Andres Korn

Run It Once Thread

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Timestamps

0:30 – hello and welcome
7:57 – strategy
29:36 – guest

Strategy

$1/$2 NL Hero opens to $12 with Th Td in the HJ, BN calls.

Jd Jh 5c. Both check.

6d. Hero bets $15, Villain calls.

7h. Hero bets $15, Villain raises to $65, Hero?

PokerStars – 500/1000 PL Hi (6 max) – Omaha Hi – 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

BTN: 48.94 BB (VPIP: 47.62, PFR: 23.81, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 21)
SB: 122.09 BB (VPIP: 23.81, PFR: 9.52, 3Bet Preflop: 10.00, Hands: 21)
Hero (BB): 45.3 BB
UTG: 178.14 BB (VPIP: 33.33, PFR: 9.52, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 21)
MP: 33.32 BB (VPIP: 33.33, PFR: 14.29, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 21)
CO: 215.82 BB (VPIP: 47.62, PFR: 19.05, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 21)

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has Js As 4d Qs
fold, fold, CO raises to 3.5 BB, fold, SB calls 3 BB, Hero calls 2.5 BB

Flop : (10.5 BB, 3 players) 4h 9d Tc
SB checks, Hero checks, CO checks

Turn : (10.5 BB, 3 players) 5h
SB checks, Hero bets 10.5 BB, CO calls 10.5 BB, fold

River : (31.5 BB, 2 players) Jd
Hero checks, CO bets 31.5 BB, Hero calls 31.3 BB and is all-in

CO shows Kh 7s Ks 3h (One Pair, Kings)
(Pre 57%, Flop 43%, Turn 68%)

Hero shows Js As 4d Qs (Two Pair, Jacks and Fours)
(Pre 43%, Flop 57%, Turn 33%)

Hero wins 94.1 BB

I made the money, surprising no one more than myself, and ultimately busted with dignity, holding a pair and a wrap against top two pair that turned a boat. I had to run the equity afterwards, but I got it in with about 62%, so can’t feel bad about that:

PokerStars – 8000/16000 PL Hi (6 max) – Omaha Hi – 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

MP: 35.37 BB (VPIP: 31.82, PFR: 4.55, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 22)
Hero (CO): 46.58 BB
BTN: 72.41 BB (VPIP: 29.69, PFR: 14.06, 3Bet Preflop: 4.00, Hands: 128)
SB: 40.05 BB (VPIP: 50.00, PFR: 13.33, 3Bet Preflop: 7.69, Hands: 30)
BB: 65.48 BB (VPIP: 30.56, PFR: 17.36, 3Bet Preflop: 1.96, Hands: 147)
UTG: 43.88 BB (VPIP: 42.55, PFR: 21.28, 3Bet Preflop: 5.56, Hands: 47)

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has 4h 3d 6d 7c
fold, fold, Hero raises to 2.79 BB, BTN calls 2.79 BB, SB calls 2.29 BB, fold

Flop : (9.37 BB, 3 players) 6h 5c Qd
SB checks, Hero bets 6.18 BB, BTN raises to 27.92 BB, fold, Hero raises to 43.79 BB and is all-in, BTN calls 15.86 BB

Turn : (96.94 BB, 2 players) 6c

River : (96.94 BB, 2 players) Ah

Hero shows 4h 3d 6d 7c (Three of a Kind, Sixes)
(Pre 44%, Flop 61%, Turn 0%)

BTN shows Kd As Qs 6s (Full House, Sixes full of Aces)
(Pre 56%, Flop 39%, Turn 100%)

BTN wins 96.94 BB

Although in retrospect maybe this just isn’t a good open from the CO? Like I said, undoubtedly lots of small mistakes.

I got trounced in the $1K in an interesting spot:

PokerStars – 175/350 Ante 45 NL – Holdem – 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

BB: 178.74 BB (VPIP: 22.60, PFR: 15.46, 3Bet Preflop: 8.33, Hands: 209)
UTG: 237.43 BB (VPIP: 20.20, PFR: 13.07, 3Bet Preflop: 5.60, Hands: 307)
Hero (UTG+1): 147.77 BB
MP: 121.09 BB (VPIP: 27.81, PFR: 18.67, 3Bet Preflop: 14.07, Hands: 608)
MP+1: 117.71 BB (VPIP: 22.44, PFR: 15.81, 3Bet Preflop: 9.48, Hands: 259)
MP+2: 240.61 BB (VPIP: 9.82, PFR: 5.94, 3Bet Preflop: 1.89, Hands: 226)
CO: 64.04 BB (VPIP: 23.45, PFR: 16.25, 3Bet Preflop: 7.44, Hands: 293)
BTN: 135.27 BB (VPIP: 22.26, PFR: 18.96, 3Bet Preflop: 10.53, Hands: 276)
SB: 141.29 BB (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 13)

9 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.66 BB) Hero has Ah 8h
fold, Hero raises to 2.28 BB, fold, fold, fold, fold, BTN calls 2.28 BB, SB calls 1.78 BB, BB calls 1.28 BB

Flop : (10.28 BB, 4 players) 8d 2c 7h
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets 6.78 BB, fold, SB raises to 21 BB, fold, Hero calls 14.22 BB

Turn : (52.28 BB, 2 players) 7c
SB bets 35 BB, Hero raises to 124.36 BB and is all-in, SB calls 82.88 BB and is all-in

River : (288.03 BB, 2 players) 6h

SB shows 7s As (Three of a Kind, Sevens)
(Pre 36%, Flop 8%, Turn 95%)

Hero shows Ah 8h (Two Pair, Eights and Sevens)
(Pre 64%, Flop 92%, Turn 5%)

SB wins 288.03 BB

Of course it looks bad that Villain hit a two-outer, but I think he played the hand well, and there are other ways for him to win besides binking. I like my flop defend. It’s a nasty spot, but I think given how often I’ll hold overpairs in this same spot, I should continue with this hand (which blocks 88 and 87s) and mostly dump those.

I thought of the turn as a better card than it probably was. Of course it makes sets/two-pair less likely, but I didn’t really consider that 7x would be a likely flop bluffing hand for Villain because he wants to block 77 and 87s. In retrospect, folding or even calling turn might well be better than sticking it in, even with a bounty on the Villain (which really isn’t likely to come into play, come to think of it).

I had a tricky spot in the $500 that I’m still not sure about:

PokerStars – 400/800 Ante 100 NL (8 max) – Holdem – 8 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

UTG: 143.26 BB (VPIP: 21.55, PFR: 19.25, 3Bet Preflop: 10.53, Hands: 232)
UTG+1: 49.15 BB (VPIP: 22.62, PFR: 13.41, 3Bet Preflop: 6.06, Hands: 84)
MP: 79.88 BB (VPIP: 19.31, PFR: 15.00, 3Bet Preflop: 6.85, Hands: 668)
Hero (MP+1): 58.58 BB
CO: 62.9 BB (VPIP: 25.84, PFR: 21.32, 3Bet Preflop: 12.16, Hands: 332)
BTN: 86.71 BB (VPIP: 15.91, PFR: 10.13, 3Bet Preflop: 2.21, Hands: 398)
SB: 19.67 BB (VPIP: 21.78, PFR: 16.28, 3Bet Preflop: 9.55, Hands: 487)
BB: 68.82 BB (VPIP: 16.36, PFR: 12.79, 3Bet Preflop: 7.27, Hands: 276)

8 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.5 BB) Hero has 6d 5d
fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 2.28 BB, fold, fold, fold, BB calls 1.28 BB

Flop : (6.06 BB, 2 players) 4c 7d 9c
BB checks, Hero bets 4 BB, BB raises to 13.61 BB, Hero calls 9.61 BB

Turn : (33.28 BB, 2 players) 9s
BB bets 17 BB, Hero calls 17 BB

River : (67.28 BB, 2 players) Kd
BB bets 35.8 BB and is all-in, fold

BB wins 67.28 BB

It feels bad to call off so much with 6-high, but I still struggle to see a better option. The flop bet and call seem pretty clear-cut. Turn is tricky. Of course I could be in bad shape vs a 9, but I could also be very live against a flush draw, and if Villain doesn’t have the flush draw then I may get the opportunity to rep it if it comes in. I don’t think jamming the turn is any good, but I could certainly be convinced that it’s a fold.

I lost the rest with AK to 99 all in pre, nothing too exciting there.

I considered taking today off, but it’s dreary outside, so I’ll likely play the $215 rebuy.

Plus, in honor of Pittsburgh, our strategy segment features Andrew donking around in a 5/5/10 PLO game at the Rivers Casino.

Links

Episode 140 with Chad Power
Daniel’s Poker Night in America episode
Daniel on Twitter

Timestamps

Strategy

5/5 PLO with a $10 Button straddle

Hero is BB with AKQTsshh. SB completes, Hero completes, UTG raises to $30, MP calls, BN calls, SB calls, Hero raises to $180, everyone but SB calls.

Flop ($750) Ad 9c 7c. I am spades and hearts so no flush draw for me. I have about $3000 behind, everyone covers me. Everyone checks.

Turn ($750) Js. Everyone checks.

River ($750) 3h. Hero?

Be sure to check out Tommy’s new and improved website and follow him on Twitter. His earlier appearances on the podcast are here and here.

Timestamps

0:30 – hello
33:24 – interview

Strategy

$5/$5/$10 PLO $1500 effective stacks

Button opens $40, Hero calls Ah Kd 9c 4h in SB, BB calls, straddle calls.

Flop ($160) Ad Qh 4d. Three checks, button bets $120, Hero calls, two folds.

Turn ($400) 6h. Hero checks, Villain bets $340, Hero calls.

River ($1080) Qc. Hero checks, Villain bets $480, Hero?

You can follow Jamie on Twitter at @jamiekerstetter, and on Twitch at http://www.twitch.tv/jamiekerstetter. If you’re in New Jersey, you can play with her on Party Poker. Watch her videos on Tournament Poker Edge! You can read Barry Hutter’s comments about female players here. And most importantly, be nice to each other!

Timestamps

0:30 Hello and welcome
7:35 Strategy: A PLO hand
33:00 Interview: Jamie Kerstetter

Strategy

$5/$5 PLO home game w $10 button straddle, I have $1350 (all villains cover), I oeld AcKc8h7h on the button (&straddle). Both blinds call, good aggressive player raises to $50 UTG, 2 players call, I call, blinds fold.

Pot is $210. Flop is Jc9c4h. UTG bets $200, one of the two interim players calls, I call.

Turn is 6h. UTG bets $400. Interim player fold. I call.

River is the Kd. UTG bets $800. I fold.

You can follow Ben on Twitter @professorben and read his articles in Cardplayer.

Timestamps

0:30 hello and welcome
6:00 strategy w Cyrus
43:21 Ben Yu

Strategy

$2/$5 NLHE. Two limps in early position, one limp in late position, Hero makes it $30 with AJo in the BB, all call.

Flop ($115) J86r. Hero bets $70, first limper raises to $210, second limper calls all-in for his last $85, folds back to Hero, Hero calls.

Turn ($620 in pot) 2. Hero checks and folds to $150.

Edit: Corrected flop, should be J86.

Best Strategy

Nate and I talk strategy on just about every episode, but of course the show is at its very best strategy-wise when the game’s top players share their wisdom.

Ben Sulsky – It was a great privilege to talk about game theory (and philosophy) with a player who is blazing new frontiers in poker strategy.

Mike McDonald – Our conversation with Mike was great in a lot of ways, but among other things he was generous enough to share some deep thoughts on tournament strategy, including the underappreciated “hero check”.

Fascinating Stories

My favorite guests are not only great players (sometimes they aren’t players at all) but also fascinating people who open up about their struggles, their successes, and unique poker careers.

John the Lawyer – A long career in big live games, including a lot of private games, is bound to produce some great stories, and John tells them well. If you overlooked this episode because you didn’t recognize the name, go back and listen. There’s some solid strategy discussion in here as well.

Dara O’Kearney – Going pro later in life gave Dara a unique perspective on the poker world, and his Irish blood gives him the ability to share his thoughts with both humor and deep insight into many facets of the game, including staking.

Terrence Chan – Terrence not only shares stories from his poker and mixed martial arts careers but also gives some insight into the state of regulated online poker in Nevada. This interview is particularly interesting in light of what happened with Ultimate Poker just a few months later.

Ari Engel – Ari reveals that the life of the circuit grinder isn’t always a glamorous one. Even one of the most successful player on the WSOP circuit has to live a nitcast-approved lifestyle to keep his dream alive.

Alex Fitzgerald – Alex is brutally honest about the highs and lows of his career, including his struggle with drugs and his new life in Costa Rica.

Just Plain Fun

Nate and I rarely have as much fun as when we get to catch up with some of the great friends we’ve made through the podcast, and when we’re having the most fun, that’s usually when the show is the most fun to listen to.

Live From Las Vegas featuring Carlos Welch – One of the perks of our relationship with PokerNews was the opportunity to record together in person (a rare treat in itself) from the halls of the World Series of Poker. Carlos Welch joins us for this entertaining episode that includes a lot of strategy discussion from non-hold ’em games.

Episode 100 – This is one for the fans. In this double-length episode, two of our most popular guests, Carlos Welch and Gareth Chantler, turn the tables and interview Nate and me about our lives and poker careers.

I was going to post this one as a What’s Your Play? but frankly I’m not confident enough in my PLO game to present it as a clearly correct play. Anyway, it’s my very first hand at the table, six players limp for $3, and I check my option with Qh 9h 6c 3c.

