Maybe you're disregarding the fact that my skilful bet-sizing probably induced the aggressive call down.....?

Or maybe you're just a purist and I'm a filthy bum hunter

No, unfortunately. I’m in a similar position to you (thinking of investing in a new computer to run the software). I watched an excellent two part tutorial on how to most efficiently use Monker, but it’s behind a paywall. I’m sure there are others around who could suggest some non paywall content. I know it can be a frustrating experience sorting through the patchy stuff on the tube.

Weekly update - playing bad, running good!


Have been running way above EV this week but getting in a lot of frustrating spots postflop. I feel like my flop and turn play is really getting there, but am still feeling pretty lost on rivers. I have done next to no work on river spots so it's to be expected - I will invest in a new machine and Monker at some point in the next few weeks.

I am curious especially as to how nut flushes and nut flush blockers should be played on rivers. In general I am just potting/pot raising both if given the opportunity. This makes sense to me as we are polarizing to the nuts or an airball, but not sure how this functions when we start half potting non nut flushes and lower blockers. Are we ever half potting nut flushes if we have more small flushes in range? Thinking about these spots boils my brain juice.

Still working my way through RIO's 'From the Ground Up' course which continues to provide great value IMO. Learning slowly how much we can deviate from GTO given population tendencies which adds another of complexity to play, but makes a lot of sense to me coming from a very exploit based NL background - I'm sure this is where most of my EV will come from in the app games.

Other than that I have had a happy £3k upswing in my BTC wallet over the last few days. I don't know very much about BTC and mostly just use it for deposits and withdrawals, but £3k for having some BTC sitting gathering dust seems like a pretty sweet deal. Cheers, Elon Musk

Weekly update - Up and then down, and then up!

The last week has been decent. It's the first time for one of these updates that my EV/100 hasn't been a million miles away from my BB/100, whether over or under. Study has been going well. Sticking to the 2 hours study/5 hours grind schedule 5 times a week. I'll usually take Saturday off and then grind NL tournaments on a UK site called Sky Poker on Sundays.

Sky has been the nuts for years and still provides a real opportunity to profit for tournament part-timers like me given the extremely soft pool, small fields and Sunday guarantees. They rarely have tournaments over £100+10s but the decent regs still seem to crack out £50-60k years grinding the mostly PKO small stakes tourneys.

I will attach my graphs for the week and a couple of the biggest hands logged. I have been struggling for the last few days to add a Rakeback metric to my PT4 database. No matter how many RB stats I download from the PT 'warehouse' and how much I **** about with their configuration I just can't work it out. The best I can get is this nonsensical purple squiggle. If anyone knows how to configure this properly please help a guy out!







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

Hero (SB): 523.32 BB
BB: 186.14 BB
UTG: 169.71 BB
MP: 219.5 BB
CO: 151.52 BB
BTN: 260.97 BB

Hero posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has A 7 9 K

UTG raises to 3.5 BB, MP calls 3.5 BB, fold, fold, Hero raises to 15 BB, fold, UTG calls 11.5 BB, MP calls 11.5 BB

Flop: (46 BB, 3 players) 8 5 6
Hero checks, UTG checks, MP bets 46 BB, Hero raises to 184 BB, fold, MP raises to 204.5 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 20.5 BB

Turn: (455 BB, 2 players) 7

River: (455 BB, 2 players) K



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

Hero (UTG): 308.12 BB
MP: 259.44 BB
CO: 143.65 BB
BTN: 212.5 BB
SB: 185.38 BB
BB: 135.8 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has 6 7 5 4

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

Flop: (25.5 BB, 2 players) 6 9 3
Hero checks, BTN bets 25.5 BB, Hero calls 25.5 BB

Turn: (76.5 BB, 2 players) 8
Hero checks, BTN bets 76.5 BB, Hero raises to 270.62 BB and is all-in, BTN calls 98.5 BB and is all-in

River: (426.5 BB, 2 players) 2




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

BB: 708.68 BB
UTG: 39.17 BB
Hero (CO): 211.52 BB
BTN: 94 BB
SB: 22 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

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

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

Flop: (22.5 BB, 2 players) Q 2 5
BB bets 22.5 BB, Hero raises to 90 BB, BB raises to 292.5 BB, Hero calls 110.52 BB and is all-in

Turn: (423.54 BB, 2 players) 6

River: (423.54 BB, 2 players) 8




This is obviously really punty. This player plays 62/15/9 and my only note on him is 'Pot flop and turn on 3348ss with AKQT no draw after 3betting'. I still think this is a punt tbh, and probably need way more info to rip here.

