1/3 Grinding and Bankroll
Hi all,
First post in this specific forum. Normally post in NL Strategy. Hoping for some feedback about bankroll manageme
If you follow your described short stack buyin approach in the "big game" I'd guess that is a major reason you don't get invited often. I spent many years playing in 25-50 PL and NL holdem games in various venues and short stackers were not particularly welcome in any of those games. I doubt that has changed much. You certainly are free to pursue a short stack approach but game
The issue isn’t the short stacking it’s the hitting and running. I know of many big NL private games where many players who buy in short are welcomed. It’s the short stacking nits who are shunned. There was one guy who used to always hit and run the 25/50NL, we’ll call him Joe. The game organizers hated Joe but they allowed him back because they had a plan. They waited until one day Joe hit a terrible run and lost multiple buy ins. After Joe lost yet another buy in, the game organizers and their buddies purposely broke the game without warning so Joe had no shot of getting his money back as that was the only big game in the room. After Joe left they started the game back up.
Joe was never allowed back in the game after that day. It was the game organizers way to get revenge and “hit and run” Joe back. Word is Joe was so tilted that he proceeded to lose mid 5 figures in the pit that week
The issue isn’t the short stacking it’s the hitting and running. I know of many big NL private games where many players who buy in short are welcomed. It’s the hitting and running nits who are shunned. There was one guy who used to always hit and run the 25/50NL, we’ll call him Joe. The game organizers hated Joe but they allowed him back because they had a plan. They waited unt
Had to correct the bolded. Was at the end of a 20 hour session zzz
Played 10/10/50/100 plo5, ran pretty meh was stuck $9,000 at one point but quit and came back and made a comeback to reduce the losses. My AA got cracked and I trapped dsAA once but it didn’t work out. Hopefully get invited back today.
Ran KK into AA twice at 5/T/25 sorta playing meh running meh. Asking for a zelle for chips. Feeling really down. Then a random 2/5 player said everyone wants to be like me a well respected venerated player and I was thinking lol you should see how sad I am right now to be bumming for a zelle. “Is this hell?”
Ran KK into AA twice at 5/T/25 sorta playing meh running meh. Asking for a zelle for chips. Feeling really down. Then a random 2/5 player said everyone wants to be like me a well respected venerated player and I was thinking lol you should see how sad I am right now to be bumming for a zelle. “Is this hell?”
Look on the bright side. You couldn’t have lost much running KK into AA with your short buying strategy. You’ll get it back when it’s your turn to get AA.
Did you tell the 2/5 player about your coaching services? It helps to have a side hustle when your running bad.
Look on the bright side. You couldn’t have lost much running KK into AA with your short buying strategy. You’ll get it back when it’s your turn to get AA.
Did you tell the 2/5 player about your coaching services? It helps to have a side hustle when your running bad.
I don’t always short stack anymore. I was only kidding to mess with the trolls.
I was lucky to chop against AA with KK once, we both made top set but the other player made the nut flush!
Thankfully I work now so coaching is not really as important. I don’t think I’ve had a new student in a while. Still occasionally sell a strategy guide though. Nice to see you make an appearance again!
Ran and played meh again last night, got it in a little light at plo with a decent dead money overlay but it didn’t work out, also lost an AA at 5/5 plo, but made a comeback at 20/40 mix and ran well there to close out the day.
I've been feeling awfully down lately, wondering if the combo of job and poker in its current form is workable. Running good while working is great but running bad really sucks because I cannot put in as much volume to get out of the downswing as fast. I also overslept last Monday which wasn't great. Playing later on weekends really messes with the beginning of the work week for me and I am not good at getting to bed early, my body falls asleep around the same time it did the night before. Today I got 9 hours of sleep but had to wake up late to do that. I feel like I am emotionally dis-regulated lately feeling upbeat at times and then very depressed.
Throwing off my sleep schedule is really bad for my health, both physical and mental, and I have been playing later on weekends lately than I should. I got sick this week and had to take time off work - granted it was slow anyway and I could afford to. It seems like this all started with that bad decision to play 100/100 and losing a couple buy-ins there, everything went downhill after that. I don't feel like I am making any progress towards my financial goals now either. My life is too complicated. I'm not as big a fan of the state hospital work, the clients are generally very sick and many are really better off there. I don't feel like I am helping them and the outcome of these cases seems like a foregone conclusion.
I am not happy. My time off feels like I am just delaying something I don't want to do anymore but if I quit my job I would be letting people down. I don't enjoy the setup they have for me right now, covering community hospitals for attorneys on leave and doing state hospital work at the same time. I was looking forward to state hospital work before but now I wish I was back just doing community hospital work.