Flop ($21 in pot) Qd 5h 4h. I check planning to evaluate the action and quite possibly raise, but it ends up checking around.

Turn ($25 in pot) Js. I check, UTG bets $15, gets two calls, and I call.

River ($85 in pot) 9c. I check, UTG bets $25, the other two fold. I raise pot, Villain folds.

Other than recognizing that my two-pair doesn’t have a lot of showdown value, this spot really doesn’t require knowing much about PLO. It just requires recognizing that Villain thinks he may have the best hand but doesn’t want to put a lot of money into the pot. After that, it’s a pretty standard spot, in any big bet game, to turn a hand with marginal showdown value into a bluff.

0:30 – Hello and Welcome
13:00 – The Roy Bhasin story
28:13 – Your PLO questions answered

Also don’t forget that John will be the guest on this week’s podcast, so you’ll get to hear more about the book and the man behind it soon.

John “KasinoKrime” Beauprez, winner of the 2013 $5000 pot-limit omaha $1500 no-limt hold ’em 6-max WSOP event, will be our guest on Episode 43 of the podcast. In addition to talking to him about his poker career and the excitement of winning his first bracelet, we’ll also talk PLO strategy.

John is the author of PLO QuickPro, a hefty soup-to-nuts strategy book. We considered featuring PLO QuickPro on a month-long bookclub, but ultimately decided against it on the assumption that the $300 price tag would be a barrier to participation for a large percentage of listeners. Instead, John has made one chapter of the book free for readers of this blog to download, and we encourage you to read it before you listen to our interview.

It’s worth noting that although featuring a book or author on the show doesn’t necessarily constitute a recommendation thereof, speaking for myself, I’m nearly finished my first read-through of the book and have found it quite good so far. I’ll be publishing a review in the next week or so.

If you have suggestions for questions either about John or about PLO strategy, please leave them as comments here and we’ll consider them for the show.

Particularly in big-bet games like no-limit hold‘em and pot-limit Omaha, failing to build the pot and missing out on a bet are potentially very large costs to slowplaying. If your opponent would have been willing to call three bets with an inferior hand, but you check the flop and then bet the turn and river, you have not only cost yourself a bet, you have cost yourself the largest bet….

An often overlooked advantage of slowplaying is that it helps to balance your ranges and protect weaker hands that you would check in similar spots. If your opponent knows that you are capable of checking strong hands, he will probably bluff and value bet you less, making it easier for you to show down marginal hands cheaply. If he doesn’t make this adaptation, then you’ll win more money with your slowplayed hands when your opponent stubbornly bluffs into them with weak hands that would have folded had you bet.

As always, I’m eager to hear what you think, so please leave comments to let me know!

This advice hit me right in the face, given how frequently I look up a big river bet even when I’m pretty sure I’m beat. (What can I say? I’m naturally a curious person, and I’ve always been willing to pay to satisfy my curiosity. But it does get expensive in poker.) I still call on the river when I think there’s a reasonable chance my opponent is bluffing, but I’m very much trying to incorporate BalugaWhale’s advice into my game.

I’m wondering how important you think his advice is to becoming a winning player and how pervasive the instinct is for people to call. In addition to calculating the odds that villain is bluffing, do you use any techniques to discipline yourself against paying off?

A: You should always be suspicious of anything purporting to be “the key to become a winning poker player”. Virtually anyone’s play could be improved in many different places, any of which will help to make her more profitable (or less unprofitable).

Matt Matros recently criticized the idea of “a secret response that, once unveiled, would magically transform an average player into an elite one”, adding that, “great players have a dozen or more traits that help make them the best at what they do”. According to him, though, “one attribute that can be found in every world-class player’s game [is that] they’re all willing to make plays that typical players wouldn’t even consider.” So there are certainly varying opinions on the subject, even among world-class players like Seidman and Matros.

That said, calling too much is a very common and very expensive leak. Most players could improve their win-rate considerably by folding a few good-looking hands when their opponents’ actions strongly suggest that those hands are no good. I have had a few students who exhibited dramatic improvement when I told them to start looking for excuses to fold strong hands and send me the results. So I do think that Seidman is on to something, even if calling it “the key” is overstating matters a bit.

Learning to read hands is the best route to learning to let go of seemingly strong hands at the right times. Many players stick to rules like “never fold a set” or “always call with top pair on the river if you checked the turn” as a substitute for the more rigorous exercise of hand reading, and this leads to bad calls.

When contemplating a big laydown, I find it helps to consider my own range. What other hands could I hold in this situation? Which of those hands would I fold, and which would call or raise? Where does my current hand fit into that range. If I can identify several stronger hands that I could hold, then I’m more comfortable folding whatever I have, even if it seems strong in a vacuum. When I’m at the top of my range, though, meaning that I’ll rarely have a hand stronger than what I have based on how I’ve played so far, then I’m much more inclined to pay off, particularly if I think my opponent is good enough to pick up on that fact.

To boil it down to one simple rule, I’d say “When in doubt, fold.” There’s nothing unique about what you describe as your “natural curiosity.” Virtually every poker player, myself included, would rather see his opponents’ cards than yield the pot. We also tend to overestimate how often our opponents are bluffing.

I like to keep this in mind, that I can’t necessarily trust my desire to call or to put my opponent on a bluff. Given my, and most poker players’, natural tendency to call too often, I prefer to err on the side of folding when the decision seems close. In all likelihood, it’s not as close as I’m leading myself to believe.

Do you have a question for the Thinking Poker Mailbag? Please leave it as a comment below!

How I Made My First Million From Poker is all over the map. It’s a memoir, it’s a strategy book, it’s a poker lifestyle book. This jack of all trades is a master of none, though readers who can get past Tri Nguyen’s off-putting persona are likely to find enough helpful advice to warrant a modest sticker price of $47 for paperback or e-book. All in all it’s a 6/10.

You can read the full review here. If you read the book, please let me know what you think. By the way, using my affiliate link will save you 10%, so be sure to do that if you buy it!

PokerStars Pot-Limit Omaha High, $1.00 BB (6 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of PokerZion.com

Button ($170.35)
Hero ($250)
BB ($1351.95)
UTG ($258.90)
MP ($456.15)
CO ($96.50)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 7c, As, 5h, Ac.
UTG calls $1, MP raises to $5.7, CO calls $5.70, Button calls $5.70, Hero raises to $31.7, 1 fold, UTG folds, MP calls $26, CO raises to $96.5, Button folds, Hero raises to $249.8, MP folds.

Flop: ($386.10) 7s, Ks, Kh (2 players)

Turn: ($386.10) 4s (2 players)

River: ($386.10) Ad (2 players)

Final Pot: $386.10
Results in white below:
Hero has 7c As 5h Ac (full house, aces full of kings).
CO has Kd Td Tc Ts (three of a kind, kings).
Outcome: Hero wins $386.10.

“[Y]ou must weigh the advantages of slowplaying against what you would have won from second-best hands that would have paid you off on three streets but end up losing a smaller pot because of your slowplay. In a fixed limit game, this usually costs you just one small bet if you slowplay the flop. In a big bet game, it costs you a lot more, because pot and bet sizes grows geometrically. In other words, a bigger pot on the flop means a bigger pot on the turn means a much bigger pot, and therefore a much bigger bet, on the river. Thus, slowplaying in big bet games carries a much larger cost than it does in fixed limit games.”

As always, I’m eager to hear what you think!

MP ($263.80)
CO ($250)
Button ($362.30)
SB ($264.20)
Hero ($250)
UTG ($166.90)

Preflop: Hero is BB with Ah, 4c, Ac, Tc.
UTG calls $1, 1 fold, CO raises to $5.2, Button calls $5.20, SB calls $4.70, Hero calls $4.20, UTG calls $4.20.

Flop: ($26.60) 8c, As, Kd (5 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $25.85, UTG folds, CO folds, Button calls $25.85, SB folds.

Turn: ($78.30) 2s (2 players)
Hero bets $75.9, Button calls $75.90.

River: ($230.10) 3d (2 players)
Hero bets $142.85 (All-In), Button folds.

Final Pot: $372.95
Results in white below:
Hero has Ah 4c Ac Tc (three of a kind, aces).
Outcome: Hero wins $372.95.

Flat it pre because I’m OOP deep and my Aces are pretty crappy, really just the club draw to back them up and I’m holding one of my own clubs. If for some crazy reason I flatted pre I’d check this 100% in NLHE just because you have the deck smashed and nobody can have more than 4 outs against you. In PLO a free card is way worse and also people are much more likely to have second-best hands like AK or lower sets. You’re also less likely to induce a bluff by checking the flop since no one is going to bluff into three people in PLO. If any of them are trying to hand-read, they may not expect me to have flatted AA.

PokerStars Pot-Limit Omaha High, $1.00 BB (6 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of PokerZion.com

SB ($77.65)
BB ($45)
UTG ($109.10)
MP ($224.35)
Hero ($138.60)
Button ($40.40)

Preflop: Hero is CO with 8d, 6s, 5c, 9s.
1 fold, MP calls $1, Hero raises to $4.5, Button calls $4.50, SB calls $4, BB raises to $23.5, MP folds, Hero raises to $80.5, Button calls $35.90 (All-In), SB calls $73.15 (All-In), BB calls $21.50 (All-In).

Flop: ($244.55) 5s, Ad, 2s (4 players, 3 all-in)

Turn: ($244.55) 4c (4 players, 3 all-in)

River: ($244.55) 7h (4 players, 3 all-in)

Final Pot: $244.55

Results in white below:
SB has Jc Kd 8c Js (one pair, jacks).
BB has 5d Ac Ah Jh (three of a kind, aces).
Hero has 8d 6s 5c 9s (straight, eight high).
Button has Qd Ts 3c As (straight, five high).
Outcome: Hero wins $244.54.

PokerStars Pot-Limit Omaha High, $1.00 BB (6 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of PokerZion.com

UTG ($339.20)
MP ($254.90)
CO ($497.05)
Hero ($301.60)
SB ($315.35)
BB ($290)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 6c, 9d, 5d, 8s.
3 folds, Hero raises to $4.7, SB calls $4.20, BB calls $3.70.

Flop: ($14.70) 8d, 6d, 4h (3 players)
SB checks, BB bets $14.55, Hero calls $14.55, SB calls $14.55.

Turn: ($58.35) 3c (3 players)
SB checks, BB bets $56.05, Hero calls $56.05, SB raises to $280.25, BB calls $214.50 (All-In), Hero folds.

River: ($665.20) Ts (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $665.20

Results in white below:

SB has 5h 2s 7h Qs (straight, eight high).

BB has 2c As 5s 7d (straight, eight high).

Outcome: SB wins $337.45. BB wins $327.75.

In this case I’ve got 62% equity on the flop, but that’s in part because neither Villain has any redraws. Against a range of 75xx, I’ve got 54% equity. Also it looks like folding the turn is a bad idea. I was thinking that half of my 7’s were dead and my flush draw could easily be dominated, but even against the 75xx range I’ve got 33% equity and I need just 25%. Live and learn.

PokerStars Pot-Limit Omaha High, $1.00 BB (5 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of PokerZion.com

Button ($655.40)
SB ($257.95)
Hero ($258.45)
UTG ($318)
MP ($50.75)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 3s, Tc, 5c, Th.
UTG calls $1, 2 folds, SB completes, Hero checks.

Flop: ($3.60) 4c, 9d, 2d (3 players)
SB bets $3, Hero calls $3, UTG calls $3.

Turn: ($12.60) Ts (3 players)
SB bets $12.4, Hero raises to $42.8, UTG folds, SB calls $30.40.

River: ($98.20) Kh (2 players)
SB bets $90.95, Hero calls $90.95.

Final Pot: $280.10

Results in white below:
SB has Ks Kd Jd 7d (three of a kind, kings).
Hero has 3s Tc 5c Th (three of a kind, tens).
Outcome: SB wins $280.10.

My only regret is with regard to the last question they asked me, about discussing a current controversy. I paused for a long time trying to choose something good, and then I got self-conscious about how long it was taking and just started talking without really organizing my thoughts. Turns out they edited out the pause anyway, so I wish I’d just taken my time and given a more well thought out response. You can find a more thorough explanation of my take on the ethics of endorsing a certain disreputable site on the premier edition of the Poker Ethicist.

Check me out and please let me know what you think. You should really listen to the whole show, but my interview starts when they return from the break around the 50-minute mark.

Hero ($288.45)
BB ($99.70)
UTG ($238.20)
MP ($110.80)
Button ($250)

Preflop: Hero is SB with Qh, Kh, Jc, Ts.
2 folds, Button raises to $2.5, Hero raises to $9.5, 1 fold, Button calls $7.

Flop: ($20.40) Kc, Ah, Jh (2 players)
Hero bets $17, Button raises to $52, Hero raises to $175.95, Button raises to $240.3, Hero calls $64.35.

Turn: ($501) 4d (2 players)

River: ($501) 6d (2 players)

Final Pot: $501

Results below:

Hero has Qh Kh Jc Ts (straight, ace high).
Button has 8d Qc 5h Th (straight, ace high).
Outcome: Hero wins $250.50. Button wins $250.50.

With the nuts + nut flush draw + 2-pair I have 76% equity against Villain’s nuts + lower flush draw. Chopping this 500 BB pot with him was almost more tilting than getting sucked out on, especially when I realized that I actually lost $.20 to rake. I was having trouble finding this hand in my HEM because I was looking under pots that I’d won, and it was actually in the red :-(.

