Comments on: So, Not Having Played Pot-Limit Omaha Before…

By: United113

United113 — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 22:38:26 +0000

I saw a great comment on Poker Night Live about Omaha.

The guy said that you look at your starting hand and want 6 good HE hands.

AAKK double suited gives you AA, KK, and two AK suited. you would normally look at 2 good holdem hands as 4 cards hands but because of the combinations you need to look for six. You also need to be careful. There was a scenario once when someone had hit the nut straight in a full ring game on the turn, but there was NO card in the deck left that could come on the river that would not make him lose…

By: Brain

Brain — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 06:17:16 +0000

Hi,
PLO is uh…not my best game, but when you are facing a push on the river there you’re beat almost 100%. Think about the decision to raise the river though - that’s the key to this hand. If he’s just trying to bluff you out after your turn check you might as well just call - your hand is basically a bluff catcher only, except against the worst players who would call with just a straight or trips. Finally, a lot of straightforward players at smaller stakes will always bet the full pot unless they have a big hand on the river and want a call - so his small bet here simply screams value. Even calling is close, but getting 3-1 I think you’ll see a random 6 or straight often enough.
Also you should probably bet full pot on the flop or check, because although you can’t call a raise, you’d like to protect your hand as trips with a straight draw is still a pretty nice hand on this flop. At the very least you might be able to get the others behind you to fold (which is what happened anyway) and be able to play the turn/river in position.

By: Simon

Simon — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 10:24:07 +0000

Thanks for the feedback Shamus, I’m certainly looking forward to exploring the “crazy game of poker” a bit further.

I have to agree with your call on the river advice and to be honest, although I consider the pocket 8’s in my analysis I didn’t give them enough thought at the time. All part of the learning curve I guess.

I’ll check out your post and get back to the Omaha tables soon, at the moment though I’m slowly getting addicted to low games like Razz and 2-7 (posts on those games to come). Either way, it’s refreshing to be playing something other than hold’em. How’d you go in the AIPS PL Omaha?

By: Short-Stacked Shamus

Short-Stacked Shamus — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 12:43:01 +0000

Welcome back, friend! And welcome to, as my buddy Erwin puts it, that “crazy game of poker.” As I’ve been writing about, I’ve only gotten back into PLO here recently (used to play a lot), so take my two cents with a grain of salt.

Limping with that hand is no big crime (to me) — better from late pos., actually, but if you get to see the flop for cheap yr okay. You are double-suited, and all four cards do (almost) work together. (Indeed, your starting hand was slightly better than the winner’s was.) You can play hands like that, I think, but have to be extremely wary if you flop a straight or straight draw if it ain’t the nuts (or to the nuts).

Your flop bet was reasonable — if I’m you I’m also very concerned about someone else with the case 6 & better kicker. His call was correct (he’s flopped the stone cold nuts, unless quads is out there). The turn card was pretty harmless, so his check there is probably good, too. (Yours was too.) His river bet was smart as well (he probably didn’t luck into that stack). Without the nuts, you really should just call. Now if he’s already demonstrated that he’s foolish enough to bet a made straight w/a pair on board, you might play differently. But without the nuts, I usually try to avoid the big loss (not that I always do).

You might check out that Hutchison chart (which I linked to in my 3/13 post) if you’re looking for a way to gauge starting hands. You’ll get a feel for it eventually, though. (I really don’t use a chart anymore.)