How are you using monker, where do you get your ranges for it?

I invested in monker coaching and run sims myself.

Right now I'm focusing on drilling PF with vision and cut/paste into a note file to review and expand on using monker. I also ran sims for various rake structures since vision is using the $500 structure. It's actually interesting to see what hands become unprofitable as well as how my range expands and contracts.

Are you playing any heads up?

Nice, sounds like you got a solid thing going for you, I can't even afford monker/vision for now so I will see what I do. I'm just starting out PLO, so I'm not playing any heads up.

You are definitely in the right place to be starting out!

I highly recommend getting 6-max vision for a month and drilling the beans out of preflop (when you have the time/$$$). It's the foundation of any solid strategy. The streak leaderboards make it fun as well.

GL!!!

AGAME Planner is getting me dialed in!
Total Study Hours: 16
Study Focus: Mastering PF

Grinding "streak" can be hilarious. My hands actually start to sweat when I'm approaching a new PB. So many ups and downs.

This is the type of hand I call a "streak killer":
BB vs BTN 4b

UUUUGGGHHHHHHHHHHhhhh!

I feel like I have a solid grasp of the "shape" of the PF ranges. It still needs work but I can sense when the descion is close (Dave Chappelle sums it up pretty good here in 2 seconds: https://youtu.be/R4SYIfhzMmU?t=32).

Once this months Vision subscription expires I will mark PF spots for review while playing and grind my copy/pasted notes alongside monker.

My 1st HU MTT Victory

Felt good to ship the daily $11 HU MTT. It becomes a freezout once there are 4 players left and I was lucky to finish mine quickly and get about 45mins of showdowns/notes from the other table.
Here's a fun hero call/brag from the FT:
RFI POT/C, X/C half pot, X/C half pot, X/C half pot.

Eric Stoltz Morty had some serious bet sizing tells. My initial reaction was to x/JAM the river...

...but calling probably delivered a demoralizing blow.

GL and THX for the read!

Yes, Vision has a practice and streak feature which is very useful for getting your preflop ranges down (and makes it fun). You really do need to put the time in and I take a ton of notes as well.

Galfond will walk you through it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewULcDVZD7c

I'm leaving 3 handed tables for a couple reasons:

1. I'm putting 100% of my focus on HU.
2. Prevents collusion
3. The rake doubles and quadruples depending on the site!

Curious, why are you so focused on HU PLO?

Good question.

In the A-GAME Poker Masterclass, Elliot has us implement a Post-Session-Routine (PSR). Part of this routine includes detaching from the session by performing a low attention but enjoyable exercise for 20-30 mins.

I chose to play a turn based 4 player game and realized I was getting massively colluded against by multi-accounters. With ZERO $$$ on the line and no clear incentive to do this, I started to become paranoid during my poker sessions.

I watched Mikesell's video "$500 Heads-Up Hyper SNGs" and became interested in the format. I ran some HU short stack sims and started to grind. The energy I was putting into combing through hand histories for sketchy people was now invested in improving my game. In January I bought Cory's HU book and Phil's course ten days later.

With two of the best poker minds laying out the path to heads-up endboss, I've never been this motivated to improve at poker.

TLDR: enter link description here

I see, seems interesting, but it seems like it requires a lot of funds to properly get into . Why do you recommend vision and not something like PLO web trainer from Mastermind?

I used the MM trainer (not the web version) when it was free and before I had monkersolver. Vision seems cleaner but MM trainer has more functions (I think, it's been awhile). I wouldn't use either of them if monker had a training function lol.

Interested in an update?

Since June, I've jumped from 50 to 100 to 200 stakes, although I would say that most of my action is at 100 (not my choice).

In July, I barely put in any volume. I did however hit my study target of 100 hours. Lots of focus on turn and river value thresholds. I also ran a ton of sims using only one bet sizing on the turn as well as 33% + 100% on the river. I'm trying my best to simplify my strategy and execute it well.

Now I'm open sit studying (OSS) almost daily. Every hand gets reviewed and questions get answered. Every 7 days I start a new file that I dump all of my conclusions into for future review. Vision and Monkersolver have been great resources.

Definitely getting my fitness in order...up at 6:45am and hitting the gym 6 days a week for the past 2.5 months. Energy levels are up as well as my strength gains. I'm super lucky to have my partner onboard...we take turns pushing each other out of bed (for balance).