PokerStars Pot-Limit Omaha High, $2 BB (5 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of PokerZion.com

UTG ($970.25)
MP ($192.75)
Button ($419.30)
Hero ($500.10)
BB ($154.15)

Preflop: Hero is SB with Tc, Ah, Jc, As.
UTG raises to $8, MP calls $8, Button raises to $24, Hero raises to $92, 1 fold, UTG folds, MP folds, Button calls $68.

Flop: ($202.40) 8d, 3c, 2h (2 players)

There’s about $320 left in the effective stacks, and I’m really lost about what to do here. My hand looks exactly like what it is, and on a board like this there’s virtually no way for me to have any kind of draw to back up a bare AA.

At the same time, this is a ridiculously tough spot to balance my pre-flop 4-betting range. I guess I could just not 4-bet at all, but I’m getting like 1/4 of the effective stacks in pre-flop and I’ve got good Aces, so I’m giving up a lot of pre-flop value if I go that route.

Against a really good opponent, though, I think I’m going to be behind when money goes in post-flop. Bet-folding is theoretically exploitable, but maybe best anyway?

I imagine the same principle applies in PLO, but because I don’t have confidence in my hand-reading and other skills, I probably get it in on a flip too often when I ought to be able to take better advantage of my position to play later streets.

PokerStars Pot-Limit Omaha High, $2 BB (6 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of PokerZion.com

Button ($208.45)
SB ($215.35)
BB ($236.50)
UTG ($938.95)
Hero ($240.30)
CO ($121.45)

Preflop: Hero is MP with 6d, 8c, 4c, 7s.
1 fold, Hero raises to $7, 2 folds, SB calls $6, 1 fold.

Flop: ($16) Ad, 3c, 5h (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $12, SB raises to $28, Hero raises to $99.2, SB raises to $208.35, Hero calls $109.15.

Turn: ($432.70) Jd (2 players)

River: ($432.70) Th (2 players)

Final Pot: $432.70

Results in white below:

SB has Ah Ac Jh 3h (three of a kind, aces).
Hero has 6d 8c 4c 7s (high card, ace).
Outcome: SB wins $432.70.

Not that I coach PLO, but if one of my students came to me with a problem like this, I’d tell him, “Just start making the calls and doing your best to play position. Even if it’s slightly -EV for you right now, forcing yourself to figure it out is how you’ll get better.” Guess I ought to take my own advice.

Today’s goals are smarter and not particularly similar to each other, but this has gone on for long enough, so I’m posting them both.

Goal 5: Lose Two Pounds Per Month

I’m not fat, but I’m bigger than I should be. I’m just shy of 6′ and weigh in around 200 lbs, probably a little more since Christmas. 180 is about as small as I’ve been in my adult life, and I don’t see any reason why I can’t get back there. I don’t know enough about weight loss to know whether resolving to shed pounds is like resolving to win money, not entirely under my control. So I’m making it a goal and resolving to do a lot of productive things more consistently than I do now. If I do those things, I’ll be happy whether I actually lose the weight or not.

Average 1 Hour of Deliberate Exercise Every Day

This can include working out, playing sports, walking, taking a class, etc., but the activity has to be built around exercise. I often end up doing a lot of incidental walking when we’re camping, but I’m not counting that, because it’s not deliberate and sustained. Basically I want to be picky about this for the sake of making myself do more of it. At the end of every month in which I accomplish this, I get a massage and I get to count the massage towards this total!

Get a Gym Membership and Average 2 Visits Per Week

I know this sounds like the most stereotypical resolution ever that nobody ever keeps, but when I was living in Boston I was walking distance from a gym and was definitely going more than twice a week for several years. I actually want to go more than twice a week this year as well, but since I haven’t actually joined yet, I’m going to have to in order to average out over the time now when I don’t even have a membership.

Take a Yoga Class

Obviously this is another one that my yoga-teaching mother bugs me about a lot, but it took Travis Steffen’s ringing endorsement of yoga in Peak Performance Poker to inspire me once and for all. Hopefully this will also result in my doing some independent workouts between classes.

Eat Healthier

Living nomadically resulted in a lot of eating out. I’m not going to lie: it was fun to roll into a new city, spend a few days visiting all of the best restaurants there, and then move on. Hopefully having my own kitchen again will result in healthier and less expensive eating habits. This is more vague than a resolution should be, so I’m trying to think of some specific ways of accomplishing this: keeping healthy snacks around, planning meals in advance and shopping accordingly, consulting with a nutritionist (though I once had a free consultation with one and she was totally worthless so it didn’t give me a good impression), and possibly even taking a cooking class or something.

Goal 6: Study Poker

The better I get, the harder it gets to get better. Just maintaining an edge against stiff competition in high-stakes games is an effort. Hopefully blogging and such will help, but I need to make sure that I take advantage of the other resources available to me.

Learn PLO

I finally feel like I’m starting to get a feel for this game. I believe my resolution to play more poker will give me more of an impetus to practice. It’s also a good impetus to read and review books, since I don’t get too much from the NLHE books I read these days.

Watch 3 Poker Videos Per Week

I do still learn from NLHE videos, because that’s the forum that most of the game’s best players choose to teach in nowadays. I also plan to watch a lot of PLO videos, as I know there is a ton of good material out there, and I need the help.

Learn Chess or Go

For the most part this is just something I’m interested in, but I also feel like studying non-poker strategy games will stretch my mind and generally make me a better/smarter player. Obviously I already know the rules of these games, but I want to get to a point where I can play them more seriously and at least comprehend the more complex strategies that underlie each.

Phew… that was exhausting. Thanks to everyone who’s offered to help with individual items. I always appreciate hearing your compliments and your suggestions.

I want to hear more about your resolutions, too! What are you trying to accomplish in poker this year? What do you want to learn more about? How can I help you?

Goal 1: Average 15 Hours/Week Playing My “Regular” Games

Goal 2: Earn $X in NLHE Cash Games

I’m nowhere near my cash games goal, and I’ve given up trying. Basically tournaments were going so well for me that I started putting more time into those and when I did grind cash games it was usually easier stuff that wasn’t quite as lucrative. Thankfully tournaments have gone so well that I don’t really need cash games to contribute to the year’s income.

Goal 3: Earn Supernova status on PokerStars

This is still within my grasp, but I need nearly 9000 points, which is more than I’ve earned in any one month this year. When I do play, it’s going to be with a focus on picking up FPP’s so that I can be sure of making Supernova.

Goal 4: Monetize This Blog

I’ve pretty much gotten over the idea of pulling in ad revenue, but the blog has been helpful in generating coaching business, and hopefully soon it will help me to sell a book as well!

Goal 5: Write a Book

It took most of the year, but I have a draft of an entire book that is currently in the hands of some trusted friends from whom I’m awaiting feedback. I still don’t know what the timeline will be for publication, but this project is well underway.

Goal 6: Average One Blog Post Per Day

I had 311 as of the first of this year. Hitting 365 would require nearly two a day this month. I don’t want to drown you with garbage, but I am going to try to pick up the pace, and we’ll see what happens.

Goal 7: Average Five Hours of Coaching Per Week

I’ll be lucky to get half of that. Even adding time spent on Poker Savvy Plus, which is a bit of cheat, doesn’t get me too close to the goal. I’ve really enjoyed the students I’ve worked this year, but I need to work harder to get my name out there. Just browsing the 2+2 Coaching forum I see so many unqualified people charging absurd rates that I have to figure I’d have more business if people knew that I offered coaching. Look for a revamped coaching page in 2011.

Goal 7: Average an Hour a Day of Dedicated Studying and Improvement

Defining this very generously gets me to about half an hour a day. I found it really difficult to make time for this, mostly because there aren’t that many poker videos that I really find helpful at this point. Since I’m pretty well set on hours for the year, I’m going to make a push to practice my PLO game this month. That will give me some impetus to study and also a reason to grind small stakes games for FPP’s.

Goal 8: Use Hold ‘Em Manager

I’m getting much better with this. There’s more I should be doing to review my own play and that of specific opponents whom I play regularly, but this is the first year that I feel I’ve really mastered the basics of playing with a HUD and using those stats at the table.

Goal 9: Finish the Year with a 4BB/100 Win-Rate at 5/10 NL and/or Higher

Heads up games really tanked my winrate, but if we just look at games with 3+ players, I’m at 3.98 BB/100 for games up to 25/50 Cap (though I’m down at 25/50 uncapped). That’s also counting 2/4 Rush, which is a bit of a cheat since it’s easier than 5/10, but honestly my hourly rate per table is pretty close because of all the extra hands, so I’m going to count it.

Goal 10: Play 50,000 Hands of Heads Up NLHE at 5/10 and Higher

I’ve played 27,000 hands, and I’ve got a -5BB/100 win rate. That’s a bit odd, as this was my best game last year. Part of it is variance, I’m sure, and bad game selection. I’ve been trying to play more lately, but it’s just so damn hard to get action.

What About You?

So my big change for December is going to be a focus on Heads Up and PLO games, playing mostly on Stars in order to rack up FPP’s and make Supernova.

How are you progressing towards your goals. Any last-minute adjustments you need to make to finish where you want to be for the year?

Hero (BB) ($400)
UTG ($400)
MP ($300)
Button ($414)
SB ($425)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 10, A
2 folds, Button bets $12, 1 fold, Hero calls $8

Flop: ($26) 6, J, 8 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $20, Hero calls $20

Turn: ($66) K (2 players)
Hero checks, Button checks

River: ($66) 9 (2 players)
Hero bets $44, Button raises to $116, Hero raises to $368 (All-In), 1 fold

Total pot: $298 | Rake: $2

Results:
Hero didn’t show 10, A (nothing).
Outcome: Hero won $296

I called the flop thinking A-high would be good often enough, but by the river I felt like there was more value in turning my hand into a bluff by leading out.

I must say, the raise surprised me. I really had no idea what to make of it: could be a thin value raise with J9/89, could be QT, could be turning something into a bluff. I actually thought flushes were less likely since the turn is such a good double barrel spot (unless she has the Jd or 8d, I suppose), and anyways she can’t have the nuts (not that I expect her to fold any flush).

If you’re ever going to bluff here, and quite possibly you shouldn’t, but if you’re ever going to, then Adx is the hand to do it with. Come to think of it, Jdx and 8dx are good candidates too, though it’s not so likely you’d be bluffing the river with those.

In the first, I raised with ATo and get one caller. The flop came AA9. I bet, he called. Turn was a 7, I checked, he bet, I called. River was an A, and he had about half a pot-sized bet left in his stack, so I shoved. He tanked and called with J9. “I have it,” I told him, and proudly tabled… 97. I stared at my cards in confusion for a moment, then looked at the board and said, “At lease we chop it.” Then the dealer started shuffling the board back into the deck without awarding the pot to us. As he did, I saw the 9 and 7 and, confusing myself, announced that I had two pair and it’s not a chop. The dealer called for the floor, and while we waited, I realized that it actually should be a chop. Only now the dealer has decided to reconstruct the flop and he does it wrong, this time putting up AA975, turning it into a scoop for my opponent.

I’m pretty sure I at least half woke-up before the situation was resolved, but I quickly fell asleep again and had this dream:

I was playing a PLO tournament. The guy on my right opened to 1100 (I don’t know what the blinds were, but I remember he raised to 1100), and I shoved a little under 10K with Ad Jc Tc Td (apparently no one called me on the fact that an all-in was more than pot). Some very young kid, like 15 or 16, who I didn’t even realize was in the pot had apparently been the one to raise to 1100, and the guy I thought was the raiser had just called the raise. I remember feeling embarrassed and thinking that I never would have shoved if I’d seen the original raiser. Anyway, he called, and the other guy called as well. I felt like an idiot, but they showed AKJ3 and KKJx, and the flop came Ac Jh 8c, giving me top two and a flush draw. I looked to see if anyone else had clubs and noticed that the kid had Jc 3c. Then I realized that wasn’t possible, since the Jc was in my hand. Then I saw that there was also a Jc in the third kid’s hand. We called the floor, and the original raiser, who looked like a huge nerd and was, as I said, very young, commented, in a super-geeky voice, “I wish you’d just relented to my initial wager.” A floor person came by and needed time to decide what to do about the situation, so he sent us on break and gave us some Magic cards as compensation.

Two common themes from these hands jump out at me. The first is that both involved me making really significant errors: misreading my cards, misinterpreting my hand, or failing to notice a third player in the pot. I distinctly remember feeling foolish, embarrassed, and frustrated with myself. Both situations also involved errors or bad decisions on the part of dealers and/or floor staff.

The Good: Advanced tactics, high-level strategy, strong theoretical grounding, well-explained, genuinely insightful, appropriately calibrated for its target audience

The Bad: Some concepts, including but not limited to certain basic skills, not covered in great detail

The Ugly: A little unpolished, with some typos and minor grammatical errors; feels pretty much like reading a Word document, albeit a nicely laid out Word document

Tri “Slowhabit” Nguyen’s Transition from NLHE to PLO delivers just what the title promises: a strong guide to Pot-Limit Omaha, delivered at a pace and level appropriate for a poker player with a fairly sophisticated understanding of No Limit Hold ‘Em. Though there is plenty of practical advice and hand examples, this is not a soup to nuts “how to” guide offering a ready-to-play strategy. In fact, it could stand to be a bit more comprehensive in its advice for specific, common situations. Rather, it is a rigorously mathematical theoretical framework for approaching the game. It will require a thorough understanding of poker to appreciate the depth of this book, but for someone with such an understanding, it should prove an invaluable text, certainly worth its not inconsiderable $375 price tag.

