Road back to HS PLO
ABOUT ME:
My screenname is portemilio. I've been playing Poker since I was 16. I started off playing poker on Runescape gambling sites where you'd buy coins ingame which had a $ value and deposit them on runescape poker sites. I found myself obsessed with the game since I was young. I specifically loved the HU format. At 16 i ran up 100$ to 20k when BTC was around 1.4k playing 6 max and 9max nlhe but ultimately got destroyed headsup because i lacked a lot of discipline and had major ego issues wanting to be the best. I always wanted to be the best and would get extremely angry when dealing with variance on top of the fact that I was an unstudied player. In college I transitioned to PLO. I got staked and coached but I wasn't winning no matter how hard I tried because of my serious BRM issues. I'd run up a couple of thousand dollars then instantly shot take 5/10 and lose it all and then go back to the lowest stakes to rebuild, rinse, and repeat. My senior year of college I decided I really wanted to give it my all. In class I'd bring my laptop and drill spots and this was the first form of studying I'd ever experienced (other than hundreds of hours of youtube videos and poker content that I consume). I significantly saw a change in my game. I've always been a highly intuitive player but with the baseline theory I developed I quickly skyrocketed though the ranks. I still had really poor mental game and not great BRM but I was able to run up my first 30k ish month in April of 2022. Unfortunately, I lost it all back shot taking 10/20 on ACR (very commend trend in my poker career). I had to take6 a fifth year of college because of a couple of other reasons but I always knew I was going to end up being a poker player. I dreaded school and felt it was the reason I wasn't succeeding because I still had to commit so many hours to school (studying Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Fluid Mechanics). I come from an Arab household and poker was not accepted at all but that didn't deter me. My fifth year I had the same routine where I'd study in class and play countless hours when I was back. I was also gaming a lot (League) so i decided to cut that out because I figured it was a waste of time if I really wanted to succeed. After I graduated (May 2022) I moved to Lebanon where my parents lived. I finally had no obligations, nothing holding me back and barely any expenses. I devoted all my time to poker (literally 15h days). After 6 months playing 1/2 - 10/20 on mainly bovada and BOL I made roughly 170k in profits. My mental health really suffered. I longed for social interaction; I had none of my friends in Lebanon and I started to not care about poker anymore. My health declined heavily and I felt despite the fact that I was winning that there was a constant judgement surrounding what I was doing. Once I showed my parents how much money I was making they couldn't complain about the journey I was decided to take ( as much anyways) but they were still greatly against it. My biggest mistake came when I decided to shot take 10/20 on Bovada. I was absolutely crushing Betonline and Bovada midstakes for atleast 8bb/100 over a sample of 400k+ hands, but when I played 10/20 nothing I did worked. I got absolutely crushed. My mental game was very strong at this point and I wasn't disheartened, I just figured it was variance. I ended up losing 45 ish buy ins (90k) running 70k below EV. This was almost 2/3 of my roll. I had heard rumors about collusion and cheating rings going on at 10/20 Bovada but I just figured that was bad regs crying about losing because the same was being said about every stake that I was consistently beating. I will never know if I actually got cheated as I have no definitive proof but I highly highly suspect that I did. At this point despite convincing myself that the loss of the money didn't affect me in reality my play began to change because nothing I did was working so I thought i had to deviate. I ended up going to EPT Barcelona in 2023 because I felt the need to prove to myself and everyone that what I was doing was a real job. I had around 50k to my name. I ended up losing 20k there playing 25/50 live (brm issues started coming back I really began to chase what I lost). Once I returned back to the US, started paying rent I prolonged into a 4 month period of break even/losing. I really thought at the time I was playing well I dont know maybe it was variance but looking back at it I had basically given up. I was playing 3h a day max and not putting in any volume at all (20k hands/month max). I'm using this 2+2 thread to hold myself accountable. I'm not going to give up on poker because I know I truly have a talent. I'm at a crossroads right now because im 24 and have little to no job experience so If I want to get a real 9-5 I'd really have to start looking now. I have a couple interviews with some investment banks just to appease my parents but it isn't something I'm taking seriously. On top of that it's really hard to explain to friends and family the journey I've been on because they don't understand variance at all. I'm not saying I didn't make any mistakes I definetly did, but to lose that amount of money is definetly gut wrenching I finally made it and saw it gone at the blink of an eye. I have a lot of fuel in me now and I'm ready to play atleast 50k hands/month. I'm not going to let anyone pressure me or feel the need to prove to anyone (online or IRL) that what I'm doing is valid, I'm just going to do it. It may get lonely but this is truly what I love and I know i will get rewarded.
