Hi I am Hash, I have been a long time lurker of these forums for several years now. This is mainly due to my very introverted nature. So this is partially my effort at being more open along with keeping track of goals & challenges for the next ~1 1/2 months at which point I will reevaluate things.

I will be starting at 2 PLO and looking to work my way up. My goal is to put in 1000 hands a day x 25 days a month= 25000 hands a month. This is besides studying 1 hour daily and posting on the forums. My focus is on the process and not the results. So I will be checking and sharing results not more often than every 15 days or so. What I will share daily will be how many hands I put in daily and the total hours spent during the day on poker work. Wish me luck ; ) and feel free to post and ask me any questions you may have or make suggestions as to what you would like to see in this thread. Thanks!

So since I am posting this 5 days later than planned here is how I am doing so far:

Hands
15: 1016
16: 1010
17: 504
18: 1267
19: 1782

Hours
15: 5:13
16: 5:26
17: 1:34
18: 5:17
19: 7:24

So since I have started mid month looking to put in 10000 hands minimum by end of this month. So far am well on track for that. Also I have been taking a shot at 5PLO so most of my volume is at that stake.

Thank You for reading my thread!
Good Luck at the tables everyone!

I like your approach, gl

Good to see you again man, good luck!

Hey, Thanks tmckendry. Yours and Victor's thread is what inspired me to start my own thread. Lurked both your threads for quite a while actually.

Thanks Victor, nice to see your still going strong. Been a long time huh. How is everything going with you?

Now maybe I will be able to muster up the courage to post in both your threads

Hoping you guys will remain active in my thread and help me if that's not too much to ask.

Hands
20: 2059
21: 2571
22: 160

Hours
20: 7:41
21: 7:07
22: 0:35

So passed the 10000 hands mark and its time for some review. Will talk about 22nd separately and the rest of 22nd is going to be break day.

Total Hands Played: 10209
Total Hours: 39:42
Days: 7
bb/100: 8.72
rakebb/100: 16.31

Rake is pretty ridiculous but this warrants a more in depth look at something I noticed. As mentioned before all of my volume as at 5PLO and played a mix of zoom and regular tables at pokerstars.

Zoom Hands: 5330
bb/100: 11.17
rakebb/100: 11.51

Regular Hands: 4879
bb/100: 6.04
rakebb/100: 21.55

So first thing to note from the above is that in fact my zoom winrate was almost double my regular tables winrate. This is off because the regular tables are way softer than the zoom tables with a higher fish:reg ratio and history has shown me that my winrate at regular tables is always significantly higher. So one factor for this anomaly is that I did run bad at regular tables.

The second factor is the rake I paid at regular tables was almost double. The reason for this was because I did play significantly looser at the regular tables since there were a lot more good spots to be involved in and so my VPIP, PRF and 3Bet were all higher at the regular tables and hence the higher rake.

What this tells me is that I have no incentive to play loose even at fishier tables since whatever extra I make in those marginal situations just seems to get more than eaten up by the rake and I am just better of folding in all marginal situations preflop rather than getting involved. Yes i did run bad at the regular tables but I don't think i am going to be able to counter the double rake I paid by playing looser and think I am better off just letting the marginal hands go preflop. So I am going to do this for the next 10000 hands before checking results again and see if it makes any difference.

Also need to start thinking of other sites to play at where rake won't kill my winrate so badly. So please anyone reading this please suggest.

Now onto those 160hands I played on 22nd. Well I messed up. Decided to take an ill timed shot at the regular 10PLO tables since games were looking really good but my bankroll is not ready yet so ended up playing scared and losing 2 BIs. Well all i can say for this is you live and you learn and won't be taking any more shots at 10PLO until my bankroll is sufficiently padded. I think another factor here is I have not set up any particular bankroll requirements for moving up. I am not sure at what point its good to take a shot I am thinking a 10BI shot at this point but am open to suggestions is that regard.

On that note going to enjoy the rest of my day off and get back to work with a bang tomorrow.