Nguyen could be more explicit about his intended audience, though the title and I imagine the marketing strategy will likely make this clear enough. The introduction does promise, accurately enough, to “teach you the nuances of PLO and what variables you should consider during hands to turn yourself into a more profitable player,” with the ultimate goal of getting the reader “crushing small and mid-stakes PLO.” The text assumes a sophisticated understanding of crucial poker concepts such as equity, hand ranges, semi-bluffing, and planning ahead. None of it should be beyond an active reader of 2+2 or my blog, but this is not a mass market book. The Glossary includes only two terms and offers a superficial description even of those.

The only time this affects the quality of the discussion is with Nguyen’s use of the term “outs”. I’ve generally understood the term to mean something like “cards that could come to win you the pot when you are not currently ahead”, but Nguyen sometimes uses it to talk about cards that will improve a hand, whether or not that improvement is actually enough to win the pot. Given that it is so important in PLO to distinguish between nut and non-nut draws, it couldn’t hurt to define these terms more explicitly.

Though the book is definitely written with a NLHE player in mind, it should be useful to any serious poker player. There are a lot of helpful analogies, though, where Nguyen considers similarities and differences between how specific concepts function in the two games or explains that holding X hand in PLO is akin to holding Y hand in NLHE. Being primarily a NLHE player myself, I found these very insightful and helpful tools.

It also helps that many of the hand examples, integrated into every chapter via convenient sidebars alongside the relevant text, seem drawn from the author’s own transition from NLHE to PLO. It is both welcoming and encouraging to see him admit to misplaying a hand as a result of a misunderstanding common to NLHE players learning PLO. I found I was able to recognize specific mistakes that I had made and begin to understand why my past forays into PLO had not gone as well as I hoped- and that was before I got to the “Common Mistakes” chapter.

Such reinforcement is nice, because while Transitioning from NLHE to PLO rekindled my excitement for the game, it also made me realize how much I don’t know and how much work will be required to master hand reading and equity calculation, both of which are far more complicated than their NLHE equivalents. It’s not that the tools aren’t there. The text provides plenty of examples and in-depth analysis of advanced concepts like blockers, backdoor draws, and floating. It just makes me realized what a tall mountain there is to climb. Thankfully, Nguyen also emphasizes how many players in today’s PLO games don’t have an inkling about any of this stuff, which is reassuring.

It does beg the question of the book’s longevity, though. There’s a mix of tactics that seem fundamental to playing the game well in any context and those designed to exploit mistakes and tendencies common in contemporary PLO games. It will be interesting to see how long the latter remain viable. Since Transitioning is an e-book, Nguyen could theoretically update it, though to my knowledge he hasn’t promised anything like this.

I’m not particularly familiar with e-book technology, but I would guess that Transitioning falls somewhere in the middle of the spectrum with regard to balancing the reader’s convenience with the protection of the author’s intellectual property. The book is protected by LockLizard Safeguard, meaning that you need to download and install a special PDF viewer, then register your version of the book, before you can read it. This sounds like a hassle, but the instructions were clear, and it took me less than five minutes to set up. After that, I had full rights to read and print, though not copy and paste, the document indefinitely.

The other potentially intimidating aspect of the book is the math. It isn’t actually that complicated, and the author does a great job of explaining it, but there are a lot of graphs and calculations and even some algebra. Next to The Mathematics of Poker, it’s the most math-heavy poker book I’ve seen.

Not that that’s a bad thing. In fact, these were probably the best parts of the book. I particularly liked a chart enumerating the possible hands on each street in PLO vs. NLHE, and Nguyen’s quantification of the heretofore nebulous concept of “post-flop playability” struck me as pure genius. Understanding it does require interpreting a graph of hand equity on all possible flops, though. Again, the text offers a crystal clear explanation, but I’m sure a good high school math education helps.

The other concept I found very helpful, and which seems to motivate Nguyen’s general approach to the game, is equity realization. Basically, because hand values tend to run close together in PLO, Nguyen places a premium on bluffing, fold equity, and winning pots without showdown. He argues quite convincingly for making a lot of turn and river bluffs, often deferring aggressive action on an earlier street in order to make a better, often more aggressive, decision later in the hand.

Amidst all of the more advanced theory and strategy, certain concepts do feel a bit glossed over. Although the chapter on pre-flop hand selection is one of the longest, it still offers relatively vague advice about exactly which hands to play from which position and how to play them. It’s consistent with Nguyen’s general approach of “here are the key considerations, work through the specific situation yourself”, but readers will probably be accustomed to finding more specific starting hand advice in a poker book. That’s probably as much the nature of PLO as it is a flaw in the book, though.

More disappointing is the “River Play” chapter, which covers barely three pages. As much emphasis as Nguyen places on river bluffing, it was disappointing not to get more hand examples and an extended discussion of key concepts like value betting and inducing bluffs.

Nguyen’s writing style is less professional than I’m accustomed to seeing in a poker book. Some will find the casual tone welcoming, though nits like myself will be perturbed by minor grammatical errors, none of which influenced my understanding of the text.

Overall, Transitioning From NLHE to PLO is a fantastic book for a veteran No Limit Hold ‘Em player who wants to make a serious effort at learning Pot Limit Omaha. Nguyen requires a substantial investment of time, effort, and money from his readers, but it’s hard to imagine any smart poker player not getting very good at this quite complex game if he spent enough time working with this text.

The 2+2 MTT community is mostly salivating over this, though some are a little concerned that the smaller events will actually discourage people from trying satellite into the bigger events. I don’t think they’re wrong, but I still expect the big events to be plenty soft thanks to tourney donks playing with relatively deep stacks for fairly big money.

The only issue for me is how to get enough money on Stars by April to enable me to play the ones I want without busting the bankroll. I may suck it up and make a wire transfer, which I’ve so far refused to do on principle since Stars makes the depositor pay the wire fees. It’s really preposterous- I pay enough rake in 10 minutes to cover the fees, and it’s clearly in their interest for me to have money on their site.

Anyway, the schedule:

Event 1 – 2 April 2009 @ 14:30 ET – NL Hold’em with Rebuys [6-max]

Really looking forward to this one, will probably play the medium and the large.

• 01-L: $5.50 buy-in, $50,000 guaranteed prize pool
• 01-M: $55 buy-in, $200,000 guaranteed prize pool
• 01-H: $530 buy-in, $500,000 guaranteed prize pool

Event 2 – 2 April 2009 @ 16:30 ET – PL Omaha Hi/Lo

I like PLO8 and will probably play the medium, maybe the large depending on what the field looks like. I’d probably even be willing to play the large if I thought I was slightly -EV.

• 02-L: $11 buy-in, $25,000 guaranteed prize pool
• 02-M: $109 buy-in, $50,000 guaranteed prize pool
• 02-H: $1,050 buy-in, $200,000 guaranteed prize pool

Event 3 – 3 April 2009 @ 14:30 ET – PL 5-Card Draw

I might play the small or medium for fun, but definitely won’t be playing the large.

• 03-L: $11 buy-in, $25,000 guaranteed prize pool
• 03-M: $109 buy-in, $100,000 guaranteed prize pool
• 03-H: $1,050 buy-in, $200,000 guaranteed prize pool

Event 4 – 3 April 2009 @ 16:30 ET – NL Hold’em [2X Chance, turbo]

It’s hard to turn down the great value that all of these NLHE tourneys represent, but I really hate turbos. In these, the tourney donks might actually have the edge on me.

• 04-L: $16.50 buy-in, $100,000 guaranteed prize pool
• 04-M: $162 buy-in, $300,000 guaranteed prize pool
• 04-H: $1,575 buy-in, $1,000,000 guaranteed prize pool

Event 5 – 4 April 2009 @ 14:30 ET – NL Hold’em Shootout [10-max]

The large will probably be worth playing.

• 05-L: $16.50 buy-in, $100,000 guaranteed prize pool
• 05-M: $162 buy-in, $150,000 guaranteed prize pool
• 05-H: $1,575 buy-in, $150,000 guaranteed prize pool

Event 6 – 4 April 2009 @ 16:30 ET – PL Omaha [1R1A, 6-max]

I might play the medium, but lately I’ve no interest in PLO.

• 06-L: $22 buy-in, $50,000 guaranteed prize pool
• 06-M: $215 buy-in, $200,000 guaranteed prize pool
• 06-H: $2,100 buy-in, $400,000 guaranteed prize pool

Event 7 – 5 April 2009 @ 14:30 ET – H.O.R.S.E.

Recently I’ve concluded that I may not be as good at HORSE as I thought, and/or everyone else is getting better. If I play, it will probably just be the low.

• 07-L: $109 buy-in, $250,000 guaranteed prize pool
• 07-M: $1,050 buy-in, $500,000 guaranteed prize pool
• 07-H: $10,300 buy-in, $750,000 guaranteed prize pool

Event 8 – 5 April 2009 @ 16:30 ET – NL Hold’em [2-day]

Juicy! The medium will be fine, but it’s probably not a good idea to burn so much time on a $300 tournament. I really want to play the large though.

• 08-L: $33 buy-in, $250,000 guaranteed prize pool
• 08-M: $320 buy-in, $1,500,000 guaranteed prize pool
• 08-H: $3,150 buy-in, $3,000,000 guaranteed prize pool

Event 9 – 6 April 2009 @ 14:30 ET – FL Triple Draw 2-7

If I play, it would only be the low for fun. Whenever I play this game, I always end up screwing up and getting excited about an Ace or a straight.

• 09-L: $22 buy-in, $25,000 guaranteed prize pool
• 09-M: $215 buy-in, $100,000 guaranteed prize pool
• 09-H: $2,100 buy-in, $200,000 guaranteed prize pool

Event 10 – 6 April 2009 @ 16:30 ET – NL Hold’em [Heads-Up Match Play]

Nice opportunity for heads up, will probably play medium and large.

• 10-L: $16.50 buy-in, $50,000 guaranteed prize pool
• 10-M: $162 buy-in, $300,000 guaranteed prize pool
• 10-H: $1,575 buy-in, $500,000 guaranteed prize pool

Event 11 – 7 April 2009 @ 14:30 ET – Mixed Hold’em [6-max]

Meh. I really hate and suck at FLHE. I’ll probably sit this one out.

• 11-L: $33 buy-in, $50,000 guaranteed prize pool
• 11-M: $320 buy-in, $300,000 guaranteed prize pool
• 11-H: $3,150 buy-in, $800,000 guaranteed prize pool

Event 12 – 7 April 2009 @ 16:30 ET – 7-Card Stud Hi/Lo

I like this game, but I’m probably not good enought for the large. I’ll likely play the medium though.

• 12-L: $22 buy-in, $25,000 guaranteed prize pool
• 12-M: $215 buy-in, $50,000 guaranteed prize pool
• 12-H: $2,100 buy-in, $150,000 guaranteed prize pool

Event 13 – 8 April 2009 @ 14:30 ET – FL Razz

Same as above, only Razz is more frustrating. Maybe the medium, not the large.

• 13-L: $22 buy-in, $25,000 guaranteed prize pool
• 13-M: $215 buy-in, $100,000 guaranteed prize pool
• 13-H: $2,100 buy-in, $150,000 guaranteed prize pool

Event 14 – 8 April 2009 @ 16:30 ET – NL Hold’em [6-max]

Tight! Medium and large are both high priorities, and I might even play the low.

• 14-L: $55 buy-in, $250,000 guaranteed prize pool
• 14-M: $530 buy-in, $500,000 guaranteed prize pool
• 14-H: $5,200 buy-in, $1,250,000 guaranteed prize pool

Event 15 – 9 April 2009 @ 14:30 ET – 8-Game

I’m probably too bad at too many of these games to warrant playing even the medium.

• 15-L: $44 buy-in, $25,000 guaranteed prize pool
• 15-M: $425 buy-in, $150,000 guaranteed prize pool
• 15-H: $4,175 buy-in, $250,000 guaranteed prize pool

Event 16 – 9 April 2009 @ 16:30 ET – 7-Card Stud

I don’t really like and suck at 7-stud, so I won’t be playing these.

• 16-L: $33 buy-in, $25,000 guaranteed prize pool
• 16-M: $320 buy-in, $100,000 guaranteed prize pool
• 16-H: $3,150 buy-in, $150,000 guaranteed prize pool

Event 17 – 10 April 2009 @ 14:30 ET – NL Hold’em [1R1A]

I’ll play the medium, and I’d like to play the high, but it’ll stretch the bankroll. We’ll see.

Event 18 – 10 April 2009 @ 16:30 ET – PL Omaha

Meh, probably skip all of these.

• 18-L: $55 buy-in, $50,000 guaranteed prize pool
• 18-M: $530 buy-in, $300,000 guaranteed prize pool
• 18-H: $5,200 buy-in, $1,000,000 guaranteed prize pool

Event 19 – 11 April 2009 @ 14:30 ET – FL Omaha Hi/Lo

I’m not much on this game, will probably skip it.

• 19-L: $55 buy-in, $50,000 guaranteed prize pool
• 19-M: $530 buy-in, $150,000 guaranteed prize pool
• 19-H: $5,200 buy-in, $400,000 guaranteed prize pool

Event 20 – 11 April 2009 @ 16:30 ET – FL Hold’em [6-max]

Definitely not playing these.

