Omaha is Holdem on Steroids and other Revelations

A few things to touch on since my last post.

1st-Finished 10th in the Omaha Hi-lo this morning after getting a brain fart. Sometimes.................

2- On Saturday afternoons the wife likes to go around to all the 2nd hand stores and check out all the junk in them. I don't mind tagging along as I check out the watches, rings and books while we are there. So far the best watch I have seen there retails for $150 and they were selling it for $50. I passed on that one as I am sure I will run into a better deal eventually.
Today we decided to do a road trip and hit up some of the 2nd hand stores in Toronto as we have been to all the ones here too many time to count.
While gazing through the book section at one of these stores I came across the book, SUPER SYSTEM 2 by DOYLE BRUNSON. Now I already own SUPER SYSTEM 1 as I got it from my wife a few years ago for my birthday. SUPER SYSTEM 1 cost $50.
At the second hand store SUPER SYSTEM 2 cost me $.99 cents. The cover price was $50 and I paid $.99 cents. It pays to shop around.

3-Jr has asked me to learn Java Script with him so he has someone to study with. Like I have an abundance of free time as it is. Of course I agreed to do. As a parent one has to make sacrifices for ones children.

If any one reading this is interested in learning any one of a variety of subjects including MATH, SCIENCE, ECONOMICS, COMPUTING, etc, here is a link to an on-line accredited school that is completely free. They also help teachers and students with the class prep time. Long live a free internet. Khan Academy.

Want to get better at chess. Here is a free chess learning site, beginner to advance strategy, which is run by the same people. Chesscademy

May I play better poker tomorrow morning.

Hi, and thanks for the links to the free courses.
I have taken a few online courses through Coursera.
Coursera organizes the system, but the courses are provided by major universities.

I've taken courses though U of Michigan for example.

Best of luck w/ javascript.
What will your son do with it?

I kinda sorta can use javascript, but I've been using python a lot lately.

Very cool language.

Cheers,
VS

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
Hi, and thanks for the links to the free courses.
I have taken a few online courses through Coursera.
Coursera organizes the system, but the courses are provided by major universities.

I've taken courses though U of Michigan for example.

Best of luck w/ javascript.
What will your son do with it?

I kinda sorta can use javascript, but I've been using python a lot lately.

Very cool language.

Cheers,
VS

I have been reading and doing the exercises for an hour today and now my head hurts. It takes me a lot longer to learn new things the older I get.

I do not know what JRs plans are. I think he just wanted to learn something new. My son is a lot like me in that regard.

I am a graduate of "The college of miscellaneous knowledge."
I know a little about everything and a whole lot about nothing.

I found the following video very interesting and that is why I am posting it.
It explains a little about how the mind is set in it's ways.
The example given (riding this specially made bicycle) is adaptable to how hard it is to retain our thought process in poker after having learned how to play a certain way previously.
The video is 8 minutes long and is well worth the watch if you find such things interesting.

P.S. Week 3 is done at PKR and I won $1.61 for finishing 141st with 1,000 points. Why do I bother.:f_frown:

I would *so* love to give that a try.
Only well padded, and helmeted of course.

I think that the reason it is so difficult, is not just the brain -- it is the physics of the operations required.

In order to put downward force on the pedals, that force must be countered, so we pull up slightly on the handlebars on the same side we're pushing down. This helps keep our ass on the seat.
Or -- in the case of this bike -- it would put our ass on the pavement.

You can ride a bike "no hands". Perhaps that is the best way to learn to ride the trick bike.

Cool video!
VS

Took my wife, daughter and granddaughter to the Canadian National Exhibition (C.N.E.) yesterday. Between the 4 of us, with parking, admission, food, games, and rides, we managed to make $400 disappear. It's a good thing the C.N.E is a once-a-year thing.

It has taken me forever and a day to achieve a lifetime total of 100,000 VPP points on Stars .

These 3 hands are from the same session this morning.
Sometimes I play hands very well
Example 1-

Sometimes I play hands very badly.
My turn bluff bet out of position made my draw very expensive. I could have saved almost $18 by playing it differently.
Example 1-

And sometimes I play them well again.
Example 2-

I will be playing a little more later today in order to maintain my silver status but I am going to close off the month now while I have the time.

