Ask me Anything - mbml

Originally posted by jules97

Originally posted by mbml
I'm waiting for the stock market to crash, hopefully within the next 2 years and I'll just pump everything into an index fund.

Waiting for a crash is like to waiting to lose X buyins before moving up a limit. Will cost at least hundreds of thousands, maybe millions, depending on how much you have to invest, how much one tops it up each year and how long your waiting for the 'crash'. Go see a financial advisor.

i think it's much better than entering now and then having 50% of my savings wiped out

Originally posted by mlatasrb
Questions about GTO vs exploitative plays:

1) We should play GTO vs good reggs who are balanced, and this will help us to have "perfect" stats so that our opponents by looking at our stats cant find a leak where they exploit us and print money vs us, right? If we would be playing perfect GTO, would it make us the best or equal to best player in the world?

2) Is it possible to play perfect GTO at least in theory (not possible in real since people make mistakes)? If not possible, what are the limits, problems?

3) Since you play high stakes, I assume almost all players are playing GTO? If so, who is winning there and how? It seems to me, that you can just play break even - rake, or the only edge could be that you make less mistakes than your opponent?

4) By playing at Nl50 I had 12bb/100 hands, was playing 99% of time exploitative, because most of players have big leaks and I was concentrated to exploit those leaks. When I moved to NL100, I was breakeven after 50k hands, but should have 2k in plus by EV adjusted (had downswing), and what I noticed, most of people dont have leaks or very little. It means, that in order to win there, I need to really concentrate on playing good GTO game?

5) I switched several times back to NL50, because at NL100 I was just breakeven all the time (mostly to boost bankroll and regain confidence). I have 10k bankroll which is more than enough for Nl100, so do you think I should stick to it and not come back to NL50? NL50 started being boring for me over time, and NL100 started being frustrating because I was not winning and players are more uncomfortable. Do you think it is a good idea to practice 1-2 tables NL50 for some time, and concantrate purely on playing GTO game, and when I improve it to move to NL100?

1. Play balanced vs unknowns and vs tough players as a default. Deviate from the balanced strategy if you know your opponent's leaks (barrel more, 3b more, bluff less etc)

2. In theory it's possible but the game has yet to be solved

3. Nope. People are more balanced in general but everyone still has a ton of leaks, myself included.

4. you can't get away with pure aggression against tougher opponents as they will know how to adjust. focus on formulating good winning strategies that work on any opponent.

5. just play nl100 and get coaching. don't be stingy with your money. It'll probably pay off in the long run.

When you learn how to make automatic decisions about how to play certain spots well, doesn't playing become boring?

Originally posted by mbml

Money - Money is nice. Honestly I don't consider myself very materialistic. I have no intention to buy a car until I have >1 million dollars, simply because cars are depreciating assets and a huge waste of money in Singapore, and also because I prefer being driven around (in cabs) and I stay near the train station. To me, money buys me the freedom to travel around and pursue activities that others cannot afford to do so.

When I was travelling overseas, I didn't really think twice when I spent on stuff like horse riding or hot air balloons or when I ate in the more expensive restaurants. To me, money brings me a lot of convenience and frees me from financial worries as well as from bondage to a corporate job.

My hate for working for others - I "suffered" during my internship and military service. I hated the fact that others were in charge of me. I don't like others to be in control of my own destiny.

Couldn't agree with you more!

My questions:

1) What was your biggest Aha! moment in your career?

2) Is there more value in PLO nowadays?

3) Favourite food?

Originally posted by maritsula

My questions:

1) What was your biggest Aha! moment in your career?

2) Is there more value in PLO nowadays?

3) Favourite food?

1. The first was learning about capped ranges. When I first learnt about that at NL200/400, I started going crazy and 3-barreling a ton. Then I found out that my range/frequencies was also important.

The second was learning about Game Theory. Many-a-times while playing poker, some guy makes some big bet or raise and I'm put in a really tough spot. I only have a bunch of stats but they aren't useful at all in helping me play out this extremely rare spot. With Game Theory, I just need to look at the bet size and decide my defense frequency and I think this is one of the most important things I learnt - It just helps you play in spots that you otherwise wouldn't have been able to.

