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!
That makes a lot more sense. I dunno, I think there are a lot of runouts where you are out oop against an opponent who can very likely have a straight and you don't have great blockers to continue aggresssion.
That makes a lot more sense. I dunno, I think there are a lot of runouts where you are out oop against an opponent who can very likely have a straight and you don't have great blockers to continue aggresssion.
I’d give up on str8 runouts and be agressive on paired board runouts and maybe if I turn equity. I have fold equity on flop just playing my range. I think Kx with pair hands tend to lead, hands that can’t check call but can benefit from fold equity, definetly unsure ab this combo though this could be too loose. If he has rag aces I put his hand in a rlly rough spot
laying this one down hurt my soul ( vs fish)
3b pot he b 1/2 on flop i call. turn xx, river i 1/2 he jams. ill check what he had tmr
this month is going sick online ngl. really wish i didnt play live and just stuck online :-( ill post a graph at the end of the month
owwowow. lost a 10k pot today too. rlly sick hand had top set hu on t62 rb in a 3b pot he cb i raise small ip he pots we get it in. he had 6789 for wrap + pair and bdfd :-(
laying this one down hurt my soul ( vs fish)
3b pot he b 1/2 on flop i call. turn xx, river i 1/2 he jams. ill check what he had tmr
I don't post strategy much anymore, but I enjoy reading anything Omaha related.
This river had me screaming to myself and I had to post. In my opinion, the river bet by you should have been 1/3 pot. And the 1/3 pot size makes sense for several reasons. For example, it can be hard in game to figure out that exact... xbet ...that gets re-raised pot all-in, but if you bet 1/3 pot on the river then your opponent's pot raise is almost exactly all in. Plus even beyond that a lot of players now are using a two bet sizing on the river of 1/3 pot or pot.
I might see you at the tables so I don't want to say much more. But thanks for the thread. I enjoy it and appreciate you for making 2+2 fun to read.
I don't post strategy much anymore, but I enjoy reading anything Omaha related.
This river had me screaming to myself and I had to post. In my opinion, the river bet by you should have been 1/3 pot. And the 1/3 pot size makes sense for several reasons. For example, it can be hard in game to figure out that exact... xbet ...that gets re-raised pot all-in, but if you bet 1/3 pot on the river then your opponent's pot raise is almost exactly
I was playing one size on the river. Why do you split your range here ? I don’t mind 1/3 though at all opponents range is very weak, but I can’t think of an argument for a pot sized bet tbh and what range I’d be doing it with. Curious to hear your take. I’m playing bovada so unlikely I see you at the tables there or that you’d know it was me :P
And you’re welcome glad you’re liking the thread
I played all day today, way too tired to keep going through the night even though games are best at night. maybe ill start my days later but rlly dont have it in me to continue and dont wanna burn out been enjoying playing a lot recently. but my body physically wont let me open tables right now so i think thats a good time to call it quits for the night. another crazy day, but i alrdy know the variance is going to end up going the other way so hopefully the rungood lasts a bit longer!
Also decided to only 4-table instead of 6-8, so hands for this month will be significantly lower than last month. I just think im sharper at 4
I was playing one size on the river. Why do you split your range here ? I don’t mind 1/3 though at all opponents range is very weak, but I can’t think of an argument for a pot sized bet tbh and what range I’d be doing it with. Curious to hear your take. I’m playing bovada so unlikely I see you at the tables there or that you’d know it was me :P
And you’re welcome glad you’re liking the thread
Using a one bet sizing on the river is perfectly fine. I simply pointed out that some players are now doing a two bet sizing approach on the river. And it is usually ⅓ pot as the small size and the pot as the big size. But of course this is more difficult to implement and people are not necessarily using both sizes equally.
I have a “set up the shove” mentality. So when I saw your post, no matter if I normally use one river bet size or two river bet sizes, I noticed that you arrived on the river heads up in a pot of $462 and your opponent had $790 left. My “set up the shove” mentality would have had me bet about $165 so that if my opponent were to shove then that shove is a full pot sized shove and they got no discount on the shove. I got a discount of being able to bet only $165 (⅓ pot) to have a legitimate chance of winning the hand uncontested and additionally if my opponent wants to shove there was no discount on their shove as it was a fully pot sized raise by them. You betting $231 means his shove was for less than pot. You made it easier for him to fold by you betting more. And you made it easier for him to shove because it is less than a pot sized shove. So in your situation here even I am mostly only using a one bet size, but it is a “set up the shove” bet size of about $165 (or using preset buttons ⅓ pot button here).
