Hey guys,

Lately I've started adding some small PLO tourneys to my tournament schedule and am a little confused how to play them correctly..

I've played a lot of PLO 6m cash and did really well, but playing a 6m 100BB+ deep game is very different than 10BB - 40BB tournament play. There are no antes as well, so stealing the blinds is not as profitable as it is in regular NLHM mtt's.

I have a lot of trouble getting deep in these and don't really know what hands to play with these stacks. It's a little frustrating not being able to get deep so far, since the level of play is terrible.

Can anybody help me out with some solid strategy?

Thx in advance guys.

Cheers

1.) Position position position.

2.) Disguise your AA hands unless you can get a good chunk (30%+) of your stack in preflop. Flopping a set of aces in a limped pot is a great way to get payed off. In the same vein, target other players who overplay AAxx and KKxx, run them down with middle connectors and the like. The best way to do this is by adhering to tip number one: position position position.

3.) If you are fortunate enough to get a big stack compared to the rest of your table near the bubble or FT bubble, use it even more aggressively than you would in hold'em. Since omaha hands run closer in value than hold'em hands, you will unlikely be a big dog when anybody does decide to gamble with you, and you'll easily have paid for this by picking up a bunch of small pots. Raise preflop to do this, you lose some of your edge on flops that may hit a limper hard. Many people trying to cash will fold big hands exactly because they know their big hand is not a very large favorite over AFC (any four cards).

4.) Stay out of any pots with MattyDaCobra -- he is a lucky fish who will outdraw you.

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Originally Posted by MattyDaCobra

1.) Position position position.

2.) Disguise your AA hands unless you can get a good chunk (30%+) of your stack in preflop. Flopping a set of aces in a limped pot is a great way to get payed off. In the same vein, target other players who overplay AAxx and KKxx, run them down with middle connectors and the like. The best way to do this is by adhering to tip number one: position position position.

3.) If you are fortunate enough to get a big stack compared to the rest of your table near the bubble or FT bubble, use it even more aggressively than you would in hold'em. Since omaha hands run closer in value than hold'em hands, you will unlikely be a big dog when anybody does decide to gamble with you, and you'll easily have paid for this by picking up a bunch of small pots. Raise preflop to do this, you lose some of your edge on flops that may hit a limper hard. Many people trying to cash will fold big hands exactly because they know their big hand is not a very large favorite over AFC (any four cards).

4.) Stay out of any pots with MattyDaCobra -- he is a lucky fish who will outdraw
you.

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^this. I'd also like to add to #2 to disguise all your omaha hands. Hands such as the nut strait or middle set don't always have to be pushed when the betting gets to you. You will find yourself getting paid a lot more $$ when the board pairs if you have a set, or if the turn bricks and you still have the nuts, opponents will often discard the fact that you might have "already gotten there" so to say.

there are no antes in plo mtts

Thx for the replies guys, very interesting stuff.

Today a played a small PLO mtt on stars and tried to add some agression when the blinds went up a little.
My strategy was pretty simular to the strategy that Pet Monster suggested. I raised the blinds a lot and islolated a little in late pos with some reasonable hands. I picked up a lot of pots with small raises and bets without pretty much risking my stack. It also helped to hit a few nice flops to win some nice pots when I got deeper.

I really enyojed myself playing the PLO tourney with this strategy. The playerpool in these small PLO tourneys is extremely weak (seriously not 1 reasonable PLO player I've noticed), so it feels nice to have found a way to exploit them a little better.
I look forward to playing some more in the near future... I ended up taking fourth place today in a 400/500 person field which was nice.

I also liked the tip to gamble it up even more in the late fase of the tourney when you have some chips, I'll try to do that a little more in the future.

Summary:
- Try to raise iso a lot of pots with hands that have a lot of nutpotential and play good postflop.
- Make a lot of small bets postflop in pos to take down a lot of pots.
- Make strong bets when a have a strong but vulnerable hand and try to take the pot down right there.

More tips are welcome!

 

Originally Posted by jdawg0913

question:

can we play small ball? can we 2.5x it preflop? is betting the pot more optimal than 1/2 pot or 2/3 pot like in nlhe? how do implied odds factor into hand selection? how do we play certain stack sizes? feel free to share ur thoughts.

