Part II of Noel ‘BigCityBanker’ Hayes’ PLO ‘The Next Steps’ strategy article - see post below for Part 1
As I have mentioned countless times in my last article, the better your starting hand selection the easier it is to play your hand post flop. Many times your starting hand is so strong that your position on the tables is of less importance. Lets take a simple example to illustrate how good starting hand selection can make life easy postflop.
Again let us assume a flop like above of Qc 9c 6d and assume that we have this situation both in and out of position. Using the same dynamic as above, your hand is Jc 10d 9d 8c – this is a somewhat idealistic match but its worth for the purposes of illustration is strong.
The Flop; Qc 9c 6d
Under The Gun
Option - Bet
Outcome - With one pair, flush draw, back door flush draw and a wrap you should be comfortable betting as no mater what course of action our opponent takes none of them upset us greatly as we have a multitude of outs to improve our hand.
Our hand is very strong and thus we are less concerned about inflating a pot out of position or being raised by our opponent.
Option - Check
Outcome - Given a normal table dynamic there is no strong argument for checking in this spot. With the exception of flopping the nuts we have hit one of the best flops possible for our hand and checking seems counter intuitive.
On The Button
Option - Bet
Outcome - As a rule of thumb if you are happy to continuation bet and continue with a hand forcefully out of position then you are generally happy to do so in position also. On very rare occasion you may decide to check for deception but these situations are and should be very rare.
Should your opponent decide to fold, call or check raise you are not unduly concerned by his actions.
Option - Check
Outcome - As mentioned elsewhere there is no good reason for checking this hand on the button. Occasionally you may choose to do so but that decision is generally made with a different outcome in mind.
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The recurring themes of respect for the power of position and starting hand selection are of significant importance. The above scenarios serve as excellent food for thought regarding both facets of the game. If you can do enough to get the right mix of these two important factors then you have the building blocks for a successful transition to Pot Limit Omaha.
Top Tips on Postflop Play:
1. This one sounds obvious but it will always be my number 1 – Think – always pause for a moment to consider the texture of the board before embarking on your course of action.
2. Continuation bet smartly – depending on the number of opponents in the hand, your position and the texture of the flop, don’t fall into the habit of continuation betting with too high a frequency as you are leaving yourself open to the prospect of being bullied off your hand and folding draws that you should have peeled a free card with.
3. Consider your opponents tendencies – get into the habit of keeping player notes. Familiarise yourself with how they tend to play flopped sets, strong draws and what they do when there draws miss – information is power and this
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