What does your current grind schedule look like? It's hard to combine poker with a more "normal" social life...
Have you ever considered contributing to poker litterature in one form or another? You have an interesting voice

I play 5.5 days/week on average and play almost exclusively at night. My schedule is pretty flexible, though; I don't grind such a large amount of volume because I think it's necessary, but rather because I still enjoy playing more than I enjoy doing most other things, the games are great right now, and I don't have much going on that requires my attention.

Thanks for the compliment (I think ) regarding my writing; I have in fact considered doing some poker writing. I've had an idea for awhile about a book I feel would fill an important void in poker literature, but I haven't had much motivation to start working on it, in no small part because I don't think the venture would be anywhere near as profitable from am hourly perspective as playing is right now. This particular venture would also require a decent amount of research and be quite time-consuming.

I enjoy writing and would love to have some kind of writing-oriented career. Yesterday I listened to an interesting episode of The James Altucher Show podcast where Altucher interviewed Andy Weir, an engineer who wrote a book in his spare time ("The Martian") that ultimately became a huge hit and gave him the freedom to quit his job to pursue writing full-time. Weir made the point that with the advent of self-publishing it's the best time in history to be a writer.

Over my 3.5 years at the firm, I was praised for my research and writing abilities and told I had the potential to become one of the best legal writers in Ohio. While I think I am an extremely strong legal writer, I would rather engage in other kinds of writing. Legal writing is an ultra unique kind of animal, so I don't know how well my skill in that area would translate to other kinds of writing, but I suspect with experience I could become strong at any kind of writing undertaking.

Confirmed compliment. What about starting off with something more modest, like articles for an online magazine or something? Your poker journey is fairly atypical and there are a number of themes you could explore that would be of interest to the general poker public : mixed games/PLO as far as strat, surviving BF, transitionning from the "real world" to a succesful poker career, all the self-development stuff, sensory deprivation tanks, dog sitting, etc.!

POKER UPDATE:

Wednesday

On Wednesday, I played 2-5 nl for a couple of hours until a 5-10 PLO seat opened up. During those two hours, I observed a phenomenon that I've experienced before when logging the majority of my hours over a decent span of time in a single variant of poker (in this case, PLO): my nl instincts felt absent. I felt deprived of my ability to take advantage of the "sixth sense" that I've built over time with all of my experience and knowledge, the unconscious "flow" that I can feel underlying all of my highest level decision-making.

It was disturbing to know that I wasn't capable of playing my best, but, having dealt with this same situation several times over the last couple years and always finding my way back, I'm confident that it's a very short-term problem. The 2-5 session went decently well and I finished +$350. I think I played well, just not my best.

This "stream crossing" issue regarding my ability to play all games at my highest level is actually one of the reasons I like to put in at least a small amount of weekly volume on bovada. It helps keep me feel fresh in all of the three games that I consider myself especially skilled at (nl, plo, stud8). Since I've been playing so much live PLO over the last few weeks, I've barely played on bovada in an effort to maintain more of a life-poker balance.

5-10 PLO ended up going pretty well. The session started poorly when pretty quickly into it I lost $2k on a turn semibluff with 7643ss on a K52r10ss (not my suit) runout. I bet the flop and got called by two players, then I fired a big turn bet. I thought I had a decent chance of winning the pot on the turn as both of these villains consistently call flops too light. Unfortunately, the second villain showed up at the top of his range with bottom set, a top set blocker, and a turned flush draw, and he shoved on me. In retrospect, I probably should have checked the turn, as if I'm going to get called on that dry a flop then I have to be wary of villains being reluctant to fold on one of the wetter turns in the deck (villains can now pretty easily have top two, flush + straight draw, etc.).

Fortunately, after losing this hand, I basically ran over the table. With almost none of the better 5-10 regs still in the game, I loosened up and played every other hand, and even better I ran hot, ultimately turning $2k into close to $6k in three hours despite the table being pretty short-stacked (by the end my stack covered the rest of the table and more than tripled the next closest stack). I finished roughly +$2300 for the day.

Thursday

On Thursday, the 5-10 PLO main game was the worst game I've ever seen in two months, so I left after a few minutes to play 2-5 nl, where I thought my hourly would be higher, and to get back on the 5-10 plo waitlist for when a better must move would inevitably start up. 2-5 was very boring and I ended up losing ~$50 over an hour.

The 5-10 PLO must move was pretty juicy, and I actually think this is among the sessions I played my very best. Unfortunately, I lost the biggest pot I played (~$7k), even though I got it in as a big favorite. With AQ85ds on the button, I called my nemesis's (the guy who runs like god in allin pots against me) flop bet on a Q62r board, where I had two runner runner flush draws; another player, a short stack in the blinds, called.

