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This gave me the motivation to learn the game properly. In the autumn of 2009 I How much do you play in a normal
therefore decided to start a systematic learning process and teach myself solid PLO week?
strategy from scratch. And since I like writing about poker theory, I decided to Less than 3 hours:
simultaneously write an article series for Donkr's micro and low limit players. 8%
In this series I will write about PLO strategies and concepts I have worked with in my 3-5 hours:
own learning process, and my goal is to lay out a theoretical framework for PLO learning, 7%
aimed at beginning players. I hope the series will help the readers getting started with 5-15 hours:
PLO, and that they can use it as a starting point both for learning PLO strategy and for
learning how to think about PLO (which can be very different from the way we think 26%
about Hold'em). 15-25 hours:
17%
The plan for the article series More than 25 hours:
I have previously written an article series ("Poker From Scratch") for limit Hold'em where 42%
I discussed basic limit Hold'em strategy and ran a bankroll building project on the side
(grinding up a 1000 BB limit Hold'em bankroll from $0.25-0.50 to $5-10). I plan to use the Total: 84 replies.
same form for this series. We will start with preflop strategy and principles of starting You have to be logged in to vote on a poll
hand strength. Then we will move on to postflop play.
Click to see older poll results.
Also, the general principles for "big bet poker" (pot-limit and no-limit) will be a common
thread throughout the series. Many of the strategic principles of PLO are consequences
of the game's betting structure (pot-limit) and not of the game type (a flop game where
we use starting hands with 4 cards, and we have to use 2 cards from the hand and 3
from the board). Thinking about any poker game as a combination of betting structure
and game type makes it easier to understand why proper strategy is the way it is.
We will also include a micro/low limit bankroll building project in this article series, and
there are several good reasons for this. The series is aimed at beginners, which means
most of the target audience will be playing at the lowest limits. I have never grinded
microlimit PLO, so I should ensure that the strategies I discuss are appropriate for the
limits the readers are playing. This means I have to gather experience from these limits
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myself.
A grinding project will also be a source of situations and hands that can be used in the
article series. Finally, a grinding project will hopefully give us an indication of the win
rates a solid and disciplined player can achieve at the micro and low limits, and how fast
he can move up the limits using a sensible bankroll management scheme. This could
serve as inspiration for small stakes players new to the game.
So where to begin the grind? I decided to start with an article series bankroll of $250,
since my impression is that most micro limit players start with similar bankrolls. The next
step is to pick a bankroll management scheme, and I have chosen a scheme I call
"50+10". This means playing with a 50 BI minimum bankroll (so we start out at $5PLO),
and we can start taking shots at the next limit whenever we have 50 BI for the current
limit plus 10 BI for the next limit.
If we lose the shotting capital, we move back down to rebuild and try again (grind in 10
new BI for the next limit and take another shot). So we take shots with 10 BI at a time,
and we always move down when the bankroll drops to 50 BI for the previous limit.
The next question is where to end the project. I like a challenge, so I plan to make this
article bankroll ready for taking a shot at $200PLO. This means we end the project when
we have 50 BI ($5000) for $100PLO plus 10 BI ($2000) for $200PLO. In other words, we
will turn our $250 into $7000.
How much time (e.g. how many hands) will we realistically have to use for this project?
First we find out how many buy-ins we have to win (minimum) for the different limits:
$5PLO to $10PLO: Grind in 20 BI ($100) at $5PLO and build the roll to 50+10 BI
($350) for a shot at $10PLO.
$10PLO to $25PLO: Grind in 40 BI ($400) at $10PLO and build the roll to 50+10 BI
($750) for a shot at $25PLO.
$25PLO to $50PLO: Grind in 40 BI ($1000) at $25PLO and build the roll to 50+10 BI
($1750) for a shot at $50PLO.
$50PLO to $100PLO: Grind in 35 BI ($1750) at $50PLO and build the roll to 50+10 BI
($3500) for a shot at $100PLO.
$100PLO to $200PLO: Grind in 35 BI ($3500) at $100PLO and build the roll to 50+10
BI ($7000) for a shot at $200PLO.
Piece of cake for a grinder with a minimum of professional pride. We have made some
assumptions here, so take this estimate with a grain of salt. But we are probably close to
the realities.
(And by the way .. if I haven't already said so we are playing 6-max in this house. Not,
and I repeat not, full ring)
In this section I will give an overview of the best (in my opinion) books, videos and tools
for PLO. I will also design a brief study plan for those who want to take up a systematic
study of PLO theory and concepts.
PLO books
Below are short reviews of the best (again, in my opinion) PLO literature on the market
today:
Regardless of whether we're playing full ring or shorthanded PLO, we need to know
what makes a good starting hand. We also need to know which hands are suitable for
winning big pots, and which hands are more suitable for winning small pots.
