Hey all, this thread will be documenting my PLO journey. My goal is to become a winning PLO player and hopefully use it as a side income. A little about me: I'm a US based software engineer that recently turned 30. I began playing Poker in 2015 toward the end of college. I started at 2NL with about $40 and through the help of this forum + various poker content, I grinded up from 2NL to 100NL over the course of several months and a few 100k hands. Back then I loved grinding and studying - I listened to Joe Ingram's podcasts and had the dream to reach the success of some of the players on his podcast. However, I decided it was a foolish dream and focused on my career in SWE.

Recently I had the poker itch again and missed the old days of grinding. I'm also looking for more ways to achieve financial success. Ideally I would like to start my own business, but it would be great to use Poker to boost my income when I feel like it. I've always found PLO more interesting than NLHE, but during my old Poker journey, the games online weren't very available. Now I've found a site with ok action and the play feels soft.

So far I have a "lol sample size" of 11k hands of which I am losing. Although I had some ideas of what PLO hands you want to play, I think over the first few thousand hands my preflop selection was quite poor. I also found many opportunities to dust of stacks by trying to bluff way too much with blockers and bluff-catch way too much with blockers. I'm following Jnandez's course in attempt to improve my play.

So here's my first graph which is pretty lol. Basically began my journey losing 60BIs in nearly 8k hands lul. I'm also running pretty consistently 30BIs under EV which is...fun. However, over the next half of my sample (after putting time into studying) things are beginning to turn around.

I'm currently playing PLO100 and the games feel soft: a lot of limping, passive play, and occasionally maniacs show up and run up stacks. The variance can feel wild when maniacs show up and you start playing deep with them. Because of this, I do think I have an edge. A big part of my edge, I think, is that I don't tilt - which has been helpful since I've been running under EV so much.

Not solver approved, but fun hand from today:

$1 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 3 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

SB: 289.54 BB
BB: 310.29 BB
Hero (BTN): 260.65 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has 8 A 6 J

Hero raises to 3.5 BB, SB calls 3 BB, BB calls 2.5 BB

Flop: (10.5 BB, 3 players) J K 8
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets 4.96 BB, SB raises to 11.57 BB, fold, Hero calls 6.61 BB

Turn: (33.64 BB, 2 players) 6
SB bets 21.18 BB, Hero calls 21.18 BB

River: (76 BB, 2 players) K
SB bets 74 BB, Hero calls 74 BB

SB shows A 4 Q 9 (One Pair, Kings)
(Pre 52%, Flop 45%, Turn 25%)
Hero shows 8 A 6 J (Two Pair, Kings and Jacks)
(Pre 48%, Flop 55%, Turn 75%)
Hero wins 222 BB

Big pot with two maniacs. Honestly extremely uncertain as to what to do when I get to the flop here so deep. Villains were constantly in preflop raising wars...maybe just gii pre or go for it on the flop and pray.

$1 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 4 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (CO): 289.9 BB
BTN: 95.5 BB
SB: 1302.14 BB
BB: 100 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has J Q K A

Hero raises to 3.5 BB, fold, SB raises to 11.5 BB, BB raises to 38 BB, Hero calls 34.5 BB, SB calls 26.5 BB

Flop: (114 BB, 3 players) 4 4 5
SB checks, BB bets 62 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 62 BB, SB calls 62 BB

Turn: (300 BB, 3 players) 8
SB checks, Hero checks

River: (300 BB, 3 players) T
SB checks, Hero bets 73.5 BB, fold

Hero shows J Q K A (Flush, King High)
(Pre 65%, Flop 71%, Turn 74%)
BB shows 6 A J 3 (One Pair, Fours)
(Pre 35%, Flop 29%, Turn 26%)
Hero wins 298 BB

Sessions over the past few days were rough. Started out great, then went on a pretty big downswing running a bunch under ev. Playing deep stack against 90/50/30 caused a lot of variance. Guy was constantly 3 betting me and I was missing everything, running a bit card dead, etc. Quite frustrating, but I just tried to play it out. Disappointing as I had put some good study sessions in and was excited to play.

Results:


Total:


Fun hand against 90/50/30:

Omaha Hi - 4 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BB: $23.95
CO: $787.06
Hero (BTN): $393.21
SB: $624.14

SB posts SB $0.50, BB posts BB $1.00

Pre Flop: (pot: $1.50) Hero has 7 T A A

CO raises to $3.50, Hero raises to $12.00, SB calls $11.50, fold, CO calls $8.50

Flop: ($37.00, 3 players) J 6 K
SB checks, CO checks, Hero bets $11.55, SB calls $11.55, fold

Turn: ($60.10, 2 players) 3
SB checks, Hero checks

River: ($60.10, 2 players) A
SB checks, Hero bets $38.73, SB raises to $174.29, Hero calls $135.56

SB shows Q 7 J Q (One Pair, Queens)
(Pre 30%, Flop 24%, Turn 30%)
Hero shows 7 T A A (Three of a Kind, Aces)
(Pre 70%, Flop 76%, Turn 70%)
Hero wins $406.68

This mornings session went really well. Initially I was playing ring, but results were pretty meh. Then the 90/50/30 guy from the previous session sat me heads up. I won about 10 buy ins from my session with him - so recovered all of last sessions losses + some more. This guy is so aggro and willing to get stacks in. He was constantly 3betting preflop when I was on the button and cbetting about 70%. I adjusted by limping my less nutted hands preflop on the button and calling 3 bets with my worse AAxx. I reduced my bluffing frequency as all I had to do was wait for decent flops where I had good made hands + future equity. Stacks were getting in on the flop often. I mostly got it in with better equity and ran well wrt holding + flips. I was also lucky to run well in a pot where I ****ed up by getting it in worse pretty deep stacked.



