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| Pot limit omaha poker strategy tips |
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When I began playing online poker I did it in the no limit texas holdem tables. This was simply because thanks to the WSOP TV-shows and such you could only see and hear about the NL poker games. However quite soon I realize that all the online poker rooms also offer another game which appeared to be played at least by some people. After watching those games for a while it became apparent that pot limit omaha was a game for me. In case you are unaware in the pot limit omaha games you are dealt four pocket cards instead of the 2 cards you get in texas holdem. This means that you will get attractive starting hand much more often in pot limit omaha than in texas holdem – this is true at least on the paper. Obviously as I’m an action-junkie the game in which you get to play even more hands (I’m not exactly known as the tightest no limit holdem player around either) seemed great. And so I began my adventures in the world of pot limit omaha poker. And i have to admit that for a long time I was absolutely terrible in the game and my shrinking poker bankroll proved this to be true as well. However I would like to say that my skills have by now improved quite a bit and I’m at least a decent player now. Thus the point of article is to help our readers, if not to become winning players (or in the ideal case even more winning players), at least to help save some money when learning and playing pot limit omaha. These days I usually play 2/4 to 10/20 6 max (and often even headsup) pot limit omaha tables at various online poker rooms. But before writing this article I also played the smaller 0.25/0.5 and 0.5/1 pot limit omaha games for a while to get a better understanding about the level of play there and in general about how those games play. I have to say that I was rather surprised by the play in the smaller games, I was expecting that each hand had at least 3 players seeing the flop and almost every hand someone going all in. Instead what I found was that the games were actually tighter than the bigger PLO games. Now it is important to understand that tighter doesn’t automatically equal better quality of play, and in fact quite often in PLO it is actually the other way around. Also I’m not certain that the type of play I witnessed is actually the normal type of play in those games. For this reason the strategy tips that you are about to read are aimed for the bit looser 2-6 handed pot limit omaha games. For the purpose of the article I call these games the normal games. From the end of article you also find two tips for the tight short handed pot limit omaha games. Pot limit omaha strategy tips for the normal games: - POSITION is important. No I’m not on tilt. I wrote the word all caps because you really need to pay attention to it. Position is important thing in texas holdem, in omaha it is crucial. What this means is that you should play much tighter from the under the gun (first to act) and other bad positions than you should from the button. Being the last person to act after the flop is extremely valuable in omaha as you will have a good idea about the possible hands that your opponents is holding and thus you can use the appropriate play against his suspected range of hands. Also this means that you shouldn’t get married to your big blind, after all it is just one big blind and it is much less important than for an example limit texas holdem. - Don’t overvalue your hands. This advice is especially for those who have just moved from texas holdem to PLO or are just about to move. When you start playing omaha it will almost always feel like you have a great hand, you will see lot more sets, straights, flushes and other things that were likely to win you the pot in texas holdem. However in PLO your opponents also have the good hands WAY more often in than in holdem. You should be especially careful (and sometimes even scared) if you are holding only trips with a okay kicker or a straight that isn’t the best possible one and are facing strong action. The best tips for learning how to value your hands is simply to watch lot of action and get lot of playing experience, this way you will develop the natural instinct on when you are likely to hold the best hand. - Plan your hands. When you think you have the best hand your goal should always be to get as much money to the pot as possible. This might sound really basic, but it is incredible how many people forget this advice. For this reason I think that slowplaying is almost always a mistake – and this is especially true in the PL omaha games in which you are likely to get outdrawn if slowplay your hands. I would go as far as say that if you are a player that plays bluffs aggressively you are making a big mistake by playing your premium hands in a tricky / trappy way. When you have a great hand bet, raise, go all in, and take advantage of your maniac image which makes your opponents think that you are always bluffing them.
Pot limit omaha strategy tips for the tight games:
- Bluff. Now this might sound obvious, but it is still all too uncommon too see otherwise great loose aggressive players to tighten their own game too much in the tight games. Maybe it is something like “you become the type of person that you hang around with”, or maybe it is something else. Either way I think that if you have it in you too play the aggressive poker you should use it even, and maybe even especially, when you are playing against tight players. The important thing about bluffing is that you need to find the correct sports to do it. Good bluffing spots in PLO against tight players: - Flops. Especially if you are against 1 or 2 players on the flop and you were aggressor before the flop you should try to take away the pot from them by betting the flop. Also if either of those players was the aggressor but players checked the flop you might again try to take away the pot. The important thing about betting when they raised the flop and checked the flop is to try to be sure that they are not slowplaying their monster hand. If a tight player raises before the flop and checks A93 all different suits flops it is quite possible that he is indeed holding three of kind, in that case you should simply take the free card and hope to improve your hand. It is usually a good idea not to bluff bet the flop if you have more than 2 opponents on the flop, the odds are one of them has a hand that they are not willing to let down. The only except for this rule could be if the flop is especially dry and you are the last to act on the flop. For an example: there was a raise before the flop, 2 guys called and you called on the button. The flop came 994 and all three players checked the flop before you, now it might be a worth to bet the flop. - River. River is my other favourite street to bluff in PLO. Two types of rivers are great for you, the types that your opponents believe improved your hand and the types you believe didn’t improve your opponents hand. So if they think you were on a great draw and got the winning card on river you should try to often take the pot away from them. And on the other hand if you believe that your opponent was on a draw that wasn’t completed on the river it is a good idea to bet if you think that you are unlikely to even beat his missed draw. - Don’t bang your head against the wall. This one that I’m sometimes guilty of and really wish I wasn’t. Certain players who play pot limit omaha the take the play nuts and draw only the nuts advice literally and play by it. What this means is that when they call you they always have extremely hand. Thus don’t make the mistake of trying to bluff them or trying to extract value with from them thinly with your hand. The was to play against these players is to bluff them on flop and bluff when they are likely to have missed their draw. If they call the flop 994 they are not holding medium pocket pair, instead they have one of three things: huge pair, set or fullhouse. You might be able to get them of the first hand on certain turns, however you are not able to get them fold set or fullhouse and as they more likely to hold those hands simply give up on the turn (unless obviously you improved to hand that is better). I hope you got something out of these strategy tips and they help you when play the PLO games on the internet. Related content: |