I don't play PLO,but if I were you I'd stick with at least a 50BI BRM and take shots when you hit 50BI for the following level.I found out that having a proper BRM helps me a lot with my mental game and that I'm way less results-oriented(at least for me)
Gl,sub.

10BI shot is lol horrible idea even if you're a 10bb/100 winner+.

50BI minimum if you're a proven winner. But preferably 100+ (especially if you're not proven winner).

Besides the level of play from PLO5 and PLO10 is quite different. Although I'd say from PLO10-25 is the biggest jump in the micros.

I hope you realize that as you move up stakes, the swings get bigger (since there's more aggression) and 10BI swings in a single session can be a normal day (well I guess that depends how many tables you play).

So first things first, another reason that I forgot to mention why I paid higher rake at the regular tables is cause I was also playing the deep ante tables. So that is for sure another factor to consider.

Yeah I agree that having around a 50BI requirement at least for the micro and small stakes is pretty reasonable and probably 100BI for midstakes. Yeah I used to be constantly be checking results but now as mentioned I check around 15 days or 10000 hands. I have found that makes a huge difference and keeps me focused on only making the right decision at the tables. You said that you would not take shots at the next stake until you have 50BI for that stake... but isn't it alright to take more aggressive shots especially at the micros as long as your willing to move back down if you lose your shotting capital

Thanks for your advice and posting. Waiting on your response.

Correct me if I am wrong here and maybe I wasn't clear enough. I was under the impression it is alright to take aggressive shots with few BI like e.g. 10 at the next stake as long as your willing to move back down if you lose your shotting capital. I thought that you could take pretty aggressive shots especially at the micros to get our of the rake trap quicker and just move up. Let me know if my thinking is wrong on this.

Yeah I totally agree with your BRM suggestions and have been thinking along those lines. But your saying my shotting capital and bankroll should be same i.e. that I should not take a shot at the next stake until I have 50BIs for it.

You mentioned the level of play being quite different from PLO5 to PLO10 and also from PLO10 to PLO25. Could you please exaggerate on this...different in what way and what kind of adjustments do you think are necessary.

Yes, I am aware that as you move up in stakes your winrate is smaller and the swings are bigger and yes I am aware how swingy PLO can be. Its brutal. As for how many tables I play it really depends but anywhere from 4-8 regular tables or 2-4 zoom tables.

Thanks for all your advice and posting. Looking forward to your reply.

Hands
23: 2511

Hours
23: 6:43

I'm not sure I completely understood your post about your 10BI shot at PLO10.

I thought you had 10BI for PLO10 and wanted to take a shot at it with only that, essentially putting your entire BR at risk lol. If you have more than 10BI and want to take a 10BI shot then I mean go for it if you feel cofortable. Ultimately, BRM and shot-taking are personal and depend from person to person. I still think 50BI is the minimum, well maybe not at PLO2-5 or if you're a 10bb+winner, but definitely once you're past that/not the biggest crusher. Unless ofc, you can redeposit (which many micro players can).

As for microstakes PLO stakes distribution from what I found (Last year I did that PLO2-50 grind, currently starting back at 25 now after a short 3mo break).

PLO2: nobody has any clue what they're doing, just play your hand...
PLO5: pretty much the same thing as PLO2.
------------------------------------------
PLO10: people start having slightly better hand ranges. However I find most people here simply much too weak. If they're not a maniac, they generally are too scared to bluff even in premium bluffspots, or otherwise they'll pick the worst spot to bluff. Easy to take away small pots too here.
-------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------
PLO25: Finally people have a semblance of what hands are good/bad, odds, value bets. A bit of real poker starts to get played here. But still huge leaks, still bad at handreading. I find a lot of people here are just always on autopilot mode, never adjusting.

That's the micros.
Another big jump is to PLO50 from PLO25, as big as from PLO10-PLO25 imo. People at 50 hand read much better and start adjusting more based on players behind them etc.
Never gone past 50 myself, although I'll just assume it's another big jump to 100. At every stake the regs get better and there's less recreationals players. This is expected though of course.