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

BB: 322.92 BB
UTG: 208.26 BB
Hero (MP): 201.34 BB
CO: 135.05 BB
BTN: 87.93 BB
SB: 165.69 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

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

fold, Hero raises to 3.5 BB, CO raises to 12 BB, fold, fold, BB calls 11 BB, Hero calls 8.5 BB

Flop: (36.5 BB, 3 players) 2 8 5
BB checks, Hero checks, CO bets 36.5 BB, BB calls 36.5 BB, Hero raises to 182.5 BB, CO calls 86.55 BB and is all-in, BB raises to 310.92 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 6.84 BB and is all-in

Turn: (538.23 BB, 3 players) 6

River: (538.23 BB, 3 players) A

Hero shows A Q Q 3 (One Pair, Aces)

Main Pot [405.65 BB]: (Pre 29%, Flop 41%, Turn 14%)
Side Pot#1 [132.58 BB]: (Pre 50%, Flop 43%, Turn 14%)



This one i think is fine but WTFFFFFF games are good!

100K hands update!

Haven't updated in a few weeks as I am a lazy shitbag - was going to do an update last week but decided that with only a few more thousand hands till I hit the 100K PLO hands in my DB I might as well hold off.

In November (I think) when I started this challenge I was definitely hopeful that even as a total noob to PLO with enough study and some run good I could establish myself as a winning player in my pool. And I am extremely happy that I have managed to achieve this as I have a tendency to start things and not finish them.

Of course I have ran wayyyyy above EV for the most part and am in no doubt that starting my PLO career with some extended rungood has helped massively with my mental game - if I had began with a 30BI downswing there's every chance I would have ran back to NL and a comfortable winrate with my tail between my legs.

Moving forward I am looking to transition fully to PLO200 and hope to, by the time I get another 100K hands under my belt, surpass this stake and keep working my way up.

Game selection has allowed me to beat stakes that I almost certainly wouldn't be beating in other pools - I am doubtful that I would even be a winner in PLO50z, although it's debatable (I haven't played any so I don't know how tough it is).

I have no shame in careful game selection though - I think in the long run these games will prepare me for juicy high stakes live PLO (my long term goal) better than grinding 1k hands/h in the zoom pools, even if I may not be as theoretically sound as the Z crushers.

All in all I have no regrets about making the transition to PLO. I think the future of poker lies in games outside of NL and PLO is a hell of a fun one.

Update: March 2nd - March 9th

Volume hasn't been great this week as salmon season started over the weekend so spent most of it walking up and down the river near my house with the fishing rod.

Playing a lot more PLO200 this week. Opposition seems very slightly tougher than 100 so have been a little more strict with my game selection. But games still seem very beatable with the amount of blasters kicking about the streets.

Running above EV as usual the end must be nigh...

Update: March 9th - March 18th

Not as much volume as I'd have liked to get in but the sun has come out in the last week and being Scottish it would be sacrilege not to take a day or two off the grind to enjoy it while I have had the chance - if it in snows in the Sahara you must make a snowman.

Update: March 18th - March 24th

Volume has been terrible this week, as has study schedule. Need to pull the finger out and get back into the swing of it in the next few weeks before the world gets vaccinated and my games lose the armchair VIPs!

Funny hand to end the session today - the elusive thin value bluff

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

CO: 97.5 BB
Hero (BTN): 200.3 BB
SB: 118.02 BB
BB: 218.97 BB
UTG: 168.82 BB
MP: 100 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

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

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

Flop: (25.5 BB, 2 players) T J T
UTG checks, Hero checks

Turn: (25.5 BB, 2 players) 4
UTG bets 16 BB, Hero calls 16 BB

River: (57.5 BB, 2 players) J
UTG bets 28 BB, Hero raises to 141.5 BB, UTG calls 112.82 BB and is all-in

Hero shows 9 T Q 8 (Three of a Kind, Tens)
(Pre 64%, Flop 72%, Turn 83%)
UTG shows 7 8 6 T (Three of a Kind, Tens)
(Pre 36%, Flop 28%, Turn 18%)
Hero wins 335.89 BB

Update: March 24th - April 16th

Has been a few weeks since I've posted but will try and keep it brief.