• 20-L: $55 buy-in, $25,000 guaranteed prize pool
• 20-M: $530 buy-in, $200,000 guaranteed prize pool
• 20-H: $5,200 buy-in, $400,000 guaranteed prize pool

Event 21 – 12 April 2009 @ 14:30 ET – NL Hold’em [Heads-Up Match Play]

I’ll play the medium and maybe the low but definitely not the high.

• 21-L: $270 buy-in, $100,000 guaranteed prize pool
• 21-M: $2,600 buy-in, $300,000 guaranteed prize pool
• 21-H: $25,500 buy-in, $800,000 guaranteed prize pool

Event 22 – 12 April 2009 @ 16:30 ET – NL Hold’em Main Event [2-day]

I’ll play the medium for sure. I’d really like to play the high, but I don’t know if it’s going to be practical.

• 22-L: $109 buy-in, $1,000,000 guaranteed prize pool
• 22-M: $1,050 buy-in, $3,000,000 guaranteed prize pool
• 22-H: $10,300 buy-in, $5,000,000 guaranteed prize pool

This is my bread and butter game, and even if I don’t do anything to improve, just maintaining my current winrate and putting in hours will be very valuable to me. Of course I do want to get better, but my general focus will be on playing rather than doing stuff to improve (posting hands, watching instructional videos, etc.).

Also, I’m not going to worry too much about non-NLHE games. I tried to do it last year, but it didn’t prove too productive. I’ll play/study them when I feel like it, but it’s not going to be a priority. I’m confident in my ability to pick them up quickly should that become necessary/desirable and I choose to devote all my time to it, such that I don’t think I need to prioritize working on them now.

Goal 1: Earn $X in NLHE Cash Games

It’s very tough to predict or control what you earn playing tournaments. With cash games, though, it’s mostly a question of game selection and putting in hours. My goal for 2009 is to earn in NLHE cash games what I made playing any form of poker in 2008, so that anything from tournaments is just a perk. Hopefully this will help me to keep my focus even if I do make a big tournament score, since that won’t count towards the goal.

Goal 2: Earn Supernova status on PokerStars

This shouldn’t be tough, and I’m already off to a good start. Basically I need to earn 100,000 VPP’s (PokerStars’ frequent player reward) over the course of the year. Having earned 3200 already, I’m on course to do this by September.

Last year, I played on Full Tilt almost exclusively because they have rakeback. My understanding is that the Stars VPP program is actually worth more if you devote the time to getting into the top tiers of it, though. Plus bigger games seem to go more frequently and are maybe a little softer.

There are a couple of drawbacks, though. For one thing, I have way more money on FTP than on Stars and it’s not that easy to reload. At the moment I’m mostly grinding up my balance playing 5/10 full ring games, and that’s going OK, so hopefully this won’t be a barrier. But I’ve already passed on a few potentially good 25/50 games for lack of funds.

Also, Stars doesn’t have Deep tables, which are getting really popular on FTP. They do have some tables with a 50BB minimum buy-in, which helps with the short-stacking problem, but I really like playing deep. There are a lot of regulars who can handle a 100BB stack very well but make mistakes playing 200BB deep. Since the bigger games are comprised mostly of regulars, that makes a big difference.

Still, I don’t think Supernova status will be tough to get, so I’m going to go for it. The next level, Supernova Elite, require 10 times as many VPP’s, though, and I don’t think I have any prayer for that.

Resolution Two: Diversify My Income Streams

I laid the foundation for this last year, but I really haven’t capitalized on it yet. Now that I’m starting to get a higher profile in the poker world, I think there are ways for me both to generate passive income and to combine poker with some of my other interests, such as writing and teaching.

Goal 3: Monetize This Blog

I was surprised by how much I made off of blog ads last year with virtually no effort. In general do find internet ads to be tacky and intrusive, but in this case I am giving away a lot of very valuable information at no cost to you, so I hope my dear readers will understand if there are a few ads on the page. I’ll try to keep it minimally intrusive, and the plus side for you will likely be a nicer layout and better content. Expect to see a new look later this month.

Goal 4: Get Back Into Coaching

I’m not going to set an hourly goal for this because I don’t want to force it, but I think I ought to do some more coaching. With the right students, it is in fact very enjoyable and rewarding. Plus, Poker Savvy tells me I can offer my students a free three-month subscription, which hopefully will sweeten the value of the package without costing me any more time. I may also consider doing group sessions that lower the costs for any individual person while helping to get me an hourly rate comparable to that of actually playing poker. Expect to see more information about this soon.

Goal 5: Market My Writing

I’m still just doing the easy stuff, writing for the occasional people who approach me. I think I want to get my name out there a little bit more and publish in some more high-profile ways. I don’t know about writing my own book, but I’m in discussions with a well-known player now about contributing a chapter to a book he’s doing.

Resolution Three: Improve My NLHE Skills

This is a lower priority than just putting in hours. Then again, practice is the single best way to improve, so I want to do what I can to maximize the learning value of my time at the tables.

Goal 6: Use Poker Tracker More Effectively

I barely use Poker Tracker for anything beyond record keeping, and I know I’m only getting like 10% of its value. I often don’t even use the HUD because it distracts me when I’m playing a lot of tables. But I want to be able to do at least some basic evaluation of my play to try to identify some leaks, such as I found with suited connectors in one of my year-end posts. Plus I want to put together a HUD layout that is truly useful for me.

Goal 7: Finish the Year with a 4BB/100 Win-Rate at 5/10 NL.

This is somewhat beyond my control because I won’t play a large enough sample size (there are good players who have had 100K hand break-even streaks), but if I can maintain this win-rate, which I think is about twice what my “true” rate is now, I’ll be in great shape.

Goal 8: Play 50,000 Hands of Heads Up NLHE

If I’m not going to do PLO, heads up is probably the next best game for me to get better at. At stakes above 10/20, it’s often the only way to get action, and that’s even more true the higher you get. Not to mention that thinking through heads up situations makes you better at playing marginal hands in general. Maybe I’ll read and review Moshman’s new book as well….

Resolution 2: Keep Getting Better at Other Games

I played a fair bit of PLO and watched some instructional videos, but I don’t feel I’m much better at it than I was this time last year. Actually, I’m sure I am better, but the opposition has improved more than I have. It’s quickly becoming a much more well-understood game, and I’m getting left behind. I’d like to get better at it, but I have only so much time to play, and the opportunity cost of playing break-even PLO at 2/4 rather than winning at 5/10 and 10/20 NLHE is pretty high.

As for other games, I played some HORSE occasionally and probably got a bit better at Stud/8, I final tabled a PLO8 tournament, but mostly I didn’t do anything of significance.

Goal 4: Play some WSOP preliminary events in other games (PLHE doesn’t count).
(Failed)

I think I would have been good enough to play some of the cheaper PLO and Stud/8 tournaments, but I wasn’t in Vegas for them, and I certainly don’t regret that. I did play some other games in FTOPS and WCOOP and did alright, including a final table in PLO8. Also, I was lucky enough to stake Tom Chambers (LearnedFromTV) on his way to two WSOP final tables in some non-NLHE games, so even though I suck at them I still found a way to profit!

Goal 5: Be a winner in 10/20 PLO by the end of the year. (Failed)

I fell so far short of this one it’s laughable. At the end of 2007, I was breaking even at 2/4 and 3/6 PLO. This year, I was a pretty substantial loser at 2/4, running at -6 BB/100 over 10K hands. I feel like I ran pretty bad, but I also think PLO always feels that way because it’s such a gambly game. Regardless, I’m clearly not very good at it right now.

Goal 6: Be a winner at 30/60 Stud/8 by the end of the year. (Failed)

I’m still pretty comfortable at 10/20 but I haven’t put in much time or attempted to play higher. Actually, I played exactly five hands at 30/60 and lost $600, for a win-rate of -200 BB/100. Sustainable?

Tomorrow, I’ll discuss my progress towards my third resolution for 2008: Diversify My Income Streams.

Eventually I picked up Aces in a great spot and won a huge pot with a coin flip:

Poker Stars
Pot Limit Omaha Tournament
Blinds: t50/t100
8 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: t4940
UTG+1: t10930
MP1: t11523
Hero: t7430
CO: t840
Button: t8674
SB: t29202
BB: t32230

Pre-flop: (8 players) Hero is MP2 with :ks :6s :ah :ac
2 folds, MP1 raises to t350, Hero calls t350 (pot was t500), 2 folds, SB calls t300 (pot was t850), BB raises to t1750, MP1 calls t1400 (pot was t2800), Hero raises to t7350, SB folds, BB raises to t12950, MP1 folds, Hero calls all-in t80.
Uncalled bets: t5520 returned to BB.

Flop: :5s :js :tc (t16960, 1 player + 1 all-in – Main pot: t16960)

Turn: :2c (t16960, 1 player + 1 all-in – Main pot: t16960)

River: :as (t16960, 1 player + 1 all-in – Main pot: t16960)

Results:
Final pot: t16960

Aces in PLO aren’t nearly the monster they are in NLHE, so with not much else to the hand, I elected just to call with them initially. I ended up getting it in with QJT9 and holding.

I’m no PLO expert, but from what I could tell, a lot of people were playing really badly. I may even have made some questionable folds because I gave people too much credit when they potted it:

Poker Stars
Pot Limit Omaha Tournament
Blinds: t150/t300
9 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: t32987
Hero: t22900
MP1: t33260
MP2: t4865
MP3: t23062
CO: t31400
Button: t43209
SB: t31598
BB: t1730

Pre-flop: (9 players) Hero is UTG+1 with :as :ad :9s :8d
UTG calls t300 (pot was t450), Hero raises to t1350, 2 folds, MP3 calls t1350 (pot was t2100), CO calls t1350 (pot was t3450), 3 folds, UTG calls t1050 (pot was t4800).

Flop: :5h :9d :5d (t5850, 4 players)
UTG checks, Hero checks, MP3 bets t5850, 2 folds, Hero folds.
Uncalled bets: t5850 returned to MP3.

Results:
Final pot: t5850

Here I check-folded Aces and the nut flush draw because I just couldn’t see this guy having less than trips, and I didn’t want to invest 4x the pot in such a spot.

Eventually I caught one of these guys overvaluing his hand:

Poker Stars
Pot Limit Omaha Tournament
Blinds: t150/t300
9 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: t30862
UTG+1: t30050
MP1: t43209
MP2: t30998
MP3: t1280
CO: t31037
Hero: t20050
SB: t32660
BB: t4865

Pre-flop: (9 players) Hero is Button with :kd :js :6s :th
UTG calls t300 (pot was t450), UTG+1 folds, MP1 calls t300 (pot was t750), 2 folds, CO calls t300 (pot was t1050), Hero calls t300 (pot was t1350), SB folds, BB checks.

Flop: :jh :4c :ks (t1650, 5 players)
BB checks, UTG checks, MP1 checks, CO bets t1250, Hero calls t1250 (pot was t2900), 3 folds.

Turn: :5s (t4150, 2 players)
CO bets t3600, Hero calls t3600 (pot was t7750).

River: :kc (t11350, 2 players)
CO bets t4200, Hero raises all-in t14900, CO calls t10700 (pot was t30450).

Results:
Final pot: t41150

He had AKT4, for K’s full of 4’s. The turn should probably a check-fold for him. Potting it again is really bad with top and bottom pair, and if I hadn’t seen so many people making mistakes like this, I might have been tempted to fold top two. But I decided to call again and river the nuts instead.

This was a fun one where I turned an overpair into a bluff since I held two blockers to the nuts:

Poker Stars
Pot Limit Omaha Tournament
Blinds: t150/t300
9 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: t4415
UTG+1: t30962
MP1: t32240
MP2: t38329
MP3: t27768
CO: t10130
Button: t18737
Hero: t37200
BB: t35360

Pre-flop: (9 players) Hero is SB with :kh :jc :jh :ac
3 folds, MP2 raises to t900, MP3 folds, CO calls t900 (pot was t1350), Button folds, Hero calls t750 (pot was t2250), BB folds.

Flop: :9h :4h :5c (t3000, 3 players)
Hero checks, MP2 bets t1500, CO folds, Hero calls t1500 (pot was t4500).

Turn: :8h (t6000, 2 players)
Hero checks, MP2 checks.

River: :qs (t6000, 2 players)
Hero bets t4300, MP2 folds.
Uncalled bets: t4300 returned to Hero.

Results:
Final pot: t6000

For the majority of the tournament, Andy McLeod, the eventual winner, was on my immediate left. From what I could tell, he wasn’t a great PLO player, but he is a great tournament player in general and very loose and aggressive, which was rough to have on my left. I actually ran really well against him and probably didn’t win as much as a better player could have nor as much as I could have from a less good player. I ended up doubling through Andy at a really crucial moment when we both held KKxx and flopped an overpair. I had a flush draw with mine, he had an open-ended straight draw with his, and my draw hit.

The last laugh was his, though, as he recovered by twice doubling through the Aces of LoneHixx (who was on his immediate left) with random garbage and ended up winning nearly $100,000 for first place.

With 117 left out of more than 1200 who started, I was in 25th place and feeling fine. Then it happened:

Poker Stars
Pot Limit Omaha Tournament
Blinds: t600/t1200
8 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: t58291
UTG+1: t68740
MP1: t58836
MP2: t141471
CO: t49815
Hero: t84555
SB: t71922
BB: t100490

Pre-flop: (8 players) Hero is Button with :8c :9d :jc :js
3 folds, MP2 raises to t4200, CO calls t4200 (pot was t6000), Hero calls t4200 (pot was t10200), 2 folds.

