Progress by Process

PLO

I played 2 short sessions of 25plo today at PokerStars, 3 tables each, and won just over a buyin.   The first was 40 minutes and I think I played alright until I tried to bluff a fish on the river on a double paired board. He ends up making the right call on the river, and I immediately quit because I knew I was going to be off my game after that.  The second session was 80 minutes long and I won 2 buyins.  I played pretty tight in the second session, but still made a few mistakes.  I managed to luck box a river in a 3-way all in on the flop with AAJ4ss in a 3-bet pot. I flopped a flush draw on a T42 two tone board and couldn't get away from it.  I got it in as a big dog, but got there on the river.  I quit shortly after because I was again frustrated with my play.  

I have definitely made significant progress in my PLO game in the past 6 weeks or so.  I watched the Omakase series here on DC, as well as the first 4 episodes of 2x6.  Omakase was a decent series, but I have trouble staying focused on hh reviews\presentation based vids.  2x6 has been very helpful though; I definitely had a few AHA moments while watching it.   One of them is regarding danglers and just how much they actually do kill the prospects of your hand, due to wraps.  The other moment that really helped me out was in episode 4 where Emil had flopped a straight oop, with no redraws.  The commentary starts at 15:30 if anyone wants to check it out.  Emil had a hand like 7798 on a 69T board.  Vanessa went into pretty good detail why we need to pot control there and why we don't want to start building a big pot oop. This hand made a lot of sense to me, and has really helped me in a very common spots.  I think the principle can be applied to a ton of spots in PLO (ie 2 pair on a drawy, two tone board, with no redraw), and I was glad I caught it. 

While I still don't think I am a big winner in the 25plo games yet, I do think I am very very close. I have plugged a ton of leaks the past 6 weeks, and am at least a breakeven player there right now.  If I can control my occassional erratic spew\tilt, I think I will be in pretty good shape there.  Over my past 5364 hands (this month) I am at -$40, and my AIEV says I should be at -$30.  My PFR/VPIP is at 27/19 during that period.  Overall I am pretty happy with my progress, and I think within the next month, I should be very comfortable at the game.  The other good note is, I don't think 50plo is any tougher than 25plo, and once I can beat 25plo, I should be just as comfortable at 50.  The craziest thing about the micro PLO stakes, in case you didn't know, is the rake.  In those 5364 hands, HEM says the rake is $252.45!!  That's 9ptbb/100, and a serious winrate killer.  That is obviously the biggest obstacle in beating these games. 

NL

I moved back down to 50NL 6max at Full Tilt.  I am very unhappy with the way I have been playing at 100 lately, and am gonna stay here until I plug some leaks.  I've been playing 50 since last Tuesday. My sessions have gone like this: +1 BI, +3 BI, +2.5 BI, +1.6 BI, -6 BI.  I also had a session where I mixed 50, 100, and a good 200 game; I finished +135 that session. The - 6BI session was tonight.  I lost a couple big hands, made a few bad plays and got coolered a few times. I should have ended the session early, but of course I tried to stick it out until I finally admitted defeat for the night. I really should have quit earlier. It's a major leak of mine, and the biggest reason I failed at 100 last month.  On the month I have 7700 hands at 50NL, and am now only up 2 BI.  Hopefully blogging all this will help me to quit early and\or keep myself in control.  

I have watched quite a few NL vids the past month.  First I watched Terp's SSNL Disease series.  It was decent, but again, I am not big on presentation style videos; they just don't do it for me.  I then watched Coaching Kristy by BalugaWhale. It was, as expected, a great series. Baluga really is an excellent coach; he is very clear in what he is teaching, and explains things very well. I highly recommend the series to everyone.  There was in particular an episode (ep 7?) where Kristy played badly and was spewing a bit. Baluga went on to talk about how some good players who go on tilt become bad aggressive players. The episode really hit home for me, because I do the same as she did. I tend to tilt shove/spew and have trouble folding to raises because I think everyone is playing back at me.  I think I rated 6 or 7 of the episodes a 5*, and others 4*.  Baluga also goes into detail about 3betting theory, polarizing\depolarizing 3bet ranges, and establishing image. 

It's time to admit it, I've been struggling at poker lately.

I'm starting this blog in an attempt to get myself back on track.  Over the past year, I have stopped studying the game, stopped watching videos, and stopped improving as a player. I've also stopped putting in any significant volume like I used to.  I can still play 50NL and crush the games, but my main game (100NL) has gotten the better of me lately.  My winning sessions are too short, and my losing sessions are way too long.  I've become prone to tilt, I bluff too frequently, and I lose my head in 3b pots. 

I've also started learning PLO. I started out playing 50PLO, 8-tabling, with no experience. It was a disaster.  I very, very quickly dropped 25 buyins. Dropped down to 25PLO and made the same mistakes, losing another 30 buyins.  Finally I slapped myself in the face and acknowledged I was a fish in these games, even these itty bitty micro games for my bankroll, because I wasn't fundamentally sound in the game. 

Losing at PLO reminded me of when I first started playing NL online.  I thought - "it wasn't my fault I was losing, it was bad luck, these idiots were playing every hand and getting lucky against me.  I will get this money back eventually because my luck will turn." Then I caught myself in these thoughts and realized I had these same thoughts back in 2006-2007, when I was losing at NL online.  I realized I was thinking just like a fish, then I realized I was playing like one too.  The realization that you are the fish in a game is pretty dramatic; the thought alone is motivation enough to improve your game. I know this because I have already gone through this before, when I got serious about NL.  I don't like admitting I can't do something; it's motivation for me to improve. And now I have something to prove, and a reason to work hard again. 

Recently I resubscribed to DC, and started watching videos again.  This time I will be trying to play two games at once. Improving my NL fundamentals so I can get back to beating SSNL, and developing my PLO fundamentals so I can get unstuck and become a winner in the 25 and 50PLO games.