So it's the bank holiday weekend, I'm crashing at my sister's in Stoke and I'm bored. So what else is a guy to do? No no, I didn't gatecrash Cobridge lights, I read a poker book (of course!).
Thanks to the PokerStars libary (they have a copy of just about everything worth reading free to borrow) I saw this particular title standing out from the usual Sklansky and Harrington-esque titles and decided it would kill a little boredom on the train and any quiet spots over the weekend. I'm about 1/3 of the way through and I can already say it's a brilliant read and I can't wait to finish it.
I'd consider myself to be an already competent PLO player, infact when I 1st started doing this blog I was mostly playing cheeseburger stakes PLO and was making much more than I was playing Hold'em. Seems like a obvious choice to switch game.... well when I finish this book, I might just do it. The great thing about Omaha is that even now it's still a niche game to most, they're are good Hold'em players to be found on every virtual table and in every casino but hardly any good Omaha players. It attracts gamblers with it's endless possibilities for making hands and big draws and they're is always going to be people with bottomless pockets willing the play the game, whereas in Hold'em it's often the opposite type of player, it seems like a no-brainer doesn't it?
Well having read that 1/3 of Rolf Slotboom's book I was really excited about jumping into a game to kill the boredom of the slow weekend. Now the good thing for a tight walleted guy like me about the Slotboom strategy is that it preaches short stack play and in a manner that is exceptionally +EV. I won't go into details, just read the book if you enjoy PLO, but I punted £50 in PokerPlex on iPoker which was about $70 and was looking to buy into a $20 for about $8 a time (full ring as opposed to 6-Max, this is part of the strategy) however, there are lots of full 6-max tables but very few full ring tables being played. This didn't really suit the strategy I was hoping to employ, but I began with 1 x 6 max table in a $20 game, buying in for $8 and a full ring $50 game buying in for $20.
It started off very well, before I knew it I had more than double through on the 6-max table and was getting lots of great spots on the other table but was getting a little unlucky so missing out on some huge pots where I had invested very little to win 4-5 times my stack. I played for about 90mins and had made about $50 profit and came off as the table had become tight and lots of small stacks which was condusive to my Slotboom strategy.
So after enjoying an afternoon of Soccer Saturday with the day's football drama and more back jokes from Jeff Stelling and hiliarious commentary from Paul Merson, I headed over to Matt A's to watch a live stream of the Stoke game and took my laptop to continue my session. I went much better over there. I couldn't find a table at $50 full ring so I decided to step up the game and play $100 Full Ring PLO, buying in for $35. I had a maniac to my immediate left with $250 at the table, in normal circumstances this might not be great, but for this strategy it was absolutely perfect. The idea being that I simply limp in with a super strong/premium Omaha hand, like AAxx or a double suited rundown hand like 8,9,10, J etc then he will, we get a few calls behind and then the pot is this deep enough for me to shove my stack into and theoretcially get only a call from the maniac and lots of dead money in the pot to give me a massive +EV situation.
It worked to great effect, I ended up doubling through the maniac, then after losing a few $'s I doubled through again with a hand which didn't even emply the strategy, I had bad hand in the SB which I completed which was 10,10, x x, the flop came 10, K, 10 and I led out into it hoping someone had a piece of it, either a big draw or a K they didn't want to let go of. Well, I got raised right back by a guy who limped UTG and I just called. turned was a 9 which was a great card as it completed straight and flush draws, I made a small bet into this to appear weak (like a blocking bet) and I got a strong raise right back at me, I just called again. The river was a J, so all likely draws got their and he bets pot, I shove for about $20 more and I'm called and he has KK for an absolute cooler on his part. Very unlucky for him and quads make me $150 up for the day, so around £100 in real money.
I cashed out for £100 profit on a little afternoon dabble, purely as I don't want to play again until I finish the book, then I'll look to do the same again. A pleasing day and maybe the start of a more serious venture into PLO going forward.
Happy Easter folks.
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