Pot-Limit Blind Defense

At the final table of an online pot-limit Omaha high-low tournament, with six players remaining, I picked up 7-3-3-2 with two diamonds in my $1,000 big blind. It was folded around to the button, a very aggressive player who had about $12,000 in chips, and he made it $2,400 to go. The small blind folded. I had about $20,000 in chips, which was about average (the leader had about $45,000). Should I call with this hand?



I usually call a small raise with this sort of hand (four decent low cards) unless the raiser is a rock who usually has an A-2 when he raises. Although my 3-2 might be beat by an A-2 or A-3 and it would be preferable to have better high potential, whenever there are two low cards in the flop, I figure to have decent two-way potential, which might do very well, especially against an aggressive player.



The flop came 6-5-5 with two diamonds. I checked. My opponent led (as expected) with a bet of $4,500. Having watched him play for some time, this was about what he would bet if he had very little. He often checked or bet less when he had a good hand. What would you do now?



Once I decided not to fold, I considered, as always, putting him all in. But he currently had more than half of his chips in the pot, and probably would call me with his low cards even if he thought that I might have a 5. So, since he was unlikely to fold, I decided to call and see the turn. The A would be nice, I thought to myself.



The turn was the 9, which gave me a flush, albeit a low one. What would you do now?



I immediately went all in, on the theory that if he had me beat with a higher flush or a full house, he certainly would bet and I certainly would have to call. So, I might as well stick it to him in case he wanted to fold. Even if he did have me beat, I might salvage half the pot with an "emergency low." One of the most important considerations here is that in this situation, where he does not have enough to call my all-in bet (and might check if I check), I would rather not give him a free river card that might beat me or cost me half the pot (such as a deuce or a 3).



He pondered my all-in bet for a while, then called. I was happy to see his K-J-J-9 without diamonds, until another9 hit the table. I thought for a brief moment that I had lost, then I realized that he hadn't filled up (he needed a jack or a 5 to win).



Even though he did have a few outs, I think he made a bad call with his last $6,000 plus with mainly a pair of jacks, which easily could be beat, and no low. According to Caro's Poker Probe, he wins on the last card only about 10 percent of the time.



Since he probably should have folded, I did well by making the big bet after the turn. One theme you see over and over again in pot-limit is that by making a big bet on the turn, you often avoid the possibility of facing one of those infamous nasty cards on the river.