I want to remember some better times when life wasn't so complicated. I was playing for less money, was working part time, was living at home with the dogs, I even occasionally brought plants to the poker room and the poker room staff. What happened? Maybe I need to make some changes to my life again.
I ran well in the beginning running it up over $3,500 at plo getting lucky in some multi-way all ins but lost a lot back by the end of the night. A visiting Argentinian pro at 5/10 made a fun player show both cards at showdown even though he could beat the one card he was sheepishly showing and I said he shouldnÂ’t make him show both cards /the bluff out of poker etiquette and then I became the bad guy for calling him out for being a prick. Sorta sums up how hold em has changed over the past few years.
Lost AJ986ds, KK974ds, both mostly all in pre, KQJT5ds on JT7r, to name a few. Also 3! KQs bb v sb and lost to AJs of the same suit.
Now I have work tomorrow and need to get to bed early. I woke up a little earlier and got a little less sleep so hopefully I will be tired earlier. Barring that I might try some melatonin although I am hesitant to mix medications.
Also I think playing too much poker makes me a bit grouchy.
So overheard at 5/T table…fun player straddles and foreign reg complains the table had agreed not to straddle so no one should straddle. “If you are a man you will not straddle.” ..!?
Then her boyfriend comes and sits at her table as if there’s nothing wrong with two pros who are a couple playing together in the same cash game. My head exploded. I had to leave for Father’s Day but if I get back and they are still there I will definitely talk to management. Her bf is the same guy who made the fun player show both cards and she called the clock on me at 2/5. they can go back to wherever they came from as far as I’m concerned.
IÂ’ve completely lost perspective. I wanted this job because I was unhappy at poker. ItÂ’s a great job. ItÂ’s not perfect but itÂ’s fulfilling.
Poker will turn around soon. I have plenty of money anyway. My mental illness is just trying to drag me down and IÂ’m probably having a depressive episode. One of my shrinks thought I had bipolar disorder. Anyway will try to get an early night sleep.
I hate players like that. And they don't even realize how bad they are for the game. Zero self-awareness. You want the fun players to be as comfortable as possible. Fun players have a way of making the entire table fun, and more profitable.
Interesting perspective about the pro couple. I play with my twin brother a lot, usually out of necessity because we both want to play but there may only be one or two tables going and we end up at the same table. We play each other straight though, don't collude, but maybe I should try to avoid it just for appearances sake.
Hope your spirits pick up soon!
I hate players like that. And they don't even realize how bad they are for the game. Zero self-awareness. You want the fun players to be as comfortable as possible. Fun players have a way of making the entire table fun, and more profitable.Interesting perspective about the pro couple. I play with my twin brother a lot, usually out of necessity because we both want to play but t
Thanks. When there is only one game it’s more understandable. Also there’s a different dynamic between brothers versus romantic partners imo. More competitive in one case than the other for sure.
Thankfully I didn’t take forever to fall asleep last night and I got good enough sleep. Lattes now as I wake up on a Monday for a short week due to the Juneteenth holiday weekend.
Had an extremely unusual dream I was picking out stylish clothes and showering with them on and a hologram was following me around a swanky apartment. Maybe a sign I want a more lavish lifestyle? lol.
Won $2.1k at plo rapidly, AQJ95ds and AAQJ2ds helped, lost some at mix including an unfortunate hand where there is a $400 cap and someone bet $120 on turn and $200 on river and he thought he was betting the cap by putting two black chips next to another two black chips even though we had not reached the cap yet. I thought he was betting $200 (to cap it would have been $220) and he didnÂ’t say cap so at showdown when he won he was expecting an extra $20 which was an unwelcome surprise to me. The table sided with him and I paid the difference but I was not pleased.
Also got into it with a cranky reg at 5/T where we threw insults back and forth and I had to school him about his ignorant views on people with mental illness like the fact that the nazis experimented on them during wwII.
Been getting some nice gestures lately, old friend back in town said I deserved to rungood. Another guy at 10/10 said I was a good guy. Feel like my efforts to improve my table presence are paying off Â…! Now at 10/25 hold em with stand up game on.
I know you have a lot of things going on atm, but the time you focused on table presence seemed to be very positive improvment.
hows the schizophenia?
Thanks. When there is only one game it’s more understandable. Also there’s a different dynamic between brothers versus romantic partners imo. More competitive in one case than the other for sure. Thankfully I didn’t take forever to fall asleep last night and I got good enough sleep. Lattes now as I wake up on a Monday for a short week due to the Juneteenth holiday weekend.Had a
you don't like using washing machines?
I know you have a lot of things going on atm, but the time you focused on table presence seemed to be very positive improvment.
