plolearnerguy
300 points
Hello, and welcome to my poker journal. The purpose of this blog is to encourage sober reflection on my poker journey, and to help me realize my goals. So let's begin by setting some goals.
Weekly Goals
20,000 hands per week.
Bring my A game to the table every minute of every session every day.
Invest some time in hand review and session review.
Improve every aspect of my game, including technical skills, soft skills, and mental game.
Pool 5x per week.
Gym 5x per week.
Eat less.
8 hours of sleep a day.
Monthly Goals
Bankroll management. At the moment that means grinding PLO $25 and PLO $50.
Invest plenty of time studying and reviewing hands and sessions.
80,000 hands per month.
Pool 20x per month.
Gym 20x per month.
Eat less.
Long term goals
Move up in limits slowly and safely.
Lose weight.
Improve cardio fitness and general health.
Healthy diet and lots of exercise.
I think that overall these are pretty solid goals. They should be relatively easy to accomplish if I devote enough time and focus on them. 20,000 hands might be a bit hard, although I did 1607 hands today and could have definitely played a lot more. I think in order to really grind 3k hands per day I would need to do something like 3-4 hours of continuous grinding + additional sessions. Something like that. Playing 8 tables at once I could do maybe 600-700 hands in an hour, in which case it is pretty easy to get in 3k hands. Maybe 2k/3k hands we'll see how busy the games are.
In terms of bankroll management, I think I will probably start taking shots at PLO $100 at $2500, just adding in one table and then as my bankroll grows I will add in additional tables of PLO $100 if the game is good.
I might add in some app play. We'll see what happens.
April 14, 2023 | 11:42 a.m.
Hand History driven straight to this forum with DriveHUD Poker HUD and Database Software - http://drivehud.com
PL Omaha 0.5(BB)
BB ($199) [VPIP: 26% | PFR: 18.5% | AGG: 23.2% | Hands: 209]
HJ ($15.47) [VPIP: 100% | PFR: 33.3% | AGG: 0% | Flop Agg: 0% | Turn Agg: 0% | River Agg: 0% | 3-Bet: 0% | 4-Bet: 0% | Hands: 3]
CO ($30.84) [VPIP: 63.2% | PFR: 5.3% | AGG: 34.1% | Hands: 40]
HERO ($39.45) [VPIP: 26.6% | PFR: 14.2% | AGG: 18.8% | Flop Agg: 20.1% | Turn Agg: 18.6% | River Agg: 16% | 3-Bet: 3.3% | 4-Bet: 14% | Cold Call: 22.5% | Hands: 63215]
SB ($119.46) [VPIP: 32.4% | PFR: 20.5% | AGG: 26.7% | Flop Agg: 30% | Turn Agg: 25.1% | River Agg: 21.3% | 3-Bet: 8.9% | Fold to 3-Bet: 11.3% | 4-Bet: 15.1% | Hands: 2517]
Dealt to Hero: 5h 6c Ad 5d
HJ Raises To $1.75, CO Calls $1.75, HERO
Note the stack sizes (30bb for hj, CO at 60 bb, hero at 80 bb, other two players cover us). Note only 3 hands on HJ.
My thoughts on this situation. Our hand is a little weak for a raised pot. Sure, we have a nut suit, but we don't have great connectivity, and this is the sort of hand that favours deepstack situations. We definitely want to play hands vs villains, but since effective stacks are quite shallow, our range should be more high card oriented.
Feb. 18, 2023 | 2:18 a.m.
anyway, over all I thought it was a tremendous video. I really like this format and feel like the narrator did a great job in general providing valuable feedback. that being said, there is always room for improvement. I feel like there might be more value if instead of simply saying "I like this play, I don't like this play" you went into a bit more detail on your thought process and expanding on the situation a bit as well. I realize you do that to some degree already but I feel like you could do it more. Still overall a great video which I feel has helped me identify a number of weaknesses in my game and is extremely relevant to me as a player since I am competing in similar pools. I really look forward to watching your past videos and will keep my eyes peeled for future ones.
Feb. 16, 2023 | 9:40 p.m.
19:26 table two, is probably a spot both on the flop and the turn where I could be more aggressive both in general and in specific
19:35 table one, what AA combos, if any, would you flat in this spot?
21:37 we actually have two gutshots
Feb. 16, 2023 | 9:20 p.m.
16:35 table 1, maybe a smaller raise sizing would be better here vs the repeat min donk.
Feb. 16, 2023 | 9:13 p.m.
what hands are we targeting with our river shove? hard to see an overpair taking all that heat on the turn and J9 is almost always going to c/r vs that sizing. so we're left with 96? Our 3 also removes some of his potential 3x calls, like overpair + fd + 3.
Feb. 16, 2023 | 9:09 p.m.
