Taking Over The PLO World with High-Stakes End Boss | Grazvydas "Grazvis1" Kontautas

► Stuck at Mid-Stakes? We Help You Move Up https://www.mechanicsofpoker.com Partners: ► Study GTO and join monthly webinars by TheWakko over at GTO Wizard, https://gtowizard.com/mechanics/ 10% off the first month In episode 50 of the MOPP we are chatting with one of the biggest winners in online poker, high-stakes PLO cash-game player Grazvydas Kontautas. Grazvydas shares his journey from starting poker young to becoming a pro, discussing mindset, game selection, and self-criticism in his growth. He explores the balance between poker and personal life, risk management, and insights from game theory. The conversation covers transitioning from No Limit Hold'em to PLO, common mistakes, strategy creation, and the role of coaching. Grazvydas highlights the importance of feedback, community, and unorthodox strategies for maximizing EV. He reflects on poker’s future, lifestyle factors, and the lessons learned, offering advice for aspiring players on finding balance and success in the game. 0:00 - Introduction 2:13 - Starting online poker as a 16-year-old 6:36 - Learning poker in the pre-solver era 11:28 - Why Grazvydas prefers structure and slower games 15:51 - The impact Sauce123 had on this game 20:56 - From 800k hands break-even to earning $1 million 24:26 - Meeting other PLO crushers and learning from them 27:39 - How Grazvydas prepared to be the best in the world 32:16 - A Stoic mindset vs being self-critical 34:50 - Scanning for mistakes and looking for weaknesses 39:56 - Playing high volume, living and breathing poker 43:41 - Working with a Game Theory genius and how that helped him 45:56 - What drove him to become the best 48:58 - Getting to 25/50 and all the GOATs retiring 54:26 - Playing some of the biggest pots of all time and dealing with huge swings 57:58 - Going on a $2 million downswing and busting his crypto roll 1:01:18 - Shoutout to our sponsor GTO Wizard 1:04:32 - Traveling and living out of a suitcase for 8 years 1:09:16 - Insights from Game Theory and understanding exploitative strategies 1:15:08 - Building his strategy and adding layers to his structured game 1:17:22 - Learning to play more aggressively and exploitatively 1:20:16 - Transitioning from NLHE to PLO: when it’s a good idea and when it’s not 1:25:16 - Heads-Up vs 6max: preferences and strategies 1:29:06 - Grazvydas’ power ranking and why he rates them the best 1:31:54 - Effective study methods; having 2 coaches and delegating 1:38:36 - Finding people who are smarter than you to coach you 1:41:26 - The importance of drilling the most frequent spots 1:44:15 - How Grazvydas uses simplified strategies 1:49:29 - Using an RNG: why it’s often a bad idea 1:54:36 - Starting to use solvers and how it felt so logical 2:00:41 - Why he only studies 200 hours per year 2:06:26 - Getting in good games, changing schedules, and relocating 2:13:54 - How Grazvydas maintains high focus when playing 2:18:38 - The drive to make the most +EV decisions 2:20:07 - Grazvydas’ unexpected dream table lineup 2:25:39 - The greatest contributors to Grazvydas’ success 2:32:19 - Why there are many ways to make money in poker 2:36:17 - His definition of success and what he values outside of poker 2:39:21 - What Grazvydas is most proud of in his poker career 2:41:17 - How much do pretty graphs matter? 2:47:22 - The hardest thing about being a poker player 2:52:04 - The nicest thing about being a professional poker player 2:53:41 - Advice to an ambitious mid-stakes player who wants to get to high-stakes 2:56:21 - What Rene enjoys the most about being a poker player 3:01:03 - The message Grazvydas would like for the audience to take away 3:03:13 - Adam and Rene's main takeaways ► Stop Surviving & Start Thriving https://www.mechanicsofpoker.com #Mechanics #Poker #cashgame #OnlinePoker #podcast