Fuck micro stakes

Gosh darnit I did it again, I let the big boys upstairs get the best of me. Decided to take my newfound PLO greatness to the 5/5 game after meeting the rooms biggest crusher at work recently. This guy is like "the guy" who just owns the entire PLO scene. He came by to look at a car I had for sale and told me he makes about 350k at this game. Said he'd love to help me improve but I just didnt have it in me to take advantage of his offer since I'm such a scrub. Anyway it's Saturday night so of course the room is BUMPING and I get sat immediately at the must move table, which is clearly the best game as a player whines that he's having to move. Guy on my right has 12k, guy on my left 7 or 8, and I'm just like "uhhhhhh". It's 5/5, how hard could it be? I buy in for $1000 thinking 200BB is plenty to get wet. Except it wasnt a 5/5, it was a 5/5/10/40 in disguise. They had the straddle and blind 40 on. I rejected the 40 because I'm lol poor, but I kept the 10 on so they could make it 40. So here I am playing essentially shortstack poker without really realizing it. The result? I dusted 4k in maybe an hour? Thing is if I had recognized this game for what it was I probably would have employed a proper SS strat, just limp raise allin or at least set the stage for an easy flop sidepot so the big stacks fold each other out letting me realize vs a bunch of dead money. But because it all happened so fast I just played "straight up" so I'd open, or 3bet like half my stack pre and just haaaarrrdddd whiff and fold donating $500 per hand. Then I'd sometimes just shrug jam my stack with AQJ2s pre because like fucking whatever man, it's already $300 to me in MP with 2 raises and 5 players left to act. Yeah, did not go well.

As I was walking out the door I realize I done fucked up. Oh well. I set aside that portion of my roll after having an outstanding last month in sales where I made 12k. Good news is I'm pulling out of the game for a minute because I met a girl and we're going to start something, so I need to get my shit together and stop living like an inmate in my unfurnished apartment.

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If you know anything about my eternal quest to loserdom you'll know I've tried my hand here and there at PLO without success. While I might be a failure, shockingly I truly enjoy the game. I've long considered the prospects of making the switch for that reason alone but always felt that NLHE was my bread & butter. Thing is I am still completely accepting of the fact that I may be a lifetime loser at NLHE who's profits are merely the result of sustained 'fish on heater' syndrome. I have to consider the possibility that because volume is so low it's entirely possible that I could have just been running good for a few years and it wasnt until now that equilibrium took it's hold. Am I even using that term correctly? Who knows.

The only thing I do know is how much I enjoy PLO, so much in fact that I must ALSO consider the possibility that I have some addictive tendencies towards the game. For the same reason every other whale/fish is turned on by the action, maybe thats all that's attracting me. However...

Despite the potential downfall of choosing all the wrong reasons to play, all I know is I simply do. not. tilt. Like ever. In fact I am so enthusiastic about the game I literally cheer and herald my opponents for giving me action. When they stack me I'm like "awww nice hand buddy! Sick 3bet! What a call!" And the thing is, this is exactly how you should behave towards live players. It's supposed to be fun. Only a bitch ass miserable reg whines about his AA getting cracked. But in PLO flopping top set + NFD and turning top straight only to lose to a backdoor flush draw is like no big deal to me. I literally laugh it off and even high five someone if they get there.

I started to understand why; from my observations PLO really feels like a game of transparency. My completely uneducated point of view is that the game is based upon constructing hands instead of constructing ranges like in NLHE, and I think that's where all my longterm NLHE struggles come from. I'm not really good at range analysis. Like I thought I was. I thought if I bet small to cap them then I had a pretty good idea where I'm at in terms of bluffing or value betting opportunities. Yet time and time again I either make absurd folds due to a total misread, or a terrible hero call just the same. I suck. I never know what anyone has. I only win when I flop well, which just turns my strategy in a rather mechanical game.

But in PLO, I feel like I'm doing a really good job of setting myself up to win big pots. 3betting double suited connectors HOPING that someone 4bets me so I can make a trivial call. Hitting board textures that I inherently understand I can work with and improve my hand whereas my opponent will usually never improve his. Even if they are outflopping me it's like I see how my hand will evolve and how I can control the pot to get there. Players are often stunned that I somehow outdrew them in what they think was an unlikely spot, or being able to just exert so much pressure with my backdoor draws on janky textures where they just cant compel themselves to call with much if all they have is TP.

But ultimately in the end the moral of the story is that I honestly feel I have all the ingredients to make a good PLO player. I give SO MUCH action at the table and I appreciate when they give it back to me. I've literally had regs tell me "thank you for actually raising" since it helps build a game from the typical limpfest that is most PLO games.

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Been sorting HH's by largest pots won on ClubWPT just to see the epic action (in case you didnt know you can open any existing table and just go back in time and see every hand played even if you werent there)

and feel like I've noticed a trend; people are making much bigger mistakes in NLHE than PLO. There seems to be this mantra that PLO is where aLL ThE AcTiOn iS, and while there does appears to be a higher frequency of action, many of the pots are just kinda average in size around 100BB's. Like even the worst players manage to have at least a shred of equity to bail them out by the river. Calling a 4bet with J852r doesnt seem like a good idea but then he's up against AA and KK and hits bottom pair and whaddya know. But in NLHE I'm seeing allins for 500BB pots with 88, A3s, JJ, etc. Many times even postflop! The board will be something like J92s and AA will x/r rip it and some fish snaps with AJ or TT and loses 4k at 5/10/20. I just saw a 12k pot go 3 ways aipf with KQs, AA, and KJo. You just dont see this at PLO.

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