Road back to HS PLO

I am also interested in this (what hud/tracker), and what is your opinion about the security of the converter?

GL

Im back from India (and extremely jetlagged, 12h time difference). It was an eventful trip to say the least (each one of us got sick multiple times throughout the two weeks). Nonetheless it was super fun to reconnect with a lot of close friends who I don't get to see often and India itself is alright, although I don't think I'd make the trip again. It was nice to take a break from poker for a little. It seems to me like every time I win a decent amount of money in poker I get complacent and lose the value of the money. It's like I'm only capable of really playing or thinking my A+ game when I'm in survival mode and am in desperate need of the money. With that being said, here are my poker goals for 2025:

Attached are 2024 results:

1) Consistency
Whether its hours/month or simply level of play, i want to remain consistent. I don't want to get side tracked by unimportant things that won't bring value to my life. I want to stay in a consistent schedule (not strictly per day, but more achieving x amount of hours/hands per month). I think a reasonable amount to shoot for (on average) for the year is 30-40k hands/month. I say on average because I know some months will be busier than others where I might play less and I know some months I'll play more; however, I don't want to burn myself out (play 12h a day and then take a month off). I need to find a way to make this game healthy for myself and balance my social and professional life.

2) Monetary goal
I've been playing professionally for a little over two years now. It's time to set a monetary goal and actually achieve it. Sure, I've had my crazy months but it seems that money always find a way to disappear (whether through live high stakes shots i shouldn't be playing or poor mental). My goal this year is to make ATLEAST 400k. I think this is a super reasonable goal that I can achieve. I do have higher hopes and ambitions, but I want to set a goal that in my mind is achievable no matter the circumstances. I do plan on taking some shots this year given everything goes well so I think that'll play into this goal being more achievable as well. I just need to keep reminding myself that I'm in this game for the long haul and there is no rush, but I do want to take smart and calculated shots that will skyrocket my career. I'm hoping this will finally be my break-out year. I want to make a name for myself this year and really push myself to not only make money but improve and not back down from marginal spots

3) Studying/ Seeking a Coach
I've been wanting a coach for a while but have never really made a real effort to find one. I want to find someone who can ease me into the high stakes scene and correct some of my mental and technical leaks I might be making that are holding me back. I think it's been hard to find a good PLO coach i respect and would pay money to because I do consider myself a skilled player and most pros who are already established don't really have a reason to coach. Nonethless, it is something I will be seeking under the right circumstances.

4) Health
2024 has been a high variance year for my health. I started the year off in the best shape of my life (Working out 1-2x a day and achieving peak physique while counting calories and eating super heathily, with lacking poker results) --> grinding poker everyday and performing well but sacrificing my health for it. My goal for this year is BALANCE. I find myself to be always in the extremes. I need routine. Now that I'm established in Chicago and not constantly moving around, I have no excuses. My goal for this year is to hit 190 lbs (which is peak weight for my height and genetics). I currently weigh 224 lbs as of today so I have 34 lbs to go. I've done the weight loss journey countless times (while gaining muscle). I'm not worried, I just want to stay consistent and establish a routine that is successful long term.

2025 will be the year of BALANCE. I will strive to continue my progress as a player as well as continue to take care of myself. I will try to branch out and continue to meet like minded people dedicated to the game. Thank you to everyone for interacting and reading the blog, I appreciate it. I'll do my best to keep it updated throughout the year.

forgot to add by month

I like your goals, very admirable to set them publicly and smart to focus on personal well being. Gl.

gl to you in 2025.

Crazy to see that you crushed the games despite having 5 losing/breakeven months. Goes to show how important the long run is and how little any given month really matters in poker and especially PLO.

From Jan - May I was playing mostly 1/2, and some 2/5 with super low volume. I was going through it mentally. Thats why im stressing balance. Then in Julywas when i was in vegas and mostly playing on my phone, and in August i was in cyprus mostly playing on phone as well. So i really only "grinded" like 3-4 months online. Thats why i think my goal of 400k is reasonable i just wanna be more consistent in my online grind and not get sidetracked by life.

