Whats the PLO8 pf raising standard?

[jlv073]

I was looking at my PT stats and noticed my pf raising % was about 1-2%. Then I looked to some players I respect at my level (200 max) at saw that they're all around 5%.

So my question is what is the standard for a preflop raise? Right now I have just been raising premium hands in late positon (AA2x), (AA3x), (As23x). Also I do not currently raise AA w/o a 2 or 3, is this correct?

[Split Suit]

whats ur vpip? running at about (20-24)/(5-8) is good. u need to get that PFR up. i like raising almost all As2xx, A23, As3xx....split suit broadways, and AAxx. i raise any AA with a suit attached despite the other cards. start raising ur AAxx,

hope that helps

[jlv073]

Vpip is about 18%.

[ohnonotthat]

If it was posted here more than three days ago there a good chance I haven't read it or even heard about it – if it hit here more than a week ago there's no chance I've read it. This is my way of excusing myself in advance if what I bring to the table today isn't exactly original. I've been playing alot of both PLO and PLO/8, and plan to continue for the time being so I will be searching out and pouring over old posts on these games, and my comments should become fresher. (Not necessarily more useful, just more original :-)

I'll play PLO/8 up to 3-6 blind, and since there aren't many games anywhere on the internet this large putting an enormous effort into seeking out the weakest games available doesn't consume much time – and is absolutely woth the time it does take up. Was that a faux pas ? Do you people call 3-6 blind “PLO/8 600” ?:-) Since I encounter an amazing number of incredibly poor (see: passive) players who will rarely make display any deceptive aggression preflop I look for any excuse I can find to come in kicking rather than limping in, and usually it's not hard to justify at least a small raise; granted it's a gorss over-simplification, but if you force the average player to, in effect, play in a bigger game (even a mini raise doubles or even triples the size of the pot) his errors become costlier to him and [obviously] more profitable for you – as well as anyone else in the game who has some idea what they're doing. It also keeps the rocks, or nut-peddlers as they're called here, from getting to take cheap flops. The threat of being played back at doesn't really factor in, simply because these walking corpses WON'T play back unless they're holding a monster. I usually don't let up until I start to notice them tightening up on my RIGHT; the last thing in the world I want to have happen is for my behavior to (even accidentally) cause them to start playing better. I don't much mind if because of these minis they start playing slightly fewer hands to my left; who the hell wants THEM around. (Amusingly enough, those who act after me usually continue to play trash eeven at double or triple the price; it's almost as if they say to them selves, “OK, it's gonna cost me 6 instead of 2 but think of the pot I'll win if I hit my miracle”). Trhere's also the more familiar, and more widely accepted, reason for tossing a few extra chips in with a marginal holding; it provides great cover for when you come barreling into the pot loaded for bear.

I'm not suggesting you're playing poorly if you don't adapt this style; there are those who would not be at all well suited to this approach (I lay in the Maalox by the gallon :-) and there are a lot of GAMES that would not be great places to try gun-slinging. And of course, if you do decide to give it test drive, be sure the ole Nteller account is in good health; this approach lends itself to some huge swings. Your opponents are not the only ones who are now playing in a “bigger” game; you are as well.

Depending on where, against whom, and at what stakes you're playing, this style could get you killed; please give it a lot of thought before actually trying it – you might even want to consult a professional. (I usually ask my Lab what she thinks; I mean, why not – I seek her input in regard to all my other important decisions :-).

Seriously though, if I understood you correctly – that is to say if you're VPIP% is close to 20 but your raising less than 10% of those, I don't need to know anything about the specifics of your typical game.

You're just not raising enough.

Incidentally, it would come as no suprise to me if your overall numbers were extremely solid in spite of your low preflop raise %; as with holdem, any “reasonable” approach to first-round play is apt to yield results that are not all that much below what perfection would produce. I'd like to hear from a few of the Omaholics in regard to how much it would punish a good/very good player who played in extremely soft games if he were saddled with the handicap of being allowed to raise with only his best hands; I have no doubt the cost would be significant, but I can't fathom that it could possibly cause a is et to plummet more than 10 or 15 percent; moreover, because his results would now likely be smoother and less volatile, it could take a very long time for the difference to become noticable (or measurable).

I hope this helped. You don't have to agree with this approach; I'm stone cold certain a lot of people won't. (I'm sure there will be a few “donk” remarks tossed my way – LOL) And you never know; they may wind up looking brilliant. 20k hands from now I may be on here posting a huge retraction (Which would NOT be the first time I've had to :-) but if a guy zooms past you doing 90 while you're in the fast lane doing 30, his excessive speed does not alter the fact that you are going WAY TOO SLOW !



Best regards,

- C