$1 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 2 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BB: $213.68
Hero (SB): $533.31

Hero posts SB $0.50, BB posts BB $1.00

Pre Flop: (pot: $1.50) Hero has 8 9 K 5

Hero raises to $3.00, BB raises to $9.00, Hero calls $6.00

Flop: ($18.00, 2 players) 6 7 J
BB bets $13.12, Hero calls $13.12

Turn: ($44.24, 2 players) 4
BB bets $32.80, Hero raises to $114.80, BB raises to $191.56 and is all-in, Hero calls $76.76

River: ($427.36, 2 players) J

Hero shows 8 9 K 5 (Straight, Eight High)
(Pre 58%, Flop 76%, Turn 100%)
BB shows 6 T 5 3 (Straight, Seven High)
(Pre 42%, Flop 24%, Turn 0%)
Hero wins $426.86

$1 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 2 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BB: $271.22
Hero (SB): $611.52

Hero posts SB $0.50, BB posts BB $1.00

Pre Flop: (pot: $1.50) Hero has J K J 4

Hero raises to $3.00, BB raises to $9.00, Hero calls $6.00

Flop: ($18.00, 2 players) 9 4 Q
BB bets $13.12, Hero raises to $42.28, BB calls $29.16

Turn: ($102.56, 2 players) 2
BB checks, Hero checks

River: ($102.56, 2 players) K
BB bets $102.06, Hero calls $102.06

BB shows 3 T 6 5 (Flush, King High)
(Pre 36%, Flop 11%, Turn 0%)
Hero shows J K J 4 (Flush, King High)
(Pre 64%, Flop 89%, Turn 100%)
Hero wins $306.18

$1 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 2 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BB: $142.55
Hero (SB): $734.86

Hero posts SB $0.50, BB posts BB $1.00

Pre Flop: (pot: $1.50) Hero has J J K K

Hero raises to $3.00, BB raises to $9.00, Hero calls $6.00

Flop: ($18.00, 2 players) K 3 9
BB bets $13.12, Hero calls $13.12

Turn: ($44.24, 2 players) 8
BB bets $43.74, Hero raises to $174.96, BB calls $76.69 and is all-in

River: ($285.10, 2 players) 2

Hero shows J J K K (Three of a Kind, Kings)
(Pre 65%, Flop 96%, Turn 98%)
BB shows 8 K 8 A (Three of a Kind, Eights)
(Pre 35%, Flop 4%, Turn 3%)
Hero wins $284.60

$1 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 2 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

SB: $126.92
Hero (BB): $1,023.38

SB posts SB $0.50, Hero posts BB $1.00

Pre Flop: (pot: $1.50) Hero has J J 4 2

SB raises to $3.00, Hero calls $2.00

Flop: ($6.00, 2 players) 5 3 A
Hero checks, SB bets $4.25, Hero raises to $18.42, SB raises to $60.93, Hero raises to $188.46, SB calls $62.99 and is all-in

Turn: ($253.84, 2 players) J

River: ($253.84, 2 players) 3

Hero shows J J 4 2 (Full House, Jacks full of Threes)
(Pre 56%, Flop 66%, Turn 78%)
SB shows 3 K 8 Q (Three of a Kind, Threes)
(Pre 44%, Flop 34%, Turn 23%)
Hero wins $253.34

$1 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 2 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

SB: $273.85
Hero (BB): $691.25

SB posts SB $0.50, Hero posts BB $1.00

Pre Flop: (pot: $1.50) Hero has 9 T K 5

SB raises to $3.00, Hero calls $2.00

Flop: ($6.00, 2 players) K 5 2
Hero checks, SB bets $4.25, Hero raises to $14.87, SB calls $10.62

Turn: ($35.74, 2 players) T
Hero bets $26.43, SB calls $26.43

River: ($88.60, 2 players) K
Hero bets $66.07, SB calls $66.07

Hero shows 9 T K 5 (Full House, Kings full of Tens)
(Pre 54%, Flop 72%, Turn 68%)
SB mucks 3 6 J 6 (Two Pair, Kings and Sixes)
(Pre 46%, Flop 28%, Turn 33%)
Hero wins $220.24

$1 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 2 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

SB: $151.78
Hero (BB): $905.68

SB posts SB $0.50, Hero posts BB $1.00

Pre Flop: (pot: $1.50) Hero has 8 Q T Q

SB raises to $3.00, Hero raises to $9.00, SB raises to $27.00, Hero calls $18.00

Flop: ($54.00, 2 players) A K J
Hero bets $35.66, SB raises to $124.78 and is all-in, Hero calls $89.12

Turn: ($303.56, 2 players) K

River: ($303.56, 2 players) A

Hero shows 8 Q T Q (Straight, Ace High)
(Pre 62%, Flop 41%, Turn 10%)
SB shows A J J 4 (Full House, Aces full of Jacks)
(Pre 38%, Flop 59%, Turn 90%)
SB wins $303.06

Subbed, fan of PLO threads especially from USA.

I play full time online from the USA myself for the past 2 years. I have a small discord study group if interested DM me.

Either way will be following, GL op.

Thank you man! I'll send a DM your way. I also subbed to your thread - really enjoyed your story and I hope you continue to find success in life.

July results:



Overall graph is improving:

Sub, GL, what site you grinding?