Hand History driven straight to this forum with DriveHUD Poker Tracking Software - http://drivehud.com
PL Omaha 0.50(BB)
HERO ($47.10) [VPIP: 25.2% | PFR: 15.8% | AGG: 19.4% | Flop Agg: 22.5% | Turn Agg: 17.6% | River Agg: 15.1% | 3-Bet: 4% | Fold to 3-Bet: 5.9% | 4-Bet: 10.4% | Hands: 165955]
BB ($39) [VPIP: 29.4% | PFR: 15.7% | AGG: 33.3% | Hands: 56]
BTN ($51.96) [VPIP: 30.4% | PFR: 14.3% | AGG: 28.9% | Flop Agg: 35.3% | Turn Agg: 33.3% | River Agg: 11.1% | 3-Bet: 0% | 4-Bet: 0% | Hands: 57]
Dealt to Hero: Jc 9h 8s 7h
BTN Raises To $1.27, HERO Raises To $4.31, BB Folds, BTN Calls $3.04
Hero SPR on Flop: [4.69 effective]
Flop ($9.12): Tc 2c 3s
HERO Bets $6.50 (Rem. Stack: $36.29), BTN Calls $6.50 (Rem. Stack: $41.15)
Turn ($22.12): Tc 2c 3s Qd
HERO Bets $21.37 (Rem. Stack: $14.92)
How'd I do?
On the flop I decide to go for a low equity pure bluff c-bet. We've got a club and this two wheel flop should whiff our opponent, especially since we are proximity blocking the ten. We should have range advantage because our three betting range is going to be a lot stronger than villain's bu open flat range. Maybe I am betting too much here? It seems like a flop we want to bet frequently for a small sizing, maybe 1/3rd.
On the turn I pick up a weak wrap. This card belongs to both of us but more to me imo, as my three betting range is more high card oriented than villain's. Check folding after picking up a wrap seems nonsensical. I think turn sizing is good.
Your thoughts?
Feb. 16, 2023 | 2:10 a.m.
i'm down for 4 card or 5 card plo study group, dm me
Feb. 14, 2023 | 1:48 p.m.
pre I think is fine.
on the flop, as a matter of overall strategy, I believe we should always check in this situation because we don't have any real advantage here. we're not going to have stronger hands on average, or a majority of nutted hands, so we have no real reason to start betting out imo. as for our hand in particular, I see no real merit in bluffing with this hand. whereas if we had something like K66, where we block some continues, our hand might be a better structure for a bluff. also I do not believe we should be pure bluffing in this situation really ever, but certainly not frequently.
Feb. 14, 2022 | 9:22 a.m.
i'd probably just pot stack off, but villain's min raise on the flop terrifies me, I'd probably fold to it
Nov. 21, 2021 | 4:37 a.m.
16:36 once we pot and villain raises there will be 153 in the middle with only 125 left so we will see < 33%. great video as always!
Oct. 18, 2020 | 12:35 p.m.
what should our RFI frequency be in a game with three blinds 1/2/4 structure when we are the button?
Oct. 13, 2020 | 12:37 a.m.
20:50
just thought this was a nice way to think about the hand, in terms of how many value bets we have on the river, and how that should dictate our bluffing frequency.
Oct. 8, 2020 | 8:29 p.m.
In terms of how we can study and benefit from GTO play, I don't think it is possible or recommended to try to emulate the machines. Instead we should try to understand what are the advantages of some of the things they are doing, and allow that to influence our own decisions. Are we never bluffing the flop in heads up pots while the machine is doing a ton of it? Then let's add in the most profitable bluffs and see what happens. We can observe trends, like the machine likes to "slowplay" (check back heads up in position for example) certain sets. We can theorize that this is so we don't get run over on turn bricks or just to penalize our opponent's turn aggression in some manner. Then we can observe that the machine likes to check back certain sets, those which have an additional board pair, blocking your chances of a full house, those which block your opponents GII or semi bluffing range. We can observe the machine likes to "slowplay" bottom set more than top set. And we can make some adjustments and see what happens.
Oct. 8, 2020 | midnight
Basically, solvers come up with complicated strategies that are "game theory optimal" GTO. Essentially, these are strategies that cannot be beaten, only tied. By bluffing, semi bluffing, value betting, checking, raising, calling etc. at just the right frequencies, any strategy which deviates from this GTO strategy will lose. If you don't bluff catch enough then the gto strategy will steal too many pots from you. Bluff catch too often and you will get value bet to death. Take too many check call lines to induce bluffs? Then you will lose value and lose pots which more aggressive play would have won / saved.
I imagine these machines are programmed to try all manner of different strategies and eventually one rises to the top. Not really sure.
Oct. 7, 2020 | 11:56 p.m.
Well I'm officially confused, because originally you said you were winning a lot on the button and losing in the BB (which is standard), and now you are saying you are talking about your overall winrate.
Oct. 7, 2020 | 11:50 p.m.
"
i am losing 20bb per 100 at 5c/10c over 20k hands so you are right i would actually lose less folding every hand!"|
If you folded every hand, your loss rate in the bb would be 100 bb / 100. Your loss rate in the BB is only calculated based on hands you are actually in the BB. A loss rate of 20 bb / 100 in the BB is actually very good, we generally aim for a loss rate of 50 bb / 100, although in a game with lots of loose limpers you can do much better.
Oct. 7, 2020 | 10:32 a.m.