Turn 8x, adding a flush draw that wasn't mine and giving me top two pair. Short stack checks, nemesis announces "pot," which was ~$850 (at this point in the hand I had ~$3100 remaining in my stack). Having watched this villain closely over the last few months, I decided there was a very good chance I had the best hand and I decided to shove to get value from his draws and worse made hands. Short stack folded, nemesis shrug-called and turned over 2567, for a worse two pair, an open ended straight draw, and no flush draw. We agreed to run it twice. First river 9x (straight for villain), second river 4x (straight for villain). I get scooped as probably a 75% favorite. Pretty standard against this guy.

Whereas two weeks ago I would have felt pretty angry about this hand, I felt relatively nonchalant, maybe because the last couple of weeks have gone so well. I shrugged off losing the big pot quickly and played as well as I have at any point during these games, picking off a fairly big bluff and making some good folds. I ultimately finished ~+650 in the PLO game.

2015 POKER UPDATE

So, things have gone extremely well this year, despite me running pretty significantly below EV in the largest allin pots I've played. At this point last year, I was mired in my biggest downswing ever and couldn't even show a profit for the year. The contrast presented by this year is pretty striking. I'm feeling pretty confident right now and am going to keep grinding hard while games stay this good.

Here's some data for the year:

2015 total YTD:




2015 plo/nl breakdown YTD:





Results since February 15 (heaterville):




I think if I want to start doing some legit poker writing then targeting a publication with low barriers to entry would be a good idea, but I'll have to do some more research to figure out what opportunities are out there and how I can establish credibility as someone who's unknown to most of the poker world. I do feel like I have some unique insights to lend and I appreciate your stating as much.

That hourly !

Haha, I've been fortunate for sure. Believe me, I wouldn't be able to sustain anywhere near such an hourly in 2014 in the games I played. But, in this 5-10 PLO game, I believe my true hourly is $125+; I can only hope that the game continues to run for as long as possible. Once it dies, which is inevitable, it will be a challenge to return to the smaller local games that had been the norm until a few months ago.

Cincinnati had some 5/10 PLO and O8 running this past Friday. Looked to be running strong with multiple tables on Friday.

What books/ressources do you recommend to learn/get better at PLO, specifically live PLO?
What about mixed games?

Sent you a PM. I'm not eager to help the world get better at these games, particularly since this knowledge is rather scarce, so I don't want to post about this topic in here, but anyone who has established a decent presence in here and would like to know what resources I've found helpful can always feel free to ask me over PM.

QUICK UPDATE: It's been a pretty boring few days since my last update. Fortunately, I'm 3/3 in winning days of play since then and about another +$4k, now making it 13 out of the last 14 PLO sessions I've won. Frankly, though, the game hasn't been as enjoyable for me lately, I think mostly because I've been putting in so much volume that I've lost some balance. I realized how exhausting all this 5-10 PLO has been when I slept 12 hours Saturday night, feeling when I woke up like I needed each last minute of sleep. I took yesterday off (game wasn't running, but I wanted to take the day off, anyways). Despite having the benefit of an off-day, though, I felt the same lack of enthusiasm today about playing as I had over the weekend and left the session +$1550ish after a few hours (though contributing to that was the fact that the game wasn't that good, anyways). Tomorrow's game is going to move temporarily to another location per regs' agreement, so the new environment could help make things more interesting again.

Life-wise, things are OK. I started reading a new book, The Honest Truth About Dishonesty, by Dan Ariely, which has been very interesting and has confirmed a lot of my suspicions about human behavioral tendencies (including my own). I've also listened to a bunch of podcast episodes, mostly some entertaining NBA-related B.S. Report episodes and James Altucher interviews. Health-wise, I've still been working out pretty frequently and feel like I'm in pretty solid shape. Dating-wise, I sort of let things taper off with a couple of women I'd been messaging/texting, mostly because I had a moment where I realized I am a lot more interested in making as much $ in these PLO games than I am dating. Even with my enthusiasm for playing 5-10 PLO so much waning, I still think it's important to grind these 5-10 games as much as possible before they inevitably die, as I expect it to be a long time before a local game with as much profit potential comes along again.

subbed and glad that I did. I look to search out blogs that have well-rounded and hard working people writing them. A lot of times you get blogs that the person only cares about one thing, or is only interested in showing how awesome they are. You do a magnificent job with not doing that, and it's really enjoyable to read. Your hard work and honesty is inspiring for me. Keep up the good work.