Good luck

Wow thanks for all the information. Yeah I definitely meant taking a 10BI shot and not my whole bankroll being 10BI that would be lol . Good luck with your grind. Let me know how it goes. What site do you play at?

Hands:
24: 1869
25: 2396

Hours:
24: 7:12
25: 7:02

So am putting in good volume and should not be long before I am ready for my next review. Also am studying regularly and feel like my game is improving a lot. Was not playing too well though so have decided to grind some 2PLO to get some confidence back. Been tinkering with my game as I learn new things hence am in new spots that I still need to get comfortable with. My opening ranges by position are very polarized even more than before and so its taking some getting used to playing the wider ranges in position. I think I am going to stick to 2PLO till the next review which is approx another 3000 hands away. So probably another 2-3 days.

Hands
26: 2009

Hours
26: 5:59

Doing good and playing well. Another ~1300 hands before next review so that should be tomorrow. Looking forward to it. Bring out the

stars and unibet

kk, thx for the info. Does unibet have better rake or offer rakeback?

So its time for another review.

Hands
27: 4523
Hours
27: 10:11

So passed another 10000 hands 23rd to 27th Nov.

Total Hands: 13308
Total Hours: 37:07
Days: 5
bb/100: 10.4

Breakup

2PLO
Zoom Hands: 3556
bb/100: 39.7
rakebb/100: 9.58

Regular Hands: 1166
bb/100: 99.6
rakebb/100: 18.70

5PLO
Zoom Hands: 3252
bb/100: -8.47
rakebb/100: 13.04

Regular Hands: 5334
bb/100: -17.16
rakebb/100: 15.94

So not totally unexpected results for me. I started of this sample playing at 5PLO but I played bad for a small stretch initially. I realized this and hence moved to 2PLO to settle my game and get my confidence back. Eventually I did get back to 5PLO towards the end of the sample and so my graph reflects an initial dip in results and then recovery towards the end. Also I did run bad initially and am at about 4BI below EV at the end of the sample. The initial bad play cost me and I spent most of my sample just recovering from that.

Not much to say about the the 2PLO sample. I guess it does show me that I know to win at least at 2PLO and it should reflect in the 5PLO results. I did run good and was about 2BI above EV at the end of the sample.

My game has changed drastically in many ways in these last 10000 hands all in good ways and definitely improvements but think I will see a true reflection of that will only show in the next review. I am a lot more comfortable in my game and more or less feel settled with it and more confident in what I am doing. So will be back to 5PLO for most of this sample unless I start playing bad again.

I think the most important thing for me to do currently is to not drastically change my game and focus on making sure I play good. I feel my game as it currently stands is good enough to beat 5PLO. I of course need to stay the course and study and keep improving. I just don't want to revert back or totally change my game due to mediocre results over a small sample where I know I played bad initially. I feel confident that the changes I implemented in my game during this sample were positive and so I need to stick with them.

I am extremely happy with my progress in way of putting in the hands and also studying. So I need to stick to them. Yes results aren't there yet but I need to stick with the process.

A note on rake it is high and I was curious as to how high hence I did record in my my reviews till now. But it is what it is and I can't change it so going forward I won't be bothering with rakebb/100 figure.

Please feel free to ask any questions or give me feedback.

Next review will be after another 10000 hands.

So I did exactly what I was not supposed to do. I said in my last post that the most important thing I needed to do was to not drastically change my game since the improvement I had made to my game were good, but due to run bad and playing bad in my last 10000 the results didn't reflect my improved game. So long story short I ended doing exactly what I was not supposed to do.

So I ended up playing bad also ran horribly, talking about 10BI below EV in a short span. Well my bankroll could take the hit since I was taking a shot but my head could not so ended up just playing worse.

Anyways since that session I have been playing good and studying but not regularly until I get my head straight. :banghead:

Happy to say since that initial bad play after review I have been playing good and sticking to the improvement like I should have in the first place. Have added a thing or two that has definitely improved my postflop play. Anyways am currently on break for a day or two and will be playing 2PLO again.

