Hey guys,
You may remember me from such threads as Learning PLO and 500-5000 PLO

Since these threads, I have gone on a whirlwind of variance in poker and life. In 2018 I got married (upswing) and in poker, I got into some backing situations that went awry (downswing). I lost most of my bankroll. It didn't help that I was spending money frivolously, down swinging, and not working on my game as diligently as I had in the past. The combination of bad decision making, bad variance, and big games destroyed my bankroll.

So... As I have done before it's time to rebuild. It will be a challenge to rebuild a bankroll while learning and playing one of the most solved games out there (6-max NL) but I do have a reason for choosing this format.

I've been a mixed games player since the start of my poker playing, and it pains me to say that I don't see a future in mixed games online. The action is very sparse, and the people I wanted action from wouldn't play me. There may be some action at small-mid stakes, but to play anything higher than 10/20 8-game you'd have to find a game at a casino or private app game, and that's not what I want. I'd like to be able to grind primarily online poker and have the option to move up stakes gradually on my own. I want to be able to load up a poker room and start playing immediately, and I don't want a ton of variance. So NLHE seems more suited to me than PLO. PLO is very high variance, and the fish aren't nearly as bad as NLHE fish. I climbed the PLO ladder in my earlier threads, and I like the new challenge of NLHE. So where's the best place for me to play NLHE?

With Pokerstars getting rid of their rakeback system (chests are a slap in the face) Pokerstars and GGpoker are the best regulated options for NLHE online. Partypoker has a built-in rakeback system (up to 40%) which doesn't require an agent or some run around system. You grind, you earn the rakeback and it's in your account on Monday. Partypoker 6-max NLHE it is.

Figuring out how I was going to approach strategy was painstakingly long, but I feel like I've figured out the best approach for me. I initially started with Poker Snowie. I see a lot of value in it starting in NLHE. The features and visuals are amazing for a new player. The method of Snowie is a bit outdated but still very valid. I won't go into why I think Snowie is great and underrated, but if anyone is interested I'll elaborate. After using Snowie to come up with a strategy, I was able to beat up to 1/2 fullring NLHE on stars. I learned fullring first because I thought I could play live as well, but then obviously COVID hit and I quickly realized I needed to learn 6-max as it's way more prevalent online and offered on our favorite site Partypoker.

I deposited on Partypoker and started at 100nl 6 max. It took a bit of adjusting from fullring, but I developed a strategy using Snowie, and a knowledge of theory. From there I decided I needed to increase my knowledge and improve my strategy if I was going to start moving up, so I bought Modern Poker Theory and dove into GTO strategy. The book is game-changing. It helped me realize how to apply theory to NLHE (something I did for PLO). It comes with hand charts and ranges, so that was a huge bonus. From there I hired Michael himself and bought PIOsolver. I worked out a simplistic strategy (very similar to his book) and have been running sims and studying since.

Now here I am, struggling to beat 200nl, but believe I can do very well at it as long as I keep improving and putting in work.



Luckily Party has such great rakeback that I've been able to hit the $480 rakeback a week tier and it helps to build the bankroll. Ideally, I'd be winning at 8bb/100 at 200 (what Modern Poker Theory suggests is what a solid winning player would win at) so that's what I'll be striving for. I do feel like the beginning of my hands was when I was still learning a lot, so time will tell if I can achieve my goal. As the thread states the end goal is to be able to beat 1knl online. If I'm able to achieve that I will be very happy, and from there re-evaluate my goals.

This thread will contain strategy, weekly-ish updates, and any interesting macro poker stuff I experience.

Subbed and excited for this thread.
GL OP. Thinking that I’m moving my bankroll from Stars to Party soon as well.
Will probably play you at some point.

Awesome! It's a good idea to go to a site with rakeback. It really makes a difference, especially at mid-stakes.

subbed GL ceegee most seasoned pros are doing the opposite from you these days switching from NLH into anything else.

I seem to always take the road less traveled... The good thing from learning NLHE is I won't have a weak game in 8-game mix if I ever decide to return to mixed.

I'm interested in your thoughts on this?

Subbed OP, gl with your goals.
I'm been a live player for the last 5 years at midstakes, but because covid has shutted down the poker rooms in my area I'm back in the online streets. I'm starting from nlhe 10 reg tables on pokerstars. It's amazing how much tougher are the game online in comparison to live. As for study I purchased snowie too, I like the software and the fact that you can review your session very easy with it. But nowadays everyone is using pio solver an doing sims and I don't know how much could snowie help me to improve my game. What do you think?
Party over pokerstars? You get rakeback, sure, but the rake is higher and you don't have a hud to work with. Software sucks too.


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in! gonna be interesting to see such an experienced pro approaching NLHE as a new game

that may have been true 5-6 years ago, definitely not the case today. The mixed games boom didn't happen (not suprising, considering how much learning mixed games would require from a rec) and PLO was supposed to "take over" since like 2008 and yet it never does. Just look at gg, all the biggest games are NLHE

the only area where NLHE is not the main game are (at least in Europe) mid/high stakes private live games, which in my experience tend to be dominated by PLO5

Not having a HUD works in the favor of the player that works harder off the table. I play a very theory oriented game, so I don't deviate very much to exploit, which is what a hud is best used for. If you're playing NL10 Snowie will help you beat it easily. Study the preflop ranges, review the blunders that you make, and learn why Snowie takes the lines it does. It will be the most accurate in high frequency spots, so if you look at BB vs BU open it's very similar if not the same as PIO solves, but if you look at an infrequent spot like UTG open, HJ 3-bet, BTN cold call, Snowie gets wonky, so as long as you can understand when to pay attention and when to ignore it, it will be a great tool.

Because the equities run close together, it's hard for a fish to get their money in dead or really bad. Preflop mistakes aren't as bad either. The edge is higher in NLHE on average I believe. The standard deviation is also a lot higher in PLO so the variance is worse.

you'll realize pretty quickly that nobody has a true winrate of 8bb anymore, 5-6bb is crushing pretty hard nowadays, 3-4bb is pretty solid and 2-3bb is not bad

Do you see a big difference between FF and reg tables on Party?

GL

Ah thats what I thought I read into like you were meaning the fish have gotten more soild at plo which i'd of been surprised at

Best of luck bud, looking forward to see your progress, also thanks for the book shootout. Best of luck! Cheers!

^ agree with this, especially for midstakes if you notch 3+ you are a good player imo

GL OP. How much volume do you need to put in to hit the $480/week RB tier?

Presume the games are a lot tougher than on Stars, how did you quantify if it would be worth it?

Hey I'm in, gl

This looks like it's going to be a good one.

Subbed, best of luck OP.

I think 6+ is achievable if you game select

I don't play FF tables. I feel like the weaker players are naturally tighter and less spewy in FF. Also without a HUD I rather get reads on the same players.

I get about 2-3k hands of 200nl a day and that's enough. I haven't really played 6-max on stars so I can't say. I imagine that with 40% rakeback you'd have to be beating the games significantly more on Stars to be worth it.

well I mean obviously if you wait for the absolute most brain dead morons who can barely tie their shoes you'll have a strong winrate but that would mean pretty low volume

Subbed, GL!

GL

Twitch video of me studying some NL if you're interested in how I look at studying

gl m8!

How can this be true? Fish chase dominated draws in PLO all the time because they refuse to accept that someone always the NFD or NSD. I feel like equities *preflop* might run closer but *postflop* they're suddenly miles apart.