Going to try to start posting here again. I stopped playing toward the end of summer for several reasons - work became very busy, I was in the middle of moving, and grinding through all of the variance became flat out exhausting. I work a 9-5, so studying and grinding for hours after work can burn me out, especially when dealing with PLO swings. I previously posted about a weak player I played HU against at 100PLO - I had won 1k in that session. My bankroll was at 5k when I saw him sitting alone at 1kPLO. I decided to degen it up a bit and sit him HU. One of the first hands we played we get it all in pre. I had AAxx, he had QQxx. I always run it once - Q on the flop. I took a few more beats at 1kPLO, running it back up and then back down. Then a few more beats at 200PLO. Bankroll was at $1100 at which point I decide to take a break from poker while handling moving and work.

I started playing again recently at100PLO (I also decided to start playing mtts this week because they're more relaxing than PLO cash games). Bankroll is now ~$3700 as I continue to win at my current stakes. 100PLO is my largest sample and win rate, so that's reassuring. Although I continue to run under ev. I'm trying to run it twice more since I'm always running bad in the big pots that matter, but people don't seem to do it so I just have to accept the variance - but I'm mostly getting my money in good.

I'm looking forward to playing more and continuing studying/improving. I purchased a new PC so I need to transfer my old database to this one, but here are my recent results:




I'm currently play Party Poker, but I'm going to try to expand to WSOP, Pokerstars, and I'm looking into CoinPoker.

Always curious what (passive) villain has in these spots when I'm potting with the nut flush blocker. How much worse than the 2nd nuts do they do this with...hah.
PartyGaming - $1 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 4 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 192.1 BB
Hero (SB): 147.72 BB
BB: 170.74 BB
CO: 267.9 BB

Hero posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has K Q A A

CO calls 1 BB, BTN calls 1 BB, Hero raises to 5 BB, fold, CO calls 4 BB, BTN calls 4 BB

Flop: (16 BB, 3 players) T 4 5
Hero bets 7.56 BB, CO calls 7.56 BB, fold

Turn: (31.12 BB, 2 players) 2
Hero bets 29.4 BB, CO raises to 117.6 BB, fold

CO wins 176.12 BB

---
Same guy. Not great gii without blockers or draws, but definitely not folding to our friend. Donker (90% vpip) usually has a pair or two pair in these spots so not worried about him.
PartyGaming - $1 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 4 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

CO: 187.1 BB
Hero (BTN): 105.76 BB
SB: 169.74 BB
BB: 313.86 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has K Q 8 8

CO calls 1 BB, Hero raises to 4.5 BB, fold, BB calls 3.5 BB, CO calls 3.5 BB

Flop: (14 BB, 3 players) 3 J 8
BB checks, CO bets 8.82 BB, Hero raises to 29.4 BB, BB raises to 110.25 BB, fold, Hero calls 71.86 BB and is all-in

Turn: (225.34 BB, 2 players) 5

River: (225.34 BB, 2 players) K

BB shows 3 3 6 4 (Three of a Kind, Threes)
(Pre 38%, Flop 9%, Turn 23%)
Hero shows K Q 8 8 (Three of a Kind, Eights)
(Pre 62%, Flop 91%, Turn 78%)
Hero wins 223.34 BB

Short session tonight. Bankroll is at $3950...getting close to where I was in the summer. I believe I'm up around 40 buy ins at 100PL for my entire sample which is nice.

Came second in a $100 buy in tourney 10k gtd for $1750. Wish I tried a little more because 1st place was for 3k, but after playing mtts all day I was dead tired and lost focus. Had the chip lead and edge, but lost an all-in, then bluff, then another all-in. QK vs A rag suited for like 40bb - should have folded pre obv. Kind of enjoying mtts, but they are exhausting as they take forever. Looking forward to playing more PLO soon. Bankroll now at $5575 (all time high!). Also at a poker earnings ath. I started with $40 roll and I believe I'm up around 8-9k lifetime. Feels like a good come up from the beginnings of grinding 2nl .

Had another failed shot attempt at 200PL at the end of the night. Nothing seems to go my way when trying to shot take there and it hits the BR hard. Lost AAxx vs KKxx all in pre (villain hit K in the window -_-). At 100bb effective, I 4bet AAAss, villain flats with 50BB behind, flop is 77T rainbow. SPR is 1 so easy pot and gii and we have backdoor nfd. Vilain calls with QQ97. Then in HU my full house got rivered by a bigger full house. Also HU, I have top set on a mostly dry board. x/r flop for pot, pot turn, flush comes on river and villain shoves.

Should probably just fold river here. Feels like villain calling turn is really bad, but gets lucky on river ofc. I'm just cry calling river.

PartyGaming - $2 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 3 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (SB): 150.04 BB
BB: 176.49 BB
BTN: 97.5 BB

Hero posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has T 7 K T

fold, Hero raises to 3 BB, BB calls 2 BB

Flop: (6 BB, 2 players) 3 7 T
Hero checks, BB bets 4.25 BB, Hero raises to 18.42 BB, BB calls 14.17 BB

Turn: (42.84 BB, 2 players) K
Hero bets 41.84 BB, BB calls 41.84 BB

River: (126.52 BB, 2 players) A
Hero checks, BB bets 113.23 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 86.78 BB and is all-in

Hero shows T 7 K T (Three of a Kind, Tens)
(Pre 64%, Flop 55%, Turn 65%)
BB shows K 6 9 5 (Flush, Ace High)
(Pre 36%, Flop 45%, Turn 35%)
BB wins 299.08 BB

Again, river here is probably just a fold, but I think calling isn't horrible. I only played like 20 hands with this guy. Villain sat me out shortly after this.
PartyGaming - $2 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 2 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (BB): 100 BB
SB: 330.28 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has 7 4 7 3

SB raises to 3 BB, Hero calls 2 BB

Flop: (6 BB, 2 players) 9 3 7
Hero checks, SB checks

Turn: (6 BB, 2 players) A
Hero checks, SB bets 4.3 BB, Hero raises to 18.65 BB, SB calls 14.35 BB

