PLOl

I wanted to blog about overplaying 1 pair hands in 4NL, because I think it's something that's very easy to do at these stakes and can be very unprofitable, but I don't have enough hands in my database to do that statical analysis I really wanted. I will say this: of the 2500 NLHE hands I've played on Cake, in hands which I have gone to showdown with 1 pair, or two pair on a paired board, I am -$20.93 overall, and for every dollar I've call on the river with one pair type hands, I've lost $0.28. It's really easy to get too in love with top pair good kicker against the average 4NL donk, but it's a leak and something you should be aware of. I'm sure I'll write more about this later, but like I said the sample size just isn't there yet.

So instead, I wanted to put up some really interesting spots from the 4PLO tables tonight.

Folding top set (I have AA94) is not something I'm used to or like doing, but I am good on that river somewhere between never to never ever.

Folding aces to a single flop bet sucks too (AA66), but the pot-sized donk from a standard/passive player here is super strong and I don't think it's ever a bluff.

This was a crying call and really tough for me to make given villains line. I'm never raising that river ever, but I did wonder after the hand about the merits of shoving the turn. I obviously never get QJxx to fold, so by calling down I potentially save myself 50BBs when I'm drawing dead, but shoving the turn gets a lot of value from sets and heart or club draws. I have 67 which makes it unlikely that villain is going nuts with the bottom end of the straight, and the pot lead on the turn seemed really strong and looks a lot more like the nuts than a set/draw to me.

I'm also not sure about this flop play. The turn is an easy shove when basically the only thing that changes is I pick up a redraw, but I think there's a case to be made for shoving the flop. It's hard for villain to have me beat here as AA/KK are unlikely (that given I have one of each and the preflop play) and there are few playable 77xx hands. Shoving the flop gets called by many worse hands here, but I think that calling and shoving a blank turn gets called by the same range of worse hands, only at much better odds for me.

This is super gross. Given my stack size and previous history with villain (see hands 1 and 3 above), I call here, but to be honest I have no idea what I do in this spot versus an unkown at a full table. There are a ton of playable 89xx and 79xx, and 3 handed 77xx and 88xx hands are for sure possible too. Great card to bet for villain, crying call for me.

This hand I should have bet the river, but I chickened out. Villain wasn't doing anything out of line so I didn't expect a bluff from a busted open-ender and there are lots of worse two pair hands that can call me. KKxx, AJxx, and J9xx are all possible, but I think bet/folding that river is a better plan than check/calling.

Overall I had a +$3 session that was 200 hands of PLO long, not exactly crushing it but I felt like I played well and had a few really fun spots.

January HHs

I didn't really feel like grinding tonight, so instead I thought I'd go through my hands in Hold 'Em Manager and pick out some interesting ones to discuss, both good and bad.

The Good:
My most profitable hands are very uninteresting, lots of me hitting big hands and getting paid off, and lots more blind stealing and taking down pots with c-bets. What I did want to bring up were some compelling reasons not to slow play your big hands in PLO.

This is a great example where villain did pretty much everything wrong. He has AdKcQhAh. Not 3betting this is terrible, that hand is a monster and villain has the button. The flop was great for my hand and the villain loses massive value by flatting my c-bet. When I check the turn villain should be betting here 100%. His hand has become vulnerable on that board, and the last thing he should be doing is letting me draw for free. The river is obviously a great card from me, and at least villain recognizes the scary board and flats. If the flop were rainbow, I think the river may actually be a fold for his hand, but folding AAxx getting 3:1 is tough and perhaps not correct.

Another AA hand, this time villain has AcAd2h6h. Raggy aces can be tricky to play postflop, especially unsuited. Villain should be raising pre here to isolate, and if he takes the hand down right there, no big loss. Villain once again loses value on the flop by simply calling a bet, letting me draw to the nuts for cheap. I should probably be check/raising here, but I don't mind keeping the pot small while drawing, and keeping it 3-way is a nice potential bonus. Checking the turn is awful, letting people draw to a flush for free when you have top set is right there on top of the list of things you shouldn't do. I should have bet more on the river, but I was hoping one of them should show up with the Q or J high flush and come over the top.

No aces this time for villain, who instead has Kc3sKsTh. The hand plays out much the same, villain flops a monster and lets me into a pot I have otherwise no business being in. Once again I think I bet too small on the river.

So, let's recap:
1) Don't slow play big hands in PLO. Over pairs and sets are vulnerable, get your money in while they're the nuts and don't let people chase for free.
2) I don't ever fold to min bets.

The Bad:
This is probably my most interesting hand. Sucks when an over comes when it's 3 way, anyone still c-bet that flop? My turn bet size is debatable too. I get some more value from hearts than if I just half-potted it, but I also risk more to try and make an ace fold. I think I prefer check/calling the river to shoving, but it's close.

This is pretty standard. Anyone prefer donking to check/raising?

I also have 66 on this hand. If I remember right, villain had been c-betting a lot and I thought a 942 flop was a good spot to raise/fold. Does anyone advocate folding, calling the 0.40, or calling the shove?

The Ugly:
Ok, so I *may* have been drunk and *may* have thought I turned the straight in this hand. But rule 1 came through big for me any way.

I got a little bet-happy here. I think I should have given up when called on the turn (or the flop?), but I can't believe that I got called by a river'd pair of queens.

Thoughts from the peanut gallery?