What happened in August 2020

My monthly post mortems somehow get the lowest readership, so I am changing the title. In August the 777 poker club moved into a new bigger room and things didn't go well for me. Early in the first week I was already stuck $5000 for the month. But after 178 hours of grinding I managed to end the month with a small profit. I also got my first WSOP cash finishing 99/1200+ on a $800 PLO tournament. 

Playing games while waiting for the next seat to open up

The games at 777 have been great lately, and some days like yesterday we have a full table (of 10 players) and a waitlist of 4. So on these kind of days I have been able to bring my laptop and have some me time. Otherwise I would entertain some guests by playing OFC with them. Overall I think I am up on OFC. Just the other day I was up 200+ points, was in fantasyland with Royal flush on the bottom, full house on the middle and trip tens on the flop. (for those who don't play OFC, it is a freaking monster hand) But I wanted to go home so I told the guys let's just pretend the game never happened. 

Phnom Penh has some amazing restaurants

This month however I haven't been able to sneak out for nice dinners, so I compensated that with some nice lunches. Lobster and oysters at Ostra, Dim Sum buffet at Golden Chimes and afternoon tea at Khema. Yes I only went out to lunch 3 times this month not including two lunch meetings. Time is such a luxury for me right now. And I wish I had someone who can take over things from me so I can go on holiday or even have a day off. After 163 days straight of working I finally fell sick one day. I still went to work sick but at least I had more rest than usual that day.

One of the better days this past month

I am not living the healthy lifestyle I wanted. No time for exercise, sleeping late, not sleeping well because of all the stresses in life. But I'm not complaining. Life can be much worse and I am thankful. I have the most amazing partner anyone can wish for, a good job, and some money saved up. I am thankful and happy. 

WPT Vietnam Report

Why do we tolerate the outdated decor, smoky hallways, non-existent air conditioning, half hearted dealers, constant card marking, 50k for water, 10% “tax”, slow rollers and bad beat celebrations of Pro Poker Club? Because the tourneys are soft! Of course I wish the conditions are better but I’ll take soft fields over comfort and atmosphere any day. 

This past WPT was a measuring stick for me. I wanted to see if I am good enough to continue on this path or should I just forget about tournament poker. I made a horrendous mistake on the High Roller but other than that I think I played a decent series. It’s my first triple ITM series where I cashed the Kick-off, PLO and main event.

PLO FT second chip leader

The kick-off was pretty uneventful, standard hands, coolers and KO. Then I jumped into the short deck event. I actually enjoyed it quite a bit. First bullet I busted when middle position over jam KK pre, I had AA on the button I rejam, big blind decides to call with JT. Flop was 678, turn 9. Then my second bullet I jammed 30 antes with KK only to be called by big blind’s A7o. Flop A.

PLO was the painful one. I was 2nd chip leader with 5 players left. I had the other players covered by quite a bit. UTG I opened QQJ8ds. Chip leader on the sb called. Flop KQ3r I decided to slow play. Turn was 4s and now with two spades on board. Chip leader donks for the pot, I repot and he jammed. Snap call. He shows JJ52sss. Yes he had 3 spades in his hand. I had 70% at the time to become the new chip leader with 3 short stacks left. River A. Should I have fast played my flop? I don’t think so. Can’t be result oriented and I like my line. I got him to commit 300k with 30% equity.

First plaque in Vietnam

Main event at one point in day2 I was top 5 in chips. I lost AT < TT 8bb jam, then lost AQ < TT for 15bb. On my left was a UK player who had been 3 betting my opens quite a few times. One time I decided to defend my open with JThh. Flop came 985hxx. I check raise his cbet and was snapped off by AA. I still had 37% equity and turned a T which kept me at 30% ish for the river. But it wasn’t what I hoped for. Two 70-30 flips that did not go my way.

Last event of the series I played in the High Roller. Leading up to my last bust I had QQ on the big blind. Utg1 opened, button flat, I 3bet to 7x, initial aggressor folds, button jams for 60bb and I snap off. He shows AKo. Board ran T7T4A. Gg. 

Overall I think I played a decent series but again not finishing super deep means it wasn’t a great result. If I won that PLO hand I would have had a shot at winning that event for 10K USD instead I got 1800 for finishing 5th. But I collected my 5th ITM for the year, with 2 FTs, outpacing my 2018 results at a much higher ITM %. I decided to extend my dream for just a while longer, heading to Taipei for J88 and the HK/Taiwan Series. 

Same denomination but different color. Call me OCD

So far I have kept to my new year resolutions. But upon reflection, I still need to work on my discipline and focus. In some hands I have shown flashes of brilliance that most pros would be proud of, but at times I would make mistakes even fishes would laugh about. Gotta work on increasing the first part and reducing the second.

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Pot Limit Omaha is like a hot bitch!

Players who have played PLO (Pot Limit Omaha) will tell you they have a love hate relationship with the game. I describe it as having a relationship with a hot bitch. Sometimes you're in heaven and you feel like the luckiest guy in the world, but at times you hate yourself for loving her. (*singing* I hate myself for loving you... can't break free from the things that you do....)

Recently I have been playing more PLO on a pppoker club (id: 11111). Things have been going okay but last night I had the biggest score.

That's me, wobuhuiwan (it means "I don't know how to play" in Mandarin) Here I'm up 4061 chips in one session. Sorry I haven't been posting much cause I have been involved in so many projects lately but having a good time. So far I have had a good month. I am up about USD 8k in poker profits and rakeback in April. I will write an Omaha article later this month I hope. I can't say I'm a good player in Omaha, but on this club, it is quite easy to win for me.

Anyway, just wanted to write an article as I recently heard that some people regularly check my blog for updates. Sorry to have disappointed you lately. I will try to write more posts when I can. This coming weekend I will be playing the main event at the Pokerstars Platinum Series in Macau. It has been a while I've played in a tournament. Hopefully I can do well and break my duck in Macau! If you know me personally, I am selling my action as well. Let me know if you're interested to buy.

Remember you can reach out to me on Instagram, Snapchat or Facebook by adding Happyriverpoker.