Play Poker Like the Pros by Phil & Jr. Jr. Hellmuth

Author:Phil & Jr., Jr. Hellmuth [Phil & Jr., Jr. Hellmuth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Self Help
ISBN: 9780061749476
Google: NWCoXAG4q6UC
Barnesnoble:
Goodreads: 10564911
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2003-05-06T00:00:00+00:00

Pot-Limit Omaha: Setup and Basic Play

The structure of pot-limit Omaha (PLO) is exactly the same as that of limit Omaha, with one key distinction. The dealing is exactly the same, but in PLO you can bet the size of the pot when it is your turn to act. This makes for some very big bets and very big pots. PLO is the only game in which you can bet all your chips with the best possible hand on the flop or turn and be an underdog to win the pot. I’m going to take you through a sample hand in which exactly that happened to me.

Pot-Limit Omaha: Sample Hand

While I was playing in a PLO game in Tunica, Mississippi, the following hand came up. The blinds were $25–$50, and I called $50 with K-K-7-4 in P1. P2 called, and then P3 raised the size of the pot ($25SB + $50BB + $50me + $50P2 + $50P3 = $225), making it $275 to go. (SB is the small blind, BB the big blind.) The button, small blind, big blind, I (P1), and P2 all called the $275. With six players putting in $275 each, the pot had $1,650 in it already, and we hadn’t even seen the flop yet. With a flop of 4d-10d-Ks, I was a very happy camper. I had flopped the best possible hand! Now BB bet out $1,650, and I said, “Raise it the pot.” The math is easy because after calling the BB’s $1,650 bet, I could raise 3 × $1,650 more. So I called $1,650 and raised it $4,950, making it $6,600 to call me. By betting the maximum here, I was trying to protect my very strong hand with a very strong bet.

Now P2 said, “I’m all-in for $12,000.” I thought, “Fantastic! He has three tens, and I have him in bad shape this hand.” The action got back to the BB bettor, and he began to study for quite some time. Now it seemed to me that the BB player had the three tens. What the heck was going on here? Finally, the BB folded his hand, and then I quickly called the $12,000 bet. I proudly flipped my hand up, saying, “I have the best possible hand.” P2 responded, “OK, but you’re an underdog to win the pot.” What? How could this be so? He then proceeded to flip up his hand, Ad-Qs-Jh-6d. He had flopped the best possible flush draw and needed a nine, jack, queen, or ace to make a straight. Indeed he was the favorite to win this hand, but it was pretty close. If the board paired, then he couldn’t win because I would make a full house or four kings. But if the board didn’t pair, and a diamond, a nine, jack, queen, or ace came, then I would lose the pot.

I said, “Do you want to just deal the cards, or make a save so that we don’t leave $26,000 to chance?” He said, “I’ll split the pot with you.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.