Flop: :ks :jd :5h (t14400, 3 players)
MP2 bets t14400, CO folds, Hero raises to t57600, MP2 raises to t100800, Hero calls all-in t22755.
Uncalled bets: t20445 returned to MP2.

Turn: :5s (t175110, 1 player + 1 all-in – Main pot: t175110)

River: :6h (t175110, 1 player + 1 all-in – Main pot: t175110)

Results:
Final pot: t175110

I was up against KKxx, so I busted with middle set versus top set. In NLHE, that’s an absolute cooler. But I wonder whether a better PLO player would have lost his ass here. Truthfully, when the guy bet out into two people, I was already pretty worried about top set. But I just couldn’t see anything but getting it in and then getting it pissed.

I must admit, though, that spending five hours a day, five days a week in charge of a bunch of teenagers is more than a little exhausting. Even though we had a great group that was for the most part eager to learn about debate and easy to get along with, it was still a lot of work and pretty draining. I was in no mood to play poker at the end of a day, that’s for sure.

Here’s me taking notes on the board during a short debate two of our students had about the morality of eating meat.

Poker-wise, I ended the month almost exactly dead even after rakeback. I guess that’s not too bad given that my several forays into 25-50 resulted in several bad beats to the tune of five figures. I did make more of an effort to learn PLO, watching the PLO Leakfinder series on Cardrunners and the PLO guest series that Tom Chambers did for Poker Savvy Plus. I put in several sessions at 2/4, and even though I was a net loser, I feel like I am getting much better at reading hands and board textures.

The World Championship of Online Poker starts today, but I probably won’t begin playing in earnest until next week, so that’s when you can expect to see more regular posts. Sorry for the extended silence.

Full Tilt Poker
Pot Limit Omaha Ring game
Blinds: $2/$4
6 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: $616.70
UTG+1: $236
CO: $345
Button: $806.40
Hero: $1024.30
BB: $929.40

Pre-flop: (6 players) Hero is SB with :9h :kc :as :ad
UTG calls, UTG+1 calls, 2 folds, Hero calls, BB checks.

Flop: :4s :th :ah ($16, 4 players)
Hero checks, BB checks, UTG checks, UTG+1 checks.

Turn: :7s ($16, 4 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $18, UTG folds, UTG+1 raises to $72, Hero raises to $252, BB folds, UTG+1 calls all-in $160.
Uncalled bets: $20 returned to Hero.

River: :9c ($498, 1 player + 1 all-in – Main pot: $498)

Results:
Final pot: $498
Hero showed 9h Kc As Ad
UTG+1 showed 7c 4d 7d Kd

I just complete because I’m in the worst position and I have dry Aces, which is to say no suited cards or connectivity or anything to go along with them. These limpers are never folding, and I can pretty much only win the pot by flopping a set, so I might as well keep it small.

So when I do flop the set, I’m looking to check-raise the flop. If I led out for pot, I’d be showing a fair bit of strength and not really setting myself up to win a big pot. Probably either everyone would fold or someone would call with a draw and then either draw out on the turn or fold to a pot bet on the turn (or maybe pick up enough equity on the turn that calling pot wouldn’t be a big mistake). The only hand I can really make some money from is a worse set, and I expected those to bet the flop if I checked anyway.

Then the turn brought a ton of draws, though I still had the nuts. This time I was pretty sure it wouldn’t check around again, and if it did, no big deal, because the pot is so small. If I led out here, most draws were just going to call which means I wouldn’t be able to get all that much money in. And since I wouldn’t know which draw my opponent was on, pretty much a bazillion river cards would be bad for my hand. So I checked again, this time looking to check-raise and get a bunch of money in while I was still ahead. Plus no one would ever put me on top set. And bada bing, bada boom, it worked.

Next hand:

Full Tilt Poker
Pot Limit Omaha Ring game
Blinds: $2/$4
5 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: $450.50
Hero: $843.80
Button: $594
SB: $420
BB: $351.80

Pre-flop: (5 players) Hero is CO with :7d :9h :ad :ac
UTG folds, Hero raises to $14, Button folds, SB calls, BB folds.

Flop: :qd :9c :4c ($32, 2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $24, SB raises to $72, Hero calls.

Turn: :8c ($176, 2 players)
SB bets $100, Hero raises to $476, SB calls all-in $234.
Uncalled bets: $142 returned to Hero.

River: :jh ($844, 1 player + 1 all-in – Main pot: $844)

Results:
Final pot: $844
Hero showed 7d 9h Ad Ac
SB showed Qc 6c 8s 7s

This is a pretty classic PLO bluff where, knowing that my opponent can’t have the nuts, I represent it. The controversial part is the flop. Folding to the check-raise may be the correct play. The fact that I have the Ac actually makes it more likely that my opponent has AA beat than that he has a draw. But I was thinking I could take it away if a club turned even if my hand wasn’t good. Oh well.

Full Tilt Poker
Pot Limit Omaha Ring game
Blinds: $20/$40
6 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: $4660
UTG+1: $7183
CO: $4980
Hero: $4790
SB: $4870
BB: $3517

Pre-flop: (6 players) Hero is Button with :ts :tc :kc :as
3 folds, Hero raises to $140, SB folds, BB calls.

Flop: :5s :7s :th ($300, 2 players)
BB bets $300, Hero raises to $900, BB calls.

Turn: :8h ($2100, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $1250, BB calls.

River: :4d ($4600, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks.

Results:
Final pot: $4600
Hero showed Ts Tc Kc As
BB showed 6s 8s Kd Qs

Sorry it’s tough to follow. I flopped top set and the nut flush draw and lost to an open-ender with a worse flush draw. Money only went in when I was ahead, though.

Eventually I busted raising JJAx from the button and calling a shove from AAKx.

Pre-flop: (5 players) Hero is SB with :9d :9s :8c :8h
UTG calls, CO raises to $11, Button calls, Hero calls, BB calls, UTG calls.

Flop: :6d :ks :9c ($55, 5 players)
Hero bets $39, BB folds, UTG raises to $172, 2 folds, Hero raises all-in $389, UTG calls all-in $190.8.

Uncalled bets: $26.2 returned to Hero.

Turn: :2h ($780.6, 0 player + 2 all-in – Main pot: $780.6)

River: :5d ($780.6, 0 player + 2 all-in – Main pot: $780.6)

Results:
Final pot: $780.6
Hero showed 9d 9s 8c 8h
UTG showed Tc Qc Kh Kc

This might actually be a fold on the flop. The fact that I’m holding two 8’s makes it less likely he’s on a draw here. Bottom set is an easy fold. I was thinking he could have bottom set, but in retrospect KK is much more likely for him. I’m also not sure this is good pre-flop. I definitely wouldn’t play a random two pair like JJ66, and I definitely would play 9988 if it were double suited. With nothing suited, I’m thinking it’s close, but I don’t really know. I posted it on 2+2.

Full Tilt Poker
Pot Limit Omaha Ring game
Blinds: $2/$4
6 players
Converter

Pre-flop: (6 players) Hero is Button with :4s :7d :qc :as
3 folds, Hero raises to $14, SB calls, BB folds.

Flop: :7h :7c :ad ($32, 2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $32, SB calls.

Turn: :3d ($96, 2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $80, SB calls.

River: :6s ($256, 2 players)
SB bets $128, Hero raises all-in $275.6, SB calls.

Results:
Final pot: $807.2
Hero showed 4s 7d Qc As
SB showed 2h Ah Ac 9h

I think this one is OK, there are plenty of worse boats that seem plausible for him, and it’s tough to put him on AA with no 3-bet pre-flop.

Full Tilt Poker
Pot Limit Omaha Ring game
Blinds: $50/$100
6 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: $8528
UTG+1: $10433
Hero: $2450
Button: $4604
SB: $10522
BB: $7720

Pre-flop: (6 players) Hero is CO with :3d :2s :3c :4s
UTG folds, UTG+1 calls, Hero calls, Button raises to $550, 2 folds, UTG+1 calls, Hero calls.

Flop: :5s :7h :2d ($1800, 3 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $1800, Button raises all-in $4054, UTG+1 calls, Hero calls all-in $100.

Turn: :2h ($11808, 1 player + 2 all-in – Main pot: $7500, Sidepot 1: $4308)

River: :5c ($11808, 1 player + 2 all-in – Main pot: $7500, Sidepot 1: $4308)

Results:
Final pot: $11808
Button showed Qh Ac 7s Ah
UTG+1 showed Jc Qs 7d 9c
Hero showed 3d 2s 3c 4s

Four Pair

Full Tilt Poker
Pot Limit Omaha Ring game
Blinds: $60/$120
6 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: $8768
UTG+1: $2396
Hero: $6820
Button: $7556
SB: $10247
BB: $8470

Pre-flop: (6 players) Hero is CO with :kc :ah :2c :qd
2 folds, Hero raises to $370, 2 folds, BB calls.

Flop: :2s :qs :ac ($800, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $550, BB raises to $1200, Hero calls.

Turn: :kd ($3200, 2 players)
BB bets $3200, Hero raises all-in $5250, BB calls.

River: :6h ($13700, 1 player + 1 all-in – Main pot: $13700)

Results:
Final pot: $13700
BB showed 5h As 5c 7s
Hero showed Kc Ah 2c Qd

I figured him for the nut flush draw on the flop, but if he’s got something like a gut shot or better to go with it, he could still be the favorite or a very slight dog, so I wanted to get it in on a non-spade turn. Obviously a broadway card wasn’t ideal, but I felt I could be way ahead and I’d have a lot of boat outs even if he had turned a straight. Unfortunately, my exuberance over my big stack was short-lived:

Gwaaaaaaah!!!

It’s definitely not a good idea to re-pot habitually with Aces in PLO, but here I had a nut flush draw and the opportunity to get a good chunk of my stack in preflop. Both turned out to matter, but not enough:

Full Tilt Poker
Pot Limit Omaha Ring game
Blinds: $60/$120
6 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
Hero: $13700
UTG+1: $7436
CO: $10187
Button: $1530
SB: $9008
BB: $2396

Pre-flop: (6 players) Hero is UTG with :ad :ac :9c :3h
Hero raises to $400, UTG+1 folds, CO raises to $960, 3 folds, Hero raises to $3460, CO calls.

Flop: :jc :9h :tc ($7100, 2 players)
Hero bets $6300, CO raises all-in $7127, Hero calls.

Turn: :2h ($21354, 1 player + 1 all-in – Main pot: $21354)

River: :5d ($21354, 1 player + 1 all-in – Main pot: $21354)

Results:
Final pot: $21354
CO showed 7c 7d 8d 8c
Hero showed Ad Ac 9c 3h

I have no idea what he was thinking pre-flop. If he just called that wouldn’t be too bad, though in general two pair is an overrated PLO holding. But to make that tiny 3-bet and then call my 4-bet is awful. This would have been a tough decision for me without the flush draw, but with it I definitely have no choice but to stick it in and hope for the best.

Bit of a Comeback

Full Tilt Poker
Pot Limit Omaha Ring game
Blinds: $60/$120
6 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: $8828
UTG+1: $2706
Hero: $4826
Button: $7136
SB: $19051
BB: $1710

Pre-flop: (6 players) Hero is CO with :ks :kh :qh :7h
2 folds, Hero raises to $376, Button calls, SB folds, BB calls.

Flop: :tc :jc :3s ($1188, 3 players)
BB bets $1188, Hero raises all-in $4450, Button folds, BB calls all-in $146.
Uncalled bets: $3116 returned to Hero.

Turn: :9d ($3856, 0 player + 2 all-in – Main pot: $3856)

River: :8s ($3856, 0 player + 2 all-in – Main pot: $3856)

Results:
Final pot: $3856
BB showed 7s 8c 6c 5s
Hero showed Ks Kh Qh 7h

This put me back in the running for a while, but eventually I got ground down, shoved QJ96 or something from the SB, and got it in against AQJ9, in other words I was massively dominated. And that was that.

I’m off on my road trip by now, but I’ve tried to take advantage of a new Blogger feature and post-date some entries, so hopefully there will continue to be updates even while I’m not around.

Full Tilt Poker
Pot Limit Omaha Ring game
Blinds: $40/$80
9 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: $1734
UTG+1: $4762
Hero: $2212
MP2: $3395
MP3: $6684
CO: $7740
Button: $6085
SB: $6365
BB: $2343

Pre-flop: (9 players) Hero is MP1 with :ad :5c :ah :4d
UTG folds, UTG+1 calls, Hero raises to $360, 4 folds, SB calls, 2 folds.

Flop: :2c :td :7c ($880, 2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $880, SB folds.
Uncalled bets: $880 returned to Hero.

Results:
Final pot: $880

My instinct from NLHE is to make a smaller flop bet, giving the illusion of fold equity in order to induce a check-raise from weaker hands. I had to remind myself that in PLO, the edge that Aces have against “weaker hands” is slim or non-existent and I will often prefer that they fold.

This one is not as bad as it looks, but still probably bad:

Full Tilt Poker
Pot Limit Omaha Ring game
Blinds: $80/$160
8 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: $3000
UTG+1: $9725
Hero: $4715
MP2: $5093
CO: $8932
Button: $2812
SB: $9033
BB: $3257

Pre-flop: (8 players) Hero is MP1 with :ks :qs :2s :qd
UTG calls, UTG+1 folds, Hero raises to $715, 5 folds, UTG raises to $2545, Hero raises to $4770, UTG calls all-in $615.
Uncalled bets: $1610 returned to Hero.

