Hand 2 Hand Combat -- Tri Nguyen

Event Online pot-limit Omaha cash game
Stacks Tri Nguyen – $1,249; Villain1 – $1,470.85; Villain2 – $274.20
Blinds $3-$6
Players 5

Villain1 raises to $12 from the button. Villain2 calls from the small blind. Nguyen reraises to $48 with the A A 6 3 from the big blind.

Craig Tapscott: Share a few basics that players need to be aware of when they first venture away from no-limit hold’em and begin to get their feet wet in PLO [pot-limit Omaha].

Tri Nguyen: The most common mistake when first learning PLO is overvaluing A-A-X-X and K-K-X-X. Although they have a preflop equity advantage over many hands, they are tough to play post-flop. When first starting, you should elect to call more often with A-A-X-X, especially when you are out of position.

Novice players defend from the blinds too often with dominated hands such as A-2-6-7, J-J-7-3, and K-Q-4-5 double-suited. They look pretty, but are actually awful starting hands.

Position is the most important factor to keep in mind when playing PLO. Because the relative strength of hands changes so much on the turn and the river, you will get a lot of opportunities to take down pots. You also can bluff more effectively and value-bet more hands. In fact, you probably can be a big winner if you never reraise from out of position when stack sizes are 150-plus big blinds.

CT: Great. In this hand, it’s pretty standard to reraise with your hand, right?

TN: No, not always. With stacks this deep (200-plus big blinds), I like to call preflop sometimes. At the moment, I don’t mind a reraise, because Villain1 is a loose player, but not overly aggressive. If he were overly aggressive, I probably would call preflop.

CT: Why?

TN: Because my hand doesn’t play that well post-flop when stacks are this deep. I’m going to get raised on the flop way too often, and will have to fold a good percentage of the time.

Villain1 calls. Villain2 calls.

TN: The calls are standard. With stacks this deep, I probably call at least 95 percent of the time that I open-raise preflop.

Flop: J 9 2 (pot: $144)

TN: This is a good flop for me, though not great. A great flop would be 5-4-2 or 6-6-X, where I have a great disguised hand. A flop such as A-X-X or with all diamonds is great for my hand, too, but I’m rarely getting paid off unless I cooler his hand.

Villain2 checks. Nguyen bets $128.

CT: Should you always continuation-bet this flop?

TN: I make a standard continuation-bet at least 65 percent of the time. I probably have to fold if he raises.

Villain1 calls. Villain2 folds.

CT: What hand range have you assigned him?

TN: At this point, I put him on J-X-X-X, Q-Q-X-X, K-K-X-X, Q-10-9-X, K-Q-J-X, and 9-2-X-X. He could slow-play with J-J-X-X, 9-9-X-X, and 2-2-X-X, since the flop isn’t draw-heavy.

CT: A lot of turn cards can be very scary for your hand.

TN: Very. Yes. Playing the turn with A-A-X-X in a reraised pot in PLO is a tricky situation. Unless you have a good grasp of your opponent’s holding, you shouldn’t play big pots when out of position with big pocket pairs. It’s just too tough.

Turn: 3 (pot: $400)

CT: That’s pretty much a blank.

TN: Well, it doesn’t fill up any draw on the board. So, I decide to bet, because checking makes the hand so tough to play. It would be a tough spot if I check and he bets.

Nguyen bets $324.

CT: What are the other advantages of betting here?

TN: By betting, I get to protect my hand, and it will charge his hand if he’s drawing. If he raises, I have to fold.

CT: And if he calls?

TN: If he calls my turn bet, his likely range is a pair plus a flush draw, a straight draw that turned a flush draw, or a hand like 9-3-X-X or J-3-X-X, which isn’t strong enough to raise the turn.

Villain1 calls.
River: 4 (pot: $1,048)

CT: Can you ever bet for value here?

TN: No. But it is an interesting spot. You should never bet for value in this spot, because no worse hand is calling you. If you bet, it’s as a bluff.

There’s a chance that he might have a straight. Also, he might have gotten stubborn with J-3-X-X or J-4-X-X and won’t fold. Checking also allows me to catch bluffs if he has a missed draw, since the board is pretty draw-heavy. He’ll rarely show up with a set, because a set likely would have shoved the turn, since there’s so much money out there.

Nguyen checks. Villain1 bets $462.

CT: Now, is he betting here for value? What could he have?

TN: I seriously don’t know what he has. All I know is that he can have a straight. He also can have missed spades or a pair with a bigger straight draw, such as Q-J-9-X. With the pot odds, and holding an ace and a 6 in my hand as straight blockers …

Nguyen calls. Villain1 reveals the K♠ Q♠ 5♠ 10♥. Nguyen wins the pot of $1,972.

CT: For education’s sake, let’s change things a bit. What if he had potted the river? Do you fold?

TN: It would be a tough decision if he potted the river. I probably fold, since I’m getting worse odds and people don’t bluff in big pots very often.

CT: Was there another way that he could have played this hand to get you to fold?

TN: I think a better play for him is to shove the turn instead of calling. With the preflop action, I (and many players) have A-A-X-X a lot in this spot, and will have to fold. Since there is so much money out there ($724 after my turn bet), I don’t have to fold that often to make the shove profitable (24.19 percent, to be exact). With such a strong combo draw, shoving on the turn is probably the best play. If he is wrong and I show up with something stronger, he’ll have outs and is only a slight underdog most of the time, so it’s not the end of the world.

CT: I know that you’re a math whiz, but share with us how you got those numbers?

TN: I got the number 24.19 percent by figuring how much money is in the pot ($724) and what my equity is versus his equity if we get it all in. Since his draw is very strong, his equity against a made hand is probably around 40 percent. Using the Fold Equity Calculator that I have at my website to help with mundane math (http://dailyvariance.com/fe-calculator.php), I got 24.19 percent.

Tri “SlowHabit” Nguyen received his bachelor’s degree in computer science and education from UC Berkeley in 2006. He is a very successful medium-stakes cash-game poker professional. As a poker coach, Nguyen has helped numerous online players improve their win rates and move up in stakes. He co-wrote (with Cole “cts” South) the no-limit hold’em medium-stakes cash-game e-book Let There Be Range. He recently wrote the pot-limit Omaha book Transitioning From NLHE to PLO. The book is designed to teach players how to crush small- and medium-stakes PLO games. He is coming out with The No-Limit Hold’em Workbook soon.