Online Poker Strategy Articles

Pot Limit Omaha III: Jon Eaton

Last time I talked about Omaha, I gave you some pre-flop Omaha tips. I didn't really approach a few topics that I feel are important, so I'll approach those first before I move on.

I never really mentioned when you need to raise in this game pre-flop! I assume many of you were wondering about that. I do advocate keeping small pots pre-flop with most of your hands, especially if you have bad position. Raising becomes a good idea when you're in later position, because investing money with good position means you can then bet a bigger amount if everyone checks to you. Let me show you an example of a hand I would play completely different from first position to the button.

Let's say i have K K J T with a suited king. Let's also assume it's a typical $2-5 blind PLO game, with an average of four players taking a flop. It might sound extreme, but head down to Tunica during the World Poker Open--the Gold Strike features games with more than that on average seeing a flop, with bigger blinds!

Under the gun, I am going to limp every single time with this hand. If I raise the pot, and make it $17 to go (assuming there's no other blind money in the pot, I can call $5 and raise an additional $12), and three people call, what do I do when the button re-raises the pot' My hand goes from a great multi-way hand that could flop the nuts and/or make a big hand, to a hand I have to fold because I'd invest way too much of my stack pre-flop.

On the button, if it folded to me, or there were a few limpers, my options would open up. If no one is tricky enough to limp with aces, then I have a clear raise. The reason being isn't because I have pocket kings, but because I can raise to $25, get everyone to call, and create a large pot. This is advantageous to me with position, because now it's likely everyone will check to me unless they flop a monster. If that happens, I can lead at the pot if I flopped a big hand, and charge draws the maximum. If I missed, maybe I take a free card off and catch a miracle.

I also need to note that if the stacks were deeper, and everyone had like $2,000 plus in front of them in this game, then it would make sense to occasionally raise with a hand like K K J T in first position. Let's say I make it $17, four people call, bringing the pot with the blinds up to $75. The button calls $17, and makes it another $92 to go. If I had just like $500 or less in front of me, I could call, but I'd be out of position the whole hand. I am now playing to flop a set, because the only nut draw I can make otherwise is a straight or a flush (if the ace of that suit comes off... since I have only the suited king, it cannot make the nuts otherwise... in which case, I cannot have top set).

Again, I could call here, but it's so much easier to play a pot when I don't have to invest 20% or so of my stack. Limping in early position will work out more often than not, unless the table has real deep stacks, and you can afford to be re-potted. In which case, raising pre-flop is completely acceptable with most of your better hands and nut-drawing hands.

Now, after the flop, in cash game Omaha, you should usually not be afraid to get your money in with your bigger draws. I see many people online flop a full wrap straight draw and just call, hoping to hit one of their outs. The problem with playing big draws on the flop this way is that when you just call in Omaha, it's almost universal that you're on a draw. It's very rare for anyone to call with a made hand, since you'd prefer to make a big bet to push out the draws.

For example, you call a raise with 4 5 7 8. The flop is comes down 3 6 9. You have any 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, or T to catch to make your straight. You have a total of 20 outs possible to make your hand! If you throw in a flush draw or a backdoor flush draw, your hand is almost always a favorite against anything possible out there. If your opponent showed you pocket nines for top set, you'd still be correct if you put all of your chips in on the flop.

This is an important concept because many players will just call with a hand like this, and either fold or again just call on the turn. It's a very bad play in Omaha to just keep calling in spots like this, because you're taking away the possibility of winning the pot without showdown. If you can take down a pot on the flop by moving in, that's a great result.

Another problem is that you are actually taking the worst of it calling. When you have the best of it with your 20-out draw on the flop, if you can get your opponent to commit his stack with top set, you're actually making him put his money in as an underdog.

Another important concept is the redraw. If you have J T in your hand and the flop is 7 8 9 with two hearts, you have the nuts on the flop. You lead into the pot for the whole amount, and suddenly get re-raised in two places! What's your move' In a cash game, I would throw my hand away almost every time. Only when you believe your opponents could do this with something like a set with no other draw, or a smaller straight, then you're probably an underdog to win.

Let's take a look at the numbers on this hand. Let's assume on the 7 8 9 board with two hearts, your first opponent has A J T x with a suited ace of hearts. Your other opponent has J T 9 9. Your dry nut straight with no redraw is never going to win the whole pot, and will actually outright lose almost 70-percent of the time! Even if you're up against J T 9 9 with a flush draw and no other opponent, you will lose the whole pot 60-percent of the time.

As you can see, the nuts aren't even a good hand on the flop sometimes! You must be very good at reading the board, figuring out what cards can come off to either make your hand or destroy it, weigh your options, and make your decision.

Next time, I will cover some advanced concepts as well as how to play tournaments.

note by gank: Pot Limit Omaha is one of my favorite games. Not only is it the preferred game played by Europeans, it is usually the biggest cash game played during big tournaments like the World Series of Poker. In cash games, if you raise pre-flop with a hand and get re-raised, it is so likely that the re-raiser has AAxx in his hand, so adjust your decision based on the likelihood your opponent has pocket aces.