PLO Pimpin'

What's up Degens? 

It's been almost a month since I made an update, and instead of making a bunch of excuses for not doing so, I'd rather just jump into the action since the last month (or ten days I guess) has been un-fucking-believable!

It all started two weekends ago when I got a new car..

 Brag! It's an '08 CTS. I got an amazing deal on it, even though it only has 12k miles, so I'm super stoked on it. 

The day after getting the car, I drove out to Vegas to play cash for the week at the Rio. One of my buddies from Colorado named Chance moved out there around the same time I did a couple of years ago, so I decided to stay with him. That ended up being a wise decision, because last week he ended up taking down the 5k PLO event at the WSOP for $508k! I really can't put into words how happy I am for him. Anybody who knows someone personally that's won a bracelet knows what I'm talking about, but it's really difficult to put into words how happy I am for him (having a small percentage of his win helps with the happiness level too I guess :)). I've known Chance for a little over five years now, and actually he's the one who got me into PLO in the first place. For everyone out there who has felt discouraged about their skills or their progression as a player, Chance is living proof that hard work DOES pay off. I know there's stories about guys that run hot as the sun at the WSOP and bink a tourney even though they suck, but Chance is not one of those guys. He has been working harder than anyone I know on his PLO game for the last two years, and it's really just awesome to see it finally paying off in a big way for him. Let me remind everyone that he was grinding 200PLO only two summers ago... Yep, shit can change really really fast in the poker world, so if you know you have the ability, and you have a strong desire to improve, it can definitely happen for you! Here's a few pictures I took on my phone from the final table if you're interested. 

 

 

 

 

The following couple of nights were obviously pretty hilarious. We didn't go out the morning he won the bracelet because it was like 5am when everything finished, plus everyone needed to rest for the 10k PLO the next day. But for the 4th of July, we got bottle service at Ghostbar and Drai's, so it ended up being super fun. Plus, on the same weekend, my buddy from Fort Collins was having his bachelor party at the Palms, so we got to meet up for a night of debauchery at Rhino. 

I also got to play some Golf with the DC founders the first day I was out there. I ran good and made a couple of birdies, but felt like a pussy because Chris had to drive me into the clubhouse after the 15th because I was getting sick from the 108 degree heat. vul to that I guess! 

Hmmm what else... I got the new iphone, and I'm pretty disappointed in its phone capabilities. My reception is markedly worse than the 3GS, which really sucks because the rest of the phone is awesome. To make it a little worse, I already shattered the back of it after it dropped on the ground when I was getting out of my car.. Should've bought a case imo. 

Also, the guys at DC were nice enough to let me write an article for Bluff Magazine on their behalf. It was just printed in this months issue, so if you're a subscriber, or you're a cheap mutha-fucka and you're at the WSOP, you can pick up a free one outside almost every doorway there. It's towards the back on page 103 or something. Woot!

I suppose I should mention some poker stuff too. I played mostly 5/5/10 PLO at the Rio while I was out there, and all I have to say is wow; the games really are amazing during the WSOP. Last summer I didn't have a chance to play the PLO tables, but this year I decided to spend a few days grinding out there. I'd say the level of play is at or less than the 50PLO level online (and yes, I'm being serious). Here's a few examples of that:

• I won a $4k pot AIPF w/AA57ss where the action was the following: I complete the SB ~1900 effective, UTG who has ~400 makes it 50, two players call, asian chick raises pot, I 4b pot, and she tanks for like 15 seconds, asks me if we can run it twice, I'm like obv ya, she's like I have a HUGE hand, I'm like wow she has KK and is about to run it with me hahaha, anyway she sticks the money in with KKJ6r, we run it twice and I scoop. As a sidenote, guy with 400 hilariously said he folded 89TJss preflop. 
• Lady  pots it over a limper 8 handed w/888Tdd, and proceeds to flip out when she gets over setted on A8xdd board, and starts crying (literally) about how bad she runs.
• HJ re-straddles to 20, so I pot out of the CO w/T988ss, get a call out of the BB and the straddle. 240 in the pot, and the flop is 4s7c8x. Both players check to me, I bet 160, fishy straddle guy c/c's. Turn is Jc bringing a FD. He checks, I bet 360 into 560, he c/r's pot we get it in (~1700'ish each to start the hand), and he has ignorant straight with the FD, we run it once and I win. 
• There's a lot of similarities between live FR PLO and online PLO that I think are worth mentioning. One being that when people bet pot, they generally are strong. I'm not sure I saw someone bet pot when they didn't have the stones, especially multi way. It's the same thing online obviously, but I think it's even more pronounced live. I think from a psychological standpoint, people just say to themselves "big hand, bet big" and then when they're bluffing, they choose weird smaller amounts, and it's always a really weird percentage too. Like, in their minds, they think it's a big bet, but since bad players don't pay attention to the size of the pot or SPR, they don't understand the price they're laying people on their bluffs. I can't tell you how many times I saw someone bet like 200 into 1500 as a bluff! 
• there's a couple of other things to worth mentioning, but I think I'll save it for a strategy post! 

So overall, you can't really ask for much more out of 8 days in LV. I won lots in cash games, took a % of a friend that won the $5k PLO, partied a bunch, and overall had an amazing time. I'd like to spend more time out there next year, so I'm definitely going to make it a point to schedule better and have nothing going on during the WSOP. 
Hopefully everyone is running well!!

John