Here are Julys totals. Here are Augusts totals.
Stars Balance------$1,340-----------$1,450----- +$110
Everest Balance---$353------------ $355---------+ 2
PKR Balance--------$550------------ $578---------+ 28

Profit to date------$2,275

Originally posted by TheMarxBros3
It has taken me forever and a day to achieve a lifetime total of 100,000 VPP points on Stars .

At my current pace it will take a lot less that that. Only 930 months. Not that I'll still be playing 80 years from now...

Well done!

Best of luck,
VS

I finished reading The Professor, The Banker, and the Suicide King. What a fascinating look at the biggest cash games and players of the poker world. There is nothing like a billionaire setting his sights on the pros and willing to take all of them on one-at-a-time. This book was well worth the time and money spent on it and I highly recommend it even if it was written over 10 years ago.

I haven't posted lately because I have nothing good to post. I have been on a downswing, sometimes caused by me and sometimes caused by the poker goods.
When I have a straight and my opponent has top set and all the money goes in on the turn, the board pairs and they take the money.
When I have top set and they have a flush and all the money goes in on the turn, I miss the board pairing and they take the money.
It has gotten so bad I was considering taking a break for a bit UNTIL I came across this video. Watching this has renewed my strength to continue plodding along. I needed to watch this and you should to.

Hi, TheMarxBros3,
I want to play on Everest!
There is a big blind of $0.25, a small blind of $0.15, and no antes that I can tell.
You bet $0.65, villain calls, and yet OTF there is a pot of $4.90.

Did I miss something obvious yet again, or was there a fairy godmother in the pot too?

Speaking of pot, we bought a chicken pot pie at the grocery store. 3 of my favourite things right there![1]
I asked the guy at the check out -- "Excuse me, but is there very much pot in this?" He snap replied, "Oh yes sir! You'll be quite happy with this one!"

Cheers,
VS;

[1] (I haven't done that stuff in years and years)

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
Hi, TheMarxBros3,
I want to play on Everest!
There is a big blind of $0.25, a small blind of $0.15, and no antes that I can tell.
You bet $0.65, villain calls, and yet OTF there is a pot of $4.90.

Did I miss something obvious yet again, or was there a fairy godmother in the pot too?

I couldn't say exactly as that has never happened to me.

The POKER GODS must be feeling sorry for me after my WHINING post from last week as I have been running good this week. Hopefully this continues.
I haven't posted any hands lately so here is one I played earlier tonight.
I thought I would play wait and see on the flop with top set and only called the bet as I was in the middle of the other 2 players position wise.
Now not many people would advocate playing my hand this way as getting cute can come back to bite you in the ass. This time things went as planned.
When the opponent behind me raises and the original better folds I then re-raised as the only 4 hands he will have here are;
1-a smaller set
2-a flush draw
3-a straight draw
4-a combo hand with the first 3
I was hoping he had the first one and not the other 3

Hand

It is the end of the month and time for my recap.
This month sucked but I did get a lot of it back near the end to make it a respectable loss if there is such a thing.
Good thing a new month starts tomorrow.

Here are Augusts totals. Here are Septembers totals.
Stars Balance------$1,450-----------$1,280----- -$170
Everest Balance---$355------------ $355---------+0 (did not play on Everest this month)
PKR Balance--------$580------------ $525--------- -$55

Profit to date------$2060

Somewhere previous I made an addition/subtraction mistake and these figures correct that mistake and are correct and up to date.

Lately my playing time has averaged approximately;
MTTs-----8 hours per week (4 hours Sat mornings and 4 hours Sunday mornings)
Cash------6-8 hours per week (1-2 hours during the week and 4-6 hour total Friday and Saturday night )

I need to find more time to play if I am ever going to get off the ground.

