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Poker Video: Omaha/Omaha 8 by BigBadBabar (Micro/Small Stakes)

Yay, less epilepsy is good for a grinder!

Time Link to 00:04:48

Table 4: you don't seem to be at all concerned with the UTG limpers range. He's tight and might very well have a hand that has you crushed. My first thought would be to limp and let others in with their A4's and stuff.
Although with the 7-high flush, I do see the merit of getting this maybe 3-handed with position. This is a spot where I have problems... I think later in the video the push-pull nature of the game was mentioned, I'd certainly like to hear more discussion on this topic.

Time Link to 00:00:00

First hand on table one: how did we get to see the flop with this hand? I assume it's because there's the loose guy with a big stack limping in the CO and we wish to be in pots with him even with a marginal hand?

Time Link to 00:21:27

Once you check here, you're putting him on a hand he's not folding to a barrel, that's A2 or J+. So what's the plan if he pots it? We're splitting with any highs, and quartered by A2 with a Q or a pair. We just assume he has enough high-only (to account for the times he had A24x) hands and call?

Once you've seen what he shows down here, I assume you're betting the river the next time in this situation?

Time Link to 00:22:37

On this flop, you're in pretty bad shape against Aces. However, Aces are in horrible shape against what you're repping by leading the flop.
I think the only problem with leading is if villain realizes that once you opened UTG, you should never have a set or a straight here, so you might have QJT9 or AKQJ at best, and AA** isn't doing really terrible against that. In PLO a bare AA would just have to fold.
But maybe that's a bit too deep in a microstakes game?

Time Link to 00:22:37

EDIT: something funky with the timestamps here. Should point to 34 minutes.

Loved the CR here at first (Would Love To Hear More About CR Spots In Split Pot Games) but does he really fold enough splits (or bluff at the pot), compared to times when you bet and scoop (or 3/4) against a 5 or an emergency low he backed into?

In limit, a CR is often a good way to get more money in against a good hand, but from what I've learned about big bet games, that's not always the case (as villain is the one who gets to set the price he's willing to pay).

Also, you don't have nut-nut here so what's the plan if he re-pops it?

Time Link to 00:38:48

Table 1: Your target min-opens from SB, you have JT9 + a napkin... isn't that enough to take a peek at the flop? If not, make that 5 a ??? and it's good to go?

Yay, less epilepsy is good for a grinder!

+1

First hand on table one: how did we get to see the flop with this hand? I assume it's because there's the loose guy with a big stack limping in the CO and we wish to be in pots with him even with a marginal hand?

i guess i limped behind, based on the pot size. yeah CO is bad and SB looks bad also and BB isn't anyone i'm worried about. i suppose folding and raising pre are all also playable if i had to guess. my hand isn't great as you pointed out but being in position almost 200bb deep is pretty nice and i'd guess that postflop is more important than preflop at those stack sizes.

Table 4: you don't seem to be at all concerned with the UTG limpers range. He's tight and might very well have a hand that has you crushed. My first thought would be to limp and let others in with their A4's and stuff.
Although with the 7-high flush, I do see the merit of getting this maybe 3-handed with position. This is a spot where I have problems... I think later in the video the push-pull nature of the game was mentioned, I'd certainly like to hear more discussion on this topic.

he's tight and he limped, sure, he has something. but he'd raise his big stuff. and he's very straightforward postflop so he will always tell me where he's at. and i want to get the button instead of having the button overlimp behind me. raising preflop just gives me tons more options postflop. say we both have a2 and a deuce comes. now i usually win the (larger) pot with a cbet. and i don't think i'm getting crushed preflop by any means. maybe i'm giving up a few cents in equity...

as an analogy, when you play(ed) limit holdem, were you often concerned about a utg limper's range?

Yeah well, you don't have A2 at table 4, you have A4. I actually realized that there was an UTG limp at table 2 at the same time... also, neither of the limpers are actually tight, I was looking at the 16/8 player's stats by accident. My bad. With these limpers, the raises seem way better. I'd still take a look at their stats though, maybe you did but didn't bring it up in the discussion. yeahthatsme noted the looseness of the UTG player at table 2 though.

At a full ring FLHE table I would be very concerned about UTG limper's range if I had something close to a marginalish hand and he hadn't shown being able to also open limp buttons or something else bad. As this is a game where limping good multiway hands from early positions isn't a cardinal sin, even in 6 max imo, under the right circumstances, I would be very wary if someone even close to good did that. But it seems I was looking at the wrong players' stats in this case

Once you check here, you're putting him on a hand he's not folding to a barrel, that's A2 or J+. So what's the plan if he pots it? We're splitting with any highs, and quartered by A2 with a Q or a pair. We just assume he has enough high-only (to account for the times he had A24x) hands and call?