So that was basically my line of thought as well. Vision plays this hand as a turn check call, and I think the reason is we need to have some very strong hands in our c/c, c/c, c range or villain will be able to bet the river with impunity. So we take our worst very strong hands, those that will have the least equity if the money goes in (that don't have any OESD or flush draw basically), and we just call down with them (or that is one possible interpretation of why we could / should just call this hand on the turn).
And then the question is should I emulate this strategy?
If we are always raising all our sets and AJ before the river, then how frequently are we calling a third barrel on a brick?
And how much of villain's turn barrel range is high equity draws anyway? Against air, weak draws, and strong made hands we probably earn more by check call. And if villain does have AA, like he will roughly 10% of the time, we save a ton of money by c/cing (sometimes river will check through). This isn't a primary concern, but a nice tertiary benefit.
I agree pre is a three bet in a vacuum. I thought villain was a bit nitty so I just flatted, but probably better to still three bet.
Oct. 7, 2020 | 6:30 a.m.
10:06
874 rainbow flop. we are hu in position after flatting MP raise (villain is actually / also UTG 5 handed)
this flop doesn't really belong to either of us. we are blocking some of villain's continues or check raises, JT98, T987 etc. although we lack the important 9 blocker. Our hand is almost too strong to start bluffing with, although this is sort of a special case in that villain will quite often have an overpair, especially considering our hand, which unblocks kings and aces, and also blocks a large number of his broadway combos. vision didn't have this exact situation, but in a few analogous ones it looks like it is mixing hero's hand class.
Oct. 6, 2020 | 9 a.m.
$1/$2 Pot Limit Omaha Cash, 5 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.
SB: $31.39 (15.7 bb)
Hero (BB): $203 (101.5 bb)
MP: $421.21 (210.6 bb)
CO: $200 (100 bb)
BTN: $197 (98.5 bb)
Preflop: Hero is BB with Ks Jc Jh Kh
MP folds, CO raises to $7, 2 folds, Hero calls $5
Flop: ($15) Jd 4d As (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $10.63, Hero calls $10.63
Turn: ($36.26) 9c (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $34.25, Hero raises to $137
Oct. 6, 2020 | 7:13 a.m.
Yes, it is normal to lose a ton out of the BB (although if you are losing more than 100 bb / 100 you are probably doing something wrong). A vpip of 60% in the BB is probably too loose, unless you face a lot of minraising. We are supposed to VPIP less than that in the BB vs any open except for SB AFAIK. It does depend to a degree on how the people at your table are playing.
Oct. 5, 2020 | 7:40 p.m.
The section around the 5 minute mark was particularly helpful to me. Great video.
Oct. 3, 2020 | 9:33 a.m.
https://www.runitonce.com/poker-training/videos/transitioning-from-nlhe-to-plo-part-1/
Oct. 2, 2020 | 8:04 p.m.
playing at an anon table, but i've been there for an hour or so, so I've got some hands on these guys.
so the action goes like this,
utg limps (23/9) over 22 hands, Mp overlimps (83/16), and CO pots to $11 (26/21).
So we've got a tight guy limping, a loose guy limping, and then a tight guy raising.
My question is, what sort of range should we assign the tag who has isoed two limpers from the CO? And should I flat AJT9 suited to the J in the SB here?
Oct. 2, 2020 | 3:51 p.m.
11:56 this appears to be a standard three bet in BB vs SB w/ AK67 with the nut suit. Having the off suit king is important though, since it unblocks second best hands for your opponents and also might afford you some bluffing opportunities. Technically vision only three bets it if it is suited to the A6 but it is obviously right on the cusp anyway, and in the case of vision villain is opening at a significantly lower frequency.
Oct. 2, 2020 | 4:52 a.m.
yah, that is for MP vs UTG. for BU vs UTG it is call 13% raise 5%.
So u raise AA except worst combo no suit, no connectivity. then u raise a lot of ds stuff that is highly connected, esp. if it has high cards. that is tight three betting range. and some double pair double suit, the strongest ones. then u flat hands that are slightly worse than that. so u raise AKQT ds, but you flat AKQT with three clubs for example.
and the later the opener the wider you three bet, but still within reason.
Oct. 2, 2020 | 2:57 a.m.
generally you want to play quite tight vs a raise, it varies from position to position but only call about 5% of hands (Call 5% raise 5%.) will give u some more detail later im off to store right now.
Sept. 30, 2020 | 9:57 p.m.
Kh 4h 5d 6c
call
Jd Td 5s 5c
call
Td Tc 7c 2h
should not have opened in the first place
As 4s 8c 9h
call
As Js 4c 9h
call if suited to the ace as you are
4c 4s 3d 6h
not an open apparently (this one surprised me)
Why? Because that is how robots playing an unexploitable strategy play.
24:50 table 1 thoughts on check raising the flop here? we have a very strong hand and persistent equity regardless of villain's holding. at the same time all of our outs aside from the jack are non nut, which could pose a problem on certain turn river run outs if we take a slower line.
Feb. 16, 2023 | 9:44 p.m.