some hand equity and blockers help too... maybe he had pocket nines.

Did you ask about the straddle?
Player in another thread said Mississippi straddle was allowed.

Mississippi straddle was mandatory at my table, but had to be between 2x to 5x the big blind which is overall pretty pointless. Everyone at the table including himself would have wanted the biggest degen to straddle for $200 from the SB... but the thought probably never crossed anyone's mind. Too bad.

Played another 1 hour, up $421. Checked back flop with NFD, got there on the turn and potted turn/river. Think it was the only showdown I had all day (5 hours).

A 2-5-10 to a 2-5-25 are quite a bit different then a straight 2-5 game (seems like the stakes you were playing from your post) so I wouldn't say the straddle is pretty pointless.

Anyway, enjoy the thread, keep crushing

It's pointless in the sense that a 5-5-10 game is basically no different than a 5-10 game I meant, since it's mandatory. In fact I'd rather it just be 5-10 because the mandatory straddle diguises how short you can buy in for, its supposed to be 40bbs ($200) but it becomes as low as 8bb if someone makes it $25.

If straddle wasn't mandatory then it's better since you pay leas blinds per orbit and let the degens put in dead money for you

if like 60% of the table is straddling and you aren't straddling you are being very un-dude

would be different if it was an UTG straddle but the BTN straddle is much more playable in a game filled with bad loose passive players

Not something I want to talk about too much, but there are other ways to be well-liked at the table besides putting in dead money. FWIW I straddle fairly frequently in PLO but only in spots where I think it's +EV (or obviously if a fish asks me to).

Regarding the WSOP structure, don't get me wrong, it's nice that I can put in $20 dead money every orbit when the table whale is putting in $35, I was just saying the Bike structure is better where I can put in $10 of dead money per orbit while the table whale is putting in $1000+.

yeah having a capped straddle seems lame but kind of makes sense that in a PLO game the max straddle is ~ pot

Vegas being kind to me. Played 4 hours today, up $4570.

2 hands:

First one a guy who I thought was fairly tight (later in the session I found out I was sooooooo wrong...) straddles on BTN to $25, I have a very tight image and open JT92 to $85 from HJ for an ambitious steal. BTN flats.

Flop AK8, pot $180
Obviously a great flop for me range, can probably profitably bet 2222 here. I bet $150, BTN calls.

Turn 6, pot $480
I bet $480 with $300 behind, I really like these stack sizes for bluffs since draws have no implied odds. Unfortunately he ships it.

River Q, pot $1260
I show he mucks.

Just a few hands later, I limp KK43 for $25 from SB, shortstacked BB who's been fairly quiet makes it $75, 2 callers, I pot to $375 (a pretty horrendous mistake on my part, should have made it like $150.) BB can't wait to get his $305 total in the pot, other two both call as well.

Flop AK9, pot $1220 main, $210 side
I bet $600, 1 caller.

Turn 7, pot $1220 main, $1410 side
I shove for $1050 and get a call.

River 2, pot $1220 main, $3460 side
Well I obviously have the nuts for the side, I'm expecting to lose the main to AAxx though. However the BB rolls over Q953 and I scoop. Nice hand BB.

After cashing out, the thought ran through my mind "I can't fit all these $100 bills in my jeans". Good 1st world problem to have.

Oh I also had a nice pot I'm proud of where it went bloated preflop, 4 ways, board was KQT7, these are the kinds of boards where if you don't have anything in a 4-way pot you just kind of lose interest because you assume SOMEONE had to hit it. Flop was quickly checked around, I could tell no one was interested so I stole it with no blockers/SDV at all on the turn (6644). I've been working on using those live tells!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WSOP kind of reminds me of Rush Poker where you never truly have history with anyone.

Obviously I'm playing almost all PLO, but since NLHE strategy has been requested here's a quick piece of advice:

I believe the optimal vacuum line with your value hands OOP vs. the average decent reg at NLHE here at WSOP is to cbet flop, then check twice.

Example: Hero raises KQ from CO, decent-looking player from BTN flats, blinds fold. Flop Q85, hero bets, villain calls.

Hero should check almost 100% of turns and rivers, with the expectation that villain will bet somewhere in the hand. From villain's point of view, if they called your cbet they're either floating and need to bluff or they have a value hand themselves they will bet on the river. Note this is advice against someone who you suspect is solid, vs. a fish I would never take this line since I wouldn't expect a fish to value bet something like TT on the river but would call if you bet on most runouts. For a specific example, if villain floats with T9 and the board runs out Q8537, he'll probably bluff river after you check twice. If villain calls with TT on that same runout, he'll value bet river after you check twice. You make the maximum either way with this hand. Also you can replace river with "turn" in the previous sentences, vs. most guys I probably check/call twice but it depends on sizing etc.

