Learn PLO now or wait till I'm a winning NLHE player?
Posted by Kevin
Posted by
Kevin
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Gen. Poker
Learn PLO now or wait till I'm a winning NLHE player?
I'm currently a losing player at online NLHE due to tilt, bankroll, and fundamental flaws in my game. Conversely I'm a winning live player and have experienced fairly consistent success in casinos. And maybe i'm a "losing player" in both and I just have more volume in online and experienced positive variance live, who knows.
My question is should I wait till I become a winning player and have a fundamentally sound online game in NLHE to then learn PLO? Or should I try to learn PLO and have that take away from my quest of mastering NLHE?
I wonder if maybe I will find my niche/strength in PLO? On the other hand I know that PLO has much higher variance and bankroll requirements and those are 2 of my major weaknesses when it comes to online NLHE. Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated by all. Good luck at the tables!
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You very well may find that you play PLO much better than NLHE, but that's not really the question. In PLO, a lot more variance is in play, and therefore the game is much more dangerous than NLHE (in terms of losing money fast) if you don't have the proper bankroll & tilt management.
Before switching games, ask yourself why you want to do so. Are you bored, and want to change things up to keep yourself motivated?
Also, I would recommend you work not necessarily on you NLHE game, but more so on your thought process, tilt control, and bankroll management, since you said yourself you were lacking in that department. Then, if you still want to make the switch, read a book or two about Omaha, to start with a strong base.
Hope this helped!
If you have a problem with tilt playing online, PLO can hurt you really bad. Try to fix that first. Tilt control is a big part of PLO edge, so there's your motivation.
Thanks for the helpful comments. I had a feeling thats the feedback I would get. I don't necessarily want to switch games, just learn and be able to also play PLO in a profitable way. The main reason I want to learn to play well is that I know it has been and still is the next big poker game and I don't want to get left behind or lose the chance to get that initial edge over most players. Do you guys play PLO seriously to make a profit or just for fun and a change of pace? Thanks!
Most posters in the RIO PLO forums seem to be die-hard PLO players who want to improve. :-) If you want to learn the game, you're in the right place for sure.
Why not play a bit at micro stakes and post hands where you were unsure?
Hey Oswald,
It would be better to keep playing NLHE for now and watch learn PLO a ton on the side if you want to make the switch in the future for sure.. as the others have said PLO swings much more and I guess it's a matter of staying strong during difficult times and work ur way out of it.
someone said this before I forgot who but, 'as long as your still breathing, you haven't reached full potential'
PLO is the devil
lol mike :)
plo as one, if you start playing microstakes, will tilt you to max, and as a result, that should cure you of tilting in nl :D
haha, its funny because I had that same rationale too once I started thinking more about it. kinda like overtraining and running 5+ miles to get ready for a 3 mile race
well i started play on ftilt before it closed down, and i did have tilt issues, 1 i remember is smashing lap and banging wall :S. when tilt crashed, i didn't wanna change to stars, but instead i decided to use time and learn PLO in fake chips, so, as time went by and tilt seemed very dead, io switched to PLO real, and by all honesty, PLO cured me from all tilt as such, i lose quads to quads, and i don't even blink, just go on playing totally calm, and in nl i can't even recall annoyance, not sure is it a consequence of time or PLO cure, but i consider myself tilt free now :) so , can give it a try
Another way to look at it, is to look a lil bit of high stakes PLO or NL, and after some watching u will realize it is only variance that hits with same pain best of the best players, and when u realize they lose with same pain as you, you can overcome it as nothing personal and variance, part of every day poker. What you need is accept it as part of poker that you love, and what will make better player is acceptance of the fact, that is same for all of us, we all suffer bad beats on daily basis. Difference is only in the way you handle it, and it makes you play your c game instead A game if you don't cure yourself, so, just expose yourself to max pain, that might help, if not that, time is always there :)
I wish I could triple like this post. Great insight and I've begun this strategy to see if I can regroup my whole poker game and outlook. I appreciate all your help my friend! I'll keep you updated to the progress. GL at the tables
Thank you vmuch, hope you manage your tilt issues soon and give us as good news as Chael today in cpl of months ( chi his post ~ he also had tilt issues, so i guess its just a phase everyone s got to go through )
Gl at tables and i hope u fall in love with PLO ~ nothing like it
For tilt problems I highly recommend reading some stuff by Tommy Angelo and lop off your C game. Also a big part of your tilt problems may be from playing underrolled. If 1 or 2 pots can ruin your session you may be playing higher than your level of calm can afford. You may also be playing against players that are just better than you which can be tilting, and so maybe implement better game selection.
Great insight, I think you've hit on a lot of good points about my approach to the game. I guess i've never liked the thought of depositing $500-1k online in today's poker room situation so i've always deposited small and been underrolled. On the other hand, I think the rake is such a big factor at $10NL and seems like a huge grind. I know that is flawed and conflicting reasoning but I think thats where part of my dilemma has been.
I've read his book once and definitely need to read it again to absorb more of the teachings. I think sometimes playing better players tilt me but I think I get more tilted when I make mistakes like bad bluffs or bad calls (which I should know is part of the game).
What do you use for game selection? Just stats on poker room, pokertableratings, table tracker? Thanks for the help!
Yeah, game selection is getting tougher and you're right about not keeping too much cash online. Basically I use holdemmanager and can find out pretty quickly who the regs are in the games by their stats and try to avoid sitting with too many of them. Not easy to find I admit, but its possible. Mostly its about knowing when the regs have ended their shift and playing fewer and fishier tables at the right times. That's all learned through time and observation.
Of course there are plenty of bad regs too and really the only way you're going to figure out who they are is by playing hands with them and seeing exploitable patterns and stats. In today's games, unless you are 1 tabling a bunch of fish, you really need a HUD if you want to have an edge.
BTW I doubt you are a losing live player, more likely you are decent at poker and just haven't fully adjusted to the differences online. You have a great thing going for you in that you are honest with yourself about your leaks, now you can plug them. As far as which game to play, as long as you continue to study, practice and improve just play what you enjoy.
I think you should spend time learning the fundamental game theory concepts that apply to all games first.(GTO, toy gaming). After that you should just pick the discipline that you're most passionate about. You're #1 priority IMO should be plugging up any bankroll leaks.(100 buy-in minimum for most.)
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