BUTTON PLAY
I find I do not play my button enough.
I have been having trouble cold calling a raise and a re-raise to me when I am on the button and will fold all but premium hands. Looking back through my hand histories I find I have missed quite a few pots because of this.
I have been thinking about this part of my game and have come to the following;
1-cold calling raise and a re-raise will cost about 12-15 BB's
2-As long as the original raiser calls you only need to hit 1 in 3 flops to break even.
3-When you do hit you will stack off the re-raiser most of the time as he almost always has a premium hand for his re-raise preflop.
4-When you combine points 2 and 3 you only need to hit the flop 1 in 6 times to break even. Therefore cold calling a re-raise of 15 BB's can be profitable when you are on the button if played carefully.
5-You have to be willing to loosen up your game in order to do this and when you get loose there is always the possibility of catching just enough to lose as well.
I am working on changing this part of my game.

Here is a hand from tonight illustrating this.
It was raised and re-raised to me on the button.
I have always folded these hands in the past but with my new train of thought I decided to call.
Hand 1-

Feeling pretty good I decided to get creative with this hand limped and then only called a raise with A-A as
1-I was out of position to the raiser
2-I wanted to disguise the strength of my hand
3-I wanted to exercise pot control.

Hand 2-

The hand turned out to be a set-over-set cooler and all the money was probably going in no matter how it was played.

October has started the way September ended. Let's hope it continues.

Hey,
Nice to find a plo blog here:f_drink:

I am not in position to give any advice because i play much lower than you (plo5) but i think that in first hand (K♥ 10:spade: 5♥ J♥) call of 3bet whith this hand is wrong. Your range here is beaten (3xs, and dangler, and gap between k-j).

Originally posted by Janosikgdy
Hey,
Nice to find a plo blog here:f_drink:

I am not in position to give any advice because i play much lower than you (plo5) but i think that in first hand (K♥ 10:spade: 5♥ J♥) call of 3bet whith this hand is wrong. Your range here is beaten (3xs, and dangler, and gap between k-j).

Normally I would agree with you but because you are in position being on the button I feel you can add implied odds to your calling range.
I would definitely not play this hand in any other position except the button.

Thanks for posting. I wish more readers of this blog would. Then we could expand on concepts and ideas on how to play hands at different positions and buy-ins.
Input is always welcome. I have a lot to learn and any and all ideas are welcome here.

For the sake of discussion i will try to explain my tought process:)

Without further reads i put utg on that range: A+2broadways xs, AA, hight rundows s or ds, and some KK.
Every AA 4bet, A+ broadways crushes your range, i am not familiar with equity agaist rundows and kk, but probably u r also underdog.

Next player squeez (having in mind he also 3bets utg opener) I put him just only on top premium hands (best AA and top brodways, often ds) this hand also crush you. On flop even when you hit a draw, u are 0ften underdog vs their range in longterm this seems to be ev-, and vs 4bet u probably have no equity to call (i didnt do math here, i am just guesing).

To be honest i still have to learn how use IP advadage to use it in best way. Your button line might be valid, but for now i am to weak to outplay opponent (especially in big pots where feq is lower). I just try to engage my chips in situations where i got more equity than opponents, and where my range is ahead. In this hand with all factors stated above, your equity is not so good vs their range, and i lack the skill to outplay them with IP.

P.S as u can read, i am not native, i hope that my thoughts are enought clear to understand:f_love:

Don't worry my friend, your English and sentence structure is just fine.
I agree 100% with your analysts if I was in any other position except the button.
What I am advocating here is to loosen up your button play and tighten up all other positions. Position is the great equalizer for hand strength.
When calling 3-bets we are hoping our opponent has a tight narrow range and yes we are most certainly behind. That is the beauty of playing loose on the button.
Don't forget also that when we get a wet scary board that misses everyone we can pick up the pot with a well timed bet.
Sometimes all you need to win a pot is to be in the last position regardless of your hand strength.
At these stakes most players are NUT HAND thinkers. In order to win consistently we must devise a system that exploits that. Either that or get hit in the face with the deck more then they do.
I am a post flop player. I approach the game from that perspective. I am trying to find a way to exploit NUT HAND players in the micro stakes which to me are anything less then bring in $100 (blinds .50-$1.00)
I do not expect this to win every time but it doesn't have to.
Anywhere from (1 in 3) to (1 in 6) should suffice once all the implied odds are factored in.

