Of all the things to criticize about OP, him actually putting effort into getting better seems like a poor choice. 6b

The issue is that op is trying to learn to fly before he can even crawl.

For those that are far removed, this is the state of live poker in 2018. I just googled live at the bike. There are games like this across the US, and from everything Ive heard Australia is better (not in terms of volume or stakes, but in terms of donkeys)

First 2 hands are more than enough to get the gist.



Pio will be a detriment to what he needs to do, which is playing something 15/10/3 and putting in lots of volume.

At $25Nl, pio would actually be helpful. I agree with the prior post that even at that stake people are using solvers and some of the pop plays surprisingly well.

At 5/10, no one is using solvers. They are playing 72 to look cool. They are check/stuffing kings for 1 million bbs bc they can. They are raising blind, tank calling down 4th pair in a 6 way pot, etc.

My games are nothing like LATB. Those games are a caricature for entertainment purposes.

No 2/5 session yesterday either? I should’ve taken the 40 hour prop bet.

I used to love LATB. I swear those 2 whales (Israeli Ron and Armenian Mike) must be super rich though. They're always playing so spewy with so many thousands on the table.

This is an underrated comment.

Cutting it close

So in the afternoon, I bought PioSolver Pro and spent a bit of time getting a feel for how it works (still pretty confused though). I also spent some time with my girlfriend: we went out to a bar and played ping pong there for about 2hrs (it was one of those hipster bars with 90s music and a bunch of random fun stuff like table tennis and a basketball hoop). I didn't drink any alcohol there though; just coke.

Before I knew it, the time got pretty late and I only actually ended up playing 2 hours of poker: 1hr at 25nlz online and 1hr at 2/5 NL live.

I started my 2/5 live session at 11:00pm and finished right on the dot at 12:00am. Admittedly, there was some temptation to stay slightly later like 12:30am, since I didn't see anyone around that looked like they knew me too well, but I ultimately decided to be disciplined and leave right on time. It turns out I made a good decision, since one of the guys on my 2/5 table was actually following this thread and he was paying close attention to see if I would stay past midnight. So I dodged a bullet there... I ultimately made $254 profit at the 2/5 table and narrowly dodged the $1k fine.

Here are some hands (H1 and H2 are from 25nlz; H3 is from 2/5 live):

Hand 1: How the f**k does he call this?

$25 effective, 25nlz online
Hero raises $0.60 UTG with A2hh
BTN calls $0.60
SB 3bets $3.15
Hero 4bets $7.20
SB calls $7.20

Flop ($15.25) 6d 5c 3d

SB checks
Hero jams $18.30
SB calls $18.30



Hand 2: Uncomfortable flop 3bet

$24 effective, 25nlz online
Hero raises $0.75 SB with Kh Td
BB calls $0.75

Flop ($1.50) Th 6h 3d

Hero checks
BB bets $0.75
Hero raises to $2.50
BB 3bets to $5.50
Hero calls $5.50

Pretty uncomfortable spot facing the 3bet on the flop... I consider all 4 options here (fold, call, 4bet/fold, 4bet/call), but ultimately decide to call. Not sure what the best play is here.

Flop ($12.50) Th 6h 3d 2d

Hero checks
BB bets $6.25
Hero jams $17.75



Hand 3: Bluff catching

2/5 live, $500 effective
Villain limps $5 UTG
Hero raises $25 UTG+1 with 88
MP calls $25
BB calls $25
Villain calls $25

Flop ($92, 4ways) 544r

BB checks
Villain checks
Hero bets $40
MP folds
BB folds
Villain calls $40

Turn ($167) 5449

Both check

River ($167) 5449T

Villain bets $125
Hero calls $125



The good news is that I've fully recovered from my cold now, so I'm planning to put in a lot of 2/5 NL volume tomorrow to make up for this week. Hopefully 8hrs+

Its all about location, and location is the single most important development tool of a live pro.

There are games in the midwest and american south that no one knows about that play as high and as cray as latb.

There is a game around the corner from me underground that plays 1/2/25-50 with an uncapped buy-in where my $400 rebuys are considered "nitty."

The variance is ridiculous, but the money is glorious. But there is no fame sitting in the back of a strip mall winning 5k+/month playing 3 nights a week for 6-7 hours. You gotta care about and follow the money and nothing else at low to mid stakes.

But that is common sense (for a poker player). You don't need a PIO sim (or any other tool) to tell you that.

Where are these games in the midwest?

St Louis is not like that at all.

BREAKING NEWS!

Op avoided a 1k fine (?!?!)

Op has recovered from -EV cold

That's fine and all, but saying "this is the state of live poker in 2018" is not really an accurate statement.

unless you exploit yourself by doing so, just because you win doesn't mean you are using the maximally exploitative strategy

also pio gives you the EV of each play so you can go full explo and use the highest ev play in every spot disregarding balance

But it is though? Im not talking about stakes, but action. The action displayed in that video is a standard friday night at any 2/5 in florida besides the isle. The midwest is better. The northeast is pretty decent. California is probably the best (talking action only, excluding rake and col considerations just for this point). Lol vegas.

High stakes are obviously hard to come by, as a culmination of things needs to occur to keep a hs game alive....

...but if you dont have pots regularly going 5+ ways to the flop for 5 or 6x open raises then you are playing in a depressed market, imo.

And my point is that when you have hands going 5+ ways with people cold calling hands like 84s or A7o, you dont need pio. Need is the wrong word. Pio would be the wrong approach to beating this game type, in my opinion.

Pio is obviously an incredible tool. But the wrong direction for now.

PIO is only useful for pots that end up being HU on the flop, otherwise it's not very useful, aside from the fact that you still understand better how your own range interact on different board textures against any range you decide to give villain

honestly to me it feels like people saying PIO is useless are the people who never even looked at it and are even looking for excuses not to have to put any work off the tables, I mean let's be honest it's a lot easier to just play poker and go with a trial and error approach

Yep, i know a guy that can't get enough of solvers and then moans that his AK can't beat 73o in a 5 way pot in a £20 pub SNG.

lol pio isn't useless, it just doesn't help as much as people think, the people who put in amazing volume usually make more money than the clantys of poker who study pio all day and play 10k hands a month

well obviously if you play 50k hands a month at 3bb/100 you'll make more money than if you play 10k hands a month at 6bb/100 lol

besides, oborra had 4bb and linus has like 12

you are such a whale for punting a buy in on Piosolver for ***** live games LOL

Does Piosolver have OMC raise ranging? Like what does solver say to do with the 3rd nuts vs an omc pot raise on the river?

well if u put in OMC range correctly (which is the nuts and only the nuts) it would suggest folding your whole range.

amazing, right?

But what if OMC had decaf within reach and has the crossword already finished?

those two 25z hands are some of the worst you've posted in a while :\