Poker Forum

New bankroll $723, I lost 60 in one short session and won around 70 in two different sessions. It seems like to lose a session of omaha hi/lo, I either have to have everything go wrong or tilt. I'm really happy with the way I've been playing and feel like I have a significant edge over my opponents. I've cut it down to just 2 or 3 tables max, I think my max profit is at 2 or 3 depending on my mood. Would anybody agree that omaha8 has the least variance of any form of poker?? It just seems like way more than with any other game, when I play good I win, and when I play bad I lose.

Definitely going to take some getting used to for an average session to end, up or down around $60 for every 45 minutes of play or so.

I think I might try to play some omaha 8 when I go to Vegas in a month, I read on 2+2 that Orleans and the Venetian usually spread 4/8 with some type of kill. I can see the game being unbearably slow, but really juicy.

cheers,
Chad

Played for about 3 hours since last post, same story as the last few posts, new bankroll $820! I'm really diggin omaha hi/lo!

The first hour I lost $13, one big heads up pot I flopped bottom set and the nut low draw, then turned the nut flush draw, his last couple bets went in and I found out that he turned a bigger set, then somehow the river missed all my outs and I got scooped. The next two hours I started hittin some of my big draws and didn't really lose any big hands! I threw away the best hand several times, but to stay out of those situations where you can potentially get scooped its definitely +EV to throw away the best of it before the big bets start going in sometimes.

cheers,
Chad

I played way too much this weekend. The more I play the looser and more aggressive I get and my profits go south of the border. I need to take a step back and pick my spots a lot better. I found myself raising in a lot of situations where I had practically no fold equity and very minimal scoop potential. When to be aggressive and when to passively continue with the hand is something I am really struggling with in omaha hi/lo, in hold em its almost always aggression or fold it seems like, but there are a lot of spots in omaha where passivity is the best play. Anyway final result is I lost 100 and banned myself for the night, hopefully I can get all my stuff done and take a new attitude into it tomorrow if I have time.

cheers,
Chad

I'm going to learn heads up no limit hold em. I'm going to start at $2 sit and go's and when I've won 10 more than I've lost I'll move up to $5, and so on until I get to $20 sngs or to $1000 in my account (not necessarily just from these), then I'll give 50nl a whirl. I think setting new challenges for myself keeps me moving forward with my knowledge of the game and making money.

What a downswing. I lost at limit hold em, HORSE, 8-game, omaha h/l, and heads up no limit sit and go's. I ran great for about 2 weeks and this whole week I can't win at anything. New bankroll $625. Good news is I haven't blown much money when I've tilted, but I have tilted several times. I am trying out the free trial on deuces cracked, and I feel like their videos have great content, but are tough to stay interested in. I think they need to do some editing and not just have the screen on the game the entire time with a voice in the background.

I think the deuces cracked videos are a great place to start and I've played some heads up no limit before with some success. I've lost 5 in a row now though, 1 I straight messed up, the other 4 I'm not sure how I could've played differently. One was really outrageous,

I'm playing an extremely passive opponent who will call me down with any piece of the board, but won't lead more than the min. with anything. I'm in the BB with A8 he limps in, I check. Flop comes A J x, I bet, he calls, turn is an 8 I bet he calls, river is a blank looking card, I think through his range and decide he probably has a jack. Any ace he would probably have raised preflop, but a jack or some lower two pair combination is possible. With this in mind I of course make a value bet on the river that leaves me with about 500 behind. He FLAT CALLS and rolls over AA. I have no idea what I should've done differently, he had no idea what he was doing, but over the next several hands he flopped the world when I had top pair, I'd lose the minimum but when I was only left with 500 to start they added up and I lost.

I think heads up no limit is a good mountain to climb in my growth as a poker player. Its a very psychological game, you're playing against 1 opponent, so you have the whole match to just focus on their tendencies, create ranges for them, and make adjustments to beat them. I think these skills convert really well to any form of poker, but are most necessary at heads up. There's definitely a lot of money to be made at the game, and I kind of like the one on one aspect. If you find a bad player you're playing every pot with them so you can fully exploit that situation, I also think this makes good game selection at cash games extremely important.

UGH poker can be extremely frustrating sometimes. I need to take a break for a couple days, but I'm sure I'll pull out of this slump, I've been through them before, never quite this long while playing well, but that's variance for ya! I just gotta re-evaluate my game and get some confidence back before I jump back in the ring.

cheers,
Chad

I'm really glad I gave hu no limit a try way under my bankroll. I went 1 for 8, I quit. My two pair ran into flushes and straights, my top pair ran into sets, everything went wrong. I watched a bunch of videos, thought about my plays and lost over and over to people that were terrible. I'm not sure what I'm going to play, I lost $7 playing omaha hi/lo while I was writing this, maybe its just time for a week break or something.

cheers,
Chad

hmmmm heads up play just takes a lot of practice man. You have to defintly pay your dues because 3 betting 4 betting c betting and turn betting are huge.