Flop: :6s :td :kd ($6560, 1 player + 1 all-in – Main pot: $6560)

Turn: :jc ($6560, 1 player + 1 all-in – Main pot: $6560)

River: :8c ($6560, 1 player + 1 all-in – Main pot: $6560)

Results:
Final pot: $6560
UTG showed Ac 8h 8d As
Hero showed Ks Qs 2s Qd

This guy had been limping a ton of random trash hands, including worse bare pairs, and I felt like I was ahead of his limping range. That’s probably true, but I’m not way ahead, and I’m committing for his entire stack. I probably don’t beat his limp-shoving range, especially since he’s UTG.

And my bustout hand:

Full Tilt Poker
Pot Limit Omaha Ring game
Blinds: $80/$160
9 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: $4300
UTG+1: $4230
MP1: $3051
MP2: $10390
Hero: $2115
CO: $4265
Button: $5340
SB: $10757
BB: $14463

Pre-flop: (9 players) Hero is MP3 with :jd :ah :7h :qs
4 folds, Hero raises to $440, 3 folds, BB calls.

Flop: :9d :kd :ts ($960, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $960, BB calls.

Turn: :3s ($2880, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero is all-in $715, BB calls.

River: :3d ($4310, 1 player + 1 all-in – Main pot: $4310)

Results:
Final pot: $4310
BB showed Tc 7s 7c Td
Hero showed Jd Ah 7h Qs

Not much I can do about that. I skipped Event 3 because I didn’t feel like it and Event 4 because I was busy, but I’m looking forward to Event 5, the $200 Stud/8 that’s about to start. Wish me luck!

Poker Stars
Pot Limit Omaha Ring game
Blinds: $2/$4
6 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: $302.70
UTG+1: $361.75
CO: $338
Foucault: $400
SB: $76
BB: $304

Pre-flop: (6 players) Foucault is Button with
2 folds, CO raises to $12, Foucault calls, SB folds, BB calls.

Flop: ($38, 3 players)
BB checks, CO checks, Foucault bets $33, BB calls, CO folds.

Turn: ($104, 2 players)
BB checks, Foucault bets $80, BB calls.

River: ($264, 2 players)
BB checks, Foucault bets $261, BB calls all-in $179.
Uncalled bets: $82 returned to Foucault.

Results:
Final pot: $622

He won with [6h 7h 4d 2s] (a full house, Sixes full of Deuces). Granted he made a pretty implausible full house, but there really aren’t second best hands for him to have here. Flopped two pairs either boated up or got counterfeited, draws missed (unless we are chopping), and the 6 has to be a scared card if he has a K. The 6 in my hand made me a bit more confident, and his failure to raise the flop or turn made me think he didn’t have a set, so I was thinking he’d have to hold the case 6 to make a boat. But I wasn’t thinking enough about which worse hands could call me.

Poker Stars
Pot Limit Omaha Ring game
Blinds: $2/$4
4 players
Converter

Pre-flop: (4 players) Foucault is SB with :qc :9h :jd :th
UTG raises to $14, Button folds, Foucault raises to $46, BB folds, UTG calls.

Flop: :7h :8d :6d ($96, 2 players)
Foucault bets $70, UTG raises to $304, Foucault raises all-in $350, UTG calls.

Turn: :7d ($796, 1 player + 1 all-in – Main pot: $796)

River: :2d ($796, 1 player + 1 all-in – Main pot: $796)

Results:
Final pot: $796

Ugh, the converter didn’t capture my opponent’s hand here, and I only sort of recall it from memory, but it was something trashy, I want to say TT86 without diamonds (ie I won). I know that he got it in on this flop with top and bottom pair, which is always questionable in PLO and especially on a board this coordinated. The only possible justification for it is that he put me on Aces. Granted there are a lot of bad players who will just re-raise Aces, pot any flop, and get the money in, but against someone competent, they are at least going to have the nut flush draw if they get it in with Aces on this flop. So even there I hate his play. But I do think it’s a good example of how I got an opponent to make two bad calls by re-raising with something other than Aces.

There are a few reasons why I chose this hand to reraise. For one, it’s a monster, one of the best in PLO, meanings that I figure to be in good shape against my opponent’s range. It’s also a hand that plays well in multiway pots, because of its ability to flop the nuts with re-draws, but in this case there was only one player who could potentially get in on the fun anyway. Lastly, there will be a lot of flops that I like, so I will rarely be giving up after putting a lot of money in pre-flop.

Full Tilt Poker
Pot Limit Omaha Ring game
Blinds: $25/$50
9 players
Converter

Pre-flop: (9 players) Foucault is CO with :ac :ah :3h :7h
2 folds, MP1 raises to $175, MP2 folds, MP3 calls, Foucault raises to $775, 3 folds, MP1 calls, MP3 calls.

Flop: :qs :6d :7d ($2400, 3 players)
MP1 checks, MP3 checks, Foucault is all-in $1510, MP1 calls, MP3 calls.

Turn: :9d ($6930, 2 players + 1 all-in – Main pot: $6930)
MP1 checks, MP3 checks.

River: :4d ($6930, 2 players + 1 all-in – Main pot: $6930)
MP1 checks, MP3 bets $1650, MP1 calls.

Results:
Final pot: $10230
MP3 showed 9h 8d Jc Jd
MP1 mucks As Qc 4s Ks
Foucault mucks Ac Ah 3h 7h

Aces are not the monster in PLO that they are in hold ’em, and with deeper stacks I probably would not have 3-bet here since my hand doesn’t have a lot of post-flop playability (one shot at flopping the nut flush draw but nothing else). However, here I had a chance to squeeze and get 1/3 of my stack in pre-flop, which means I didn’t have to worry too much about getting outplayed after.

MP1 was one of those decent hold ’em players who sucked at PLO, though in his defense he openly acknowledged that after this hand. It’s true that hand ranges run closer in PLO and you’ll often be getting the right odds to call a 3-bet, but it’s pretty obvious I have AAxx here, and calling with AKQ4 is pretty suicidal. Regardless, calling the all in with TPTK, no redraws, and a player still to act behind him is God awful.

The second guy played it well: he had a hand with good equity against AAxx (no dominated Aces, can flop straight/set/big draw) and flopped a pair plus an open-ended draw and a flush draw. I especially liked the way he took MP1’s two pair to value town on the river.

“…nowhere in poker literature was truly useful instructions on where to start. Everybody says the same thing: Play four cards that work together, A-A-J-T and A-A-K-K are the best hands, and four connecting cards are playable. But what else is playable and what am I trying to do when I see the flop?”

The resulting book is far from the definitive word on PLO strategy, but it is an excellent introduction to the game, which, as Hwang points out, was a market niche badly in need of filling.

The author proposes a simple but effective strategy geared towards the low-stakes, full-ring PLO games primarily found in brick and mortar casinos. Echoing the advice of other Omaha authors, Hwang argues that PLO is a game of straights. In other words, the winning hand at the river will often be a straight.

But PLO is also a flop game, even more so than Hold ‘Em, and that is where most of the fireworks happen. Although big pots emerge most frequently when a monster draw runs into the flopped nuts, Hwang refutes the common misconception that PLO is primarily a game of luck and gigantic post-flop coin flips. Instead, he claims,

“there are a variety of common big-pot situations where not only does one player usually have the other one smashed, but in some cases will be on a total freeroll. Our goal is to be the one on the dominant end when the big pots get played: this involves first recognizing what those big-pot situations are, and then identifying the hands that have the potential to put us in the position to get the edge in those spots.”

This is exactly what he goes on to do, beginning with a discussion of the most common profitable flop situations in which an Omaha player may find himself. Just as the Hold ‘Em player is accustomed to winning big pots when he flops an overpair versus top pair top kicker or a set versus an overpair, the PLO player has his own set of dream flop scenarios, such as the Nut Straight Freeroll (nut straight with re-draws to a flush, full house, or higher straight versus the same straight without redraws) and the Dominating Draw (a 16-out draw to the nuts versus a lower draw to non-nut hands, or a pair and a wrap draw versus a bare wrap draw, for instance).

Having laid out these profitable situations on which one’s sights should be set, Hwang next considers which starting hands are most likely to produce such situations: combinations containing suited Aces and four connecting cards (gaps at the bottom only, if at all), and pairs accompanied by either of these. Higher is better, in all cases. These hands form the core of Hwang’s pre-flop strategy, which unfortunately cannot be laid out quite as clearly as can its hold ’em equivalents, given the much larger set of possible Omaha starting hands.

Hwang gives some consideration to how to play these hands pre-flop as well, such as whether to enter with a call or a raise, what can be played from which position, and what is still viable when the pot has already been raised. Frankly, this isn’t the strongest part of the book, and the advice here sometimes feels haphazard and a little weak. Still, the reader does accumulate a feel for what works by studying Hwang’s many examples, and this should be enough to get him started at the table, where he can work out his own answers to these questions.

Returning to the discussion of ideal flop situations, Big Play Strategy next discusses how much heat different kinds of hands can handle post-flop. Hwang devotes quite a lot of pages and examples to what is really a fairly simple strategy: only draw to the nuts, play big draws aggressively, don’t slowplay, bluff when your opponents show weakness. It’s not quite fair to call the many quizzes and example hands “filler”, but I’d rather poker books stuck to content and left the study aids to high school textbooks. A lot of the material is repetitive or downright irrelevant.

Hwang’s strategy is a good one, especially for relatively passive and straight-forward full ring live games. I don’t imagine it would adapt well to the short-handed games that are more popular online or to games with tricker and more aggressive opponents. One weakness in particular that shows up in some of the sample hands is an eagerness to bet big and take down the pot in situations where a hand is likely to be way ahead or way behind of an opponent. Though Hwang’s admonitions against slow-playing are generally well taken, it may not be best to bet pot again with AQQ8 on an AA6K board after getting called on the flop.

When I saw that Hwang included sections on O8 and PLO8, I was more than a little skeptical that he could cover three games adequately in one book. After seeing how little space he required to offer some excellent insights into PLO, though, and how much space he devoted to review, reiteration, and even the occasional bad beat story, I had renewed hope. As it turns out, he does an admirable job with both of the other games.

His approach is similar, identifying the most profitable post-flop situations and then working backwards to derive a pre-flop strategy. His recommendations concerning starting hands and how to play them is generally solid in both cases, though his bias for post-flop play occasionally leads him to disregard preflop edges. With A-A-3-x or A-A-4-x in O8, for instance, he advises a limp “in a ‘zoo’ game where everybody is going to call your raise.” Even if it will be necessary to give up on many flops, it’s hard to see a reason not to make a raise that will be called by so many hopeless hands that will both lose equity pre-flop and connect with fewer flops than this relative monster. Hwang also seems a bit too willing to give up on non-nut high hands for a fixed limit game where most opponents are playing primarily low cards.

Aside from these shortcomings, though, the O8 section is nearly as strong on post-flop play as on pre-flop strategy. It contains good advice on value betting, raising to clear the field and promote hands, semi-bluffing, and ‘demi-bluffing’ the river with the nuts in one direction in hopes of knocking an opponent off of half the pot.

Demi-bluffing plays an even larger role in the pot limit version of the game, where the bets are bigger and the bare nuts in one direction must sometimes be folded. In PLO8, high hands with any kind of low potential, like K-K-3-2, gain a lot of playability from the demi-bluff.

Hwang clearly highlights this and other differences between PLO8, O8 , and PLO. On the other, he makes good use of the similarities between the games to cover all three in a single book. Of course, none is covered in all its intricacies. But Pot Limit Omaha: The Big Play Strategy does a surprisingly good job of introducing all three of these games by orienting new players not just to the nuts and bolts but to the guiding objectives, the profitable situations towards that game’s strategy is directed.

Perhaps more importantly, Hwang’s fondness for Omaha shines through on every page, encouraging readers to recognize that it can be both fun and profitable. His book will certainly contribute to his dream of seeing “small stakes PLO games… become standard in card rooms across America.”

Full Tilt Poker Pot-Limit , $6 BB (6 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of PokerZion.com

BB ($386.55)
UTG ($428.05)
Hero ($986.50)
CO ($618.45)
Button ($249.30)
SB ($538.15)

Preflop: Hero is MP with 5d, 6d, As, Ah.
1 fold, Hero raises to $21, CO calls $21, 1 fold, SB calls $18, 1 fold.

Flop: ($69) Jh, 8s, 5s (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $45, CO calls $45, SB calls $45.

Turn: ($204) Ac (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $145, CO folds, SB calls $145.

River: ($494) Tc (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $494, SB calls $327.15 (All-In).

Final Pot: $1315.15

Results in white below:

SB has 9d 6h 7d Kd (straight, jack high).

Hero has 5d 6d As Ah (three of a kind, aces).

Outcome: SB wins $1148.30. Hero wins $166.85.

It’s not often that one ought to check back top set on the river when no obvious draws come in. But with this guy over-calling big bets on the flop and turn, he’s almost certainly on a draw. And even though the obvious ones missed, there’s no reason to think this guy has a hand that can call my river bet. He either missed, or he hit and checked something improbable.

