Poker Video: Pot-Limit Omaha by orestto (Micro/Small Stakes)

Upon close inspection, I think both the JT89 and J985 are pretty close, probably neutral EV perhaps very slightly -EV.

With the J985 hand I still think opponent should lead into me and try to squeeze me out of the pot, and if the flop were Kd3dQx (he didn't have the straight flush gutter and it's more likely I have a dominating flush draw (QdXd) it would probably be a fold.

Similarly, with JT89, if I only had two clubs it'd probably be a break-even stack-off. With a back-door flush draw it's definitely a stack-off, and if somehow the board was KoJc4c and I had the T-high flush draw then it'd be a close fold, my equity is lower because the KcXc flush draw will be out there more often.

So yea, these are pretty close and I might have been a bit results oriented. More importantly is to notice even the slightest changes in board texture can chance your hand vs range equity and turn a close decision into a fold or call.

This may be too general of a question but regarding defending the QQ85ss hand in the bb against that caliber of player what happens when the board comes out light dryish like 842 rainbow. Would you still play it if it wasn't suited and more connected like QQ56 or how about if it was all rainbow QQ85?

That seemed like it was a pretty good flop and I was just wondering what you do with no BD equity and just a bare overpair? How about with a back door FD with a bare OP or a bare OP and a gutshot?

What if it was a solid reg are you just folding?

If it was a solid reg I would probably just fold preflop with these Qs, although I would still defend better versions of it like double-suited or single-suited with better sidecards like QQ78+ and such unless opponent raised from earlier position. Overall though I'm definitely not as excited about playing OOP with weak-marginal QQ vs competent opponents with decent ranges. I do not defend rainbow QQ unless it's like AKQQ-QQJT type hands.

On a dry board like 842r or without the flush draw I'd often start out by x/calling. Against opponents that will play too well with the initiative and position then perhaps leading out might help diminish our disadvantage. On a board like 972 with a bare QQ type hand there's also not huge shame in just check-folding if you don't have secondary equity and your opponent has a decent range and isn't the type to let you see a cheap SD. This is why weak QQ isn't a great hand to defend vs a strong opponent, not enough coverage of flops and no real easy way to play it post-flop without back-up.

In Episode 4 I play another interesting QQ hand where I have a back-door flush draw and a non-nut gutter, and I also do some more PPT work on QQ+fd on two-tone boards. I might answer some of your questions in that video, if not please let me know in the comments section for the vid!

Time Link to 00:28:18

Would this be the type of hand where you would ever just lead?

Time Link to 00:28:18

nvmd, didn't realize you already answered the question lol

3 episodes in and this is one of the best series on the site so far. So many gold nuggets of poker theory awesomeness in each episode. Much deserved bump for anyone who missed it.

Love the powerpoint stuff at the start of each. The combinatorics/frequencies stuff is opening up a whole new part of my poker brain.