update?

I ended up leaving down -$93 on Thursday. I ran hot very early, winning\scooping three decent sized pots. Up ~$120 within an hour.

After that, my hands got counterfeited a lot, and hands never held for the whole pot.

As I get moved into my new place, I may try tournaments and test those waters as well. I'd much rather stick with Omaha games though, and may open my doors to a home game. We shall see.

I've enjoyed all poker for years, but Hold Em is just so boring compared to Omaha. Adding antes to Hold Em would make it so much better.

Then no one would fold because I have players that say "I had pot odds the whole way. I had to call" as they hit after calling pot sized bets. Fun.

The more I think about it, I could very well fold more often. I would also like a better understanding of odds for Omaha. 13 out wraps, flush draws, low draws...

I am also curious to certain lines to take with particular draws, is it more profitable to limp a lot? I think I need refining in some areas

Busto?

& I lack experience in Omaha, but here are a few things I follow:

1) Play nut drawing hands

2) Set mining small pairs is baaaaaad (RIO)

3) OOP I would be only raising like KK+ for big pairs

3) Position is very important, you can overlimp some marginal hands.

4) The more experience you lack, the nittier I would be preflop, and the more I would hug the button.

Yes, I definitely agree with these points and put them all to use.

Negative on busto, I just moved on the 1st and haven't played since moving. I've been studying things about the game while away from the table. Also finding that I am very interested in PLO8.

I've been following your thread as well P4MS, definitely enjoying reading that. Keep up the good work.

Inspired by P4MS, I decided to play $1/$2 after my shift. Net -$60

I play AK terrible, probably my biggest leak. It's my bane. I think I've got a pretty tight image, but I was getting very thin value from some of the most loose players I've seen.

I also overplayed TPWK hands like K7cc on Kx6s5s. That hand played vs a station, so that's probably -EV, but I felt being aggressive was the right choice if I played the hand.

Also need to start reviewing the hands I play, the times I call, and focusing more on equity rather than "being technically ahead" with a pair+. I would like to post some HH from my phone within the next day.

Hand1 from yesterday:

Eff stacks: ~$140 (i didn't have enough $$$ on me like I thought I did so i didn't keep a full stack, villain covers)

2 limps in EP in what I see as a loose passive limpy game. Hero has Kc Kh and raises to $16 and the SB calls while the others fold, heads up to the flop. SB plays too many hands to raises, heard him say earlier when he called $35 pre in a straddled pot with K2ss "I had to play it, suited king deuce isn't bad"

Flop (~$36) 5c 8h Jc

Check, hero bets $20. Villain calls without too much consideration. He could have a wide range that includes air with overs, flush draws, PPs, Jx, 8x and straight draws. I feel that if he thinks he has any equity in the hand he would be raising. I'm very comfortable here. Probably could have bet a little more here to set up a turn shove for a ~PSB.

Turn 4s (~$76)

Completes one straight but I'm still ahead of a ton of his range. Villain checks and I think on bet sizing and decide to shove for $96. I can't make any other bet here with stacks the way they are. Villain tanks and after trying to talk info out of me, and folds.

If I have a full stack ($200) I think I can bet ~$50 on the turn to set up a river shove should the river come clean.

I misplayed this pretty bad, I think.

Hand 2:

EP (seems to understand the game/equity, but still plays pretty loose) raises to $14, a short stack fishy player calls with ~$50 behind and also a glasses/hat/srsbsns type guy flats and Hero looks down at AKo in the CO. I've got ~$220.

I really think that raising is the right play against this field of players. I just felt confident that I had a lot of equity vs them. My mistake is/has been bet sizing and I think my 3b to $41 is much too small, and they all call.

As far as sizing, my 3b should carry some sort of FE if one person calls. EP raiser covers me, I could honestly care less about the shorty because he'll call off anything and the "pro" thinks too pair is the nuts and clearly backs that up with his play. I think $65+ has to be better.

Flop (~$165) Qh 7d 6d

This type of flop is why I absolutely hate AK, makes me want to play it a lot more conservatively preflop. Fwiw I think flatting vs a single opponent disguises my hand, and I can get a lot of value from weaker hands postflop, obviously situational though.

2 players check and glasses shoves for ~$50.