Hwang's discussion of PLO starting hands is the most thorough in print as of today. He
classifies starting hands both according to type and according to strength. He also
thoroughly explains structural defects, and the consequences of getting involved with
hands that have poor structure.
Hwang's main game plan for deep-stacked full ring play is to get involved as a favorite in
big pots, and that's why he devotes so much of the book to understanding starting hand
strength and structure, and which type of postflop scenarios the different starting hand
types prefer.
We will be playing 6-max, but Hwang's discussion of starting hands will be very valuable
to us, since we will frequently find ourselves in "big play" situations where our good hand
clashes with another good hand in a big pot.
Hwang then moves on to postflop play and discusses the principles of postflop ABC
poker in pot-limit Omaha. In addition to playing for stacks with quality hands we also
need to be skilled in small pot play, and Hwang discusses both big pot and small pot
postflop scenarios.
"The Big Play Strategy" from Hwang's first book is still our core strategy, but by learning
to utilize position we will get more opportunities to win small pots in situations where we
suspect nobody has much of a hand (this is frequently the case in heads-up and
shorthanded pots). Hwang calls this strategy "small ball", and it's his preferred strategy
in shorthanded play.
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A book mainly targeted at full ring players, and it is the book for learning the principles of
shortstacking (our filosophy is that shortstacking is nothing but an annoyance, but that
doesn't mean it isn't profitable). Slotboom explains his (sometimes unconventional) full
ring PLO strategies in great detail, both his shortstacking strategies and his strategies
for deep stack play. He does not give an integrated game plan like Hwang does, but he
explains how he thinks about PLO, and this should give the reader lots of things to think
about (at least it did for me).
The last 1/3 of the book is written by coauthor Rob Hollink (a well known high stakes
player). Hollink analyzes 33 PLO hands played by himself at limits ranging from $25-50 to
$200-400. Many of the hands involve well known online nicks like durr, Urindanger,
OMGClayAiken, etc.
But this is not a book you read in order to copy strategies, you read it to train your PLO
though processes. I recommend that you take the quizzes seriously and solve them as
best you can before you check the answers. You get a score for each hand, and
Reuben does a good job of explaining his recommended strategies.
You can learn a lot from comparing your own though processes with those of a strong
player. You will sometimes discover logical inconsistencies in your own play, and you
learn to think about things you previously didn't consider.
PLO videos
Here are some of my favorites among the coaching videos currently on the market. Note
that how much you learn from a particular coach can be a matter of personal
preference. Different coaches have different playing styles and teaching styles, and a
coach that I learn a lot from does not necessarily have to be the best one for you. That
said, here are some good videos from some of the different coaching sites:
Deucescracked.com
- The video series 2 X 6 (Vanessa Selbst & Whitelime)
An introductory series i 8 parts where PLO specialist Vanessa Selbst (who also has a
WSOP bracelet in PLO) helps NLHE specialist Whitelime making the transition to PLO.
Whitelime is good at asking relevant questions, and many interesting topics emerge from
the discussions.
Whitelime continues his PLO education in another 8 part series, this times with the one
and only Phil Galfond (OMGClayAiken/Jman28). When you listen to Phil Galfond
explaining PLO concepts, your brain will be filled with light.
Cardrunners.com
- Everytnhing by Stinger (19 videos).
- Everything by lefty2506 (11 videos)
Stinger is a PLO god, that's it and that's that. He is also very good at explaining his
thought processes. Stinger's approach to the game is not the most mathematical, and
this makes his explanations easy to follow. He mostly uses sound poker logic and reads,
and these are things all players can understand.
Note that Stinger uses a pretty loose preflop style. This is fine for a player of his caliber,
but probably not something a beginner should start out with. So don't try to copy
everything Stinger does, but pay close attention to his decision making processes.
lefty2506 is a solid TAG player who also explains things very well. Watching a good TAG
play makes poker seem simple (and when you play solid poker, things are in fact simple
most of the time).
Pokersavvy.com
- Everything by LearnedFromTV (16 videos)
These are theory videos where he explains the most important PLO principles. His live
videos are also of high quality with very good explanations of his play.
Poker tools
We ned two things:
1. Omaha Manager
Omaha Manager is the Omaha version of HoldemManager, and a licence costs $80 at the
time of writing (alternatively, you can purchase a small stakes licence that works for
games up to and including $50PLO). This program has established itself as the standard
for PLO tracking software, and if you are going to use a tracker (and you should), use
this one.
The use of tracking software in online poker should be well known for most of the
readers, but we will also get into this in future articles.
