Is This It?

Have to love you and leave you, DC. My blog is now hosted by the good folk at Poker Asia Pacific: http://pokerasiapacific.com/plo-pontification.html

Check that site for future updates.

“The master and the master’s path are one.” – George Leonard, Mastery

 After two years of procrastination I’ve finally started playing PLO.

After an abortive attempt to learn a couple of years ago, I got a taste for PLO again during ANZPT Melbourne and decided the time was right to make a genuine effort to get good. Previously, I considered the opportunity cost too high and decided to learn MTTs instead, cos it seemed easier and the allure of the potential payoff more exciting. But after two years of fucking around travelling with no consistent routine / not making any money, plus the depressing state of mid-high NLH cash games (the bots have arrived), it no longer matters.

As I tweeted the other day (@Choparno), learning PLO has almost been like rediscovering poker. I’ve always been more of a learner than a grinder (in reality that’s a bit of a false dichotomy, but I believe a strong emphasis on self-improvement over churning out hands is how you get better), and studying a new game has given me a passion for poker reminiscent of (though of course still not the same) what I felt when starting out, tantalised by the possibilities.

The difference is that I have 5 years of experience, a professional-level understanding of poker theory, and a better understanding of myself as a player and the optimal way to learn. Consequently, I’m excited about getting better quickly, which may or may not prove realistic. There’s a danger that ego may cause impatience.

Nevertheless at the moment I feel like I have returned to “the path”, i.e. thoroughly engaged with what I’m doing for its own sake, when the activity is its own intrinsic reward: watching vids, reading books, getting coached, playing, reviewing hands, doing equity calcs. The game for the game’s sake.

Of course, it’s very possible that I’m setting myself up for disappointment, that I’ll suck at it, that I won’t get it, that the first inevitable 30 or 50 BI downswing will crush my soul and I’ll run whimpering back to NLH. Whatever though, the effort will be worth it regardless.

This last week my daily routine has consisted of watching a video, reviewing the previous day’s hands, playing 4 tables of 100 or 200PLO for 3-4 hours, then receiving feedback on hands I sent to my coach, Martin Kozlov. I understand Marty is one of the best PLO players in the country and I’m excited by the opportunity to learn from him.

So I initially played about 8k hands of 100PLO 6max, experimented with stuff, made a ton of mistakes, and learned a lot. Last week I thought I was ready to take a shot at midstakes, played a session of 5/5, made more mistakes / lost 3 BIs, and realised it was too soon. What I want to avoid is making the mistake of other NL players of jumping into PLO at their regular NL stakes before they’re ready. So with that in mind I’m holding myself back at 200PLO with a view to moving up when I think I'm capable.

At this point I was going to mention my goals, but after watching this video (http://www.ted.com/talks/derek_sivers_keep_your_goals_to_yourself.html) posted by Benn Skender (http://risktotheupside.wordpress.com/), I’m afraid that doing so may be counter-productively gratifying. So we’ll just see how it goes.

Instead, here’s a self-motivational screen shot of a PLO noob’s initial trial by fire. A lot of nasty red numbers, which I would like to rectify as time goes on.