I'm going to attach this month's results. I had very little money to my name, I moved to my uncles house where I'm paying no rent and felt a lot less pressure on my bankroll. I started at .5/1 and 1/2 and slowly started to shot take 2/5 and very little 5/10 volume. I played almost 72k hands this month, which is the most volume I've ever put in in a month in my life. Attached is the graph. Eventually when I fix my old computer I'll export the DB to my new one and merge them. I will be posting interesting hands and lines I play here as well as weekly-monthly updates. I want to hold myself accountable no matter what and am interested to hear people's thoughts. I only have the last two months of my play tracked I'll post them shortly as I had to buy a new computer
GL ME!
The game is now 50/100/200 with the occasional 400 on.. insane game
In for 9k, was down to 2k. Out for 17. Phew
Ended up actually cashing out for 29k on the night. Won a massive lot towards the end . The casino closes at 3:30 and it was one of the last lots I got it in pre vs the two big whales of the game with aces and held for like a 22k pot. + 20k session ��
I know I’m supposed to be on break.. but playing the same game again tomorrow night . It’s gonna be one round of 4 card and one round of 5 card. Should be interesting. The “regs” (plo100 level) are already talking about kicking me out of the game though they thought I was some American fish lol
I’m missing my routine of grinding online everyday. Just not really possible in this country given my circumstances rn
Booked a small win yesterday. The politics of the game are not going in my favor . I got added to their group chat and shortly got kicked out. Think I need to start giving some action but idk if it’s worth it given it’s a big game I can’t really splurge around in
Gl portemilio. Will follow the thread/progress.
I found a gaming network im gonna start working from here. its 2.5$/minute, so im gonna take the hit (kappa). Its actually kinda sick ngl will show pictures later. Downloading all the poker apps and will be playing within no time. I took like 2 weeks off so im guessing im not gonna be as sharp as i was when grinding everyday but excited to get back to it
GL!
Im rusty in a lot of spots that came intuitively to me before. Gonna need like 20-30k hands before im probably back in good shape. Its crazy how taking a break affects the level of play for me, which honestly sucks. To be fair I do hold myself to a high standard but I wish maintaining it wasnt as difficult as it was. The fact that i cant take a couple of weeks off to enjoy myself without feeling like this is definetly annoying because i was definetly peaking skill-wise before leaving for Vegas. I did two weeks of live poker in vegas (strictly 4c, barely played online). Then i went to Lebanon on the 24th and havent played any in Lebanon. So thats basically a whole month of no 4-card play (online). Will be keeping track of my winrate and try to play as close to as I remember. I blame the ADHD it causes my memory to be quite trash but I'm sure im just overreacting.
And by skill I'm talking less about theory but more about my perception of the game. Like definetly a bit of theory but more how timing affects how my opponents play, which spots are understabbed or overstabbed etc. (basically the exploitative side of omaha that brings in higher WR) Small things that I could act on almost instantly that I now have to somewhat think about. Just gonna be playing 2/5 for now until im more confident
starting to feel good again!!! ill try to post some hands tomorrow once they download
While you switched over to 5c bc your staker realized you couldn’t beat 4c, the ppl you were shitting on like Jnandez and Kaki are playing like 30-40x your stake on their own dime. Kaki just had a +200k session on coinpoker lol. You’d think after getting **** on by so many ppl and closing your blog you’d be a bit more humble, but, hey, you’re doing just fine on stakers BR, gl bud. Also find it absolutely fkn comedy that you lurk portemillos thread on a daily basis.
Sorry for derailing thread porte, hope you crush the lives games in Lebanon, glgl.