I spilled wine on the laptop in the middle of a grind and even after my half-drunk attempts at rescuing it I couldn't get it to turn on at all. Unfortunately this was the only system that had my PT4 DB saved on so it may be the case I'll never see them again - at least I have them posted here to keep a track of my progress, so that's something.

I did rescue the hard-drive which seems to still be in decent shape, although when I tried it with a USB adapter to upload my hands to a new computer it was not being recognised. I am just gonna wait until the IT shops open again (we are due to come out of national lockdown from the 26th), and see if they can salvage it. At least if they **** it up instead of me (maybe) they'll be liable.

For now I have just been grinding as usual and saving hands to a new DB which I will post below. Only annoying thing is I've lot a hell of a lot of notes on the players in my pool.

I have been playing mostly PLO200 and have had a couple of small but unsuccessful shots at PLO400. The regs definitely seem a lot better theoretically at 400 but there still seems to be enough fish floating around to squeak out a win rate. I don't have much of a plan for when I am gonna move up, just gonna game select well and never play more than 1 table of 400 during my usual grind.

Update: April 16th - May 5th

No more shots at 400 for the moment. When tables are running in my pool they seem to be pretty reg heavy and feel like I probably wouldn't be a winner in most of the line ups I've had a look at.

Very happy with playing majority 200 right now with some 100 sprinkled in when I have some space and a table of recs.

Update: May 5th - May 25th

SWINGZZZZZZ!

Still looking for a reliable coach if anyone knows anyone. Please leave me a message

Hey, GL, nice results.

I've had pretty good success with NL but looking to try out playing PLO. Played some plo100 and 50 yesterday and really enjoyed it, got some ranges and everything.

A few questions -

Do you think it's possible to play NL and PLO concurrently?

What was the biggest NL habit that you had to kick when transitioning to PLO?

Are the winrates by definition bigger in PLO?

Hi mate! Thanks for checking out my thread

Glad you are enjoying PLO, where are you playing?

To try and answer your questions:

1. It depends what you mean by concurrently. If you mean play 2 tables of PLO and 2 of NL and profit in both (assuming you are beating each game) then sure. I don't have too much trouble playing different variants at the same time although it's definitely lower EV than playing one.

If you mean could you successfully grind NL and PLO and hold a sustainable winrate in both - probably also very possible. But I would say that you wouldn't reach your true potential in either if you were focusing on both. PLO strategy is so different from NL that if you were to put in equal time studying both your EV in each would be significantly less than focusing full time on one game. I guess the question is would you wanna be really good at one game or pretty good at both?

2. One of the main habits i've had to shake off from NL is betting to deny equity. Because on pretty much every board there are a million turns and rivers that can shift range advantage betting to deny equity loses it's value and a lot of the time is torching. Most common in situations where you flop two pair, with no redraw, it will feel natural to wanna deny equity and bet when your side cards don't interact with the board, when in reality your balance should come from cbetting when your side cards do interact well/ block your opponent's interaction. Not explaining very well, hope that makes sense

Obviously one of the other main differences is that in PLO (for the most part) you balance by using your side cards as opposed to using an RNG in NL. - this is more fun IMO.

3. I would guess if you were to take a PLO reg and NL reg of the exact same skill level in their respective games then the PLO reg is gonna have a higher winrate on average. I'm not sure if this down to the mechanics of the game - of course average PLO pot is wayyyyy bigger, but so are the swings so I guess it kinda evens out. Most likely though the PLO player is gonna have a higher winrate because the PLO pools are ridiculously soft compared to their NL counterparts.

My winrates over a big sample for PLO are virtually identical to my NL winrate, but I am a lot worse at PLO than I was at NL. I rekcon if I was as good at PLO as I was at NL my WR would be at least 50% higher at PLO, given how bad on average the pool is - even the 'good regs' in the games i play are playing so far from theoretically correct that a competent PLO crusher (i think) would have a decent winrate on them even after rake.

I think in terms of future profitability it is not even close comparing NL and PLO. Almost everyone that plays knows how to get better at NL whereas hardly anyone knows how to efficiently study and improve at PLO. And i don't think that's really gonna change any time soon given how complicated PLO strategy seems to the average player.




Hope this helps. If you have any more questions feel free to ask and happy to do some hand review if you fancy!