How to Consistently win at PLO

Bandana boy

So I believe I am an above average PLO player but i find it next to impossble to have a consistent return from the game

on sessions where my big plays work i tend to come away with 10-12 buy ins but on many/most other days i tend to get my stack up to 4-5 buy ins and then bust out on 1 hand
i am hardly ever dominated in this hand and often i am playing with the nuts when the money goes in.

How do people here who makes proper money from PLO counter this

eg hand below

2-4 PLO full ring
Hero 900 MP
Villain 1100 Co-1

I get KKJT in MP and limp button raises pot 2 callers i call Co-1 calls
Pot 85 ish
Flop K45 2 spades (i have no spades) i Check Co-1 makes it 80 to play 1 caller and i pump it making it 300
Villain calls limper folds
Pot 464
Turn os 9 I open for pot and villain puts me all in my last few schillings
We turn over and Villain has 3567 and spades
So he has called knowing he has 20+ outs so not awful play by our villain (although he could easily have been dominated in spades) so a couple of hours good work destroyed in what i can hardly call a bad beat when a 2 hits the river.

I am a big believer in getting the money in when I am ahead and let god sort it out. but in PLO to often a player can call like above and the call be the correct play and getting your money in ahead can leave you broke pretty quick with out a bad beat or having made a mistake.

would anyone have played this different ?

NickyOD

Bandana boy wrote:

So I believe I am an above average PLO player but i find it next to impossble to have a consistent return from the game

No ****. This is like saying. "I like shooting dice but I find it hard to consistently roll sixes"

Lafortezza

Don't play PLO if you want consistancy! Especially if you're playing at higher levels where Villains tend to make less bad mistakes.
The edges you have in PLO when all the money goes in are often alot smaller (big wrap vs set) compared to hold'em (AA vs QQ on 832r board).

imalegend

im a believe in the theory also...money in when your ahead although as the stakes get higher i find more money is coming in from other players when they are drawing.

e.g. live game blinds 2 5 in fitz...i have ah 6h 6c kc....i call 25 pre flop...flop j 9 2 ...2 hearts...i call a pot bet so does another guy...turn 3 clubs....i miss my flush but am commited so i call an all in so does another player...river 5 spades....i miss my flush...about to muck my hand and the guys bet about 200 into a side pot...i win main pot with 66....both had 8 10...1 had 8 10 of herts st8 and flush draw other had just 8 10....pair of 4's win the side pot ...i couldnt belive it.

this leads me to believe that the higher the stakes go the more people are willing to put in to draw to big hands..as the river showed here with 200 in the side pot that with so much in the pot it leaves leverage to bluff if you miss also.


i try not to bet these hands as hard as you did now just so it doesnt cost as much(a bit negative i know) if they hit their draw and plus they are not going to re raise you on a draw and they may bluff at it if they miss which makes up for the soft betting.

i also find if you are going to play 2/4 or bigger table selection is very important watch a few hands and see what players are going to gamble and how much they are willing to gamble.

Samba

Firstly i would advise every time you lose/win a pot in a situation that you pop out an Omaha calc. (card player have one) and have a look at the %'s as Laf. mentioned, you will often be surprised.

Sometimes you need to fold the nuts against some villains, .ie you flop a straight with 2 d's on board. and you have none.

A good villain will play huge draws in big pots, lets say you had 78c KhKd and villain had AQs6h6d

Our flop brings 456 with two spades... you flop the nuts, great!

No actually, your a dog to this guys top set and draw, even if he has two pair and the nut flush draw you are still behind....

Im sure that if you whipped out a calculator with each key pot you play, you'll often be pleasantly surprised with the %'s....

If you think Hold'em is a harsh game, brace yourself.. as Omaha can be a far more cruel game.....

Once you've established yourself as a solid player at the tables, you can then pot in position and pot the flop and take numerous pots uncontested, do not try and bluff in Omaha unless you have a very good table image......

cardshark202

I disagree about folding the nuts. You are hardly making a mistake by never folding the nuts. Just try and control the pot size when holding the nuts on a redraw-heavy board.

ianmc38

I've been running extremely well since i started playing PLO. However, its extremely swingy due to the higher variance and scenarios such as top set vs wraps and combo draws etc. I'd suggest reading the chapter in super system II and also read the section on O8 as it's got some indirect correlation to similar theories in PLO.

Samba

Sometimes you need to fold the nuts against some villains

Some villains is the most important part of this statement...

Example, you flop the nuts in a raised flop and you pot, by the time action gets back around to you, your stack is being asked to go in the middle...this is a situation whereby if i know my player well enough i'll fold....

You might be chopping the pot at best and gambling against the flush draw....

fuzzbox

So you lost a 50/50, it sux. He played his hand fine, you played yours fine, and he happened to hit this time.

Fact is, that you had the wrong hand to combat his. His hand is a set-crusher, yours is a made-hand crusher. He had a draw.

Next time - have the nut flush draw too, and you will have him over a barrel .

You win in PLO, cos sometimes you get action from Top Two or middle set here. And sometimes you have something like AAxx with the nut flush draw, and he has his wrap + crappy fd, and you have him hurting.

But a whole lot of time, you simply lose your money by getting it in good, and losing anyway.

Betting on the river, is where its at.

RoundTower

I win because the board pairs on the river here.

fuzzbox

RoundTower wrote:

I win because the board pairs on the river here.

that only makes you break even

Marq

Samba wrote:

Sometimes you need to fold the nuts against some villains

Very very rarely in very specific situations. You give up surprisingly little equity by never folding the nuts in PLO.