My PLO strategy...

[matt85]

So I've never played before but theres a super soft cash game that goes on which mixes PLO and NLHE. Im a massive favourite in the NLHE and figure that I should be good if i can merely breakeven at the PLO.

So I arrived at the following strategy...

Do one of the following..

1) Hold the nuts
2) Draw to the nuts
3) Fold

Does this work in practice?

[Silent A]

It's a pretty basic way to start, especially the "draw to the nuts" part (assuming this is close to full-ring).

The only other things I'd add is:

4) play well-coordinated hands (all 4 working together), esp. in EP
5) loosen up as you get close to the button
6) don't just raise with AAxx and KKxx
7) resist the urge to slowplay
8) don't get married to a flopped straight with no re-draws

[matt85]

[ QUOTE ]
It's a pretty basic way to start, especially the "draw to the nuts" part (assuming this is close to full-ring).

The only other things I'd add is:

4) play well-coordinated hands (all 4 working together), esp. in EP
5) loosen up as you get close to the button
6) don't just raise with AAxx and KKxx
7) resist the urge to slowplay
8) don't get married to a flopped straight with no re-draws

[/ QUOTE ]

Sounds good.

In a pretty loose-passive full ring games game what do you recommend for hands like QJJ9 and 8865ds in MP/EP? Is it really bad to open limp like in NLHE or do you want a lot of callers if it isnt likely to be raised?

Thanks,

Matt.

[matt85]

lol I just accidentally checked the nuts on the end for like the 3rd time tonight.

Long road ahead of me.....

[Silent A]

[ QUOTE ]
In a pretty loose-passive full ring games game what do you recommend for hands like QJJ9 and 8865ds in MP/EP? Is it really bad to open limp like in NLHE or do you want a lot of callers if it isnt likely to be raised?

Thanks,

Matt.

[/ QUOTE ]

Open limping in PLO >> open limping in NLHE. Small pre-flop raises are also much better. For example, you have 2 limpers in front of you and you have a good hand on the button. In hold 'em raising to 3-4BB would not be a good idea. But in PLO it's just fine. The main reason: you want to start building a pot with a good hand in position. Remember, the pot limit on betting means that it's difficult to stack someone unless you start the raising process early. This is starting bleed into a more advanced concept discussion so I'll stop there.

I'm not really the person to ask about hands like QJJ9 because I have this tendency to raise less often than I should. However, I know enough to know that these hands can be played profitably limped or raised from EP/MP/LP. hard to say more than that because so much depends on how many limp in front, stacks, etc. What I can say for certain is that PLO is far more forgiving for sub-optimal pre-flop play than HE is. At the beginner stage, the most important thing to do is to avoid major mistakes.

In PLO the number of callers pre-flop really shouldn't concern you (at least not nearly as much as in HE). "Isolation" plays are not as important in PLO (one poster here went so far as to say you should never raise to isolate in PLO - which brought forth much "debate"). if the game is truly passive pre-flop, I wouldn't worry about it much as a beginner.

An important concept in loose-passive PLO is to be tighter pre-flop than your opponents (but not so much that it becomes obvious to them, playing 25-30% of your hands or so usually does the trick). That way, you'll have the better redraws and free-roll your opponents when the pots get large.

BTW, there's nothing inherently wrong with limping/completing/checking pre-flop with ragged AAxx OOP.

[matt85]

So basically tight(ish), solid and playing a lot in position is the name of the game in SSPLO

(Im sure I have heard this before somewhere... [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Played a little 25NL tonight and its truly unbelievably bad.
Think I may have found a new game.

Thanks very much for the advice, much appreciated.

[Ribbo]

[ QUOTE ]
So basically tight(ish), solid and playing a lot in position is the name of the game in SSPLO

(Im sure I have heard this before somewhere... [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Played a little 25NL tonight and its truly unbelievably bad.
Think I may have found a new game.

Thanks very much for the advice, much appreciated.

[/ QUOTE ]

The best advice I can give new players is to play hands that have good synergy. If you play good starting cards, then the decisions you have to make in the hands you play will be easier. It's a lot harder deciding whether to call an all-in pot bet when holding a queen high flush than when you have the nut flush.

[FieryJustice]

Ok...so lets assume I am a nit and play only good cards/situations. Assume I have played about 5000 hands of mid stakes plo online and have broken even..should I play the $10,000 plo event at the wsop, as in will it be +ev, even in the slightest?

[Silent A]

[ QUOTE ]
Ok...so lets assume I am a nit and play only good cards/situations. Assume I have played about 5000 hands of mid stakes plo online and have broken even..should I play the $10,000 plo event at the wsop, as in will it be +ev, even in the slightest?

[/ QUOTE ]

LOL, what's the point of this? We're talking about some simple basic concepts that will allow a PLO noob to limit his losses while he's learning the game.

Also, it kind of depends on how many Ted Lawson's are out there.

[piiop]

of course you should