River: (43.3 BB, 2 players) A
Hero checks, SB bets 43.05 BB, Hero calls 43.05 BB

SB shows J 9 6 A (Full House, Aces full of Nines)
(Pre 54%, Flop 7%, Turn 10%)
Hero mucks 7 4 7 3 (Full House, Sevens full of Aces)
(Pre 46%, Flop 93%, Turn 90%)
SB wins 129.15 BB

Dumb ****

PartyGaming - $2 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

UTG: 258.02 BB
Hero (CO): 163.43 BB
BTN: 288.7 BB
SB: 107.59 BB
BB: 84.49 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has A A A 8

fold, Hero raises to 3.5 BB, BTN calls 3.5 BB, SB raises to 15 BB, fold, Hero raises to 49.5 BB, fold, SB calls 34.5 BB

Flop: (103.5 BB, 2 players) 7 7 T
SB checks, Hero bets 102 BB, SB calls 58.09 BB and is all-in

Turn: (219.67 BB, 2 players) J

River: (219.67 BB, 2 players) K

Hero shows A A A 8 (Two Pair, Aces and Sevens)
(Pre 56%, Flop 9%, Turn 20%)
SB shows Q Q 9 7 (Straight, King High)
(Pre 44%, Flop 91%, Turn 80%)
SB wins 218.17 BB

More dumb ****

PartyGaming - $2 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BB: 96.11 BB
Hero (UTG): 210.5 BB
MP: 43.66 BB
CO: 442.97 BB
BTN: 144.43 BB
SB: 218.45 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has T A 3 A

Hero raises to 3.5 BB, fold, CO calls 3.5 BB, BTN calls 3.5 BB, SB calls 3 BB, BB raises to 21 BB, Hero raises to 73.5 BB, fold, BTN calls 70 BB, fold, BB raises to 96.11 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 22.61 BB, BTN calls 22.61 BB

Flop: (295.33 BB, 3 players) 9 K 8
Hero bets 114.39 BB and is all-in, BTN calls 48.32 BB and is all-in

Turn: (391.97 BB, 3 players) 5

River: (391.97 BB, 3 players) 5

Hero shows T A 3 A (Flush, Ace High)

Main Pot [295.33 BB]: (Pre 51%, Flop 24%, Turn 14%)
Side Pot#1 [96.64 BB]: (Pre 70%, Flop 83%, Turn 83%)

BTN shows 4 7 7 J (Flush, King High)

Main Pot [295.33 BB]: (Pre 24%, Flop 8%, Turn 14%)
Side Pot#1 [96.64 BB]: (Pre 30%, Flop 17%, Turn 17%)

BB shows K A K 7 (Full House, Kings full of Fives)

Main Pot [295.33 BB]: (Pre 25%, Flop 68%, Turn 72%)

Hero wins 96.64 BB
BB wins 293.83 BB

I didn't win any hands.

My 200PL results are horrible atm. I'm maybe down like 10BI there. It's mostly the same players as 100PL and I'm up over 40BI at that stake over a much larger sample so I just need things to go my way so I can stick to it.

Congratulations on the tournament win! I would advise you to focus solely on one format. There is another blogger on this forum who keeps jumping between PLO and NLHE tournaments and it's not advisable to be honest. They are vastly different games and it's very difficult learning to master both at the same time. You want to get better at PLO? Expend all your energy towards that. Imagine studying MTT theory and PLO theory at the same time? That's wildy ambitious.

First hand has to be a huge mistake without at least a spade in your hand. Second hand is pretty weird. It's not your turn card but that doesn't mean we cannot raise it's just something to think about. Would be interesting to run through the computer for sure.

Rest is std ofc. What you should take away from the last hand is buttons outrages play – if that doesn't motivate you to keep at it, I don't know what will!

GL

Thank you! Mm yeah, I think you're right - it's not ideal to split focus among different formats. I've been using PLO Mastermind and RIO for mtt theory - it is quite a bit of information. I think one thing that helps is that where I play, both fields are quite soft. I would just like to focus on getting better at PLO though, so I'm going to consider your advice.

Yeah I agree, first hand is pretty bad. At least the river call is very bad, especially given stack sizes. I think flop and turn are prob fine though.

Second hand is pretty weird indeed. I ran this through Monker and on turn it mixes between x/r and 3/4 bet. On river we should actually continue betting 3/4 pot and fold to raises. I like x/r on turn because villain has some turned 2p and straight draws to bet, but it's weird because we are blocking a bit of the continuing range.

There are definitely plenty of bozos playing which is why I've been pressing on from the start

Yesterday I did a couple hours of study before playing. Was reviewing some cold calling spots and running them through PLO trainer. After I played a short session of a few hundred hands - it did not go well. There were quite a few hands that I thought were strange and marked for review. I lost about 3 buy-ins - at that point I decided to call it a session so I could review the tagged hands.

I'm having trouble studying some of these hands given the preflop action. Typically I begin by running the setup in PLO trainer, but the limping and limp reraises (usually just pin these as AAxx) throw everything off. Some of the hands people show up with also throw things off. I'll try to do post-flop review and download the AKH script to run in Monker (free version), but I think I should invest into the full version.

First strange hand: The limp reraise is funny, not sure what to make of this. My hand should be a fold pre, but I mistakenly decide to call. I think I either need to be double suited to call, or have more connectivity - the 4 is too much of a dangler. On the flop I'm floating with some backdoors for the opportunity to steal on the turn - I find that population can give up pretty easily in these situations. Turn doesn't help us, just check and see a free river. We hit the straight on the river which is nice, but villain leads for an odd sizing - a little less than 2/3 pot (I don't think villain is really thinking about sizing all that deeply, but I'm not sure how he comes up with this - population is either 1/2, 3/4 or pot).

