Anatomy of a PLO game

Here are some interesting hands from a deep-stacked PLO game I played earlier today. This was at low stakes, obviously, but it was a good opportunity to shake off some rust as I shift attention away from tournament poker back to the cash games. The mixed games are still my bread-and-butter, but today I felt like something fast-paced, which Omaha definitely is!

Hand #1: Backing into two pair



This guy could have had anything. It turned out he had two club blockers and luckboxed his way to a mediocre two pair hand, which I was able to vanquish.

Hand #2: Value-betting a straight



Pretty trivial spot. I love the power of position.

Hand #3: Folding a set



I was probably priced in to call off my stack hoping to boat up. I had one of my outs in my hand and this led me to wuss out and fold (incorrectly I would guess).

Hand #4: Losing the minimum with a premium draw



Villain pretty much has to have me beat on the flop given this action. I was happy to take free cards for the chance to go to valuetown if I made a better hand.

The following three hands had me squaring off with a particular villain. His play led me to believe I should give him action, but he was very transparent with made hands, as we'll see below.

Hand #5: Folding the nut flush



I got too cute here. I should have led right out on the turn with the nuts. Check-folding the river was painful but necessary.

Hand #6: Overplaying a draw



I was still steaming a little from Hand #6 and decided to gamble against what was pretty obviously a set of queens. I didn't get there.

Hand #7: Getting even with trips



Given the last two hands against this villain I absolutely cannot fold here.

Hand #8: Snapping off bare aces



I like to have a little more equity on the flop but I was more than willing to get it in given all the possibilities I had to improve. I probably should have waited until the turn to get it in.

Hand #9: Properly played aces



I'm willing to pay off against the miracle quad fives. Villain is much more likely to have a big pair in the hole.

Hand #10: Letting the new table maniac bet for you



If I had been certain he only had two pair and would pay off a raise, I would have re-popped it. But I chickened out in case he had the straight. If I had felt like pushing the action I could have given more action on the turn with the nut flush draw and an overpair.

Hand #11: My boat is bigger than yours



Given my recent run of cards people were looking me up with inferior values.

Hand #12: Missing my freeroll



The final hand of our session. The Austrian villain was seduced by the quantity of crappy draws he had and avoided a lot of disaster cards by making a nut straight right along with me. This hand more than anything illustrates the beauty of a superior hand structure where you can dominate someone's draws.

I happily booked a +4 buy-in win for the session and will be back for more, once I've fixed a few leaks that have revealed themselves (see in particular Hands 3, 5, and 6) from this session review.