The graph is my last 2.6k hands. My mindset coach recommended removing the All-in Adj line from my graph and only look at it once a month max. A lot of energy is wasted thinking/worrying about something we have no control over. Personally, I'm proud of it. I think I have a big edge and $100plo regs are giving me action!

October 2022 Results:

200

50

Despite a death in the family, two births and being sick for a week...I ran pretty hot last month poker wise and was able to squeak out a profit of $108.00/hr from HU cash game play.

Biggest pot:
Really fun battle @ 200 where I found myself super deep vs an absolute psycho.

5B PF and jammed flop @ a little over SPR 1. In retrospect, I guess this wouldn't have been a "really fun battle" if I had of lost this pot.

Value jam I probably would've chickened out of a couple months back:

SRP: x/r, POT, x/POT

I've been putting most of my study focus on Mikesell's book lately...preparing for some shots @ PLO 500 :)

I probably won't keep up running 74.4 bb/100 @ PLO 200 but it sure felt good. If you are playing and studying HU, feel free to post some hands below. Building a dedicated study network is something I am serious about devoloping.

Of course...when in doubt: consult the one true solver

Take care!

congrats! finally a blog about hu plo :) How many zoom tables do you play at once? do you have any advice on where to play apart from pokerstars?

good luck!

I know, right! With the absolute GOAT teaching here (plus CM + HoH) it's kinda weird there isn't more blogs.

I can't access HU ZOOM from my location anymore due to regulations :(
I never exceed 3 tables and I close tables down if I get action @ 200 vs someone I have never played before. My playing options are limited, so I don't have any advice for you there.

I've read all of your posts on CM/HoH's videos over the past few months and really enjoyed questions. Now stop procrastinating and get that master's thesis done + thx for the GL's!!!!!

Hey ElSquancho

Interested in an update?

yes.

Sincerley,

your fan Lausbub.

Welcome back heads-up connoisseurs!

I was hoping to do a 10k HU hand update but most of my action lately has been pretty nitty, so a 8.4K update will have to do.

I realized that my previous graphs weren't filtered for 2 players so some 3 and 4 handed hands were included.

Here are my HU results from the past 8 weeks:

You can see my redline getting a boost and my blue line taking a hit for my last 2k sample...that's just what happens when the uber nits haunt your tables.

Pre-rakeback:

I didn't get as much studying in as I had anticipated over the past 4 weeks. Mostly b/c I haven't been scheduling my days like I did all summer as well as working a bunch of PLO MTT's into the mix (the games are extremely soft). I have open sat PLO 500 but without any hands (and possibly killing some of my PLO 200 action in the process).

My goal for the next month is to grind the hell out of Cory's book so I'm ready for some 1-on-1coaching in the new year. I have a bunch of concepts to drill down so I'm running sims atm to train in Vision. I don't want to burn any private coaching EV with Mikesell by needing him to explain things that I already have in front of me.

Here is me punting the other day so you know I'm still a mega fish:

3bP: bPOT.callx.xbPOT.call

If you want into the HU discord group, post some hands below! Forum nits don't get action either ;)

Battling RNGeebus, Making A Poker Friend + A Successful 500 Shot

I got insanely tilted this month...

Growing up in a ultra competitive household I'm no stranger to battling. I can still hear my mother's screeching voice from upstairs:

"IF IT'S NOT FUN, DON'T PLAY!!!!".

One of my brothers was probably button mashing and "being cheap" as we yelled at each other in front of the warm glow of a 4:3 resolution tv.

As a fellow HU Connoisseur, you might be wondering why I'm telling you this? Well, I recently commented in my favorite thread on RIO by: @Iranian96 found here:

https://www.runitonce.com/chatter/some-thoughts-on-poker/

The topic was on in-game-performance and the quality of your game. I won't rehash anything here as it would be a +EV decision to investigate the thread at your leisure. Given my absolute monkey tilt this month I've decided to share with you some of my reflections from lessons recently learned.

My AGAME vs Good + Bad Regs

When I'm reg battling someone for a HU table, I have only one in-game-performance rule:

If its not fun, don't play.

This doesn't mean I'm overly sensitive and rage quit when my AAxx loses vs your AAxx. I just stop playing against someone I probably don't have a massive win rate against and can pretty much battle with any day of the week when I'm enjoying the grind. It's simple.