So my thought process during the river is that in theory this should just be a call (solver confirms), but I want to try to go for thin value from AAxx, Axx2, KTxx, etc. I just feel that these type of players can try to bet those hands here and would also call a jam - so I'm trying to exploit a bit. Unfortunately we run into the boat and I'm surprised to see this specific hand tbh. I'm just not expecting this hand to ever be 3bet, but also not expecting this line postflop. Villain is 83/20/9 over a very small sample of 60 hands - he's obviously a fun player and never playing based on theory, but I still want to think about how the hand should be played. So villain bests pretty large on the flop, but having top set and blocking middle set, he should be mostly checking. This is a large part of the reason as to why I'm surprised to see this specific hand shown. In this hand, villain has large bet sizes, but if I mix in smaller bet sizes like 25% and 33% pot, this hand is just checking down on all streets.

So I've talked very little about what I think villain's range is up until the river - this is a challenge for me. Population just tends to show up with very wide ranges in all sorts of spots. And it's not so much that I think KKxx is impossible here, but I think it's unlikely given the action. Anchoring to what theory should do also makes me feel KK is unlikely, but that's contradictory to my acknowledgement that we're against a fun player who obviously isn't thinking about optimal play - I have trouble reconciling these two thought processes. I'm still ok with my river play even though I ran into a boat, but next time I'm folding pre.

PartyGaming - $1 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 4 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (CO): 103.59 BB
BTN: 133.6 BB
SB: 81.58 BB
BB: 357.96 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has Q 4 J Q

Hero raises to 3.5 BB, fold, fold, BB raises to 11 BB, Hero calls 7.5 BB

Flop: (22.5 BB, 2 players) K 9 2
BB bets 14.16 BB, Hero calls 14.16 BB

Turn: (50.82 BB, 2 players) 2
BB checks, Hero checks

River: (50.82 BB, 2 players) T
BB bets 32.54 BB, Hero raises to 78.43 BB and is all-in, BB calls 45.89 BB

BB shows K K 5 9 (Full House, Kings full of Twos)
(Pre 67%, Flop 82%, Turn 100%)
Hero shows Q 4 J Q (Straight, King High)
(Pre 33%, Flop 18%, Turn 0%)
BB wins 205.68 BB


Against the same villain in this hand. I don't have much analysis here. I was leaning toward calling turn and probably folding river, but I decide to jam because I think I'm ahead often enough and still have good equity against stronger hands. In my mind I'm really only losing to 33 and population will GII here with worse 2p and draws. 100bb I'm ok with GII no question, but being deeper made this decision awkward. Villain shows up with 7T of course *thinking*.

PartyGaming - $1 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (BTN): 187.89 BB
SB: 100 BB
BB: 91.46 BB
UTG: 290.24 BB
MP: 127.95 BB
CO: 185.66 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has 8 9 T Q

fold, fold, CO calls 1 BB, Hero raises to 4.5 BB, fold, BB calls 3.5 BB, CO calls 3.5 BB

Flop: (14 BB, 3 players) 9 8 3
BB checks, CO bets 8.82 BB, Hero raises to 31.97 BB, fold, CO calls 23.15 BB

Turn: (77.94 BB, 2 players) 6
CO bets 74.94 BB, Hero raises to 151.42 BB and is all-in, CO calls 74.25 BB and is all-in

River: (376.32 BB, 2 players) A

CO shows 2 7 4 T (Straight, Ten High)
(Pre 38%, Flop 20%, Turn 61%)
Hero shows 8 9 T Q (Two Pair, Nines and Eights)
(Pre 62%, Flop 80%, Turn 39%)
CO wins 373.32 BB

There were some more hands that I found confusing that I will try to post later, but they were not big pots. Just weird multiway action when I'm holding a decent hand.

I played one of the wildest hands of my PLO career today. After work I did a couple hours of study - I found it helpful and made some adjustments to my play. I was up 2 buy ins for a while, then swung into negative territory being down 2 buy ins. Lost some unfortunate all-ins and a big bluff got called. But I was able to grind back up to even.

The tables were very strange today - much more aggressive than usual (I suspect people were drinking?). One villain in particular, who is usually quite loose at 50/30 was amping up the aggression. It was a bit frustrating as people were 3betting a ton and doing it very wide. Since we were playing deeper, I was flatting 3bets with my not great AAxx and 3betting less with them. Then this crazy hand happened. These aces are still not great with the dangler, but being double suited, I took a shot here. EP was being a maniac raising 45% and button has been constantly reraising and playing like a maniac. I was kind of surprised to be 4bet here as I've been playing pretty tight and not 3betting. I think I prefer a flat given then dangler and stack sizes, but I decide to 5bet based on my image and button being a maniac - surely he just folds. Of course he flats and we have a huge pot in play. I'm not quite happy to see this flop, but button is a maniac so I basically shove and pray.

