Douglas M

Great video! More just like this one, please.

Great stuff! Looking forward to watching the rest of this series.

Great video! Thanks for taking the time to make this. I learned so much here.

I'm still learning the dramaha games. I watched your 3 "how to play" videos and was unable to find any other content. An yes, shamefully, I was playing dramaha high for that round of dramadugi. Terrible, I know.

I have a really tough time figuring out where the line is in terms of sacrificing badugi equity for our omaha hand. A great example is the hand at 5:40; it never even occurred to me that keeping the jack rather than the ace was correct.

In the super stud 8 hands, I appreciated your discussion about my improper three bet at 41:50 and not turning our hand faceup in such a manner. I have learned so much from your analysis of these hands and will take these lessons to the tables.

Let me know if you ever want more footage, and hopefully my play will have improved a lot since this last video. Cheers!

Douglas

Excellent video! Thanks for making this one.

João Guimarães Yes, all good points! I think sometimes there is also value in just putting your ideas on paper or saying them out loud, as sort of a sanity check too. Sometimes it can look or sounds like rambling, but as long as you get somewhere in the end, it can be time well spent. Cheers!

Here's my situation this week. It's been a good opportunity to buckle down and study. I've gotten quite a few hands in as well.

I've been playing a couple games I'm not that experienced in, but good results in the Super Stud 8 rounds has made up for my shortcomings in those games. Learning the Dramaha mix has been very entertaining, regardless of results! I'm already starting to learn a few things about ranges and player tendencies, so it will all be worthwhile before long.

Speaking of the dramaha mix, here's an interesting dramadugi spot that's not too uncommon:

Limit Dramadugi - 8/16
Table 'Circus Mix' Seat 4 is the button
Seat 1: V1 (1,098.55)
Seat 4: V2 (93.83)
Seat 5: Hero (369.85)
Hero: posts the small blind 4
V1: posts the big blind 8
Dealt to V1: [X X X X X]
Dealt to V2: [X X X X X]
Dealt to Hero: [7s 8h Ah 5c 6s]
V2 raises to 16
Hero raises to 24
V1 folds
V2 calls 24

V2 plays very aggressively from the button, and in general shorthanded, so I chose to 3bet him and try to get heads up.

* FLOP * [3s 9d 7d]
Hero checks
V2 checks

So here's what I find interesting about this game. I can keep the A57 which gives me a pair on the flop. I could also keep 568 for straight potential, but a weaker badugi draw. I could keep some 4 card combination and just draw one to my badugi, but have better equity in the PLO hand, such as A568 or 5678. Being out of position, we have to draw before we see how many cards V2 takes as well. My guess is it's correct to draw 2 to my badugi and shoot for a freeroll situation, but I'm not exactly sure where the cutoff is where I need to start taking omaha equity into consideration.

I chose to discard the 78 and go all in on my badugi draw against this player. I'd love to hear if this is correct or not from a dramadugi specialist. :-)

Hero discards [7s 8h] draws [3d 3h]
V2 draws 2
* TURN [3s 9d 7d] [Ad]
Hero bets 16
V2 raises to 32
Hero raises to 48
V2 calls 48
RIVER [3s 9d 7d Ad] [Kh]
Hero bets 16
V2 calls 16
Hero shows [3d 3h Ah 5c 6s]
V2 shows [4c Ks As 2d 7h]
** SUMMARY * **
Seat 1: V1 (1,090.55) -8
Seat 4: V2 (5.83) -88
Seat 5: Hero (464.60) +94.75
Rake 1.25
Hero wins pot (182.75)

I see it running on SwC and Kings Club sometimes.

ProPokerTools Odds Oracle is probably what you're looking for.

You're in a beautiful part of the world, so good on you for making time to get outside and enjoy it! Sounds like you've got a good routine, and flexibility/freedom is a big part of the reason for pursuing your profession, so why not take advantage of that? Good on you.

Really enjoying your journal so far. Keep up the good work!

Thank you! I am really enjoying playing mixed games again, so am happy with my decision. There are all kinds of crazy mixes on the apps, so I'm just trying to get better at some of the more popular ones.

