Sunday, September 20, 2009

Pot Limit Omaha Poker: Things You Should Consider 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).

Having these hands, you can gamble less than 10% of your stack or you can also wage 50% of your chips. It really depends on the situation and the strength of your hand.

Reasons in Less Than 10% Bet

Betting less than 10% of your own stack to the pot will ensure you won't lose a lot when the flop is not that good with your hands. For instance, you are playing in $100 buy-in PLO game and you have a hole card of AsKsJdQc which is a strong hand.

If the flop turned out to be A, J and Q which is not the same suited card as yours - you can bet $7 which is not a bad stack to loss if ever you gave up your hand.

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.

It is recommended that you don't bet 20%-40% of your stack before the flop is opened.

Why bet more than 50%?

On the other hand, if you possess a strong hand of AAxx or KK/QQ, you may want the pot heads-up and you need to have enough to bet a 50% pot flop bet which will eventually lead the others to fold until you're head to head with one opponent.

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.

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