While you switched over to 5c bc your staker realized you couldn’t beat 4c, the ppl you were shitting on like Jnandez and Kaki are playing like 30-40x your stake on their own dime. Kaki just had a +200k session on coinpoker lol. You’d think after getting **** on by so many ppl and closing your blog you’d be a bit more humble, but, hey, you’re doing just fine on stakers BR, gl bud. Also find it absolutely fkn comedy that you lurk portemillos
Kaki had 50% of his own action as he says in the end of his latest video. still a great win obviously, but facts are facts.
Kaki had 50% of his own action as he says in the end of his latest video. still a great win obviously, but facts are facts.
Thanks, didn’t know that. So he made closer to 100k than 200k. How much did Knox make in that 8k pot he posted? Dude shitted on so many ppl in his blog yet every single one of them plays way higher and is clearly in a better financial position than him. I was hoping he got humbled a bit but dude is clearly deluded.
How is the grind going, op?
Will update in a couple of days. I’m back in the live game mix. It’s 25/50 for the first hour or until one of the VIP gets tilted and decides to bump it up to 50/100 and the lash couple hours of the night are 100/200 The 200 straddle is also basically mandatory and the 400 is on occasionally when it becomes 100/200. It’s been swingy as **** ngl. It’s standard variance but its a big shot take so I definetly have some entitlement tilt or whatever it is to win in the game even though realistically it might not happen despite my edge. Definetly the most variance money wise I’ve experienced in my life. I got two friends (one I met through this forum) and another I’ve talked to for a while buying a piece of me but I still half half of my own action. I was up 20k and am in the hole around 20-30k ish now. It’s probs one of the best games I’ve ever played it’s just been brutal lately I’ve basically lost every all in for the past 2 days. I’m trying to detach myself from the money and just play my game until I hit my stop loss. It’s gonna be really hard to leave even if I leave based on how these guys are playing
While you switched over to 5c bc your staker realized you couldn’t beat 4c, the ppl you were shitting on like Jnandez and Kaki are playing like 30-40x your stake on their own dime. Kaki just had a +200k session on coinpoker lol. You’d think after getting **** on by so many ppl and closing your blog you’d be a bit more humble, but, hey, you’re doing just fine on stakers BR, gl bud. Also find it absolutely fkn comedy t
All good man. Glad you have some common sense. That guy sucks cba w him anymore but def do miss anti sweating his blog (which im assuming he’s doing with me)
These hands obv standard I just lost but really good spots for 15k+ multiway
A couple of hands in 5c have been ridiculous too. I hand some videos of other hands but idk how to post on here . Mostly just spots where im chopping just massive pots with infinite equity. And then the pots where im basically flipping opponents are running it once and im getting scooped. A lot of shenanigans like that. I’m probably run 100k below EV if not more.
I need a small loan of 200k to play this game at max potential feelsbadman. The fact that im only down mid 20ks is honestly a win lol
^^^ The A996 double suited hand above is no where near as good as you think it is and would have been better not showing as a "look how well I had it situation." You had it horrible preflop. With "infinite" being the new catch phrase, I will play with you for infinity and let you have A996 double suited all day.
^^^ The A996 double suited hand above is no where near as good as you think it is and would have been better not showing as a "look how well I had it situation." You had it horrible preflop. With "infinite" being the new catch phrase, I will play with you for infinity and let you have A996 double suited all day.
Tell us how you really feel
^^^ The A996 double suited hand above is no where near as good as you think it is and would have been better not showing as a "look how well I had it situation." You had it horrible preflop. With "infinite" being the new catch phrase, I will play with you for infinity and let you have A996 double suited all day.
This wasn’t the hand I was referring to where I had infinite equity I was referring to other hands where I chopped running it twice. Anyways not the point just in general running bad in the game. it’s standard variance it just hurts more cuz it’s the highest I’ve ever played. I got it in vs dry 98 and a gutter and worse FD. It’s definetly a good spot MW.
And A996 ds is a standard open pre idk what ur on it was 1.3 spr on flop with all the straddles and just potted flop oop 3 ways after BB checks, no other way to play it
I’ll update in a couple of days once I get more sessions in, still have like 30k before my stop loss
cool blog, following. nice to see someone else playing live HS PLO here! no problems for me getting it in with that combo draw with A996, would even play fine even at SPRs higher than 1.3.
busto or robusto?