Once you've seen what he shows down here, I assume you're betting the river the next time in this situation?

if he pots it i think i make an unhappy call, expecting to chop some, get quartered some, and get useful info about what he played and how he played it, which will help me play better against him in future. there's also a tiny chance i scoop, although unlikely. and yeah i'd be betting more rivers against him in future

On this flop, you're in pretty bad shape against Aces. However, Aces are in horrible shape against what you're repping by leading the flop.
I think the only problem with leading is if villain realizes that once you opened UTG, you should never have a set or a straight here, so you might have QJT9 or AKQJ at best, and AA** isn't doing really terrible against that. In PLO a bare AA would just have to fold.
But maybe that's a bit too deep in a microstakes game?

this goes back to something you asked in a comment to one of the earlier videos where i had the spade flush draw but my low was counterfeit and i was basically just drawing to high vs a perceived AA+probable wheel in a 3bet pot vs a tight guy. A5QJ with spades, something like that?

these super nitty guys fold all day and then 3bet any AA and then don't tend to fold it postflop regardless of the board or the action. it seems sort of like their thought process is 'i've waited for this, now i'm going with it.' so i think if i donked big he'd probably call or ship any AA, even though yes i agree with you that it's bad. earlier on in this video on table one he stacked off AA for about 50 blinds although i think he had an okay low draw in that one. or he'd call my flop pot and get it in on any low/safe/pick up outs turn. i would guess that this guy isn't thinking about my ranges in the way you described.

edit: well, derek thinks donking flop and putting him to the test is okay. i'll have to try it out some and see how it goes

edit: well, derek thinks donking flop and putting him to the test is okay. i'll have to try it out some and see how it goes

Yeah, that's why I brought it up, wouldn't have crossed my mind otherwise. It's really an interesting play... you just need to be careful who to do it against. If he's bad, he'll call down. If he's better, he'll fold because your bet reps something he can't beat. The next level guy will know you're severely capped on this flop and takes a peek at turn. I wonder if the next level guy just calls BS on you and raises you off your hand with any 4?

Man, this is an interesting game. I've been putting in some hands lately and the games are sweet... seems like half the players haven't still quite perfected their game selection (meaning they're playing PLO at at PLO8 table, it's quite easy to missclick on iPoker). Some seem to play NLHE at a 4 card table, to be honest.

SUIT THAT ACE!

EDIT: something funky with the timestamps here. Should point to 34 minutes.

Loved the CR here at first (Would Love To Hear More About CR Spots In Split Pot Games) but does he really fold enough splits (or bluff at the pot), compared to times when you bet and scoop (or 3/4) against a 5 or an emergency low he backed into?

In limit, a CR is often a good way to get more money in against a good hand, but from what I've learned about big bet games, that's not always the case (as villain is the one who gets to set the price he's willing to pay).

Also, you don't have nut-nut here so what's the plan if he re-pops it?

i'm not making this play to get him to fold a wheel - i'm making it for value. i'm never getting scooped, and am almost never getting 3/4thd, whereas i am scooping him some and 3/4ing him some. given how aggro he is on the river (bets when checked to - exploitative play based on stats/read) this is the best way i can jam a lot of money into the pot on the river. if he bet/folds a bluff, great. if he decided to fold a wheel that's even better although i really doubt that that's what happened here.

if he pops it i would jam

In limit, a CR is often a good way to get more money in against a good hand, but from what I've learned about big bet games, that's not always the case (as villain is the one who gets to set the price he's willing to pay).

well i think it's a good way to get more money in against a good hand probably in all forms/situations of poker where the opponent is likely to bet. in lhe good players value bet pretty well so you can count on getting the cr in vs them, and vs bad players it depends. in plo8 from what i have experienced it depends on the player also - here i had a read. some are very passive on this river and would only bet a wheel+. but most would bet most trips here. many plo8 players' street by street aggression goes like 1, 1, 4. many plo8 players who had already boated up by the turn would have popped the turn, so i can reduce boat combos in his range

well i think it's a good way to get more money in against a good hand probably in all forms/situations of poker where the opponent is likely to bet.

Not necessarily... I'm certainly no big bet expert but what I'm thinking here is that you let villain decide the price he pays when he bet/folds. Like here he bet/folded .5 pot but could have paid a .75 pot bet. He could have bet only .33 pot. If this was limit he's betting the same amount he would call.

Then there's the fact that in limit, if villain had a value hand or even a now-likely-quartered hand, he'll bet and call anyway. In PL, there's less guarantee he'll call even when he made a value bet. Of course the reward is bigger in PL the times he bet/calls.

I have no idea whether the CR was good or not. You went with a read and it's totally cool. With my limit background I was first like "whooa that's a sweet CR" but there are more things to put in the equation in PL than just his bet-when-checked-to. Hopefully a big bet expert chimes in.

i'm not making this play to get him to fold a wheel - i'm making it for value.

On this paired board he's unlikely to hold a good second best hands to pay you off... I don't think villain is going to have many hands you'll get $11 worth of value out off in a $4.18 pot. A65x, maybe with diamonds to go with, for a bluff catcher?

The more I think about it, the more I'm beginning to believe you bluffed him off a split of some sort
64 with diamonds (like 6432), A33 with diamonds?

Table 1: Your target min-opens from SB, you have JT9 + a napkin... isn't that enough to take a peek at the flop? If not, make that 5 a ??? and it's good to go?

seven thru ace

BBB gave some great responses. Out of town at the moment but will have an opportunity tomorrow to jump in as well.