Heads Up With Scott Clements

Scott Clements is a tournament guru, having claimed two World Poker Tour titles and two World Series of Poker bracelets. He’s accumulated nearly $4 million in lifetime tournament winnings, and he finished fourth in the Card Player 2007 Player of the Year race. He’s been called a pot-limit Omaha and pot-limit Omaha eight-or-better (PLO8) specialist.

Kristy Arnett: What’s the biggest difference in play in pot-limit Omaha eight-or-better tournaments and cash games?

Scott Clements: I think it’s the aggression factor. When I play PLO8 cash games, I’m looking to push players off hands and use my aggression to really steal more chips than anything else. When I’m in a tournament, especially early, I’m really looking for survival, so I’m going to play only certain hands that are going to make the nuts one way or the other, preferably on the low end, and preferably with other draws. Also, I’m going to do more limping in tournaments, whereas in cash games, I’m going to push, push, push.

KA: In PLO8, preflop hand strengths are so similar, and no hand is very far ahead or behind another, so is that why it’s profitable to be the one pushing the aggression?

SC: Yes. I think some players are way too timid post-flop, especially when not playing super deep in cash games. A lot of players will fold in situations where it’s really profitable to call, so if you raise enough preflop, there’s going to be many more chips to steal. Sure, sometimes they are going to flop monsters and you’re going to lose money, and it’s a high-variance play, but it’s definitely a very profitable way to play. That’s why I do that in cash games, but in tournaments, if you lose one hand, you’re out, so you need to be much more careful. That’s why I try to play timid, timid, timid, especially until I get a big stack. Pretty much, unless I have the whole table covered, I’m going to play much tighter and let the others kind of control the aggression. I’m just going to be counter-aggressive when I actually do hit.

KA: What other mistakes do you see beginning PLO8 players making in tournaments?

SC: Calling off on the wrong types of hands, like just a dry low draw or just a dry low in certain situations. A lot of people make the big mistake of … well, let’s say they have A-A-K-J and the flop comes A-8-5 and someone bets pot into them; they can’t just fold the hand right there. They have to fold right there, because their hand is pretty much nothing at that point. So, I think players make that big mistake of putting too much in on a one-way hand that could be the nuts or very close to the nuts, but if there’s a low out there and they don’t have a low, their opponents are just going to be freerolling on them and could bust them. So, really, they’re drawing for half of that initial pot, and they’re paying like 10 times the pot with each pot-size bet, and pot-size bet, and pot-size bet. The pot becomes so much bigger, but they’re losing so much more when they are calling for just half of that initial pot.

KA: How does it change when it’s not heads up, and let’s say there are three players in the pot?

SC: You still have to fold. You’re maybe going to gain some value, and you may play that in a cash-game situation, but in a tournament situation, you’ll still go broke if someone hits his freeroll on you.