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Chipping Up in Pot-Limit Omaha TournamentsBy Derric "Sixpeppers" Haynie

Since US Legislation has tightened restrictions on fund transferring to poker sites, I

have noticed the no-limit hold'em ring games getting tougher. It makes sense; thefish are leaving because they can't put money onto the site nearly as easily. I have

since been looking to diversify my games, looking for a new edge to exploit. I foundit. Pot-Limit Omaha is the moneymaker of online poker right now. The edge on youropponents is much larger than in hold'em, even though the swings can be bigger.

Pot-limit Omaha tournaments are not that different from hold'em tournaments,

except the players are worse. They play more hands than they should; theyovervalue hands that were strong in hold'em but hold little to know value in Omaha;

they frequently undervalue strong draws or wraps; and they frequently overvalue

and overplay AAxx, KKxx, and QQxx.

Here are a few starting guidelines that should help you move from the middle stagesof a tournament to finishing in the money or winning your next pot-limit Omaha

tournament:

1. Avoid big confrontations. Most of your chips will come from blind stealing andcontinuation bets, avoid tangling in multiway raised pots especially with lone pairs

(JJxx - KKxx). If you have a good drawing hand "a hit or miss kind of hand likeQJT8, etc." this is a good time to see a flop, but a hand like QQ94 is going to be

useless post flop quite often. Dry Kings can be folded from the blinds to a singleraise from early or middle position raisers; it is just too unlikely that this hand will

win you a big pot, and you will be out of position for the rest of the hand.

2. Stay away from loose players. You will likely be playing a loose aggressivestyle, but be patient (oxymoron). If a loose player limps in or raises, it is best to

avoid a marginal confrontation. Exceptions would be of course, big hands, or strong

drawing hands, as well as marginal hands on the button in an unraised pot.Otherwise, it will be best to wait for an unopened pot to make a positional raise, orwait for a bigger hand where you can get a large portion of your stack into the pot

(50%+).

3. Blind Stealing. Early in a tournament, stealing blinds is a bad idea for three

reasons:(1) Bad/loose players haven't busted out of the tournament and are going to be

trying to see lots of flops.(2) When you steal, you won't be getting much at all. Just the 30 or 45 chips that

are in the pot.

(3) You can become a victim to a reraise and either not get to see a pot with your

marginal hand, or put more chips in than you really needed to in order to see a flop.

As blinds start increasing, players will naturally tighten up and you will begin to

approach the bubble. This is where you need to identify the players who are notdefending their blinds, and raise nearly any hand in good position first in. Your goal

should be to capture on average about two blinds per round through preflop raising,or continuation betting. Now sometimes one of the best things that can happen to

you is you find an opponent that is 'defending' their blind. They call your raise out ofposition with a marginal hand. Awesome, a continuation bet will often take down

those pots and your opponent will go broke in no time. Just be weary of betting

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those connected boards like 89T or 579. Sometimes a 'delayed' turn continuationbet is the best choice in those situations.

Near the bubble is the best time to abuse the short stacks. If you have an average

to above average chip stack, you should be raising every button through button +3that you are first into the pot. A good raise size is 2.5 BB's just like in hold'em. I

usually wait until the blinds are at or above 200/400 to change my raise from 3 BB'sto 2.5 BB's, but that is just personal preference. There are different situations whereyou may want to make pot sized raises. If you are on the button and both blinds

have 8 BB's or less, you should make a pot sized raise with the intention of playingthe hand through if the blinds come over the top.

As you begin to create this loose image, you can use it to your advantage by playingdifferently in other situations (other meaning other than raising first in from late

position to steal the blinds). The best option is to play very tight in early to middle

position, as well as not make any 'moves' with preflop button raises once players

have limped into the pot. By doing this you will get weaker hands to come alongwith you when you want their action, and still apply the pressure to the blinds when

you don't want their action.

There is no need to be playing dry JJ-KK from early position at all! If they have

suited or connected potential than they may be worth a raise depending on whereyou are at in the tournament, but the most important thing is position, so don't get

overexcited with KK23 in early position and decide to limp in to try and find anotherK. Save your chips so you can keep making those ever so important steals in

position. On that note, never limp first into a pot when you are nearing or past thebubble. If the hand isn?t good enough to raise 2.5 BB's then it isn't worth playing.

Some players, even successful loose aggressive players, have a style where they

will limp multiple pots with the intention of betting almost any flop in attempt to takeit down. I disagree with this style because it is giving a cheap flop away to other

players.

4. Almost never slowplay. This is a standard Omaha rule for five reasons:

(1) Most of the time your opponent isn't drawing dead and you may end up trappingyourself. Then you may be the one ending up in the bubble.

(2) You are likely to get action from weaker hands or drawing hands (that aredrawing dead) if you bet out.

(3) The pot is usually big enough to make it important enough to take down rightnow. Don't get greedy unless you can afford it.

(4) You want to facilitate your loose aggressive image, as well as cash in on it.(5) Draws, wraps, or flush draws, may be going for a check raise semi bluff, and

you may miss the opportunity to get all their chips into the pot, drawing slim to

none. Most of the time if they see the turn card and don't make it, they will slow

down to see the river rather than try and get all their chips into the middle.

5. Blind Play. Be aggressive.In the BB - If you are heads-up against the SB and he limps in, you should be raising

about 70% of the time. They will be out of position post flop and at a hugedisadvantage, often with a marginal hand. Odds are they are looking for a cheap

flop with a weak to marginal hand and won?t be able to continue much farther thanthe flop. Of course if they limp call your raise, a strong continuation bet will often

take the pot down. In the SB , if it is folded to you, you should limp 40%, Raise

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50%, andfold 10% of your hands. And of course you will very often want to make a

continuation bet, just be weary of being out of position.

All these variables are highly dependant on your opponent, so keep in mind whatkind of player he is and change your strategy accordingly (against weak loose

players you should limp and go for more value bets, against LAG frequent reraisers,you should fold more often and occasionally go for a limp reraise, and against tightaggressive, you should raise frequently but continuation bet less often).

6. Raise weak bets. Many players will bet a hand they think is strong but are

really afraid of it being no good, so they make a very obvious probing bet with thehand. Unlike hold'em, they will be much more likely to throw the hand away to a

raise. So a good place to pick up chips is a steal raise post flop against a playermaking this kind of weak bet. Their hand will often be something like top pair an

over pair or bottom two pair. These kinds of hands often hold no value to a raise,and are very hard to continue on with against aggression. Catching these weak bets

and making a bluff raise is a little tricky. You do not want to be bluff raising

someone that ">scpokerclubkid@hotmail.com

. More articles and videos tocome later.See ya at the tables.

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Derric Haynie

",1] ); //--> is betting any kind of draw (and is willing to call down to catch it), soavoid attempting a steal raise on draw heavy boards. Obviously a great time to try

this bluff is when you have picked up some sort of weak draw like one open endedstraight draw or a small flush draw. And of course always keep in mind your table

image and your opponent's player type.

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