Back to the future (PLO)

I know I have done a fair bit of shifting about in this blog, with both stakes and game selection, but I have learned a lot about myself and my poker game in the last 9-10 months. I think writing about things has aided the learning process.

That said, I have decided that I should concentrate my efforts on Pot Limit Omaha for the forseeable future. There are a number of reasons for this:

- it is the game of the future (most super-high stakes games are now PLO);
- the fish:shark ratio is higher than at NLHE;
- I am prone to tilt less than I am at NLHE.

I have had very good results so far playing PLO and I am confident that the game suits my personality. I am happy to make decisions based on the odds, win or lose, and am confident that because of the confidence in my play re-inforced by my detailed analysis I am comfortable with the short-term swings.

I have put aside more money from the bankroll to cover expenses for the next few months, so there will be no immediate bankroll pressure. However, I have decided to go back to small stakes and play within bankroll limits and rules, building up to a point where I can maintain a playable bankroll at higher stakes.

The target for April is to play 2 tables of 6max PLO at 50c-$1 blinds, starting with a roll of $1600. (I did actually start with $800 playing 25c-50c but moved up pretty quickly).I hope to get to $3000 by the end of the month and will then move up to $1-$2. If I do happen to lose - these things happen from time to time - and I drop below $800 bankroll I will move down to 25c-50c and rebuild. To be honest I can't see this happening but its important to have a plan for losses.

The $1-$2 level is one that can support a win-rate of about $50 per hour and so its important to try to win consistently at stakes higher than this level, assuming I can win at a higher rate at the higher level. That way, if things do go bad then at least I will be dropping down to a level that can support a decent win-rate.

If I can manage to win at a decent rate at $3-$6 or higher, which isn't that unlikely, then we are entering the territory of significant earnings. However, I don't expect this to happen before August. I then plan to take a 5-buy-in shot at $3-$6 when the bankroll is at $15,000, moving back down to $2-$4 if that is unsuccessful.

I intend to review this plan every month and I will update the blog with future amendments to the plan. However, I do not plan on making as many posts as I have been doing. I have put a lot of effort into writing posts that I thought might appeal to the thinking poker player and I have been disappointed by the lack of comments received, despite having quite a few readers.