Posted 2012-04-16 13:03
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I've been a PLO pro for several years, and find people have tons of questions about the game. While I will not claim to know all in this game (and in reality I don't think any poker player has solved this game), I have been consistently making 100k a year playing part time.
I wanted to offer this site a forum to ask questions, post hands, and bring up any cash game related topics about PLO to the table. I will do my best to describe my thought process for each situation, and hopefully you can take away something from my posts. I hope to learn from you too! PLO is a sick game with lots of variance, but the fact of the matter is that the game has not been solved (unlike holdem), and there is a lot of money out there if you play the game right.
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Posted 2012-04-16 13:24
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Interesting hand I played last night:
I have 5534 ds black. Table playing fairly aggro so decide to call raise to 30 in sb (in a tighter game fold this hand more often than not)
Three in the pot (UTG, button, and me)
Flop k j 3 two diamonds. I check and UTG and button check.
Turn is 4 diamonds. Pretty sure NFD bets UTG or button, so I make a stab for 95 ish. UTG folds, and button raises to 265. This gives me pause. He is basically saying he has the nut flush since he cannot raise with anything else. At lower limits I would snap fold here since there are many nits that like to wait for the nut flush to come before they bet, but at 5 10 this line makes absolutely no sense. I decide to call. River is 9. I check, guy bets pot for about 700 and I quickly call with bottom two. He shows a j1010 no flush and I win the pot.
it is rare that I play a hand like this, but thought I would post it to incite some questions/comments.
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Posted 2012-04-16 14:39
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this is how they play on higher limits? having second pair no draw, a hand u basically give up correctly, decide to check behind and then rep the nut flush on the turn without a blocker where it is hard to rep it in your opinion?was this player doing stuff like that all night or was he solid an you just had a soulread here? i have to tell you, imo this is a bad spot for a herocall, cause he could VERY easily have the nut flush.
what would you do with a hand like A657ds on a flop like that with the nfdraw? bet? imo that is a very good opportunity to wait for the flush, then flush over flush someone who likes to hero like you. what do you do if you bet and get blown off it by a checkraise? cant really call with so low equity, and also dismiss urself from the opportunity to catch a miracle card like a 4, which gives you a huge equity boost. it is so reasonable to check behind here, high limits or not.
next point: almost nobody does that play without the nutflush blocker. so if he has a nude A, what can he have with it, being somewhat competent? high cards. can high cards miss a KJx flop so hard, that an opponent, who obv likes to bluff, given he is capable of making a blocker bluff, would not take a stab on the flop in position, but wait until a flush hits and blow someone off a made hand? also unlikely.
so, lets say he does try that play. you also lose to a ton of bluffs here with bottom two, since he is very likely to have the A with connected high cards if bluffing.
why do you bet the turn anyway? bluffing? value? i think there is a point u could say you bet it for protection, but i´m not loving this spot, since competent opponents who realize your range ( which i assume are at least some, gven the limits), can float u easily with a straight draw or something. but you may be unbluffable on the river, so they may not.
all in all, i have to say the call is rather fishy imo. unless on these high limits people consistently make crazy bluffs with dead hands...
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Posted 2012-04-16 14:42
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what did he have btw? JTT7? cause every other hand ****s you in the ass, but being the pro you are, u will know it.
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Posted 2012-04-16 16:19
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This isn't a standard play by any means, the main reason I decided to post it. I rarely see a hand go down like this, probably once ever 3 months or so. I had a read on this guy that he plays aggressively, and moreover has no problem committing with two middle pair on most boards.
When he checks on the button on the k j 3 flop, it eliminates a lot of hands that he can have based on his play. You are right, a more competent player with a hand like a567 might check behind a NFD, but this was not the dynamic of his game whatsoever. Based on his play, I could eliminate a ton of hands in his range. (all two pair hands, big flushes, sets, wraps, and even a hand like akxx) When he raised the turn, I could then eliminate ALL flushes. All of a sudden, I am looking pretty good against his range. Yes, he could have been bluffing with the best hand (say he had j 9 xx and rivered a better two pair), but this was a rare situation that I believe dictated a hero call.
Why did I bet out? This game was playing very str8 forward and aggro, so if a flop was checked around it pretty much guaranteed weak holdings for the players at the table. Of course this is not always the case, but it was at this table at this time.
I think that often times, players get in the habit of trying to figure out "the best way to play". There is no such thing. Each situation is different, and the second you try to create a plan of how to play the game before you even sit down, you are dooming yourself. You have to treat each hand individually, and each player differently. How can you possibly have the same plan against a nit and a donk? I might never four bet a nit (unless I have AAxx), but if the donk is 3 betting me 50% of the time I would 4 bet a hand like qq35.
The last thing I would say is never do anything like this on lower limits. I've come to realize that most players at lower limits are playing one way: check call draws, and full pot nuts. Yes, if their draw is big enough or if they are pot committed they will be pushing a larger range of hands, but in general plo mid stakes play is super straight forward. That being said, there are always exceptions. Just pay attention to what people are doing, think through their style of play, and you will be shocked at the results you see.
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Posted 2012-04-16 16:43
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whats you screen name coolhand I am a skeptic, and if you say that you dont want to post this shiznit i will assume you play .01-.02, you might even be metalgear for all i know! YOUR THE SHIZNIT METAL GEAR!
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Posted 2012-04-16 16:49
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yeah, agree with u that low stakes plo is very straight forward, but that changes pretty quickly, it is rather tough to beat plo400, at least online, ranges expend a lot. but honestly, who is your opponent? uberaggro fish? cant tell me that such a bluff happens often, also at higher limits. but u made a gutsy herocall, so, chapeau. i wouldnt make it though
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Posted 2012-04-16 16:52
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come on guys, as it says "in dubio pro reo", he might be a guy who wins 100K a year playing part time, he might be a holdem 1cent 2cent grinder who tried plo and snapped with bottom two, who cares, it is an interesting hand, so why not discuss 
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Posted 2012-04-16 18:09
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I'm in the U.S. so I am confined to playing on Bovada. They no longer have screen names on the site, just player 1 through player 6.
I did a previous blog on this site, race to 100k. Started with 5k, got up to 35k, then bust. You can probably find it under the forums. Unfortunately, with no player names, horrible hand history software, the blog was pretty boring, so I decided to do this instead. If no one is interested no problem, just figured i'd share some pointers that have helped me along the way and discuss some interesting spots.
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Posted 2012-04-16 18:25
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ahh yes I remember that old posting, I guess that's enough for me to accept what you are saying true
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