The hand he shows up with is absolutely ****ing wild:

PartyGaming - $1 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

CO: 48.74 BB
BTN: 403.27 BB
SB: 6.77 BB
BB: 70.52 BB
UTG: 281.72 BB
Hero (MP): 337.03 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has A A 4 Q

UTG raises to 3.5 BB, Hero raises to 12 BB, fold, BTN raises to 41 BB, SB calls 6.27 BB and is all-in, fold, fold, Hero raises to 134.27 BB, BTN calls 93.27 BB

Flop: (279.81 BB, 3 players) Q K 7
Hero bets 202.76 BB and is all-in, BTN calls 202.76 BB

Turn: (685.33 BB, 3 players) Q

River: (685.33 BB, 3 players) J

Hero shows A A 4 Q (Three of a Kind, Queens)

Main Pot [24.81 BB]: (Pre 59%, Flop 16%, Turn 75%)
Side Pot#1 [660.52 BB]: (Pre 71%, Flop 16%, Turn 75%)

BTN shows 2 K 7 J (Two Pair, Kings and Queens)

Main Pot [24.81 BB]: (Pre 24%, Flop 84%, Turn 25%)
Side Pot#1 [660.52 BB]: (Pre 29%, Flop 84%, Turn 25%)

SB shows J 5 7 2 (Two Pair, Queens and Jacks)

Main Pot [24.81 BB]: (Pre 17%, Flop 0.5%, Turn 0%)

Hero wins 658.89 BB
Hero wins 23.44 BB

Amazing how this guy flats this hand and flops so well. He had been running very well all night (hence his stats and stack size), but this is really something else. I'm thankful I ended up winning this pot.

��

PartyGaming - $1 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 4 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (CO): 140.49 BB
BTN: 37.98 BB
SB: 100.17 BB
BB: 76.47 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has 9 8 J K

Hero raises to 3.5 BB, BTN calls 3.5 BB, SB calls 3 BB, fold

Flop: (11.5 BB, 3 players) 5 3 T
SB bets 7.24 BB, Hero calls 7.24 BB, fold

Turn: (25.98 BB, 2 players) Q
SB bets 24.54 BB, Hero calls 24.54 BB

River: (75.06 BB, 2 players) 2
fold

Hero wins 73.06 BB

Imported my previous database into the new one. I must be missing some ACR hand histories from when I first started playing PLO because the initial downswing is 2.4kBBs vs 6k BBs (this is at 25PL and below). Hopefully that doesn't taint the graph too much - I can try to retrieve those at a later date, but I don't feel like plugging back in my old PC atm.

Here are my entire 100PL results since beginning this thread:


I'm down $900 at 1kPL and $2400 at 200PL over a combined sample of 6.6k hands - so around a 1/3 of my entire sample. I want to keep building results at 100PL before taking a shot at 200PL again. Player population is very similar there so I expect to be successful there after achieving more volume, I just need a BR that can withstand variance. BR currently at 5k.

Never shared the 1kPL hand that did me dirty (this one hurt taking a huge shot):
PartyGaming - $10 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 4 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (CO): 142.86 BB
BTN: 72.77 BB
SB: 37.36 BB
BB: 253.95 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has T A 2 A

Hero raises to 3.5 BB, BTN raises to 12 BB, fold, fold, Hero raises to 37.5 BB, BTN calls 25.5 BB

Flop: (76.5 BB, 2 players) 5 8 Q
Hero bets 57.23 BB, BTN calls 35.27 BB and is all-in

Turn: (147.04 BB, 2 players) K

River: (147.04 BB, 2 players) 7

Hero shows T A 2 A (One Pair, Aces)
(Pre 71%, Flop 14%, Turn 15%)
BTN shows Q Q 2 6 (Three of a Kind, Queens)
(Pre 29%, Flop 86%, Turn 85%)
BTN wins 146.84 BB

Haven't been able to play as much as I would like in the past week. Continuing to have good results at 100PLO (now up 60 buy ins overall). Started playing a little PLO8 which I find to be a fun game. I want to learn more about PLO8, but resources aren't widely available like they are for PLO. On the other hand it is interesting to try to figure out good strategies by applying general poker theory and PLO knowledge. It seems that middling hands are pretty useless, but I think having higher type rundowns are a little undervalued given that you won't always be able to use your low cards. A lot of players are just playing every hand.

I took another shot at 200PLO - not much to say, was only up a few BBs. I don't really want to play 200PLO until I have a 10k bankroll, but I'm ok taking a few shots here and there. That being said, since I haven't started a specific goal in this thread other than to not lose, my current goal is to reach a 10k bankroll. Right now we're at 5.9k. It feels like it will be quite a grind, but we're only at 15.1k hands at 100PLO so I don't even have a lot of volume. I might be playing a few sessions at the casino (probably 200NLHE) this month which should be fun.

100PLO graph:


Some 200PLO hands I played:

PartyGaming - $2 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

CO: 141.68 BB
BTN: 273.07 BB
SB: 219.09 BB
BB: 86.59 BB
Hero (UTG): 127 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has A 9 Q J

Hero raises to 3.5 BB, fold, BTN calls 3.5 BB, fold, BB calls 2.5 BB

Flop: (11 BB, 3 players) 3 A 5
BB bets 10.39 BB, Hero calls 10.39 BB, fold

Turn: (31.78 BB, 2 players) 2
BB checks, Hero bets 15.14 BB, BB raises to 35.33 BB, Hero raises to 68.63 BB, BB calls 33.31 BB

River: (169.04 BB, 2 players) K
BB bets 4.07 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 4.07 BB

BB shows 5 3 9 6 (Two Pair, Fives and Threes)
(Pre 43%, Flop 41%, Turn 10%)
Hero shows A 9 Q J (Flush, Ace High)
(Pre 58%, Flop 59%, Turn 90%)
Hero wins 175.67 BB

I meant to put villain all in on turn, not sure what happened with the reraise...also don't know why he just didn't put it in lol.