I appreciate you taking the time to comment. Cheers!

Your cycle of growth is a very interesting concept! I can definitely see how that has applied to my own life, and not just in poker. I suppose we sometimes learn the most from our failures, don't we? Looking forward to seeing where this takes you.

The main sites definitely don't have anything to offer US players in terms of mixed games. SwC used to be pretty good a number of years back, but the action has all but died. Fortunately, the apps have some really fun, unsolved games that run regularly, and I haven't had any issue finding games to play on a daily basis.

The other factor I took into consideration is that I'm not playing for a living. I have a good income already, and am playing poker more for personal enjoyment than anything. For now. Who knows what the future may hold.

PLO5c is definitely something I had considered, and still may pick it up at some point. I've already played a fair amount of it in the past, and there is some good content for it here too. Big O and PLO are part of some of the mixes I play, so after I feel good about the draw games, I will probably dive into games like that a bit more.

Thanks for taking the time to comment!

This is really, really good stuff! I wish you had explored O8 a little bit more. If you ever decide to do another one of these, I'll be there!

ReinaPepiada It sounds like you have prime conditions for pursuing poker seriously then. Best of luck, and I look forward to seeing how far you're able to go with this!

Just ten days in, but I feel the decision to focus on mixed games for the year was a good choice. I have been able to play every day so far, and I find myself more motivated to study than I have been in the past. The games I'm in are ultra conservative for my roll, so the ups and downs while I re-sharpen my game haven't affected me at all. Without worrying about money won or lost, I've been able to focus on my play and shoring up leaks.

I've been spending a lot of time studying 08 this week, and will probably continue to focus on this game for a number of weeks until I'm more satisfied, especially with heads up play.

At some point, I'll probably start hopping in some home games once or twice per week, which means live NLHE and PLO. Even though I'm not playing those games often, live low stakes are soft enough, it should still be profitable. The social aspect will also be nice.

Ok, the last hand I posted got such rave reviews and wasn't an obscure enough game, so here's a short-handed dramaha hand for you to enjoy. I played this one too conservatively and think I should have raised the turn at least. What do you think about betting flop as well?

Limit Drawmaha - 8/16

Table 'Dramaha Mix' Seat 2 is the button
Seat 2: Hero (194.37)
Seat 4: V1 (59.93)
Seat 5: V2(912.61)
V1: posts the small blind 4
V2: posts the big blind 8
Dealt to Hero : [Kh Jh 5s Kc 3c]
Dealt to V1: [X X X X X]
Dealt to V2: [X X X X X]
Hero raises to 16
V1 calls 16
V2 calls 16
* FLOP [7h Qd 7s]
V1 checks
V2 checks
Hero checks
V1 draws 2
V2 draws 3
Hero discards [Jh 5s 3c] draws [Th 5h Ks]
TURN [7h Qd 7s] [2h]
V1 bets 16
V2 calls 16
Hero calls 16
RIVER [7h Qd 7s 2h] [6c]
V1 bets 16
V2 raises to 32
Hero calls 32
V1 calls 27.93, and is all in
V2 shows [7d Ts Qc Td 8h]
Hero shows [Kh Th 5h Kc Ks]
V1 shows [Kd 2d 2s 5c Qs]
** SUMMARY * **
Seat 2: Hero (223.71) +29.34
Seat 4: V1 (0) -59.93
Seat 5: V2 (941.95) +29.34
Rake 1.25
Hero wins (4.07) from side pot 1
V2 wins (4.07) from side pot 1
Hero wins (89.27) from pot
V2 wins (89.27) from pot

Interesting thoughts. Thanks for sharing that. Individual wins and losses may affect us deeply in the moment, but in the long run, they are just a small blip on the chart. Seems like an important thing to always be mindful of, win or lose.

About the value of keeping one of these journals, I think it has to be a personally beneficial thing. For me, it's a way to track my progress and see where my head was at during a moment in time. It also helps me stay accountable to myself when it comes to studying. It's true that poker forums are dead for the most part, and I play mixed games which further shrinks my audience to near zero. My journal will never get the most likes or whatever, but that's ok because it's for me anyway.