2. Maybe, but I doubt it. NLHE Tournaments will always remain the softest. NLHE has way more traffic anyway, and this is shown by the number of players playing Zoom at any point in time.

3. hmm I'm not that particular about food. What I'll say is that convenience and comfort is more important for me when deciding where to eat (if it's near, if the food has no bones/shell, if the place has air conditioning). As long as it doesn't taste like crap or give me diarrhoea after consumption.

Originally posted by metza
When you learn how to make automatic decisions about how to play certain spots well, doesn't playing become boring?

well I rather know what I'm doing and continue pwning and making money - That's certainly way more fun than being put in a tough spot, make the wrong decision, lose money and feel shitty about myself.

Also, there's no way that you can solve poker at the moment, so during every session you'll likely be put into a couple of interesting spots. Automation of decisions is mostly possible for the earlier streets which are easier to work out

I remember not so long ago, you were already a fantastic player but you were a tilt machine. Then suddenly no more tilting post. How did you learn to handle tilt? what was the turning point?

How often do you think a 15BI`s downswing is ok to occur for a winning player(in every how many hands)? How often did you got those ? Also which was your largest downswing BI wise ?

Which tv shows are your favorite and which video games your currently or recently played (if your still playing video games)?

When your finish with your SNE chase are you going to retire since there will be no more limit for you to move up to and you dont want to be the best poker player?

Originally posted by thazar
I remember not so long ago, you were already a fantastic player but you were a tilt machine. Then suddenly no more tilting post. How did you learn to handle tilt? what was the turning point?

turning point is when I became better. Higher winrate = less chances of having losing sessions and losing months = less tilt. It's all related in my opinion.

If you lose 30% of your bankroll in one month, you're going to get absolutely destroyed mentally (that's what happened when I was in Maastrict in Oct-Nov 2011 when I dropped 30k playing 16+ tables up to NL1k). I just wasn't ready.

Now I'm way better in my technical skill. If you just win on a regular basis, you're just going to be so much better off mentally. And also it helps that you have a larger bankroll

Originally posted by cozacu
How often do you think a 15BI`s downswing is ok to occur for a winning player(in every how many hands)? How often did you got those ? Also which was your largest downswing BI wise ?

I don't know and I don't think it's too important. You should spend more time working on your game instead of bothering about such stuff.

People look at winrate and variance just to feel good about themselves.

I'm not too sure about my largest downswing BI wise, but it was probably 30k in a single month as mentioned in my previous post. I was playing 400-1k so that's probably 50-60 buyins. It could be more.

Originally posted by Acespeci
Which tv shows are your favorite and which video games your currently or recently played (if your still playing video games)?

When your finish with your SNE chase are you going to retire since there will be no more limit for you to move up to and you dont want to be the best poker player?

Games in order of how much I play
1. Dota 2 - I play this several times a week, maybe close to everyday
2. Team Fortress 2 - Maybe once or twice a week
3. Counter-strike GO - I don't like the new CS too much, at least I liked 1.6 way more when I was a kid
4. Warcraft 3 (I just log on to bnet to kick some ass when I'm bored)
5. Starcraft II (Hardly Play this)

TV Shows currently airing
1. Anime (I watch the ones with more interesting story/characters while avoiding the moe/harem bullshit)
2. How I met your Mother (it's kind of crappy now but I have to finish it)
3. Legend of Korra
4. South Park
5. Running Man (Korean Urban-Action Variety Show)

Other TV Shows
1. It's Sunny in Philadelphia (I just downloaded the first 7 seasons and I really enjoy seasons 1 and 2, still watching and using it to keep me entertained while I grind)
2. Breaking Bad was good when it was still running
3. Asian Dramas (I used to watch quite a bit but the story is extremely repetitive, Poor Girl meets Rich guy and they fall in love, same old BS)
4. I would watch Game of Thrones/Nikita/Community if they were on air

You can see that I play too many games and watch too many shows. I guess I have too much free time.