I wanted to discuss why I tilted and what I can do to avoid it in the future. So below is a list of my thoughts:

I noticed a pattern. Every time I checked results my first session after that I was anxious and nervous and ended up playing bad. This happened after both the 10000 hands reviews. So it has nothing to do with winning or losing since the first session was a healthy winning one and second a losing one.

So if it isn't too do with results being positive or negative, then it's only the act of checking the results and seeing the figures that caused me tilt. I guess I have high expectations of myself and even when I had good results I was not satisfied. So I need to adjust my expectations to the realm of possibility and stop being so hard on myself.

As long as I was focused on the process I was doing great. I was improving, playing good and the results were coming. But as soon as I shifted my focus to results after 10000 hands suddenly my attention was fully on the results and it was on my mind. I was being results oriented. So when I started playing after the review sub conscientiously my focus is on the results and not making the best decision at the table, I am trying to win money, win pots and not playing good poker anymore.

I have come to the conclusion there is a few things I can do to avoid this situation in the future.

1. Don't play the day right after review give yourself the day off let the results sink in. Be fine with them. Be fine with what your goal is. Remind yourself that the process and making the best decision is the only thing that matters. Just put a gap between results and playing again.

2. Since I have been easily putting in 10000 hands in 5 days I feel I can space out me checking results more. So going to double that figure to 20000 hands and might even increase it further. This will make sure my after result tilt session is more spaced out and also the results are more reliable so as to stop me from making drastic changes to my game based on tiny samples.

3. I didn't tilt because I was taking a 10 BI shot which is a good thing, but when I am in the result oriented mindset my bankroll and the results start meaning more that anything and the priority shifts from making the best EV+ decision to I want to win $. I end up playing overly aggressive and loosen up. I make the shift from a good TAG/LAG into a maniac. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde do come to mind . The point being that, to result oriented me bankroll is everything, so when I am in that mindset I think it will make a difference if I am taking a 50BI shot compare to a 10BI shot. I don't feel this will make a big difference as the other points I mentioned but it's worth a shot no pun intended:what:. Since it's micros I will make it 20BI shots upto 25 PLO then with increase that number.

Excuse my extra lengthy post.

Will be back at the tables after 2 days.

So in an effort for full transparency I know in my last post talked about bad results and tilting but didn't post the results for probably being judged and being ashamed since I did tilt and play horribly. I already discussed what I will do going forward to avoid that again but I feel the need to fill that gap in my posting. The hope is of course that this thread will be a success story in the future, but its important to point out the failures along the way. In this case I tilted badly so that's clearly a failure and low point in the thread. They say failure is a stepping stone to success and I am hopeful that will be the case here for me. So without adieu here are the horrible results.

Hands:
28: 377
29: 3559
30: 381
1: 1265
2: 2040
3: 1031
4: 1005

Hours:
28: 5:03
29: 7:04
30: 9:31
1: 3:39
2: 7:59
3: 3:51
4: 4:04

Total Hands: 9658
Total Hours: 41:11
Days: 7
bb/100: -20.38
EVbb/100: -11.50

So there you have it. I have nothing further to add about it and already talked in detail about what happened in my last post.

Moving on...Update for last 2 days.

Hands:
05: 2273
06: 1052

Hours:
05: 7:18
06: 2:50

So its worth mentioning, listing and reiterating how things will be going forward:

1. Will not play poker the day after review, will probably study or take the day off but definitely no playing.

2. Will check results and do a review every 20000 hands (Instead of 10000 hands).

3. Will take shots at the next stake when I have 20BI for the next stake and move back down if my shot is unsuccessful. I will follow this upto 25PLO (Old number was 10 BI shot).

4. Will play 4-6 regular tables or 1-2 zoom tables. I plan on upping this by 3 regular tables or 1 zoom table once I have reads on 90% of my player pool but that will take time so for the ongoing 20000 hands will stick to 6 regular tables or 2 zoom tables as the maximum limit.

5. Will play 1500 hands daily. Since I am upping my number of tables it will allow me to get in ~350 hands/hr and am looking at around 4-5 hours of play/day so am looking at 1500/day (old figure was 1000 hands per/day).

