PLO

After feeling a little off my hold 'em game the last couple of days, I've decided to take up pot limit Omaha Hi. So far, over a small sample size, my BB/100 hands is in the dozens!

I don't know much about PLO, but I'm operating under a few assumptions to guide me through the learning curve. So far, they've served me pretty well.

1) Play tight preflop. I think this may be the No. 1 rule for most forms of poker.

2) PLO is a game of the nut, so don't go to war without the nuts or a draw to them. I played a heads-up PLO game with a friend over Christmas break in which he flopped top set against my flush and wrap-around straight draw (I think that's what it's called). I can't remember the exact hand anymore, but I ran it through twodimes just to be sure. It confirmed what I thought -- I was a favorite on the flop when the money went in. So I try to remember to get some money in on the flop with the nuts at the time, but I'll hesitate to commit all my money unless I still hold the nuts on the turn.

3) Obey the fundamental principles found in most forms of poker -- vary your starting hand selection based on position, try to reason through hands, smell out bluffs, bet and raise more in position, and fold when you think you're beaten.

4) With a hand like AAxx, if I can get more than half of my stack in preflop, I'm going to go ahead and push all in on the flop in most situations. Otherwise, slow down with AAxx.

I know this is very basic information, but that's about all I've got so far.

This game really rules. Most tables seem playable, filled with people who know even less about PLO than I do. A strategy of playing tight and waiting for the nuts seems to work pretty damn well, especially when you run into opponents who are only too happy to bluff off all their money on the river.

I've always said that I wanted to branch out into new games, but change is hard. Finally, with efforts to learn triple draw and PLO, I feel like I've taken the first steps. My fear was that I wouldn't be as profitable in these other games as I was in hold em, but I think I should be able to beat them for the same winrate within a short amount of time. It's worth it so far.

Many of the players in these games are just giving money away, and now is the time to branch out into other forms of poker. You'll need all the skills you can muster if you want your bankroll to get through the coming tightening of the online poker world.