Hi Everyone!

Poker has alwasy been recreational for me, it's a fantastic way to unwind, met new people and have some fun. I've been playing for the last 10-15 years, mainly live in London. I started off playing NLHE but during a period where I was playing a lot of live 1/2 and 1/3 in casinos I was invited to some private games where it was often 50 or 100% PLO. I hadn't played any PLO up until this point so I took some time to learn the game. I love the private game environment as a recreational so learning the games that people want to play was important.

The last 12-18 months I've really been out of the game. My awesome son was born in Oct '22 and we have been living abroad and just taking time off to be parents. We're back in London now and I'm likely going to be going back to my work in finance soon. Being back in London however also means I'm back to poker! I know I won't be able to get out into the live arena as much anymore with a young son at home but I enjoyed playing PLO so much in those games that I'd like to focus on it.

I met a man in Istanbul who introduced me to some private online games which run from 25PL up to around 200PL. I've heard they run bigger but I haven't seen them yet. These don't run too frequently though so to get some hands in and evaluate my play I'll also play on GG or Stars at lower stakes. I'll consider this my training arena where I'm not too concerned about the results and then have the private games as somewhere to try and make some money.

The live games I have access to run from 1/2 - 2/5 in the casino and up to 25/50 in the private games. I'm very unlikely to be playing much of these with work and family commitments but I'll report any games I make it into. I had great fun in a 10/25 NLHE / PLO4/5/6 dealers choice games recently with my brother when we were recruited off a roulette table at a well known London casino. I booked a decent win, I don't think they thought I had ever played any poker before which is often the impression people have when meeting me or sitting at a table for the first time with me. I am a massive believer that making money in poker comes as much from getting into good games and getting invited back than it does from squeezing out every last bit of EV.

I put a little bit of volume in these online private games at the tail end of 2023 preparing for this year and the results were encouraging. I intend to get as much volume in as my work and family life allows as well as studying with my Elite account. I don't have access to Visions anymore and having lost my grandfathered pricing, I might wait a while before delving back in. I may also look into coaching at a later point in the year if I find someone I'm excited to work with.

I'm excited for 2024 and improving my PLO game. I have no intentions of going pro or turning $100 into $1,000,000. I just want to keep getting better and to continue playing the game I love.