Tricky spot here vs same guy:
PartyGaming - $2 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

SB: 393.34 BB
BB: 100 BB
UTG: 149.42 BB
MP: 98.18 BB
CO: 100 BB
Hero (BTN): 230.48 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB, CO posts penalty blind 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.5 BB) Hero has 7 A T A

fold, fold, CO raises to 3.5 BB, Hero raises to 12 BB, fold, fold, CO calls 8.5 BB

Flop: (25.5 BB, 2 players) T 6 7
CO checks, Hero bets 12.04 BB, CO calls 12.04 BB

Turn: (49.58 BB, 2 players) J
CO checks, Hero checks

River: (49.58 BB, 2 players) K
CO bets 48.08 BB, fold

CO wins 96.16 BB

I shouldn't be betting flop without backdoor flush draw, but vs wide ranges I feel like I can take a stab to just take it down on the flop. Villain is 93/50/15 over a small sample of 40 hands. Turn is a check. Pot lead on the river is quite confusing to me given we're blocking some AQ. I didn't get an exact sim of this hand, but I believe Monker is calling here. Most obvious bluff is a QQ type hand, but I think these types of players can definitely be doing this with KK or a better 2p than mine. I don't think I should turn my hand into a bluff here given the showdown value and the pot bet - I'm not confident villain is pot folding and if he is bluffing with QQ then I can just call and win. He could just have it, being doing this with top 2 with straight blockers or sets. I really want to call, but I think it's just better to sigh and fold.

Fun couple days of poker. Friday I had a long swingy online session of 100PLO. Some very loose players managed to get stacks of 400+ bbs which means you're always going to get into high variance situations. Multiple times I had built up multiple buy in stacks, just to get stacked by some random **** playing deep. Constantly under a few buy ins, then grinding back to break even and managed to finish the session somewhat positive. Big hand of the session:

PartyGaming - $1 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

UTG: 647.5 BB
CO: 319.42 BB
BTN: 132.77 BB
SB: 128.19 BB
Hero (BB): 305.85 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has A 7 5 7

fold, CO calls 1 BB, BTN calls 1 BB, SB calls 0.5 BB, Hero checks

Flop: (4 BB, 4 players) 4 A 7
SB bets 3.78 BB, Hero raises to 15.12 BB, CO calls 15.12 BB, fold, fold

Turn: (38.02 BB, 2 players) Q
Hero checks, CO bets 35.91 BB, Hero raises to 143.64 BB, CO calls 107.73 BB

River: (325.3 BB, 2 players) 2
Hero bets 146.09 BB and is all-in, CO calls 146.09 BB

Hero shows A 7 5 7 (Three of a Kind, Sevens)
(Pre 69%, Flop 66%, Turn 65%)
CO shows 3 4 4 5 (Straight, Five High)
(Pre 31%, Flop 34%, Turn 35%)
CO wins 614.48 BB

Funny thing is that UTG was at one point up 800bbs and went completely bust. Villain in this hand left pretty much right after this hand was played. Also, extremely rare double x/r haha, not sure if I ever managed to pull this one off (looks very fishy imo).


The live session of 200NL was pretty fun. I played for around 6 hours - my longest live session ever. I actually have barely any live experience. The first time I played live 200NL was like 8 years ago when I was in college grinding microstakes NLHE online. I went to the casino with a group of friends and let myself have 1 shot at 200NL. Pretty much the first hand I played I was dealt KK and GII preflop vs AA - crushing for my first time lol. I played a short session a year or two later - I won some money but can't recall much from that session.

I was a bit nervous to play live and was card dead for the first couple of hours which was frustrating. A lot of limping and straddling. Overall very strange play as players would open for like >= 7.5x and there was a ton of flatting to pfr and 3bets with random hands (players flats 3bet with K6o and GII on the flop Kxx dry board for over 100 big blinds). One player was probably over a little over 500 big blinds deep and was doing a ton of x/r especially on pair boards. Guy must have been running very good and was showing up with random trips and full houses.

Hand 1:
EP opens to $40 (20bb!). I'm dealt AK in MP and 3bet to $120. Deep stack guy shoves and I call. EP rants and folds. Deep stack guy shows AA :'(. One guy kind of berates my play saying "Don't trying to play AK like your Phil Hellmuth" lol! Ok...I don't think I've ever been inspired by PH and couldn't give a **** about him, it's just a standard spot.

Related hand with deep stack guy:
MP opens, Button (tight short stack) shoves for a little over 100bb, deep stack guy flats in the blinds, MP shoves for $500, deep stack guy calls with Ac6c!!!. EP shows AA and wins a huge pot.

Hand 2:
EP (deep stack guy) opens to $10, folds to me on the button and I 3bet QQ to $30. Folds to EP and he calls. Flop is Axx rainbow (next time I need to track these hands). Ep checks. I check. Turn is 10s bringing in a flush draw. EP checks, I bet $15 and EP folds declaring that I obviously have an ace (ok...).

Hand 3:
Down to like 70bbs. I raise to $5 from EP with AK. HJ raises to like $40. CO flats, BTN flats. I shove. HJ folds, CO folds, BTN calls. I forget the boards but I hit a pair and BTN mucks.

Hand 4:
UTG limps. I raise from EP with KJ to $6. HJ calls. Deep stack guy on the button calls. BB calls. Flop is 556. Checks around to BTN who bets $20 (loves to attack these paired boards). BB folds. I think a bit, I think for this size I need to fold, but vs this player I call. HJ folds. Turn is K bringing in flush draw (I unblock). I check. BTN bets $10. I think a bit and call. River is a Q that does not complete the flush. I check. BTN thinks and grabs $15 worth of chips, looks like he's about to put them, grabs a lot more, waits for a couple of seconds, and only tosses in the $15 (I guess he's trying to "level" me or something here - something I find annoying about live play. I just stare at the board whenever I'm in a hand.). Quick call from me - not much to think about. I win, but I'm not sure what he had. I thought he couldn't muck here, but I couldn't see his hand. BTN seemed really annoyed. It feels really good to call a bluff in live poker, especially cause this guy was coming after me a lot.