I can’t talk too much (or don’t want to LOL) about how other people are constructing their two bet river sizings but for fun let’s say it might be something like this in general terms…
bet a big part of his range for 33% with weak 2 pairs, some straights blocking twopairs, etc and ofc some bluffs with no SD value. And the stronger hands that don’t block bluff catchers for full pot (my guess is like 15-20% of range bets full pot here). But I personally also have the "set up the shove" mentality morphing my decisions.
Using a one bet sizing on the river is perfectly fine. I simply pointed out that some players are now doing a two bet sizing approach on the river. And it is usually ⅓ pot as the small size and the pot as the big size. But of course this is more difficult to implement and people are not necessarily using both sizes equally.
I have a “set up the shove” mentality. So when I saw your post, no matter if I normally use one r
besides the sizing what do u think ab the fold that was the point of the hand!
The fold is fine, but all the more reason to bet-fold for a 1/3 bet size than a 1/2 bet size. It was 3bet preflop so AAxx is easily in his holdings. But over the course of a session you might want to look people up and call. Also you called the player a fish, if you you feel he isn't going anywhere if you lose, then that is another reason to call off your stack. And it is 3 handed so you only have one other person battling you against the fish which again might be a reason to call because you are fine with losing and battling on short handed. At a full 6 handed table where 5 of us are trying to get the fish's money I fold.
A lot of opponents think that J on the river is a safe card for them as no flush or additional straight came in and they therefore go ape **** crazy with their two pair that contains an Ace.
The fold is fine, but all the more reason to bet-fold for a 1/3 bet size than a 1/2 bet size. It was 3bet preflop so AAxx is easily in his holdings. But over the course of a session you might want to look people up and call. Also you called the player a fish, if you you feel he isn't going anywhere if you lose, then that is another reason to call off your stack. And it is 3 handed so you only have one other person battling you against t
imo the way this played out its aces and aces only never 2p. and by fish i meant loose and passive player. so when the passive player check jams river ur probably not good. anyways yeah theres not much analyis on it ive played these pools long enough its a good fold regardles of outcome ive called in these spots plenty of times and have rarely been good but we will see when i get the hh!
was stuck like 10k on bovada today thank god for the late night shenanigans. i need to stop trying to play gto vs these whales and give up in some spots thats what i did wrong today cuz card distrubution i was just dealt really marginal hands today and bluff combos but villains on bovada dont like folding so its not rlly worth
the upward trend continues!!!!
definetly am loving the 500 pools on bovada. by far the best games out there ngl. also this rake is disgusting 38k wtf.
Being able to check hands the day after would be great for the station inside me. 🤣 Nice fold
lost like 10k ev in since my last check in. somehow still up even since then or up a little. having a really brutal run at 5/10 but the results will eventually pick up. the games are actually just insanely good, its genuinely hard to lose in them
i basically won every all in today. very good feeling! still really happy with my play, definetly some punts i can avoid here and there that would boost my winrate so always things to improve on but overall i feel like im playing super optimally in these games. i have dinner tonight with my girlfriend and my siblings so ill be on the grind again tmr.
this hand really haunts me. i put him on a lot of rundown hands so really not a lot of sets and i made the correct read in the sense that he didnt have a set on the flop but he unfortunately backdoored the boat. such a sad hand i think i played it really well and kept him in there with a really marginal hand
i think anon poker is more friendly to recs because they dont get humiliated when they punt noone is there to judge them. i like it way more than name-sites
Your results are terrific. Awesome work! As a crappy 50NL player you are genuinely very inspiring.
Do you worry about the state of Ignition? I know a lot of high stakes cash players have left the site due to suspected collusion and bots. Have you noticed anything suspicious?
PLO is especially susceptible to collusion due to the larger number of hole cards that act as removal. Obviously there's still some whales in the waters and you are making it work but the whole running below EV thing is maybe a clue that there is something iffy going on. Of course luck swings in both ways but keep an eye out if sessions are consistently running below it. AIEV is affected by hole card sharing because it is reflective of the chances without factoring in the card removal that the bots are using to decide whether to call or jam.
70bb eff to start hand, i x/c 3/4 x/c 3/4 and i lead for pot on riv. not sure ab this one i think folding him off chops is worth?