Would I retire? That's ridiculous. There's no way I'm even considering retiring until I have made at least 1 million. And I'll probably keep on playing as long as possible, at least in some capacity, unless I have some sort of business to build up. And SNE isn't even a huge achievement, it's only 100k cash.

How do you think 'Korean Urban-Action Variety Show' Running Man matches up to the 1987 Arnie classic 'The Running Man'?

Noticed you watch Anime. Did you watch Attack on Titan? If so, how did you like it? And have you read Manga as well? I did read manga, the story that follows is epic. ♦

Originally posted by Rihard4a
Noticed you watch Anime. Did you watch Attack on Titan? If so, how did you like it? And have you read Manga as well? I did read manga, the story that follows is epic. ♦

Attack on Titan has mainstream appeal for people who don't watch anime. I think it has a decent story and I have read most of the manga. But it's a monthly manga so it's really slow.

I don't really read manga

heya

what do you consider the key factors that determines whether you can beat 500zoom or not?

what off table work helped you the most to get where you are right now?

what are the main differences between a random nl200 reg and a better 500 reg?

do you have poker pals?

do you consider playing plo in the near future?

where do you see yourself in 10 years?

fav movie?

cheers

1. being balanced in most of the common spots - It's really easy to pick up on preflop and flop frequencies and punish others for imbalances

2. working out my preflop ranges, doing some basic work and knowing what u should call down and what you should fold on certain boards

3. fewer leaks/imbalances in ranges in common spots

4. if you are referring to other guys who I actively discuss poker and are playing at a similar level as I do, the answer is no. I think it's really hard to find players who are at the same level as u. Usually one guy is better than the other, and the better player has no incentive to actively discuss strategy with the weaker guy. I did do a bit of sweating/discussion with one of my Singaporean friends though, he plays headsup but he bum hunts quite a bit.

I mostly rely on help from my coaches (I don't really have any at the moment, besides the occasional coaching session with Internet) and myself. If you are talking about friends I play live poker with, or just friends who play poker, then yes I do have quite a few.

5. Yes I'll play some next year. I don't intend to make a living from PLO, but I'll just try to play some mixed games and see how it goes, just to keep things more fun and challenging. I'll basically treat non NLHE games as my recreation.

6. In 10 years time I hope that ...
-I still don't have a regular job
-I would have travelled the entire world
-I'm semi-retired with a nice business that doesn't take up too much of my time, and I can still play some online poker + some live events
-Still debt free with a house fully paid for

7. Hmm I like most of the trilogy movies like LOTR/Matrix

How much living cost in Singapore, for resident not foreigner?
1. for single
2. for a family

Hey man, very nice answers. Always annoying to play big pots vs you ♦

gl in the future!

Originally posted by patszerdonk
How much living cost in Singapore, for resident not foreigner?
1. for single
2. for a family

hmm haven't really thought about it. by the way 1.25 SGD = 1 USD

It's probably really expensive for singles. In Singapore the government basically forces everyone to stay with their parents until they get married and move out (you can't buy a government apartment until you are 35 or married). I also don't really hear much about people moving out and renting an apartment together. There are hardly any small apartments available for purchase/rent so you would often have to rent a single room from a family with a spare room (and that kind of sucks in my opinion, in fact that would just be worse than staying at home).

In Europe/America almost everyone is staying with their partners/friends after college right?

In Singapore if you move out, you're either studying overseas, you got kicked out of the house, or your family is filthy rich and has extra houses for you to live in. I can't think of a single person I know who is unmarried, not studying abroad and is not living at home.

1. Cost of Living for a single - When you stay with family, you don't pay rent/meals. My expenditure is really low. I probably spend like 500+ SGD a month, mostly during the weekends. People who go out more often and club/party/drink are definitely going to spend at least 2-3 times of that, because alcohol/club entry is insanely expensive in singapore. Food and Public Transport is cheap in singapore. Cars and Housing is expensive. If you are young, Singapore is probably pretty affordable for a local. If you are trying to start a family, you would probably start to feel the effects of inflation.

2. I think the average household (family of 4) spends around 2-3k?