So close.
Played the Omaha Hi-lo 3x turbo and had another final table but unfortunately it was 8th out of 288 runners for a prize of $65.90
The only good thing was I did not have to rebuy and was in for the minimum of $4.20 ($2.20 entry and $2.00 add-on)
Close but no cigar.
On the bright side, my account on Stars now warrants moving up in Stakes.
Now where did I leave my backbone.

ice

I haven't done a rambling post about nothing and everything in quite awhile now. Since I have some time to kill I think now is the time. If you continue reading remember you have been warned!!!.
Personal Stuff.
1st up------JR
The owner of the house Jr was renting in Toronto wanted to sell so JR was given 2 months to vacate the premises. To bad to as JR had just been given an invitation to try out for the "Canadian Mens' Dodge ball Team." There is no way he can accept the tryout now as they are based in Toronto and he can no longer afford to live there. He was renting the top half of the house for $1,500 a month and renting out 2 rooms to University of Toronto students for $700 an month each. He is still unemployed and living off of his inheritance of an annuity from his uncle until it runs out in late 2017. Toronto is much to expensive a place to live in without getting your rent for next to nothing and there is no time to set up the living arrangements that he had before.
For the next while he has decided to couch surf. First up is visiting his friend Luis in Montreal for a couple of weeks.
Luis is unique. He is a rent-a-chef for Hi-scale restaurants in Montreal. Luis likes to travel and doesn't like working to long in any one establishment. He works a month or 2 at one Hi-scale establishment and then travels and then works at another and travels, etc., etc., He is so good at his job that every place he works has always left the door open for him to return. That is saying something of his skills as a chef.
After staying in Montreal for 2 weeks until Luis can take off from his latest employer the 2 of them are going to Newfoundland to stay with friends until the middle of December. Then JR is coming home for Christmas. After that whenever the mood hits him it will be off to another couch in another town until the money runs out in 2017. Oh the life you can lead when you don't need or want a job.

2nd up----Middle Daughter
Just as JR was moving out of Toronto my middle daughter was moving in.
She has decided she wants to see how green the grass is on the other side while she has her annuity to live on and wanted to flap her wings in the wind and leave the confines of small town living for a little while.
Get this though. She finds a nice place in Toronto that has a room to rent in a nice area of town. It is advertised as women only and come and go as you please with shard amenities. She takes the room and we move her in.
After 2 days there this is what she finds out.
1-No coming in after 9pm
2-No pork is allowed in the house.
Now these first 2 you can live with if you have to but the kicker was;
3-The 50 year old man who owns the place (nationality has no bearing on the story but you can guess by the no pork rule) lives there also. He just neglected to tell her that. (F-N pervert)
Long story short--After much hollering on her part about his deceitfulness he gave her back the first and last months rent she had given him and quickly moved out and into another place. Some people!!!!

Poker Stats from my PT4
Cash game stats from Stars
The 1 thing I really love about PT4 is how they save stats from my play.
If you remember I lost all my earlier stats from my old computer when I tried to transfer them to this new computer and almost got locked out of PT4 forever. Long story that I won't go into here as I posted about it some time ago.
Here are my stats since getting this laptop 6 months ago. I never realized how little I actually play. There are people who post here who have played as many hands in a month as I have in the last 6.
Totals
Hands played----17,052
Hands won---------2,758 (16.17%)
Sessions---------------185
Sessions won--------110 (59.46%)
Hours played--------142
BB won per 100------7.22
Money won---------$405.27
Rake paid------------$708.08

In my defense, because my playing time is limited, I do not exercise stop loss like I should as I like to play whenever I get the chance.
I have paid almost 80% more in rake then I have made. GEEZE!!!

Enough rambling for now.

Vancouver is just as expensive -- even in the burgs/

My 3 kids had been bouncing from one $800/mo basement suite to another and hating the constant moving, the constant annoyance of landlords' petty demands and so on.

About 5 years ago, they decided to share a house. Now, for about $500 each they get the run of the place.

They're still together, which totally amazes me.

Cheers,
VS