Sunday, September 20, 2009

Know More About Pot Limit Omaha Poker Part 1: What To Do On Pre-flop

By Joan Carmela Ruegg

It has been stated on the first part of this series that PLO tends to have a relatively close starting hand in terms of value. Due to this it is not advisable to bet a big portion of your stack except if you have a superior hand like the AAxx. You need to follow this because things can change instantly once the flop hits the board.

If you have a good hand then it's normal for you to raise, but don't attempt a raise higher than 10% of your stack before the flop. The only exclusion would be having the said AAxx hand or a really steady KK/QQ hand (double suited or Broadway).

Whenever you acquire these hands pre-flop you can choose either to bet below 10% of your stack or gamble more than 50% of it.

Gambling Less Than 10%

If you gamble less than 10% of your stack then you are giving yourself a chance to back out in case the flop is not good to you. An example would be participating in a $100 buy in PLO game where you possess a hand comprise of AsKsJdQc which is quiet good.

If the flop turned out to be composed of two suited cards that you don't have, AJQ, then at a $7 bet you can let the hand go with not much restraint unless you wanted to find yourself involve in a raising war.

But if the pot is opened to $7 and you gained two callers - it's safe for you to re-raise your bet to $38 and then call with your current 3 pair and gut-shot to divide the pot. That time, the pot would be offering about $200 - 3 times more than your bet.

Betting 20%-40% of your stack before the flop is suicide in PLO.

Why bet more than 50%?

If you happen to have a tough hand either an AAxx or KK/QQ then you might want to go heads-up by betting more than 50% of your stack. You'll basically fold anyone who's not keen to battle up against a big pot and those who are brave enough to call will remain.

Then if you're already heads-up with someone it will be your job to raise and re-raise the pot till the turn or river till the other player gives up. Don't worry about getting head to head until the end because you have a pretty strong starting card to begin with which gives you advantage.

About the Author:

0 comments:

Post a Comment