This is an indispensable tool for training your understanding of equity with different
types of hands in various scenarios. A good way to use this tool is to analyze important
hands after each session. For example, you can calculate equities for all the big pots
you played (e.g. all the pots where you went all-in at some point in the hand).
Example
You are playing $5PLO (blinds $0.02 og $0.05). UTG ($5) raises pot to $0.17, you ($5)
3-bet to $0.40 (a bit less than pot) with on the button, the blinds
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fold, UTG 4-bets pot to $1.27, you call (and you're assuming UTG's 4-bet means he has
AAxx almost always).
Flop: ($2.61)
UTG ($3.73) bets $2.61, you ($3.73) raise all-in, UTG calls with
(just as you assumed).
Turn: ($10.07)
River: ($10.07)
UTG wins with a pair of aces. You now want to know if your flop raise was correct under
the assumption that UTG had aces.
You elected to 3-bet in position with a premium double-suited rundown to get heads-up
with position on the raiser. He 4-bet you the maximum. You assumed this meant he had
AAxx, and you called, planning to raise his (expected) flop c-bet all-in whenever you
flop suffient equity against his assumed hand. You flopped a low pair + inside wrap +
backdoor flushdraw, and you raised all-in as planned.
We can now use ProPokerTools to calculate our flop equity versus AAxx:
We are almost a conflip against AAxx on this flop, and since the pot is $2.61 with $3.73
left to play for, we are committed. So we raise all-in. This means we invest $3.73 to win
a total pot of $2.61 + 2 x $3.73 = $10.07 (the preflop pot + both remaining stacks),
and we have 47.45% equity so our EV of getting all-in on the flop is:
We made $1.05 from getting all-in on the flop. This is better than folding (EV = $0), so
raising all-in was a profitable play.
Study plan
Here is a suggestion for a "PLO curriculum" for those who want to read up on basic PLO
strategy:
1. Study the book Pot-Limit Omaha Poker - The Big Play Strategy (Hwang)
(You can skip the last two chapters on Omaha hi-lo)
Study chapter 4 (Starting Hands and Pre-Flop Play ) thoroughly. Hwang first categorizes
starting hands according to type:
1. Premium
2. Speculative
3. Marginal
4. Trash
Memorize these two classification schemes and all the hands that belong to them. Then
you will have a framework for quickly assessing the quality of your starting hands, and
you will also have a good understanding of the different conditions that different types
of starting hands prefer.
For example, if you are dealt , you will immediately label this as
"Ace high Broadway wrap", and you will know that it's a premium hand that can be
played for a raise from any position. But change this hand to , and
you now know that you have a "Suited ace hand", that it falls under the category
"Marginal", and that it prefers position.
Note that we're not trying to construct a preflop scheme with these classifications. What
we want is "training wheels" that can help us quickly assess the quality and playability of
the hands we get dealt.
Also, make sure you understand the principles for ABC postflop play before you put this
book down, particularly the difference between big pot situations and small pot
situations.
3. Play a lot
You have now studied (and hopefully digested) basic PLO strategy, and the next step is
to implement this strategy in your own play. Sit down and try out the things you have
learned. You will probably frequently find yourself in situations where you don't know
what to do, and/or where you make big mistakes. This is fine, since it gives you an
opportunity to learn and eliminate leaks from your game.
Make a habit out of reviewing your play after each session. Pick a few hands and
analyze them methodically (and use ProPokerTools to train your understanding of
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equities). Think through the strategic concepts involved and, if necessary, return to the
previous book and/or video series we studied to see how your own logic in the heat of
battle compares to what you learned.
Did you misunderstand, forget, or overlook something? Did you use the wrong concepts
for this particular situation? If so, correct your own thinking so that you can avoid
making the same mistake in the future.
4. Study the book Advanced Pot-Limit Omaha - Volume 1: Small Ball and
Short-Handed Play (Hwang)
This is a thick and relatively advanced book, and you will have to spend some time
studying the strategies it contains. But you should start working your way through it
when you feel comfortable with basic ABC strategy, both preflop and postflop. We will
use many of the concepts from this book when we develop our own PLO strategy in
future articles, and Hwangs small ball strategy will be of particular interest to us.
5. Study as many videos as you have time for and play as much as you can
Play, play, play, and use videos to pick up new ideas to work with. When you watch a
coach doing something you find interesting, you should take notes to make sure you
understand what's going on. This will make it easier to implement the new concept into
your own game.
Summary
We have discussed the background and future plans for the article series "PLO From
Scratch", and the learning material and tools we will be using. We have also designed a
brief curriculum for introductory PLO study.
In part 2 we will start the process of developing our own PLO strategy. We will start with
fundamental PLO principles, and principles for starting hand selection and preflop play.
Good luck!
Bugs
Comments:
grolsch199 (01 October 2009 17:09 )
Hell of a Article!!
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