6. Will be sticking to work 25days and taking upto 5 days off and also to the study 1 hour number for now.

7. Will post daily going forward.

Basically I need to up the ante and start pushing my self a bit more. Overall I am extremely happy with the progress I have made since I started. My game is vastly different and superior to what it was when I started this thread and I need to keep on keeping on the improvement track.

So things are going fine overall did not study much last few days so going to change that, but other than that sticking to everything else.

Hands
07: 1557

Hours
07: 5:04

Close to reaching the 5000 hand mark, so am 1/4 of the way there to next review.

I am a bit under the weather so not really pushing myself and just happy to be putting in the minimum volume.

Hands
08: 1519

Hours
08: 5:23

Will put in more effort to study a bit more even though not well.

Again barely made minimum hands. Due to several factors like internet acting up, being sick and playing bad. This is the first time I played somewhat bad since implementing the things from post #14. I was not on tilt which is good but due to being sick I was in a hurry to just get done with the minimum hands and be done with it was just not in the right mood or mindset. So I did break the maximum table limit for a bit and made a few bad plays, but i was quick to realize it and quit.

I was fine with not getting in the minimum hands today but I ended up just barely doing so. I did notice my game is getting worse due to the lack of studying and reviewing my notes. So I have reviewed my notes today and everything is fresh in my mind. Going forward I will make sure to review my notes before each day of play, I think that will assure my game curve stays level and doesn't dip and of course I need to study to keep moving my game curve in the right direction.

Hands
09: 1515

Hours
09: 4:38

The hours put in are starting to look worse and worse. I am feeling much better today so looking to do better tomorrow. As a more longer term goal along with increasing the tables I will look to up my hours from 6 to 8.

Also any feedback or comments from anyone reading this thread would be most welcomed.

Better day. Put in very good volume, but am still lacking on the study front and its definitely affecting my game. So today am going to study 2 hours before hitting the tables. Played good until about towards the end of the day yesterday, where I was really tired and it was just hard to focus and concentrate.

I did break my maximum table rule so was playing 9 regular tables or 3 zoom tables from time to time. Its not a good idea, since I probably at around 50% of the player pool marked, so am unable to give the attention required to detail when I increase the tables. Need to stick to 6 regular tables or 2 zoom. Am going to be stricter on this rule, now onward until I have 90% of the players I am playing marked, at which point I am okay with adding the extra tables.

Hands
10: 3037

Hours
10: 8:12

Am starting to feel a little burnt. I have not taken a full day break from poker since I started this thread which was 20th Nov. I am at the ~11000 hands now so over the half way mark to review.

I have absolutely no clue what the results are going to look like and results have been on my mind more of late. In the sense I noticed my self being results oriented and not looking to make the best decision for a while when I was tired towards the end yesterday. I think I attribute that to just being tired and unfocused towards the end yesterday, of course wasn't a good idea but really wanted to push myself and get passed the 3000 hands mark for the day.

Good news is my health is basically back to fine now.

Was in monkey clicking buttons mode for the last 200 or so hands I played today. So probably I good thing I was short on volume. I did spend time studying and thinking poker before I played today for over 2 hours like planned. I was just not in the right mindset and not thinking things through at the table though. Was in a state of mental fog and I think this happened due to a culmination for over several days of not or hardly studying. So now am reviewing my notes before play daily as mentioned before and looking to study more.

The stuff I worked on yesterday didn't click yesterday but has already showed a vast difference in my play today. So to me it is clear the fog was due to lack of study and in one way it affected me was causing my preflop hand selection to regress into the medieval ages when I clearly know better.

Hands
11: 1003

Hours
11: 6:41

Overall my game is constantly evolving but I am careful about not making any major changes to my game until I have had a chance to properly think things through or have a good sample size on things.

