Shifting Back

PLO month comes to an end. After 2 straight weeks of focusing exclusively on PLO, I am shifting back to NLHE in anticipation of next week's Vegas trip and the NLHE cash game action I plan on getting into.


I played ~3700 hands on PLO at 25NL, and the results were pretty bad. But there were lessons learned, and I ended on a small encouraging uptick. See the gross graph here:

I ran 22/11/2, with a loss rate of -16.6 BB/100. What a donk I am. Here are all of the numbers:

But after all of that, I have to say that I am definitely not done with this game. Although more regulars have moved in, I still have to think it is overall easier to beat that NLHE. There is still a ton of spewiness in PLO, the problem was just that I was contributing to the spewing. But it got better towards the end, and I took some ugly beats at the end to, which prevented me from making a more complete profit recovery.

Now back to hold-em. I'm just hoping I wasn't away too long for rustiness to set in and take over.

I'm also starting to make plans to play some deep-stack tourneys in Vegas next, including the Caesar's deepstack and possibly the Venetian's. Advice on juiciest, best-structured tourneys would be greatly appreciated. Also considering some satellites into the 1500NL WSOP next Saturday (Event #51). No way I buy in direct...way outside of my bankroll, and I'm just not that good of a tourney player. But I'll take one or two shots at a satellite.

PLO Lessons Learned Pt. 2

One of the first things you learn about Omaha as a NLHE player is to adjust your hand strength valuation. Hands are much stronger, and as a result, you find that the decent-and-better PLO players play pretty tightly with non-nut holdings. The corollary to this observation is that it is difficult to extract thin value with good-but-not-great holdings. I suppose you could say the same thing about NLHE, but NLHE play is generally looser and more bluff-heavy than PLO, leading to more opportunities to extract value with these types of holdings.

Lesson 4 - Refrain From Thin Value Bets Against Most Opponents
Lesson 5 - Don't Bluff In Small Pots

Full Tilt Pot-Limit Omaha, $0.25 BB (6 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
BB ($27.87)
UTG ($7.63)
Hero (MP) ($29.29)
CO ($10)
Button ($32.41)
SB ($12.28)
Preflop: Hero is MP with 5, Q, 2, Q
1 fold, Hero bets $0.85, 2 folds, SB calls $0.75, 1 fold

Flop: ($1.95) J, 4, 3 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $1.45, SB calls $1.45

Pretty good flop, good C-bet spot. Villain's call could mean a wide range, including any J, a lot of worse FDs, and some low straight draws.

Turn: ($4.85) 4 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks

The pair isn't great but it isn't too concerning. Villain more often holds a J than a 4. Regardless, no point in betting here...my QQ may still be good.

River: ($4.85) A (2 players)
SB bets $1, Hero raises to $3.15, SB calls $2.15

Flush comes in and it's extra nice that it's an A, making my Q-high flush the 2nd nut flush. Villain leads out tiny. I read it as a baby flush and figure it's a good spot for a small value raise.

Total pot: $11.15 Rake: $0.55
Results:
SB had 2, J, 4, 2 (full house, fours over Jacks).
Hero had 5, Q, 2, Q (flush, Ace high).
Outcome: SB won $10.60

Super-loose call PF, and super tight play with top-2 turned boat on flop and turn. But this point is the lesson - most decent PLO opponents aren't calling a river raise on a paired board with a weak flush. This is mostly because so few people raise with anything weaker. Low-limit PLO players tend to play really straightforward, and that makes thin value raises much less valuable. Lesson 4 learned.

On the flip side, it should make valuish-looking bluff raises a really nice tool. But timing is everything, as evidenced in the following hand...

Full Tilt Pot-Limit Omaha, $0.25 BB (5 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
MP ($28.55)
Hero (Button) ($30.94)
SB ($7.39)
BB ($16.10)
UTG ($48.22)
Preflop: Hero is Button with 9, 9, J, 7
UTG calls $0.25, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.25, 1 fold, BB checks

Flop: ($0.85) K, 4, 2 (3 players)
BB checks, UTG checks, Hero bets $0.85, BB calls $0.85, 1 fold

Dry board = C-bet.

Turn: ($2.55) 2 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks

River: ($2.55) 5 (2 players)
BB bets $1.27, Hero raises to $5, BB calls $3.73

The great things about river raises in PLO is that they look so strong that they can fold out a really wide range of hands that aren't close to the nuts. The problem is, it can be a lot harder to get away with a play like this in a small pot where the raise doesn't look very intimidating (Lesson 5). Also, you can run into a lot of loose opponents who will still call with weaker holdings. Figuring out who to value bet and who to bluff is the real challenge in these games. This was clearly a guy I should have been value betting, not bluffing...