Anyways its nice to see you are becoming a very good poker player. I been on vacation from poker pretty much just doing basketball games.

Keep up the good work though man

I've read a few of your posts and checked out fulltilts academy lessons. They have helped me with my game. Been playing .05/.10 & made a couple of dollars. Tried thieir tourney but didn't do as well. Back to the lessons, lol. I'll keep checking your posts for your progress...good luck.

Thanks despise, ya heads up play is a whole new ball game, its started to go a little better for me now, just had a rough go right off the bat. I've been reading your posts and it sounds like focusing on the b-ball games for a bit isn't turning out so bad for ya! Good luck!

Glad to hear the academy stuff helped ya woodworker, keep it up!

Going to Vegas in 2 weeks and the first day we'll be there is St. Patrick's Day, and its during March Madness! I don't even like basketball, but I'll bet Vegas around that time will be even crazier!

I need to come up with a little pre-poker routine to get me in the right mindset and thinking before and during every hand. I have something like that for every other competition and it helps a ton, so ya I think I'll have to come up with something soon.

I had another losing session at omaha8, so I played some limit holdem, and made all my loss back and then some, then got back into some mixed games and made some good money. My limit hold em and omaha h/l games have improved immensely since the last time I was playing mixed games consistently, so I might work back into those a little bit. Anyways new bankroll $700., was down to 500 after my loss at omaha yesterday, but released a 50 vip bonus and kicked ass, so ya.

Had literally the worst wrestling tournament of my 16 year wrestling career yesterday at the most important time. Last week was just rough on all fronts, but its a new week, I will never weigh 125lbs again in my life, and probably won't be lighter than 143 or so till next season =) and I'm headed to Vegas in 2 weeks, so ya, extremely disappointed but life goes on!

cheers,
Chad

Bummer you had a bad week but hey VEGAS! That's something to look forward to for sure! Really like your blog and will keep reading it as long as you keep writing it! Anyway, try to be positive (not always easy I know) and hopefully you'll have a much better week! Good luck in Vegas hope it goes well for you.

Thanks moss, I'm really excited for the trip! And ya a better week would sure be nice, but poker doesn't let you decide that for yourself sometimes, so I'll just try to have fun, learn, and play my A-game regardless of what comes my way this week!

I went to the casino tonight and lost 160, I played 4/8 limit for 2 hours and didn't win a single hand outright (I split 2 heads up pots but netted a loss in both to the rake), which i would be able to deal with if I was getting 93o every hand, but the problem was I was flopping top pair or overpairs and getting crushed by the river. I thought back through all the hands I was involved in though and there is only 1 I would have played differently, I had Jacks and the flop came 2 3 5 two spades, and two generally loose and passive players started to get kind of aggressive, but I stuck with my hand instead of folding when it was pretty clear there was no way I was good after another spade hit on the river and the made straight was already on board. (I was up against pocket aces and A 4 of spades) On the upside I took the loss really well, I was upset for about 20 minutes after I'd been felted by 34o in a kill pot I raised with AQ, but then I got over it and poker's still fun even if it everything goes south sometimes. I think I'm going to give live limit omaha h/l a shot next time I go to Blackhawk. I just found out they spread it at one of the casinos, so that should be fun!

cheers,
Chad

ROFLMAO your going to Vegas during the busiest time of the season lol. March Madness in Vegas is the biggest holiday in Vegas its bigger then the World Series of Poker man I hope you no what your walking into lmfao. Couple of my buds are heading out there lucky ducks im not 21 yet lol. But that city is gonna be booming with gamblers alllllll over the place. So much money gonna be flowing like crazy.

I've been reading a little bit online, and yeah it sounds like it gets pretty wild around that time. I'm so stoked!

It seems like when I hit a bad streak its almost always because I hit a bad streak of cards and then started getting looser and more aggressive, thus prolonging my losing streak. I need to really work on tightening up when I start losing.

I'm playing a good session of 3 tables of 1/2 omaha8, up $40 and cruising.

cheers,
Chad

just get pissed at yourself when you lose a pot and go into rock mode

I think that is a great idea. I usually get pissed at the game and that causes looser play, but if I can focus it on myself I think that'll help me tighten up instead.

I'm making my way back from a rough go last week, and am just about back to my all time high bankroll of 820.