To the people asking about the HUD on bovada, no i dont use one. Ive never been the type of guy to find it useful i think it just distracts me and is kind of overwhelming. Its nice because i dont lose so much EV since its an anon game and every table is a new table but on other sites im definetly losing value not using one. I use jurojin thats basically it.

Just played first session today. Im rusty again, excited to get back to normal but damn its crazy how breaks affect me. its been only 2 weeks and i feel like i forgot so much already. the brain is a crazy muscle

Ya I am a no hud guy as well, even on other sites. I find it to be a huge distraction and imo it has the potential to make you play worse and derail you from becoming an overall balanced and “good” player. I play with guys who I am very sure are trying to exploit the pool and honestly there plays seem very face up to me a lot of the times, clear what they are trying to do and maybe it works against fish but the mistakes are so glaringly obviously and pretty easy to play against. Good luck in 2025!

were all 150bb deep.

MP opens, co calls, i 3b from BB with aa45 single they both call. flop comes 932 2t. I dont have any fd blocker or BDFD. Pretty sure its a half pot with this type of hand, but i just decide to pot thinking calling ranges will be similar and theres some urgency, basically good spot to extract value unblocking all calling range. MP folds and co kind of tank calls. turn comes an off suit 9 pairing the board. its .9 spr, whats the play here with our range/hand to maximize EV vs weak players. Im not sure about theory. I looked up a similar spot hu utg vs sb on 8438 and it jams AA52 purebut i feel like that cant be optimal given the populations tendencies also given his calling range he has so much 9x anyways so maybe this specific spot becomes a range check given his CO calling range hes going to have a lot of rundowns and KK with fd

feeling good playing some 2/5 before i move up to 5/10 again

Think we just gii. Few boat combos out there besides 33/22 but likely they turned trips. But .9spr just jam and glgl

The more i study the more i realize a lot of intuitive bluffs with good blockers are actually pretty bad. Solver prefers so many instances of using where you are in your range (bluffing air, bottom pairs) more than "blockers" in some spots. its weird. its so selective with its bluffs and overbluffing is SO easy in a call happy environment. Anyways quick update +17k this week, hopin' to keep it goin feeling pretty good def rage quit some sessions but dont we all

This is interesting, post some examples?

Another way to look at it is you cant take your blockers thru a hand and gain "equity" thru the blockers realizing more ev in the same way that your value hands improve as you take it thru the streets. The takeaway from this is dont get tied to taking v aggro lines on multiple streets running blocker bluffs unless the setup particularly dictates it.

I cant lie i dont really have motivation to post hands or updates so often anymore, and this isn't something I want to force so I think I'll be posting once to twice a month on here with graph/progress updates. With that being said, January is going great. I've been in the lab heavily and really see improvements in my play (most noticeably with redline). I've always been the type of player who just picks his spots REALLY well to the point where i wont bluff if i have the slightest itch the opponent will call, which is fine. But I'm actually trying to improve as a player and just play my range and stop focusing on my opponents so much. It might yield me less money in the short run (or it won't) BUT I think it will actually improve my game for when i shot take higher stakes vs better players who actually know how to exploit weakness. Health wise, my neck is getting a lot better. I bought a hermon miller aeron chair with a headrest, bought a foot rest and a wrist support with a vertical mouse. I feel like this setup with my standing desk has exponentially improved my neck recovery, although it still is in pain and stiff every day its getting better which is all i can hope for. Gym wise, i've been slacking. I went once then stopped. It's the type of thing where I really need to get in the zone for it or i just won't go. So i'm hoping to start doing some research on it again to interest me enough to want to try out new things at the gym so i can get going again. Overall, everythings going great. I'll see you guys on Feb 1st for an update/graph.

