Éste es mi blog.

Hey gang. Lotta stuff happened this month so quick update.  

First of all, my first DC video came out. You can find it here: Minor League. Hopefully everyone who watched it enjoyed it and learned some PLO. Still not sure where it's going to go from here, not sure if I'll be asked to do another video or not, only thing I know is the Schweig man is supposedly going to produce a 2-7 Triple Draw video. Really looking forward to it, I've been talking 27TD strat with him almost daily for about a month now, needless to say I've learned a lot.

I've also started doing a bit more exercise, already lost a fewof pounds although according to Wii Fit I'm still slightly overweight. Yeah? Well sometimes you suck at linking up to controllers in a timely manner. Burn. Anyway, I'm going to jog a bit more from now on. Also been eating better, although not as much as I'd like. It'll be easier after I get married in November because my fiancée is both awesome at and enjoys cooking.

Third thing I've started doing more than anytime before is meditating and being awake. I had read about meditation years ago, practiced it a few times, didn't really "get it", and so stopped. I don't remember what I had read, but I do remember I had thought it was all about stopping the thinking. If you've tried to do this, you've probably failed. Fortunately, it's not about that at all. It's simply about being aware. Being aware that you're breathing. Being aware of where you are, of what you see, hear, feel, smell, taste. And when your mind wanders to the past, future or imagination, you simply call it back. When it begins to classify, judge, attach itself to an idea or concept, you acknowledge it, let it go, and come back. To now, the only place where you exist. The only place that is real. 

The other day, about a week ago I went to the grocery store. I was there for almost the whole time and it was amazing. Just being there, seeing and smelling all the fruits and food, all the people gathered to get food and drink for themselves and their loved ones. Sadly, a lot of people weren't really there. You could see it in their face, or their eyes lost in a hurry. While I was there, I went to the bathroom and coming back, my girlfriend was looking for some type of specific cheese to make me some lasagna (it was delicious!). I smiled and hugged her. She hugged me with one arm, so I knew she wasn't really there. I took her other arm, and then she was. We breathed, and were both there. After the hug a teary-eyed woman approached us and told us that was a beautiful hug. I was very happy that day because we had brought a stranger into the present with us for that moment. Hopefully she will also hug someone and awaken someone, even for a moment.

There's tons of information about meditation out there, fortunately you don't need to read it all before practicing it. I would strongly suggest just going through these three links below. They are from Tommy Angelo's website, and I'm sure you don't have to learn much more before you start practicing. As your interest grows, you can read more on this stuff, but the real benefits come from practicing and experiencing meditation, so don't use not knowing enough as an excuse to not do it! 
How To Meditate
Meditation Article
Guided Meditation at Google, by Jon Kabat-Zinn

Poker-wise, it went well this month. I played much more than in the last few months, which was great. A bunch of it was 27TD. It's kind of a swingy game (unless you find opponents that like to draw dead a lot, in which case easiest game ever) but tons of fun. I've found it quite relaxing to play a limit game when I'm in the mood, instead of thinking about bet-sizing and stack sizes constantly like in PLO. I've been playing mostly 2/4 - 5/10 at Poker Stars with good results so far. Also been putting in some PLO hands, feeling pretty good about my game right now, but also excited because I keep learning tons of stuff every time I play. Be sure to be actively trying to learn while you're playing, I believe it helps you improve tremendously.

Anyway here's a PLO hand from today:

$1/$1 Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 3 players

Hero (SB): $92.00
BB: $141.05
BTN: $287.90

Pre Flop: ($2.00) Hero is SB with J Q 5 A

BTN raises to $3, Hero calls $2, BB raises to $12, BTN calls $9, Hero calls $9

Flop: ($36.00) 7 J 3(3 players)
Hero checks, BB checks, BTN checks
Turn: ($36.00) 5(3 players)

Ok, so I'm under 100bbs because this site somehow doesn't have auto-reload. It also has 5-max tables, which is awesome. Anyway BB was 3betting a lot, so I thought I'd just flat the original bet, get him to 3bet and then play my hand with good relative position in a spot where the maniac will bet most of the flops that are good for me and the other guy will get caught in between, and I will check-shove. Good plan? Ok, so we hit what some world class poker players call "top-top". Actually kind of awkward flop, I check to check-decide, fortunately it checks through. After they both check, the turn is a pretty good card. I hit two pair, but more importantly these guys will usually have not hit the straight. 

First to act on the turn, should I bet here? You could say I can get some value and also protect my hand by leading out here. That's true. However, if I bet I'm only going to get shoved on by hands that are doing pretty well against me. I might also just get flatted and have to play the river OOP with a bit of money behind but where most river cards suck for me, even with only a 2/3 pot sized bet left. If I check, however, my perceived range is so weak, one of the other two players (esp the maniac) might feel the need to bet as a bluff or even with a hand as weak as bare QQ for protection. In which case I can just jam, avoid playing the river OOP and get all my monies in. It's kind of lame that after they I jam they probably have enough equity to call down, but I'm still getting my money in good against a weaker range and avoid making mistakes on the river. So yea, went for a check-raise and got it in vs. the maniac's 368T (no flush draw).

Here's a 27TD hand from today as well. http://www.handconverter.com/hands/1206399

Anyway the interesting part is on the turn. This guy had already attempted to snow me once when he caught two pairs in a 1:(2) turn spot, so definitely not your straightforward opponent. As such, I'm sure he's going to be raising the turn here with some snows, some 9s, Ts or Js as this is an automatic bet on my part (one draw ahead). Now if I break, I'm going to have a tough decision on the river, plus I'll allow him to pat his 9s, Ts and Js and thus be a favorite going into the river. Also, my draw isn't that great so I'm not as excited to draw to it. On the other hand, if I call and pat here myself, he just might break a worse T or 9, fearing I have a hand like 876x. And if he does, now I'll be the favorite going into the river. I do allow him to draw to beat me, but there's just not tons I can do about it. Obviously my 27TD skills aren't as strong, so I'm open to hear about alternatives for this hand, so be sure to leave a comment if you have something to say.

Good luck and thanks for reading,

Orestto.