Online : The training ground for live

Long ago, I realised that I would never make it as an online pro. Thankfully, I've been able to comfort myself with the challenge of staying a winning player, even if it is only a few dollars. Then came PLO and I ran good early (as I've since found out). These days, I am struggling to keep my head above water at PLO100 but just managing too which has always been my goal. Still waiting for the influx of new players to the game which seems to be more of a trickle and the more experienced players. I must say that the standard has got noticeably better over the last 6 months and the CardRunner-type 3-bet aggression has well and truly come to the fore after what was a very passive old school style until recently at the lower stakes.

What has improved with PLO is my thinking about poker in general and this has undoubtedly help improve my offline play. My home games continue to be lucrative beyond what I think can be considered positive variance. That said, the number of hands I will play live in my lifetime is unlikely to exceed the 100k that is needed to be confident in PLO of being a winning player.

I dipped my toes back into pub poker with better results. If you can't beat them, join them, so I take a lot more aggressive lines early in the tourney. Go hard or go home. Luckily, Ive been running good when it matters.

I invested ($12) in Poker Income for my iPhone to track my Live results and the graph is very positive indeed. In BB/100 it is probably well over 100 for the last 60 hours of record keeping. My roll is up to the point where I can comfortably go to the casino within my BR and drop a few BIs if need be and reload. Not playing with scared money is very liberating indeed.

Finally, I am looking forward to the ANZPT which rolls into Sydney this week. I've registered for 3 x $330 tourneys at this stage. Will be disappointed if I get sucked out on early in the PLO, otherwise, I'm just going to give it my best shot to win the $2200 required for a Main Event ticket. Fingers crossed.

Using life lessons learned ...

I'm finding this blog is giving me precision of thought. It seems like it is doing the same for Bonus Chasing Grinder with this post from 10 minutes ago on Bankroll Management. A subject that I would like to delve into over the next couple of weeks.
http://bonuschasinggrinder.blogspot.com/2008/09/cash-out-strategy.html

Before that though, my thinking has been a life experience from my teens. Chess was a game that I could beat my peers at thru primary school and up to 13. I'd never read a book, just seemed to get the game. From 13 on though, everyone I'd beaten passed me. They'd discovered books and I hadn't. They studied and I never. Admission, until poker I've virtually read no books.

From 13 to 18, I made a fair bit from poker. Just pennies but a lot at the time. Around 2005, I discovered Late Night Poker on SBS and then online poker. I'd never played Hold'Em, so I bought a book to teach me the basics. It taught me a lot more and I was instantly a winning player.

The more I learned, the more I wanted to learn and I started reading for the first time. I'm glad I did. Everyone is growing up. Almost month on month the games get tougher. The game is essentially "getting solved". The fish will diminish and the edges for winning players will reduce. The only way to stay ahead is to study. Keeping the study fun and staying amused whilst grinding will be key if I am to be successful.

I'm looking forward to Card Runners (or similar) rejuvenating me. But for now, I'm plodding my way through real study. I hope knowledge retention is like riding a bike. The Mathematics of Poker is a very hard read but incredible. That is what we're up against.

So if our life experiences can teach us a lot will our future be online poker? Considering the traits of successful people, I don't think so. More next time.