Total pot: $12.55 Rake: $0.62
Results:
Hero had 9, 9, J, 7 (two pair, nines and twos).
BB had 6, Q, 3, Q (straight, six high).
Outcome: BB won $11.93

PLO Lessons Learned Pt. 1

I'm getting spanked at the PLO 6-max games on FTP so far, down about 5-6 buy-ins after just over 2000 hands. But it isn't a total waste of time and money. I'm learning some important lessons, tricks, and tips that I hope will lead me back to profitability.

Lesson 1: Be Very Selective About Multi-Barrel Bluffs
Lesson 2: Beware the River Trap When a Draw Comes In
Lesson 3: The River Raise Is Not a Bluff

Three lessons in one post, and I have not 1, not 2, but 3 blunderous hands to illustrate all of these points.

Full Tilt Pot-Limit Omaha, $0.25 BB (5 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
SB ($20.10)
BB ($19.20)
UTG ($11.71)
Hero (MP) ($25.01)
Button ($28.11)
Preflop: Hero is MP with A, 8, A, 6
1 fold, Hero bets $0.85, 2 folds, BB calls $0.60

Flop: ($1.80) 4, 3, 6 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($1.80) J (2 players)
BB bets $1.80, Hero calls $1.80

River: ($5.40) J (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $3, BB raises to $10, Hero calls $7

Potentially scary card (Lesson 2), but villain has bet the turn (looking like a made flush or a complete bluff) and then checked the river (looking scared of the board pairing).  With the nut non-boat, I can bet and expect a Q or K-high flush to call.  But villain raises, and I have to learn Lesson 3 the hard way.

Total pot: $25.40 | Rake: $1.27
Results:
BB had 6, J, Q, 10 (full house, Jacks over sixes).
Hero had A, 8, A, 6 (flush, Ace high).
Outcome: BB won $24.13

Here's another one, but this one's different in that I have no showdown value to fall back on.  It's a complete bluff...

Full Tilt Pot-Limit Omaha, $0.25 BB (6 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
UTG ($62.15)
MP ($43.37)
Hero (CO) ($25)
Button ($14.22)
SB ($30.93)
BB ($20.93)
Preflop: Hero is CO with 3, 3, 4, 4
UTG bets $0.85, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.85, 3 folds

Flop: ($2.05) 6, 9, J (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($2.05) 10 (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $1.85, UTG calls $1.85

Scary turn for a lot of villain's raising range (any AAxx or KKxx), and he's checked twice.  Good spot to fire and try to take it away.

River: ($5.75) 9 (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $4.50, UTG raises to $17.25, Hero folds

If villain's plan was either hoping for a diamond or for a free showdown, I figure I can fire here and fold out most holdings.  Given my lack of showdown value, it's pretty much a must-bet spot.  And so is the subsequent fold to the check-raise.  Lesson 2, and maybe a little bit of Lesson 1, although it seems to me like a perfectly decent spot to bluff.  A non-paired rag would have been even better though.

Total pot: $14.75 | Rake: $0.73
Results:
UTG didn't show
Outcome: UTG won $14.02

One more, all 3 lessons on display...

Full Tilt Pot-Limit Omaha, $0.25 BB (4 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
Hero (Button) ($25.78)
SB ($25)
BB ($42.96)
UTG ($26.93)
Preflop: Hero is Button with J, 7, J, 8
1 fold, Hero bets $0.85, 1 fold, BB calls $0.60

Flop: ($1.80) 3, Q, K (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($1.80) 7 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $1.45, BB calls $1.45

After checking twice, this bet is basically just an attempt to get villain to fold a weak Q or K, and to prevent any additional scary cards from falling.

River: ($4.70) 7 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $3.40, BB raises to $9.50, Hero calls $6.10

Trips on the river gives me plenty of showdown value, so I think a bet here is pretty automatic.  But perhaps I should be happy with the showdown value of this hand.  Once I get raised, it's just a matter of determining whether villain could possibly be loose enough to raise with worse trips.  It's very unlikely.  Hello Lesson 3. 

Total pot: $23.70 Rake: $1.18
Results:
Hero had J, 7, J, 8 (three of a kind, sevens).
BB had K, 2, 7, A (full house, sevens over Kings).
Outcome: BB won $22.52

Making big mistakes on the river is a major leak, since the pot is usually inflated at that point.  All of these lessons pertain to river actions and mistakes, making them especially important.