Yeah for sure I completely agree and I wish I hadn’t stooped to this guy’s level. He has been playing full time for a long time and as I know that existence is not conducive to happiness so I feel some empathy for him.
My mood has turned around since my last post and my work week started well. Getting good sleep and getting to bed early. Blessings.
Gratitude . . . what am I grateful for?
A beautiful home.
Canine company.
Supportive family.
Enough savings to retire if I wanted to.
A fulfilling job that helps me bridge the gap between a difficult time in my life and now.
Multiple talents that generate income.
A smart brain (even if a little dysfunctional in other ways).
Medication to manage my symptoms.
An ex who is still down to bang.
Lattes and now dairy-free almond milk. (I think I’m lactose intolerant.)
I may not have everything but this list is really quite excellent when I take a step back and reflect. I bet a lot of people wouldn’t mind mental illness if it came with all these perks! Ha.
Last night played and ran well at plo, less well at mix and better at 5/T/25. I have court this morning but no hearings then watching another attorney’s hearings for the experience and also covering for her later this week. Tomorrow is a holiday yippie! I am going to read some old posts and find some oldies but goodies in my YouTube music links.
Hey Dumbo, been enjoying your blog. Curious if you have any tips on dealing with plo swings. I feel like 1/3 nl is about as variance free as you can get in poker. In the 3 months I have been playing it I have gone on like one 1k downswing. With raise size being 5x the blinds and multiple callers, it is incredibly easy to just nit it up, wait for premiums, and print. The equity differences are so great in holdem that it is much easier to just avoid high variance spots when playing against your typical 1/3 player.
5 card on the other hand I have played a handful of times and I have had up to 2k swings each time I play it. I could easily see myself going on a 10k swing which feels absurd considering the min buy in is 200. Today I was down 2k at one point all from 200 buy ins before finishing down "only" 800. One players are much more aggressive, leading to a lot of preflop all ins, or multiway 3 bet pots where you have a low spread. Also there are so many spots where you are basically flipping. Run good and you are up, run bad and you are down.
Part of it is definitely me being a fish at the game, but it feels so massively swingy. I wonder if you also find it swingy or if you have found spots where you can just print vs fish. Ie this guy will call off 3 streets with a 10 high flush even though I have shown down the nuts the past 6 times, this other guy will stick in 500bbs with a bare straight no redraws type of thing.
Hey Dumbo, been enjoying your blog. Curious if you have any tips on dealing with plo swings. I feel like 1/3 nl is about as variance free as you can get in poker. In the 3 months I have been playing it I have gone on like one 1k downswing. With raise size being 5x the blinds and multiple callers, it is incredibly easy to just nit it up, wait for premiums, and print. The equity
Dealing with plo swings.
So the worse you are the bigger this is a factor. Even the best players have periods of runbad but the are less frequent and less severe. I usually just play through it personally. Many suggest taking breaks and studying more, also fine. Don't play tilted - walk away take a breather and only play when you are in a good head space.
Is it swingy?
It is possible to play a very low variance winning style of plo but I will not bring myself to do it. I think my winrate is higher due to variance. I find myself all in preflop without AA a lot more then I used to be and I am ok with it. It's not as swingy as people want to believe. My graph is pretty consistently positive over a large sample size. If you are better than almost everyone you play against you will find that any game is not that swingy. So get good! Study and practice.
Got good sleep, supposed to be a holiday but I’m working. Enjoying chocolate lattes now. Won some at md live at plo until rush hour passed, wrapped up playing mix uneventfully, at least I ended up winning at the last hand with 762 in triple draw making an 8 on the last draw to beat his T (I broke a 9).
Dealing with plo swings.So the worse you are the bigger this is a factor. Even the best players have periods of runbad but the are less frequent and less severe. I usually just play through it personally. Many suggest taking breaks and studying more, also fine. Don't play tilted - walk away take a breather and only play when you are in a good head space.Is it swingy?It is pos
I agree with this. I play more NLHE than PLO but as I’ve gotten better even when I’m running poorly I’m losing way less than I used to. I’ve literally had sessions where I’m stacking players 3x-4x and I am still breaking even. The variance in PLO is greater than NLHE obviously but if you’re the best player at the table poker isn’t all that swingy
Got good sleep, supposed to be a holiday but I’m working. Enjoying chocolate lattes now. Won some at md live at plo until rush hour passed, wrapped up playing mix uneventfully, at least I ended up winning at the last hand with 762 in triple draw making an 8 on the last draw to beat his T (I broke a 9).
Are you playing any wsop events? Seems like you’re mainly a live PLO cash game player but ever play many MTTs?