I really like that there isn't so many clearly correct plays at hu. its all about the situation and adjusting to your opponent. I feel like I need to learn how to use a HUD for it though, and get a lot of hands under my belt.

I won about 30 playing omaha hi/lo, lost some at 8-game, watched a hu video and then tried to find someone that had lost money according to pokertableratings and played them at hu 50nl. I made 25 there so I'm up to about $760. I have more fun and its more exciting to play heads up, but they don't have a limit that really fits my bankroll and I like the cash games a lot better than the sit and gos so I'm kind of SOL. I think a bad run at 50nl hu could really hurt, so I'll just stick to taking one buy in shots at it every now and then, and make sure I choose a bad opponent who prefferrably has less than a full stack.



cheers,
Chad

Actually to tell you the truth poker tracker doesnt do shit for me when im playing heads up PLO so im not sure it would do any good in a Hold'em match.

The HUD doesnt really do me much heads up though thats just my opinion though.


And im ready to come out and play some on poker stars again. I feel like its time to give it another goal .

Good to hear! Do you have the same name on pokerstars as here? I'll have to look for ya while I'm playing.

Rough week = taken care of with 3 good days. New bankroll $810. Omaha h/l is poker, therefore, there will be times when negative variance takes over and I get raped for who knows how long, but I have a huge edge over my $1/2 opponents so I just have to make sure I play my A-game and everything will take care of itself after I play enough hands. The real issue comes when I go from playing my A-game and running bad to playing my C-game and running bad. I think coming back after that awful week will help me in the future when the doomswitch gets pulled on me.

cheers,
Chad

Make that $860.

Time for some sushi, some bowling, and some beer!

$897! I ended up making another $400 deposit to get my full bonus, so I actually have more in my account right now, but I still need to clear $280, so I have to wait a couple weeks before I can withdraw my initial deposit. I had 200 on full tilt, and I only put 100 on stars so I think I'll clear my deposit, then take off 300, then withdraw some more after I stabilize at a good bankroll for $2/$4.

I'm playing better on a more consistent basis than I ever have. So I'm really happy with how everything is going, and I'm really enjoying Omaha hi/lo.

I need to come up with a chart of common odds to certain draws. For instance, if I have a naked nut low draw with no backup, I'm not sure exactly what kind of odds the pot needs to be laying me to continue with my draw, especially if I have backdoor draws, and I find myself in a similar position with wrap or open ended straight draws and flush draws. I suppose a lot of these situations are close enough that my decision probably won't show much long term EV one way or the other, but I'm sure I'm consistently making some big mistakes just by not knowing off the top of my head what kind of odds I'm getting.

Hmm, I'm gonna walk through an attempt to figure out the nut low draw odds. Let me know if I'm missing something I should be factoring in, or if I've done something wrong.
Flop comes I have A2xx, flop is 68Q. I can hit a 3, 4, 5, or 7. to make my low, so about 16 outs to half the pot, and 6 outs to counterfeit me. So, I'll make my low about 60% of the time and get counterfeited about 24%, hmm as I start to try to figure this out I think it can fairly be assumed that I'm not going to be able to do it. The xx always makes for some kind of backdoor draw with varying amounts of equity based on my opponents play, and I'm not going to always lose the low when I get counterfeited. A runner runner weak 2 pair draw might have some high potential if my opponent is really loose, but not so much if my opponent is tight and acting aggressive. I guess I'll continue to just play it by feel, and maybe that's more fun and overall better anyway.

I think the statistics method would hold a lot truer if it was only looked at after the turn, when the backdoor possibilities are known, and more information about your opponents holdings are known.

Hmm, kind of a scatter brained post, I suppose I just need to play more and get a better feel for these marginal situations!

cheers,
Chad

I e-mailed support and it turns out I could withdraw money without affecting my bonus, so I decided to take 300 back out, and just leave the 200 in that I cashed out of full tilt.

New bankroll $1030, I'm just past the halfway point towards making goal number 2 on my list, and I'm getting close to moving up to $2/$4 limit games. I feel like my omaha h/l game is heading towards being pretty solid, and I'm improving it every time I sit down, so I just gotta keep on keeping on!

I'm really curious to see what the biggest level I could consistently beat right now would be, but I'll never know, and by the time I move up to find out, I'll be better than I am now! I suppose thats all a good thing though.

I really like how the limits in front of me go up! I need 170 more for 2/4 which shouldn't take too long, then its just 600 more at 2/4 to be rolled for 3/6, then 5/10 is less than double the previous level too. I think this should keep me moving through the limits fairly quickly and keep everything exciting!

cheers,
Chad