Some PL Omaha strategy

One of the things that I have noticed recently that has improved my PL Omaha results is not giving up the pot on the river if my opponent has called raises/semi bluffs from me on the flop and the turn.

To look at this in greater depth I have used the following example. Milkybarkid v Anon (both players have £750 before this hand) Stack size is extremely important. If you are going to bet with a draw on the flop and the turn you must ensure that if you miss and decide to bluff on the river that your opponent is not left so short stacked that he will call for value and that you have enough in front of you to make a reasonable sized bet.

I hold 7TKA and it flops JQ2 rainbow. I decide to bet £50 on the flop with a straight draw and one opponent calls. The turn is a 4. What is the best strategy now? Regardless of position I still think it is best to bet again. By doing this you are attempting to represent two pairs at least. So if I bet £150 and your opponent calls again and the river is a 6 you are left with an awkward decision. There is now £450 in the pot and you know that if you check you are going to lose. In the past I may have given up on pots like this online because of the crap that I have been called down but this was clearly the wrong strategy. In 2005 betting on the river has been picking up pots like this easily enough of the time to make it profitable. The difficulty I find is how much to bet? There is £450 in the pot and both you and your opponent have £545 in front of you. Do you bet the pot in this situation? Normally I will bet between 50-70% of the pot but whether that is correct is another matter. Considering you can write off this pot if you check then a bet of 50% of the pot would only have to be successful over 33% of the time for it to be the correct move. If you bet full pot then you would have to win over 50% of the time for this kind of play to be correct.

I was playing PL Omaha last night and for the first time I was sat at a table when I had made notes on every single player. Extensive notes on many of them as well. I have only made a concerted effort to make notes on players in the last 2-3 months and the advantage it has given me is massive. If you don’t make notes. START NOW.

Another tip for PL Omaha players online is how to play the second best flush. I think this is a far better tactic than calling down an opponent if you think they are bluffing. Not that I like particularly playing the second best flush myself but if you find it difficult to lay down then this may be a good strategy for you. For example, if you hold KcTc9h8h and it flops 2c7c9c and one of your opponents bets the pot which is £50 I would actually consider reraising. This may sound crazy but if you raise £100 you will probably find out straight away whether your opponent is holding the nut flush. If he raises you back he almost certainly has it. Hardly any players would reraise again with just a bluff as they probably think you are crazy after raising them in the first place and will call them down. In this scenario it is costing you £150 to find out whether you are facing the nut flush whereas calling your opponent down would cost up to £600.