Your kind sentiments about the thread mean a lot to me. Honesty and hard work are two attributes I value highly and I try hard to live my life in accordance with those values. Thanks again; I hope to keep the thread a good read!


POKER UPDATE: In the silence between my last post and this post, I had the kind of crazy week that some posters in this thread predicted was going to happen, winning big every night that I played. It would be no exaggeration to say that I am straight godmoding it, running as good now as I was bad before. The rungood is manifesting itself especially in allin pots, as I've held almost every time getting it in good and have scooped several 40-60s as well. I've in fact run so good in allin pots this week that I think I've finally caught up to my allin expectation equity during this 5-10 PLO era.

Even though I could have anticipated that this kind of heater would happen based on the size of these games and my perceived edge in them, now that the heater has actually arrived I am having a difficult time processing it. I've historically been very pleased with +$10k months. To be so far ahead of that pace for the year is still somewhat mind-boggling to me; I'm not quite sure mentally how to respond to it, not having experienced a heater to this extent monetarily ever before. Of course, my rungood can all change on a dime (it's all random, of course), and these 5-10 PLO games are also capable of disappearing quickly, but I have a lot of reasonable optimism right now about this year's profit potential.

I am playing with a huge amount of confidence right now. Even better, I have more mental comfort than ever playing a $5k+ stack, which had been a struggle in the past. My mindset is to just keep grinding a lot of volume and to continue focusing on good decision-making rather than results. Hopefully it'll be a fun and very profitable ride until these games finally die.


#s since February 15:







If I'm dreaming, don't wake me up.

Holy shtt. Is PLO the future of poker? Should I become great at 2/5 NLH before trying PLO or what?

Holy mother of God....

Great thread

what's that poker app u're using?

I have no clue if PLO will eventually become more popular than NL, but it seems possible under the right set of circumstances. After all, limit hold'em and stud hi dominated the poker landscape for decades before NL replaced them as the greater poker community's game of choice.

Re: the latter question, it's up to you, weighing all of the factors. It's possible to have a bigger edge in PLO, but you also have to contend with the bigger variance (which requires a bigger roll per equivalent stake) and limited game selection. I'd say the most important variable is where you live.

Thank you!

PokerJournal. It's not free, but in my experience it has paid for itself many times over.

Jeebus, that hourly is sick man lol. PLO variance is good sometimes.

It's been a whirlwind three nights of poker since my last post.

Monday: My Biggest Winning Day Ever

Monday's session began in an interesting fashion as I started the 5-10 PLO game headsup with my "nemesis" previously mentioned in this thread, the catalyst for these games ("nemesis" in poker only because he's ran well against me; he's a great dude). I've historically done extremely well in live headsup play, and this was no exception as I won about $500 in twenty minutes before a new player arrived at the table and it then filled up quickly. For a few hours, I didn't have any major swings one way or the other. Then, however, a hand with a very strange outcome occurred:

I see the flop five ways for $100 apiece from the SB with AQ107ss. Flop KJ5r. Checked to nemesis, who bets $350, I flat (stack $1700) with my wrap and backdoor nfd (I would have potted it if I thought I had any fold equity against nemesis), BB, a solid player, flats as well. Turn 8d adding two diamonds (not my suit). I check, BB bets pot for more than my remaining stack, nemesis calls, I decide I probably have the correct pot odds given how wide nemesis' range is and call off my stack. River 5x to pair the board. I shake my head; "I missed." Nemesis tables a Q and says "queen hi." BB tables his hand; I stare at it in disbelief. He has Q1097dd for a worse wrap with a turned flush draw...but more importantly he also has queen hi. I quickly table my ace hi, apologize for the borderline slowroll (technically I didn't have to show first as my room has a last aggressor rule), and get shipped the $5600 pot. By far the biggest pot I've ever won without a pair!

An orbit later, I have KKxx (stack $5k) and see the flop four ways from the BB for $100 apiece. Flop K72cc. Gin. Action player (stack $6k) leads $300 from the SB. Having watched this player closely the last few weeks, I know the % of time he is going to lead a blank turn is very high, and on this texture the odds a blank peels off the turn is high. Further, I figured there was a decent chance nemesis would raise the flop light, as he was tilting, in which case action player would either flat or reraise and I could potentially get all three stacks in the middle when I have the nuts. I decide to get fancy, flat, and hope the slowplay will pay off. Disappointingly, nemesis folds, and we go headsup to the turn. Turn 5x. Action player immediately leads $1k. I raise the pot, and action player gets it in quickly. We agree to RIT, my top set against his top two pair, oesd, and flush draw (K876cc). First river 10d (I win). Second river 2c, giving him the flush but me the nut full house. I scoop the ~$10k pot, the biggest pot I've ever won.