Obviously you can't do this if you expect to build history since your double barrel range becomes a joke (polarized to QQ/88/55 but will be mostly air), but with no history I believe this is the best vacuum play against the "metagame" of average WSOP 5/10 players.

Also be careful with stereotypes, in my experience I have given guys way too much credit here (see hand 2 in the above post).

How many 5-10nl games on average have been running since you've been at the rio?

No idea but I'm a nice guy so i will check on bravo for you... There are currently five tables of 5/10 NL, and 10 tables of 2/5 NL.

Here is another trick. It is better value to get on a 2/5 NL table instead of a 5/10 table, then convince your table to mandatory UTG straddle. Now you're playing with 2/5 regs at 5/10.

Chips are your friend

Ya i already walked away from the cage and didnt want to get back in line

Just lost $1040 in a 1 hour session, played bad at a tough table. Need to work on mental game and also table selecting

Majority of dealers lose track of pot size easily?

Not as bad as LA, but yea most of them can't count the pot

I think your a tad condescending to the fish. Most of us will probably make more money in our lifetimes than poker players could ever dream. Losing 1k a week is 52k a year. I don't know I go to the World Series and wonder every year why smart relatively young people spend so much time playing. But eventually the market will be over saturated with "pros". At the point there is 7 pros in a PLO game it's not much fun.

WTF MY HOTEL HAS NO WATER

it's cool though called the front desk and got tonight's room for free as compensation. I'm more than happy with that... annoyed that I have to get dressed to go get something to drink now though lol.

Hi WallyPop2, can you quote some posts where you think i'm condescending to recreational players please. I'm actually really surprised to hear that.

I will never have to play in a live PLO game with 7 pros because the pros would be broke if that ever were the case; the poker economy is just like anything else, it's self-balancing. Two adjacent bodies of water can't stay at different levels when the floodgate between them is opened.

As to your question about why play poker, I'd rather make $10k a year doing what I want when I want, compared to making $1 mil a year but having to wake up to an alarm clock 5/7 days. For example, I was just hanging out at Bike when I told my friends there "hmm I think I'm going to go to Vegas tonight". No doctor/lawyer/etc. could have done that.

Played a mega late night session from 4 AM to 7 AM. Up $2185 in 3 hours.

Biggest hand I won, 4 ways to the flop, pot $250, flop is 6s5d4s, I have KsJx8s7x. Two checks, I check to the PFR (mistake), he checks. Turn 8d, tilty guy quickly announces "pot" strongly. I call, PFR calls, 1 fold. River is Qh, he announces pot again for $1k, I call, PFR folds.

1mil vs 10k is extreme imo but I get your point. I don't say this in a condescending way but you are young; your views may change. I decided I wouldnt leave my job as an Aerospace Engr unless I was confident I'd make 50% more playing FT poker. Ive been happy with my choice from all the freedoms and enjoyment as you often describe.
However unless you have no intention of having a family and/or wife your ability to jetset on a whim will not always be there regardless of vocation. As you get older responsibilities add up unless its your main goal for them not to.
For me that's 100% fine, the freedom I sacrifice for family is way worth it. Just something to think about for your priorities.

Responsibilities blow. Do your thing, have fun, live the dream, and make what money you can now. And when/if it's time to settle down, be happy you got a good education and have some skills to make an "honest" living with. I'm sure you know all this already of course, just want to show my support as someone who probably took on too many responsibilities too quickly :\

Good job dude at following your dreams. I understand totally about not wanting to be a lifeless, mundane 9-5 (or more) person. Even if you only make 30,000 a year doing something u absolutely love is worth it. Im 24 also. I have the exact same attitude about life as you it seems. I own a few businesses and WILL NEVER WORK ( BE EMPLOYED ) EVER IN MY LIFE. Money is so important in people's lives and what I love about poker is kind of the disregard for money. I believe most people play there best not even thinking about the money, but just making the best plays. Money used to run the USA, hopefully when people our age are grown we are running the money... and businesses I own are all poker related LOL, bar leagues n such. Do what you love man. I love this game called poker. What most people fail to realize is money is a natural by-product of passion, and drive (at the right thing). it takes smarts also, but the best way to earn money is doing things you love love love. as you can see from this long crap i just wrote I AM OVERLY HAPPY 4 U!!!