I also come from a full time MTT schedule background. I'm no stranger to rotting in my chair for hours after busting a $530 on the bubble. Resilience is not an issue. Being able to put the game on pause is one of the biggest boosts to playing cash games...if you can ;)

Now this is a topic I had never considered until this month:

My AGAME vs A TOTAL FISH

As of today (Jan 31st) I had the honor of getting over 1.5k hands in this month vs a player I have nicknamed: "RNGeebus".

RNGeebus is a serious fish, but he loves PLO. I respect that.

At times I become aware that I feel entitled to his money, and before I allow myself to feel guilty about it, I let those feelings go. He also doesn't chat or throw emoji's and I extend this curtesy to him as well.

I'm not going to break down his game so you think I'm sick good at HU (I'm not) or divulge my tactical adjustments confirming to you that I'm wicked smart (definitely not).

Let's have a look at RNGeebus' graph vs me this month:

Again, that's not my graph and it doesn't look like anything to be tilted over in the 200 streets. I've mentioned previously why I don't look at the all in adjusted line. But since it's the end of the month, lets have a peak shall we...

So, what happens when I get tilted?

1. I become aware that the center of my chest has tightened.
2. My pulse quickens.
3. I feel heat in my face.
4. Expletives race through my mind.

What does this lead to?

I start to make very quick decisions. VERY QUICK. I'm playing speed poker now and that bet slider is getting closer and closer to pot. I gotta stack this guy before he quits!

I bring my awareness to my breath.

Look at this guy, clicking away with so much confidence!!! He must punt on slots so the site is letting him win so they can rake me and stack him!

I don't follow the breath to the abdomen, my awareness stays at the tip of my nose where the in/out breath touches the nostrils. I'm now aware of the change in my body and my racing thoughts and that my AGAME has slipped.

He is going to quit! I know it! Why am I not allowed to WIN!!!!!!!!!!!

After a minute or so I now allow my awareness to follow my breath from the tip of the nose all the way down to my abdomen. Then all the way back to my nose. Before this turns into a guided meditation, DM me if you want some really good free material.

My thoughts are influencing my feelings and my feelings are influencing my thoughts in a feedback loop. Now, I can't just "let go" of these thoughts and feelings but I can notice the truth about them...they are impermanent. They can't last. They are just arising and passing within my awareness. Because of this, they are not "me" or "mine".

A great line I heard during a 10 day silent meditation retreat was:

"No I, no self, no ego, only experience, only flow."

So now what? Since I have a tendency to play faster, I now rely on my timer. Scuba divers rely on dive computers to maintain a safe ascent rate when going up underwater. If you violate the 18m/60secs rule, even for only a couple feet, your computer will go ballistic with alarms, telling you to slow down and maybe adding extra time to your safety stop before surfacing. This prevents the nitrogen in your blood from forming bubbles and giving you decompression sickness. Think of shaking a coke can and instantly opening it compared to letting it sit or opening it very very slowly. The coke in the can is your blood and the nitrogen are the bubbles that will burst out the top if you open too fast. If you dive enough, you will already know when you are getting close to the alarm going off (muscle memory style).

I now treat that timer as my ascent rate indicator. I add more time bar to where I normally make my clicks as a buffer to really make sure these are the decisions I should be making. Basically, my clicks are ascending slower then the recommended safety standard.

Making A Poker Friend

I feel very fortunate to have linked up with a fellow grinder of Mikesell's HU book. He gave me some study advice that has ironically made me too busy to chat with him on the regular and boosted my study winrate/retention. We are both obviously big Cory fans and I have watched the video review they did together three or four times.

A Successful 500 Shot

I played some 500. Won some money. It's like 200 except you raise to $15 instead of $6 pre.

Going to wrap this up here on one last note...

Today I did something I have never done before. I was playing RNGeebus, lost two all ins with +80% equity over 20ish hands...and quit.

You already know why.

Have you bought coreys book? For the $1,900? Ot is there some other info that i mised that is less expensive. Ty

Ok. Ty

Just found your blog! Philly G has me interested in HU PLO at some point. (Need to level up in NLHE first.) But I think this is great! Following.

I like chatting with people about poker on discord so DM me if you want to chat.

Cool blog, just read through most of it! I'll be back! GL

keep updating!

How is it going ElSquancho?