Interesting stuff, my thoughts:

can we play small ball? can we 2.5x it preflop? is betting the pot more optimal than 1/2 pot or 2/3 pot like in nlhe?
- Yes, I would def say that playing smallball is more optimal (if ur a reasonable PLO player). There are some situations I'd like to play bigger pots, and that's when I can get a lot in pre with aces, of when I make a big hand postflop that is quit volnurable multiway.

how do implied odds factor into hand selection?
I think implied odds def factor into hand selection. Especially when ur deeper, I would like to play hands with nutpotential as much as possible. When the stacks get more shallow, implied odds go down imo.

how do we play certain stack sizes?
- Playing 25bb - 35bb I would try to play some hands in position with coution. Try to steal some pots on dry flops etc. When the blinds are higher, I try small steals with this stacksize and try to chip up slowly.
- Playing 35BB+ I try to play some more pots and apply some pressure if possible. If the table is a little passive I play like 35/30 (vpip/pfr) and try to pick up a lot of dead money.
I'm curious how other people feel about playing the 8 - 20 BB stack. I find it really difficult since you can only make it 3.5BB pre. What hands do you play and how do you play them pre? You still limp with 13bb stack and hands like T976/AQT9ds?

Keep in mind I play low stakes PLO mtt's up to the $20 levels. So the opposition is real bad.

I've been running fairly decent in PLO MTTs lately on stars(A FT and a couple top 30s in 1000+ fields). I've also just recently started playing them to get away from the NLHE grind. I take a bit more of a passive approach with it and try to keep every pot pre as small as possible(Except for AAxx), and then just jam the hell out of big hands because these fools call with VERY marginal hands and some dumb draws. I found at first that they have too wide a PF calling range with those 4 cards and making large PF pots was a losing battle when they would call it off with crap and my great starting hand would not improve once outflopped. Just how I've been running them though.

pokerstars Game #42939287299: Tournament #307010412, $15.00+$1.50 USD Omaha Pot Limit - Level I (10/20) - 2010/04/20 12:30:00 ET
Table '307010412 4' 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 2: jdawg0913 (3000 in chips)
Seat 3: theone93 (3000 in chips)
Seat 4: thegrinder44 (3000 in chips)
Seat 5: BSR11 (3000 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 6: Nikola0987 (3000 in chips)
Seat 7: daneboy2 (3000 in chips)
Seat 8: dyana69 (3000 in chips)
Seat 9: BAGSIK829 (3000 in chips)
theone93: posts small blind 10
thegrinder44: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to jdawg0913 [6d Jc Qh Ah]
BSR11: folds
Nikola0987: calls 20
daneboy2: calls 20
dyana69: folds
BAGSIK829: calls 20
jdawg0913: calls 20
theone93: calls 10
thegrinder44: checks
*** FLOP *** [Th Kh 4s]
theone93: bets 120
thegrinder44: folds
Nikola0987: calls 120
daneboy2: folds
BSR11 has returned
BAGSIK829: folds
jdawg0913: ????

1st hand of tourney and i have the world lol wwyd

I am ITM with 25% of my PLO tourneys and have had some pretty good wins. I basically follow Doyle Brunson's Super System for NL cash games.

I see alot of flops from late position and try to play for the pots that no one seems to be interested in. You can steadily increase your stack this way without having to gamble a lot and risk going bust as you will never be better than 3-2 with most hands. As the tournament progresses my ability to win the small ones allows me to play for the big pots where I likely have the worst of it. If I am drawing at the nuts I will get it in there and play if I have built up enough and I'll give myself the best chance to play for a win.

Hand reading capability is also important which is made easiest in position. If you raise afew limpers in postion with aces and get called and the flop doesnt look good for you its not enough to just say the heak with it I am playing agressive. You have got to be willing to slow down if someone leads out or plays back at you.

Also since its pot limit it is easy to get caught up in pot bets but mix up your bets as often as possible. If you flop a big draw and its checked to you I think it helps to push the action hard. If you flop top set and its checked to you decided whether or not you want to bet half the pot and induce action but again be ready to make a read on the turn if you think your opponent completes their hand.
Just some ideas...

 

Originally Posted by Ace10Suted

I've been running fairly decent in PLO MTTs lately on stars(A FT and a couple top 30s in 1000+ fields). I've also just recently started playing them to get away from the NLHE grind. I take a bit more of a passive approach with it and try to keep every pot pre as small as possible(Except for AAxx), and then just jam the hell out of big hands because these fools call with VERY marginal hands and some dumb draws. I found at first that they have too wide a PF calling range with those 4 cards and making large PF pots was a losing battle when they would call it off with crap and my great starting hand would not improve once outflopped. Just how I've been running them though.

I like this strategy and try to play a simular game. I think it's not smart to gamble it up a lot couse it only increases the varience. Couse the level of play is so terrible, there are easier ways to get chips.

I definetely feel that my PLO mtt game had gotton a huge boost by thinking about the different strategies and reading how others play it.

Usually jam this; the only reason to vary is in order to disguise one's intentions. If I had c. 40 BBs at the start of the hand with this holding, facing this action, my aim would to be to maximise my chance of taking it down, and jam the hell out of it.