Help a career hold'em player get his PLO feet wet...

[teddyFBI]

Alright, goin' back to n00b-town for this, but after seeing how insane the WSOP PLO games were, I really want to learn this game. I started playing LHE around 4 yrs ago, switched over to mostly NL around 2 years ago, and have climbed up to the highest stakes games for both LHE and NL. But I'm a complete PLO rookie. I'd like to ask this forum for their top 3 suggestions on what resources I should check out to learn the game. I don't care if you send me back to square-1, all I really want to know is how you think a winning hold'em player should go about learning/improving his PLO game. Books, websites, anything.

[Troll_Inc]

For firsters, I'd read all the basic texts on PLO (Berman, Ciaffone, Hellmuth) and this forum. Start playing a lot of hands (post here if you have questions) and look for similar hand situations to what you enounter during your own play.

[BluffTHIS!]

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(Berman, Ciaffone, Hellmuth)

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Troll,

WTF man? Hellmuth? That isn't a basic text for PLO. It's only basic toilet paper.


Teddy,

Here's what to read in order:

Ciaffone: Omaha Holdem Poker
Ciaffone & Reuben: Pot-limit & No-limit Poker (and read *all* of it even the chapters on stuff like pl/nl lowball and stud)
SS2: Berman's chapter on PLO - but know that it's overly weak-tight

After that:

Rolf Slotboom's articles which can be found on the pokerpages website and in the CP archives

Ciaffone's big bet chapters in Improve Your Poker

Rolf's book if you want to be a short stack queer

Reuben's How Good is Your Pot-limit Omaha? - but note he plays slightly lagish and in very deep stack games and his advice will mostly get you [censored] in online capped buyin games


And like Troll said, dedicate some time to this forum's archives.

[CrushinFelt]

Reading is for nerds. Just play position, be agressive, and learn (best from experience) what you can get value from on the river from different people.

A lot of omaha is going to be "pot, repot, fold" or "pot, repot, REPOT OMG FLIP A COIN", but I think some of the more important subtleties are in pot control and value bets/calls which are super player-dependent.

[grizy]

[ QUOTE ]
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(Berman, Ciaffone, Hellmuth)

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SS2: Berman's chapter on PLO - but know that it's overly weak-tight


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Berman isn't really weak tight if you read into it... he actually advocates a style very similar to Slotboom. THe problem is... Berman doesn't elaborate at all so the section is worthless if you don't already play the game with some competency.

That said, read SS2's PLO last and you'll probably get a lot more out of it. It's the only section of SS2 that I still read regularly (it's in my bathroom) and I a little bit of something out of it everytime.

Only reason I read the other sections is to prep for a rotation game.

[Troll_Inc]

For an absolute beginner to PLO, I think Hellmuth's book is fine. (But I wouldn't say buy Hellmuth or Super System..just read the chapters in the book store). Of course Ciaffone's book, order directly from the author - try and get a signed copy - and refer back to at regular intervals throughout your playing career.

"Ciaffone & Reuben: Pot-limit & No-limit Poker (and read *all* of it even the chapters on stuff like pl/nl lowball and stud)"

This is an excellent book, but I think will be lost on someone just starting out in the game. The exception would be the first chapter(s) on the difference between limit, pot limit, and no limit.

You are probably too far away from when you learned the game to remember the most difficult aspects of all the sudden getting 4 cards in your hand instead of 2.

Of your list, I dont think any will _hurt_ a new player except for Reuben's book. That'd be like having someone get their driver learner's permit in a Ferrari.

[fringsrache]

troll with reuben's book u mean "how good is ur PLO",right?

[Heisenb3rg]

wow beset literally a perfect response, exactly what I was looking for.. Thanks...

I hate variance , but at the same time am an action junky (contradiction?)

[Troll_Inc]

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troll with reuben's book u mean "how good is ur PLO",right?

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yes.

[Double Straddle]

Troll is right about the material to start out reading. As far as when you start playing, you'll probably get the feel pretty quickly. A few things to consider:
- Position is even more important in Omaha. Try to put lots of money in when you are in position. I would say that, until you figure out what's going on, you probably shouldn't re-raise OOP (nothing wrong with completing / just calling with AAxx)
- Play hands that work well together.
- Be wary of K-hi combo/flush draws
- Don't overplay underfulls. I tend to play them much like you would bottom two pair in holdem.
- Play six max, b/c it's more fun.