Good results so far. Keep up the good work!

Good month so far. Keep up the good work!

WatHpnsInVgs Ha ha! I hear you. Maybe I should include a screen shot or something. I'll see what I can do for my next post.

Best of luck! Looking forward to seeing how this goes for you.

Does this mean you'll be playing poker full time, or will it be as a supplement to your income from another job? Do you have a family as well? Other responsibilities or student debt? These are all things that have heavily influenced my own decisions over the years.

Great start to this journal! Looking forward to seeing how the year goes for you. Best of luck, and be sure to update here regularly.

WatHpnsInVgs This game is basically Stud 8, except you are dealt 4 down cards instead of two. You discard two of those down cards after third street, and the rest of the hand plays like regular Stud 8. It's a very fun game!

This week went really well both at the tables and during my study time. My main game is still the Korean Mix. I'm feeling really good about my Badugi play the last couple days and playing much better at Super Stud 8 after putting in a lot of study hours. Below is a hand I feel I should have played differently on 4th street.

I know that I'm folding too much in a number of 08 spots, and will spend the majority of my study time on that game this week.

As promised, here's a hand from one of my games. Many more of these to come. If anyone knows of a way to convert hand history text from Kings Club into a usable format here in the forums, please share.

Super Stud 8 hand. The board reads: 8hQc6hTh7h6dQd (We are the 6h with 2c5c6c3s down.)
Everyone posts antes of 1.5 (total 10.5) Qd brings in for 2
8h and Qc fold. We complete for 6. Th folds, 7h calls, 6d folds, Qh calls.

The remaining board is Qd6h7h. I'm probably up against QQ+ and the presumably strong range the 7h would have here. Assuming I'm against at least one large pair and at least an over card in the 7h's range, I chose to discard to 6h5c2c giving me the best low draw with straight and backdoor flush draw.

Using Troutulator to assign, this was the correct choice. Up against QQx and a stronger-than-average range for the 7h taken from Iteopepe88's videos on Super Stud 8, our potential post-discard hands have the following equities:
6h5c2c: 36%
6h3s2c: 34.3%
6h6c5c: 33.9%
6h6c2c: 33.1%

Fourth Street is dealt and the board now reads:
V1: Qd6sxx
Hero: 5c2c6h4d
V2: 7h8cxx
V1 leads for 6. At the time, I elected to call in hopes of keeping V2 in the hand with either a worse low and or a second high hand against my superior low draw and gutshot. V2 calls. Now looking back on the hand, I believe I should have raised.
V2 is not folding a low draw, and could have paired an 8 or picked up some sort of straight draw. There are plenty of hands they're not folding here. According to Troutulator, I now have 47.9% equity vs their assigned ranges. Anything else here I should consider?

Thanks for reading!

Douglas

Absolutely! Find joy and purpose in the day-to-day struggles. Enjoy your holiday!

Good results in the private game. Interesting how you can pull something unintended, but 100% useful in all situations out of a training video like that, isn't it? Keep it up!

I know this video was made a while ago, but are you still interested in taking hands from viewers and making another video? I should be able to provide you some hands in the near future, if you are.

tonikhe That seems like a winning approach to take! Looking forward to an update.

Congrats (belated) on completing university. Big accomplishment! You haven't updated this in a while and I'm curious if you're still playing fulltime.

I'm in a situation where I haven't really played a meaningful amount in a few years. What were some of the things that helped you most to get back to feeling sharp at the tables again?

Yeah, kind of disappointed when I started posting on here too. I think online forums in general are not as active as they used to be.

I have decided to use it as a way to hold myself accountable and track my progress. Not sure it's worth much more than this tbh. I'm hoping the study groups they are putting together on Discord will be better and more active. Cheers!

I understand what you mean when you talk about realizing things about yourself during game, but not really dealing with them in an optimal way. Do you have a plan going forward to change this trend?

My plan for this is going to be use of my poker journal on here. When I have a session like that, I'm going to write about what I did and what I feel I should have done differently. Sometimes we are our own greatest opponent!