Here’s another one versus the same guy (he’s the one in the middle):

Full Tilt Poker Pot-Limit , $6 BB (6 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of PokerZion.com

CO ($778.95)
Hero ($1299.90)
SB ($467.85)
BB ($339.85)
UTG ($619.35)
MP ($1043.55)

Preflop: Hero is Button with Qh, 8s, Td, Qd.
1 fold, MP calls $6, 1 fold, Hero raises to $27, 1 fold, BB calls $21, MP calls $21.

Flop: ($84) Kh, Js, Qs (3 players)
BB checks, MP checks, Hero bets $72, BB raises to $300, MP calls $300, Hero calls $228.

Turn: ($984) 9h (3 players)
BB bets $12.85 (All-In), MP raises to $716.55 (All-In), Hero calls $716.55.

River: ($2429.95) 3h (3 players, 2 all-in)

Final Pot: $2429.95

Results in white below:

Hero has Qh 8s Td Qd (straight, king high).

BB has 5h Kc 9s Ks (three of a kind, kings).

MP has Ah 9d Th Kd (flush, ace high).

Outcome: MP wins $2429.95.

Given his demonstrated penchant for slowplaying, I was already feeling bad about his cold call on the flop. I told myself that my holding a T made it somewhat less likely for him to have a straight and that he would pay off if I boated up. Then I improved to the second nuts on the turn and decided there was some chance he was on a combo draw or the same hand I now had, and that T9 was a more likely combo than AT for him to be limp-calling. Bad bad bad really, I probably ought to have just folded the flop.

Preflop: Hero is SB with 7c, 5h, 8s, 9h.
3 folds, Hero raises to $18, BB calls $12.

Flop: ($36) Ac, Js, 2h (2 players)
Hero bets $27, BB calls $27.

Turn: ($90) 2s (2 players)
Hero bets $75, BB calls $75.

River: ($240) Jd (2 players)
Hero bets $240, BB calls $240.

Final Pot: $720

Seemed like a good time for this, because he seemed like the sort of guy who wouldn’t want to fold top pair but could eventually be convinced if I kept the pressure on. Classic calling station bluff. These guys almost always reraise Aces, so I was thinking Jacks full was as strong as he could be on the turn, and the river made that safer. Unfortunately, he had quad deuces :-(. Pretty weak of him not to raise the river, though; I’d say my calling range is AA, AJ, JJ, putting him squarely ahead.

Button ($819.45)
SB ($1382.40)
BB ($604.65)
Hero ($837)
MP ($813)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with Kh, Ac, Ah, 7d.
Hero raises to $21, MP calls $21, Button calls $21, 2 folds.

Flop: ($72) 9c, 2d, Kc (3 players)
Hero bets $41, MP folds, Button raises to $162, Hero folds.

Final Pot: $275

Aces are always a tricky hand to play in PLO, and NLHE converts like myself are especially prone to overplaying them. Folding in a spot like this probably wouldn’t be bad regardless, but what’s especially relevant here is that I have the Ac. To be raising here, my opponent is likely to have either a set or a big draw. Since I have the Ac, I know that he can’t have the nut flush draw, and that makes sets a much bigger part of his range, even though something like JcTcxx that has a gut shot and a flush draw are also possibilities. If I had another club such that I had the nut draw, I would get the money in now, since I’d have his draws crushed and would have reasonable equity against his sets.

“

One of the best bluffing opportunities in Omaha comes on paired boards, but to pull this off, you have to know what kinds of paired boards to look for. Let’s say you’re involved in a hand with two other players. You’re in late position and have called a pre-flop raise only to completely miss on a flop of K-K-8 rainbow. The flop is checked around to you, and you consider bluffing to see if you can steal the pot. My advice – don’t do it.

If your opponents are experienced and knowledgeable players who generally play premium starting hands, one of them probably connected with the board and is likely slow-playing a monster. Bluffing here gives him a chance to come over the top or just flat call and let you keep throwing chips into his made hand.

Now, let’s take the same scenario and change the flop to something like 3-3-7 rainbow. Bluffing on this board makes much more sense because it’s likely that opponents who are playing strong starting hands failed to connect on this board. Experienced players may read your bet here as being credible because you could have very easily called a pre-flop raise with a small hand and hit the board hard.”

I think that evaluating flop texture relative to my opponent’s range and the range that I think he gives me is one of the strongest parts of my NLHE game, and although Adams’ insight here isn’t particularly nuanced, I do think it’s a helpful starting point towards adapting this skill into PLO.

Stack sizes:
UTG: $676.15
UTG+1: $598.20
Hero: $658.70
Button: $535.30
SB: $110.95
BB: $251.10

Pre-flop: (6 players) Hero is CO with :td :as :qs :qd
UTG folds, UTG+1 raises to $21, Hero calls, Button folds, SB calls, BB folds.

Flop: :ts :4d :3d ($69, 3 players)
SB checks, UTG+1 bets $34.5, Hero calls, SB raises all-in $89.95, UTG+1 raises to $407.85, Hero raises all-in $637.7, UTG+1 calls all-in $203.85.
Uncalled bets: $26 returned to Hero.

Turn: :ah ($860.6, 0 player + 3 all-in – Main pot: $338.85, Sidepot 1: $1043.5)

River: :qh ($860.6, 0 player + 3 all-in – Main pot: $338.85, Sidepot 1: $1043.5)

Results:
Final pot: $860.6
UTG+1 showed Kc Jh 4s Ks
Hero showed Td As Qs Qd
SB showed Th 5s Jd Ad

I think everyone’s play here was reasonable. UTG+1’s move is thin, but I am very often on a weaker draw than this, and I can see why he wants to isolate the short stack. A fold is also very defensible in his shoes, but I think repotting to chase me out is alright.

I actually thought for a while before getting it in with an overpair, top pair (yes, having both matters in PLO), and the non-nut flush draw. There are so many different hands I could be up against. A worst case scenario of AAxx with the nut flush draw really has me crushed. Sets are pretty bad for me also, but with UTG+1 raising pre-flop, those are a bit less likely, since the average player in these games is pretty passive pre-flop and more likely to limp with 3345 or something.

This is an interesting spot to employ a very valuable free tool called the ProPokerTools Simulator. It is similar to Poker Stove, in that allows you to calculate equity versus a range of hands, but can be used for Omaha and Razz in addition to Hold ‘Em. There’s really no better way to learn a new game than to play for a while, come upon some tough spots, and then calculate your equity.

For instance, I was initially concerned about my opponent having some combination of an overpair, the nut flush draw, or a set. I excluded middle set from the range I entered to reflect the fact that I didn’t think he would have a set as often based on his pre-flop raise. The results suggests that, with the dead money in the pot, this is a very close decision:

I was kind of surprised to see my opponent show up with bare KK, but mixing that into his range turns it into a pretty clear call for me:

I’m a 60/40 favorite against my opponent’s actual KKJ4 with no redraw (except that @#$#@%#% back door straight requiring the case Q!). I excluded the third player from the simulation since he was short and would greatly complicate matters, but it seems like given how close I was to my UTG+1’s range, it might be worth considering the main pot with shorty.

In retrospect, I often wonder if maybe I should have raised flop. For range-balancing purposes, I do like to flat call flops with hands that aren’t automatically folding unimproved on the turn, and something like this where there are few cards I don’t want to see make good candidates for that. But I guess folding out a dry KK or AA with a raise is pretty valuable for me. PLO really requires getting out of the NLHE mentality where you can often be way ahead of an opponent’s range. There are so many more drawing opportunities in PLO that I probably need to place more value on folding out the weaker end of opponents’ ranges.

The hand that did me in, there was a limper for 150, and I raised to 600 with As Ks Qd 9d. There were three callers, including the limper. Flop was Qs 8s xs, giving me the nuts. I bet like 2/3 pot, the others folded, the limper called. Turn blank, he checks and calls 70% pot. At this point he’s got like a half pot sized bet in his stack. River Q to pair the board, he shoves into me. Yeah good odds blah blah I think he has a full house pretty much always. But I lost a preflop all in after that and it was lights out.

The central difference between the two games, of course, is that in Omaha everyone gets two more hole cards. As Ferguson explains, however, this actually translates into five more two-card combinations for each player in Omaha. He goes on to explain how this difference should affect your pre-flop hand selection and your post-flop play. You should play your hands straight-forwardly, betting hard even with your monsters since drawing hands may have many outs and rarely bluffing since your opponents will connect with the board more often. And following from that, your position becomes more important, since you have more information to gain from your opponents’ actions.

Ferguson addresses all of these concepts in more depth when he moves into the nuts and bolts of post-flop play. His theoretical approach to post-flop play is captured well when he says, “I like playing in a way that minimizes the number of difficult decisions I have to make, and maximize the number of difficult decisions my opponents have to make.”

This is the sort of vague poker advice that can be either right or wrong depending on how it is interpreted, and in fact Ferguson finds himself on both sides of the line at various times. Avoid reverse implied odds situations where you are likely to get outplayed or to find yourself with no good options is important, but sometimes the easiest decisions isn’t the most profitable one. After all, good players profit by making better decisions than their opponents.

For example, Ferguson describes situations “where I am confident I am ahead but I won’t know if I’m ahead after the turn” and suggests that he likes to get as much money as he can in on the flop in these spots. Against tricky opponents, that’s wise, but as he points out, many people play very straightforwardly in PLO. It’s hard to say for sure, because he doesn’t give a specific example of such a situation, but particurly when in position, he might be better off keeping the pot smaller on the flop and relying on his hand-reading skill to make a good decision on a future street.

He returns to this discussion when in the section “Playing the Turn and River”, suggesting that, “If you have one of those hands where you don’t know if you are ahead or behind, you might want to try betting out on the turn. Especially if this pot commits you, betting eliminates your opponent’s positional advantage and puts him to a tough decision.” I fail to see how this results in a tough decision for your opponent: most likely, he’ll fold his worse hands and call or raise with his better ones, particularly if you make a pot committing bet. Even if it does result in a more difficult decision for you, checking and calling (or making a read if the turn checks through), ought to be more profitable.

At other times, Ferguson’s advice seems to contradict his “keep it simple stupid” mentality when such thinking really does make sense. For instance, he argues that because hand values aren’t sharply divergent pre-flop, “you should usually call a raise and see the flop when you are in the big blind.” Deliberately playing a lot of marginal hands out of position for the sake of immediate pre-flop pot odds seems like just the sort of thing one ought to be avoiding, particularly when stacks are deep.

Oddly, in the “Tournament Strategy” section (which gets a mere two and a half pages in a thirty page article), he seems to argue just the opposite, that when on the bubble “You lose very little value by folding marginal hands because a lot of hands are close in value.” It seems backwards to me that you would make more marginal calls out of position with deep money than you would when stacks are shallow simply to avoid bubbling.

Aside from these caveats, Ferguson’s chapter is a comprehensive and reliable introduction to the game of Pot Limit Omaha. There are so many unique situations that can arise in PLO hat writing a practical guide in the form of a book chapter is a real challenge, but he does a good job of focusing on the strategic considerations that ought to guide you while also examining a fair number of common and tricky situations in detail. The result is a piece that makes PLO both comprehensible and enticing to a NLHE player looking for a change of pace.

Poker Stars
Pot Limit Omaha Ring game
Blinds: $2/$4
5 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: $20
CO: $840.20
Foucault: $442.60
SB: $724.95
BB: $309.25

Pre-flop: (5 players) Foucault is Button with :td :qs :9s :8d
UTG calls, CO folds, Foucault calls, SB calls, BB checks.

Flop: :jc :ts :5s ($16, 4 players)
SB bets $12, 2 folds, Foucault raises to $51.2, SB calls.

Turn: :2h ($118.4, 2 players)
SB checks, Foucault checks.

River: :ad ($118.4, 2 players)
SB bets $36, Foucault raises to $224.4, SB folds.
Uncalled bets: $188.4 returned to Foucault.

Results:
Final pot: $190.4

The flop doesn’t really count as a bluff or semi-bluff; I’m easily ahead of his range. But I do think that his call suggests that he thinks I’m on a draw, and I had a feeling he was looking to check-raise this safe turn. Thus my decision to check it back on the turn.

Stack sizes:
CO: $784.95
Button: $146.10
SB: $662.20
Foucault: $702.30
UTG: $397.40

Pre-flop: (5 players) Foucault is BB with :4s :2d :3s :5d
UTG raises to $12, CO calls, Button folds, SB calls Foucault calls.

Flop: :qd :5h :3h ($46, 4 players)
UTG checks, Foucault checks, SB checks, CO bets $46, SB folds, Foucault calls, UTG folds.

Turn: :ts ($136, 2 players)
Foucault checks, CO bets $108, Foucault raises $434, Co raises $729 (all-in) Foucault calls
Uncalled bets: $0.3 returned to Foucault.

River: :8h

Results: He had QQxx and won the pot with top set.

I put him on either a set or the nut flush draw from the beginning, possibly with a pair or flush draw to go along with the latter. Against that range, I don’t have great equity, so even with two pair and an open-ended draw, I’m just going to call and see what the turn brings.

I would have folded a heart turn, but on this safe card, I decided to commit to a big pot. He definitely ought to be firing again with a flush draw with these stacks, because it puts a lot of pressure on me to fold something like two pair and I’m rarely going to be slowplaying the flop looking to check-raise him. However, people do tend to play very straight-forwardly in PLO, and although he shouldn’t, I don’t know for sure that he wouldn’t have checked behind with a flush draw on the turn. However, the fact that I held a 3 and a 5 made those sets less likely, which made me somewhat more comfortable against his range.