I wish I could say I calculated possible equity and compared that to bet size and the pot, but I didn't.

Fold.

I'll just put my thoughts here.

$165 + $50 = $215

Ignoring the other two players, it would be $50 to win $265. Comes out to ~19%.

6 outs x 4 = ~24% give or take some makes this a call, is this correct?

Agreed that raise sizing could be a bit larger. Your raise of $41 when the pot is already $45 won't usually fold out loose/fishy players, especially when EP calls.

As far as calling it off, you're getting 4.3:1 from the pot and you need about 3.1:1 for this to be profitable IF all your outs are live. Bear in mind that you may be reverse dominated (AQ or KQ), or V may have a Q w/ flush draw. V may have flopped some kind of draw, in his shoes I would be jumping out of my seat to get my $50 in if I flopped a flush or straight draw here.

However, shouldn't the shorty V only have about $15 left in his stack? In which case you've got no FE, and your actual equity in the pot will likely drop significantly. I really don't mind a fold here since in all likelihood shorty is going in too.

You tried to ISO with AK and failed, whiffed the flop, a'int no shame in letting go IMO.

Yeah, I just played this terrible. But posting my stupid spots will only help me improve.

That's the best way to do it. This was good for me as well, I spent a while thinking it over. I think the key is that $15 stack is never folding. If you had a good chance to go heads up with sunglasses, a shove may have been optimal.

Had some time off since buying my home and moving in, so I studied more of O8 and played last Thursday and won $353 in 2.6 hours. I think I ran pretty well.

Scooped with:

AA37ds
AA5T diamonds
AA28ds

Obviously played a few other hands but I think these hands were the only "significant" pots where I scooped.

Headed to work, but again wanted to put thoughts/notes to this thread

Lost as a 4-1 favorite on the turn. ~$400 pot.

Sadface. I want that call every day though.

Profited $126 playing $1/$2 Monday.

Finding out that a lot of players are very loose preflop, so raising $20+ with premiums should be profitable.

Lost a couple decent size pots with AK and AT. Stack paid off with QQ when a guy flopped TPTK and turned nut flush draw with AJcc. Didn't flop any sets, stole a couple minor pots and had a good tight image established, but did show down 42hh to one player who said he would call me next time, which is fantastic.

Excited to continue playing against this field, should be profitable. My hourly at this location, including all game types (FLO8+NLHE) is just under ~$24 over a relatively small sample size (~53 hours) according to my logs.

Small $38 loss tonight in Omaha 8.

Here's a graph with some statistics to follow.

[IMG][/IMG]

(I hate posting pictures, never doing this again you figure it out http://imgur.com/NFWFZ45)


Some statistics:

Winrate: ~$11.13/hr
Standard Deviation: ~$93/hr
Winning Sessions: 10/17 (~60%)
Biggest win: $402, $353 (LO8)
Biggest loss: $300 (NL), $180 (LO8)

Mostly been playing LO8 with some $1/$2NL mixed in. I feel as though I've improved my game since starting this thread in June.

Pros: I've tightened up my game (which I've always considered myself a 4-5 on a scale of very loose (1) to very tight (10). I could be wrong on the scale in the grand scheme of poker. I think this is definitely a positive thing because of so many reasons. I don't bleed off chips by l/c ing or even raising with what amounts to very marginal holdings in NL.

I also think through stacks sizes more often than I used to, and I've made an effort to understand odds and comparing it to relative equity.

My bet sizes are much larger and more appropriate, but I still make mistakes as we all do with anything.

Cons: Ace-King or A2xx (only because I'd like to hear perspectives on O8 and playing A2xx multiway)

I've made an effort to understand odds and compare it to relative equity, poorly.

I would almost always make up a reason to do what my gut thinks, which gets me into trouble and tough decisions, when logic dictates otherwise. I'm much, much more disciplined when I think I'm in marginal spots, but I could still improve in that.

As far as state of mind goes, I'm still confident in my play. There will always be a huge part of me that knows I can win, but losing really gets at me sometimes. I think taking breaks directly after rebuying would be beneficial to me.

Almost forgot about a big, big leak I have.

