how do i play PLO

[baronzeus]

for some reason im playing a game that im bad at and probably slightly underrolled for. anyways i have 24K behind and get T998ds in the CO. i raise to 1400, Btn coldcalls, some random, and BB (gus hansen) calls. gus refuses to fold hands preflop vs me, which is probably a good call on his part.

flop comes QJT two suited, none of my suit. i bet 2500. Btn raises to 6K or something. gus hansen folds. i fold. right?

[citanul]

baron,

depends if random is bad, but this seems like a totally reasonable fold to me. however i don't see why you would bet quite so little on the flop unless game dynamics force/allow it. it's a great bet size if you want to set up a future spot to 3 bet all in in a pot like this, but otherwise it seems kinda gross.

[baronzeus]

hey citanul,

thanks for the reply. you think the 2500 bet in about a 4400 pot is too small? should i bet full pot?

how often do you think i am ahead on this flop, before any bets go in? ie how often am i drawing dead against K9 or AK?

one thing i thought about was that if im ahead im not ahead by much but if im behind im crushed right?

[citanul]

baron,

i think a bet closer to 3000 or even 3200 is more to my taste, but like i said, there are some benefits to your size of bet if you want to keep 3bets viable at this depth. it also depends on how the game is playing. if everyone is potting, the bet might just put you in a harder spot than you could be in otherwise. while i haven't played much live, i feel that live play probably allows for more non pot bets, while plo at these stakes online seems to feature pot or near pot bets almost always.

before any money goes in on this flop, you're probably ahead a fair amount, but this is basically the exact wrong flop for you to want to get lots of money in with. like you said, if you're behind you're absolutely doomed, and if you're ahead and can get the money in (even though it's only 50bb or so) you're never going to be a huge favorite. sadly you're even behind a hand like KQxx (or KJxx) with a 4flush here. while hands like KQJT with even one suit (maybe 0 suits) probably shoot a 3bet in from the button, (KQJT with a bdfd is 50/50 with you here) there's probably a lot of hands with KQxx, KJxx, AKxx that can just call preflop. simply because you have a couple of the 9s it gets less likely that he has one, but meh. yeah, in short, i feel your instinct throughout here is great, and that way ahead way behind is in full effect.

personally i've fallen pretty far out of love with 3 connector + pair starting hands because the draws they flop are never that huge, the sets that the middling ones that can get you in huge trouble. so i find myself pussing out on a lot of flops that look "ok" with them, and i don't like pussing out on a lot of hands in omaha. but yeah, that's just me.

[baronzeus]

great post, lots to think about. ill be reading your PLO posts closely from now on [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]