After that, I won another couple of pots and my stack had ballooned all the way to $11k from $1700 in less than an hour. Even though the game was incredible and conditions were ripe for me to go for the megawin, I decided I was happy to book my biggest win ever (+$8.5k), especially given I felt mentally uncomfortable having so much in front of me and felt like it was very likely I wouldn't be able to play the stack optimally.

After I left, I thought about the last few weeks and how hot I've run. I don't deserve to run good or win such a crazy amount of $, I reminded myself, but I certainly have done a lot to put myself in a position to succeed and to take advantage of this 5-10 PLO era. I then reminded myself that the rungood could all shift on a dime, which brings me to...:

Tuesday: My Biggest Losing Day Ever

Tuesday's session started off inauspiciously when I looked around and realized that the table was one of the toughest I had sat at in a long time. Little did I know my luck would also be the worst it's been in a session in a long time. I lost $1500 almost right away getting set over set in an unavoidable cooler given SPR and gameflow. I lost another $1500 the next orbit, getting it aipf with AA86ss against previously referenced action player's AAJ10 with a decent dead $ overlay from other players and getting scooped when he made two pair. Within thirty minutes, I lost another $1k getting it in with KKQ10 three ways on a J9x flop in a bloated pot and not getting there against top two pair. After that, however, I managed to spin my stack back up to ~$3k when the following hand occurred:

I see the flop 3 ways for $95 apiece with AxKsQdJd from the SB. Flop As10d9s. I lead $235, other player folds, preflop aggressor tanks for awhile then calls. Turn 7s. With the bare nut flush blocker, I bet $650. Other player tanks for a good couple of minutes then calls. River blank. I bet enough to commit the player's remaining $710, and he calls. "Good call," I announce, and he turns over J987 for a J8 straight after he flopped the junk wrap. This hand was really irritating, as I couldn't believe the bluff didn't work (I have a pretty tight/conservative image in PLO and my bluffs tend to have a very high success rate). I maybe shouldn't have bet the river, but I only need villain to fold a relatively small % of the time for the bluff to be profitable.

After that hand, I could feel myself getting angry. Within a few minutes, I attempted a preflop squeeze that didn't end well and got stacked; on paper, the squeeze probably wouldn't look terrible, but the truth is that I doubt I would have played the hand the same if I wasn't stuck huge. In other words, I succumbed to tilt. After losing that hand, I rebought another $1k and promptly got stacked with a wrap and pair against an AA hand.

In just four hours, I had lost $6k, my biggest loss ever. I left feeling extremely frustrated.

Wednesday: My Second Biggest Losing Day Ever

By the next morning, I felt like I had rebounded decently well mentally and came prepared to make yesterday's big loss ever back. Unfortunately, the cards failed to cooperate, which was especially problematic given the game was 6 handed and very crazy, with an allin occurring more than 50% of the hands. Very bad timing for me to run as poorly as I did the previous night. Further, I also tilted a bit again and played a couple of hands poorly, both times playing too loose and forcing action in spots that I historically don't take. After just another four hours again, I left a $5600 loser, my second biggest loss ever.

Summary

In sum, PLO gonna PLO. I'll be back at the table tonight and will try to play my best. I'm going to make a conscious effort not to let the last two days' results affect my play in any way, such as playing too loose or forcing action.

Weeeee PLO!

Brutal swings!

really impressed with your honesty in both hi's and lows. looking forward to seeing how you turn things around. good luck!

It's great that you're able to acknowledge how your anger may have contributed to a negative EV play. It's always beneficial to note that "anger" or "frustration" are human responses to situations where we do not have full control over the results. Generally, the act of acknowledgement is enough in itself to mitigate any further damage, but you can also see these spots as opportunities for learning about your own emotional and psychological thresholds, and, therefore, use them for building mental resilience in the future. All the other hands you describe can easily be set aside as variance related, but ones that "probably wouldn't look terrible" on paper are usually those where you're needlessly trying to exploit small edges, due to a loss of momentum, and the related desire to quash uncomfortable emotions. Anyway, hoping that you bounce back, bigger, stronger and smarter!

QUICK UPDATE: Played tonight and finished a relatively stress-free +$4215 over 7.5 hours of play. Played well and didn't let the previous two days' misery affect my play. Ran well, not finding myself in any difficult spots, and scooping a big allin RIT with ~67% equity.

Thanks very much; this kind of compliment continues to mean a lot to me.

Great points, as always, and thanks.

I think you have officially 'made it' when you say winning $4k plus is stress-free. Nice one!