I did shift back a couple of changes I had made in regards to my HUD. I had set minimum for 50 hands for HUD to show up and also changed my color coded marking system for players. The reason for minimum 50 hands was I was making too many bad plays based on small sample size like e.g. attributing someone is a maniac and playing differently based on that and playing spewy. So I set the minimum hands to 50 so I would play default and take standard lines against opponents with no HUD. Well what I found is I had a lot of Tight Passive, Nits, TAGs and LAGs marked and not a lot of Calling Stations, Maniacs and Nut opponent. This ended up being bad cause while there is definitely adjustments to be made against the first group, there are more adjustments to be made due to the second group like e.g. barrelling thin value hands versus a Calling Station. So I have shifted back to HUD showing at 0 hands and just being more careful about over adjusting. The problem I found was it was more the fact that my game was just bad, than of my overreacting and with my current game things are working out well like this.

The other change was a flaw in the new color coding system I had implemented. I had set it up where I was unable to differentiate based on color code between Tight Passive players and Calling Station players postflop. Have rolled back on that partially to the old method so now things are clear cut on that front.

Health is fine now so that's something to smile about. Oh and games at 2 PLO are good.

Going good, played good and ran well. Made up for yesterday's less than 1500 hands volume too. The hud and player marking changes showed instant results today.

Hands
12: 2408

Hours
12: 6:20

So was mostly 9 tabling the regular tables since I had reads on 90%+ of the player pools. Hence was able to get in good volume even though the hours were much the same. Once desperate need of the hour is I need to study more and my study progress is pretty near to stagnant of late. I have been studying but feel like I can do more in this area. Overall I am very happy with my game.

Still trucking along, was feeling more burnt so short on volume and hours.

Hands
13: 1044

Hours
13: 4:07

I am at ~15000 hands so review should not be far now. I am a bit burnt and do feel like I need some time off, if not right away then soon. Was thinking of dabbling in some 6 card Omaha for some fun since clearly 4 cards are not enough

As mentioned was feeling burnt so dabbled in some 6 card PLO and donked a few buy ins was fun actually. Not thought about it too much strategy wise but seems like you just have to play tighter in general and look for hands with smooth equity distribution and nuttiness. Basically high card hands with nut sets, flushes and straights. You not looking to flop the bare nuts or nut draw your looking for combo hands that will make the nuts but also have redraws. Post flop due the the amount of hand combos out there is essentially no bluffing going on and everyone is just playing there hand and playing too scared at least at the micros. So just need to look to make your hand and bet it, if you don't have much just fold. Your looking to make the absolute nuts and need to be careful with second nuts.

Now back to regular 4 card PLO. Been a bit burnt as mentioned but still did put in required volume. Overall my game is good and been playing more regular tables than zoom.
Hands
14: 1598

Hours
14: 4:48

I am waiting to hit the 20000 hand mark and check results before I take a break. Since as per my rules per se I need to take the day after review off to avoid tilt. I am currently at ~17000 hands so am pretty close. Just need to hang in there a bit longer.

Essentially took the day off. Have a upset stomach and just not feeling well in general. Not sick though like few days ago, just something I eat wrong I think. Anyways so took the day basically off since I was also feeling burnt.

Hands
15: 148

Hours
15: 2:23

Played some more 6 Card PLO for fun but will shift back focus to 4 Card PLO. Looking to finish up another ~3000 hands to get to 20000 hands for review. So that's something to look forward too. I hope results are good.

Looks good man. Post hands aswell if you want so we can comment.

Hey thanks, what you been upto?

Not been posting hands because don't check results unless put in 20000 hands and also not had anything where I haven't self analyzed at the table and figured it out but I am probably biased here though. Also not sure if anyone would bother commenting on them here.

Most of my play seems to be in 2 categories either 1) I played good or 2) I played bad due to tilt, tiredness, lack of focus etc. and I realize where I play bad so not had a lot of hands in the middle category where I was in doubt what the correct play would be. I am sure I have leaks but ignorance is a bliss.

That being said I just got done with 20000 hands so will post some hands for your comments. This time round since I don't have any hands marked will just post from the top winning and losing hands. Going forward I will mark hands during play and then once I hit the 20000 hands mark will post here.