Are you still iggy only ? Would be fun to play some hands one of these days. We play similar stakes. Id fak around some hu on coin, nothing too big as based on your graph you likely have a nice edge on me.

As for health, its definitely best to get yourself fully recovered and feeling fresh vs slowly getting around to it. I will say that I try to stand for a chunk of each of my sessions. It really helps how I feel overall. I've never done it but I too have gym ambitions but struggling to get going. Once I get into a routine I know I'll get super into it but not there yet.

Look for a buddy to go with you in the gym. Or join a martial arts club, that want get boring that easily there are many ambitious people.
Do some of you would play me Hu at low stakes? I would be interested in your opinion on where my weaknesses are.

i am still iggy only. i dont really play hu tbh not my cup of tea

The overconfident with the beginning of the month showed once again. Ran like complete **** past week and a half losing over half of winnings back for the month feels like i havent won a pot in a week and every hand is a cooler. Def not playing A game either. oh well it goes like that sometimes. I focused too much on theory and forgot that these guys are all idiots too so that doesnt help. Trying to detilt myself because this past week has been absolutely brutal tbh

I been seeing very questionable things on 500-1K lately, seems to be as soon as start of the year games totally changed but without a doubt I spotted some collusion/bot bs.

A and a4 blocker folded out so this guy just pots my cbet with air. couldnt be any more obvious

ive seen some super sus **** as well when reviewing hands. this is just one example of the 20 + hands ive witnessed where im getting blown out of pots in spots htat make no sense and im always confsued as ****. i think im going to start calling htese spots down to **** with the colluders because they prey on people that are scared but this just makes absolutely no sense. obviously its harder in spots where a flush comes and someone folded the A blocker and three other people have blockers in their hands thats the best spot to abuse but yeah this is bs.

Can’t beat colluding bro, off to greener pastures for me.

Pretty much all the American sites for most part.

Month of January Results 2025:

Had a fantastic start to the month was absolutely crushing peaking at around +45k after a week or two of play. Unfortunately for the latter part of the month, straight squadoosh. It felt like I was always dealt the losing hand , none of my bluffs were getting through, and when I finally made a very strong hand I was beat. Obviously looking at the results I can't complain too much it's still a W but I was on pace for another 6 fig month so that was pretty dissapointing. I'm going to stay on ignition for a while despite my current skepticism as I still think it's profitable but I'm definetly going to be a bit more wary. I put a lot of time studying this month, but unfortunately I feel like that also bit me in the ass because I started to apply to many GTO concepts that dont really matter IRL and honestly overcomplicated the game for myself. I feel like my simpler strategy is just better. I became too focused on my own holding rather than what my opponent was doing and I just got lost in a bunch of hands so that also played into the downswing.

I also noticed momentum is genuinely a huge thing in poker. I try to let that **** slide sometimes but when you're dealt 4 bluffs in a row and an anonymous table views you as a "tilter"/ "spewer" due to card variance they will start calling you down light. So despite the fact that some of the bluffs I was running was "GTO" i kinda wish i backed down a bit and understood my image for a second.

Health wise, everything is still improving. i bought a theragun prime, lifechanging device ngl its probably one of the best hand held guns I've used. Basically use it on my neck every time and it makes most of the stiffness go away. A bit pricy but def worth for anyone interested. I also finally started my gym routine. Did a week of creatine loading and have been eating moderaly better than before.

My goal in Feb is to just continue crushing and try to put in more volume than last month. Nothing much to add other than keep doing my thang and staying to my healthy habits, keeping my ergonomics in check, getting good sleep and taking care of myself.

Thanks for following along fellas.

Easy to "copy" the solver too much and stop thinking on your own when you are learning and studying these GTO concepts. I agree it's important to stay open-minded and make logical decisions against whoever you are playing against and not simply against the solver.

GL for February

Another hand thats so obviously collusion.