Sure I have a bankroll if you look at my profit margin, but that money is not separate like it should be. That shows me a lack of self discipline, which I readily admit. Any tips on how to keep those profits away? Do players keep their whole rolls on them (sounds ridiculous but with starting out it may be fine) or their stop loss (much better idea)? Also what about getting a roll of $2,000? Bank? Home?

Anyway, this is turning into a novel. Thanks to those that have contributed. Once I get a "roll" established, I will likely start a new thread and link it here.

Also at a negative winrate in NL, a disappointing -~$20/hr. Very small sample sizes and I think it has a lot to do with playing AK. How would others play AK at a loose game? Obviously there are a lot of factors, but I view the game as most players who know the game but frequently make wrong calls, often.

Very easy, right? Play tight and overbet your value hands to death, particularly premiums. I just need to patient and buy in for max because I believe to have a legitimate edge, so I should maximize it.

On the other hand I feel there are clear times to profitably double barrel in this game with -not much-. I should stick with the lesser variance side of things though, a more conservative approach.

Won $380 at a home game a few days ago, which helps turn around my NL graph. I was pretty familiar with the players and how the same would play and I took advantage of it. Might play again tonight at my usual venue, we'll see.

Played a rebuy tournament today and then played a $1/$1 NL game that will probably turn out to be a place I frequent.

I thought I played well, my reads were correct and it was the first tournament I played in probably 5 years. Only time I didn't get stacks in at least a 3-1 favorite was when I ran into AA when I called a raise in the SB with QQ and c/r a J high flop. And then again when I was recovering and trying to steal the blinds with QT vs. AK. My tournament ended at the final table when a 4 hit the turn after my shove from the button got called by A4. I had AJ.

The $1/$1 was really profitable and played exactly how I liked. I joked with one of my co workers that we'd split the tables money, but that's kinda how it happened.

I believe I established a snug, winning image (at least for today) and even got the table playing 42 for raises. That turned into players wanting to play most hands with a deuce.

That led to profit.

I could bet more liberally.

Away from the tables I'd been focusing on bet sizing, because if you deny proper drawing odds to your opponent or know they don't have much of a fold button, you can play perfect.

Isn't that the dream scenario? I made a Gameplan and stuck with it and almost quadrupled my $80 buy. Most players played a $40-$50 stack and I always could put them to the test with my premiums because I got hit with the deck early.

Learning in low-limit poker is turning into an every session thing. I'll uncover little pieces of information from players in the area that backs up my dealing experience and understanding of how people are playing and use it to my advantage.

Previous session: +$380
Todays session: +$228

I started out on the negative side of the graph in NL, but since August I'm up almost $700 in 12 hours. Small sample size, but I seem to be confident in my game and my reads and the chips are following. Hooray positive reinforcement?

On a slightly different topic, I've been thinking a lot about bet sizing, ranges and specific lines concerning those ranges. My brother had told me he would never put me on K4 when I raised pre flop and c-bet on a flop of T44 in our home game like I had the other night.

Spent time thinking of what hands I might actually bet with there, and that translated into finding out my own personal ranges in different spots and seeing if I could improve in some areas.

Sorry to rant through this for those that read along, I've gotta track progress and some of my thoughts where I can go back and see some details.

Probably will do some HHs, maybe. I'd like post those in the LLSNL forum, maybe link them in here as well.

Followed those sessions with a $230 loss.

To sum it up, I think I played poorly in addition to others hitting their draws frequently.

I think online play has been helpful to my thought processes and have helped me be more patient live.

I've seen that I've been very inconsistent lately, and I started off with several wins in a row. I was playing at the same place all the time,syne I should stick to the same venue for a while.

stats for the year at $1/2 nl?

I'm a small loser over a very small sample size. Since June I'm -$194 in NL games. I started off very poorly, but I'm currently on an upswing. I've only played 11 live NL sessions. I'm a winner in the last 6 of 8 sessions.

I think playing online has helped my game a ton. I have a lot more confidence at the table in my reads and my play. I will be getting a new job soon (while keeping my dealing job for bankroll replenishment). When that happens im sure I'll be playing a lot more often.

P4MS, you play in Michigan, do you not?

Lost my job today.

Have an interview this week for a full time job. Should be able to continue with this forum a lot more often if that works out.

Here's to hoping I can pursue this poker dream with a bit more commitment without worrying about financial implications.