Hand 5:
EP raises to 15. I flat from EP+1 with 22. Folds to deep stack guy in the blinds (who is now playing around $500 after punting with A6s) and raises to like $40. EP calls pretty quick. I think a bit and after asking how much deep stack guy is playing, I call (I'm playing 400bbs). Flop is T82 with a flush draw. Checks around to me and I think a bit then bet around $75. SB tanks, gives a speech and then folds (sad, I wanted to stack him). EP tanks a bit and then calls. Turn is a 5 not completing flush. EP checks. I think a bit and then jam (EP started the hand between 200-300bbs). EP is a bit distressed, but kind of quickly calls. I turn over my hand quick and he slowly shows QTo. He's pretty bummed until a T comes on the river and he apologizes for rivering me with trips. In a quick moment of doubt and panic I double check the board for a Q and then remind him that I have a full house which beats trips (lol). He goes back to being bummed and I kind of feel bad because he appeared to be a nice guy. We shake hands and he leaves the table.

So I finished my session up a little over $200. Feels good because I was -$300 at one point! But I stuck it out. Our deep stack friend ended up busting completely (he was talking a lot when he had > 1k...not so much as his stack inevitably dwindled). That guy had at least 8 drinks and was playing so many hands - he must have been running really ****ing good.

I'm excited to play more live poker, but I'm definitely more comfortable playing online (and I prefer it I think). Keep track of the pot is annoying and I kept cutting out the wrong amount of chips like an idiot. It's a good thing I always announce my bet size as that is binding and the dealers were patient with me (thank you dealers!). Another thing is that I am the slowest person at the table. People act so quick at the table and when I'm in the hand, the dealer is always reminding me that the action is on me - I know, I'm just thinking! At one point one of the players answered for me when the dealer did this saying "he knows, he's just a thinker" lol. Also, I'm not really studied in NLHE, but I must be easily winning money in these games. I hope to find some live PLO though.

Last couple of thousand of hands of PLO has been painful and my last session in particular was very frustrating. Down about 8 BI - 1 at 200PLO and 7 at 100PLO. Was taking another shot at 200PLO - 300bbs deep and I get rivered by a higher full house. Then played some HU against a weak opponent...lost straight over straight and one of my bluffs all in got called. As soon I started winning it back my opponent left. Then another weak opponent sat me HU and I won some more.

At 100PLO I just can't seem to show down many winning hands. A lot of my bluffs are being called - I'm either bluffing into strong hands or just getting looked up by random hands without even holding blockers. I'm getting raised a bunch which never happens. I'm bricking a lot or opponents are calling down hands that pipping me on the river. Also running my hands decently strong hands into stronger ones (flush over flush by a pip vs opponents who are super wider and will show up with worse). Given the population I play with is anywhere from 50%-85% vpip, it just feels like I'm running into the top of their range constantly and probably just card distribution falling in their favor - I don't think I'm making huge mistakes. And obviously this is barely a downswing at PLO, but still frustrating nonetheless. I think what's most frustrating is that every time I take a shot at 200PLO I'm getting stacked by the same players that I crush at 100PLO. I have 6.6k hands at 200PLO and I'm down about 15 buy ins but I'm up 50 buy ins at 100PLO with a 32bb/100 winrate over 16k hands. Obviously small samples so just need more chances.

Subbed

Thanks!

I had a major disaster session and I am currently on a > 20 buy in downswing which seems extremely excessive. Some of it I ran under ev, some of it I feel like I got coolered (set over set situations where villain is usually wider), some probably just spew (BTN vs EP, I block top and middle set, get x/r raised on flop, turn brings in straight and EP bets hp - that looks like a bet fold spot and I can rep the straight with blockers and my range! I jam and EP calls with top set).

Things started to go wrong when I was playing short handed. Some players I've never seen sat with me and were 3betting and 4betting every hand. In those spots you end up shipping it with decent hands, but they just had better every time somehow. So many of my bluffs were called. I just couldn't show down a winning hand during my session if my life depended on it. I don't even know how to explain it, but I was just losing every hand and you just have to ask yourself "how the **** did this happen?". Major blow to my confidence and extremely frustrating because a lot of work just got wiped out in just a couple thousand hands. Maybe that's just PLO? I guess against players that play 80% of hands the cards are just going to go their way eventually and you run into the top of their range (e.g. the guy who is stacking off with top and bottom showing up with sets all day)?



Regardless, this downswing just makes me extremely motivated to study and play more. Given my redline and std dev, I obviously have adopted a very volatile play style. I'm highly considering making some adjustments here that would result in a negative redline. Having a positive redline isn't something I deliberately strive for, but bluffing and calling less seems like a perfectly ok adjustment I can make.

Bankroll was previously at 5.9k and is currently 3.5k.

PartyGaming - $1 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 3 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 538.94 BB
SB: 177.46 BB
Hero (BB): 347.05 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has T 9 A 9

BTN raises to 3.5 BB, SB calls 3 BB, Hero calls 2.5 BB

Flop: (10.5 BB, 3 players) 7 8 Q
SB checks, Hero checks, BTN bets 6.61 BB, SB calls 6.61 BB, Hero calls 6.61 BB

Turn: (30.33 BB, 3 players) 6
SB checks, Hero bets 19.1 BB, fold, SB calls 19.1 BB

River: (68.53 BB, 2 players) J
SB bets 22.17 BB, Hero raises to 133.04 BB, SB raises to 148.25 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 15.21 BB

Hero shows T 9 A 9 (Straight Flush, Jack High)
(Pre 31%, Flop 36%, Turn 88%)
SB shows A 6 A 2 (Flush, Ace High)
(Pre 69%, Flop 64%, Turn 13%)
Hero wins 363.03 BB