All poker variations require the skill to read your opponents. Each player has
a different personality or playing style and it is by understanding your opponents that you
can make money at online poker.
Loose/tight and passive/aggressive are the first traits that come to mind. With respect to
pot-limit Omaha, you must pay attention to more specific peculiarities in order to read your
opponents like books.
-
How much risk do they take with their stack?
Pot Limit Omaha is often referred as the poker game of the nuts. How close
to the nuts are your opponents when they commit all their chips? Some players will always have the
nuts or near nuts, while others may seem to take more risk with their stacks, such as getting
all in with a straight when the board has 3 cards of the same suit.
In PLO you must pay attention to the showdowns as this is the only way to assess players'
idiosyncrasies. It
is somehow a measure of looseness/tightness or risk appetite. Spot the loose players and bet aggressively
when you have a monster, hoping to garner their entire stack.
-
What are their pre flop raise & reraise ranges?
Pot-limit Omaha is not as well documented as Texas Hold'em as far as pre flop hand requirements
is concerned.
AAKK double suited or JT98 double suited are the strongest starting hands and should almost always be raised.
What about AA83 rainbow? It depends on your position and on the table.
Without reading a treatise about PLO starting hands requirements, you can still characterize your opponents
by how often and how loosely they raise pre flop. Clearly an opponent who almost never raises gives you the
opportunity to limp with marginal hole cards, whereas a player who almost always raises offers the ability to
build a large pot with your strong hands.
-
What are their calling ranges after a pre flop raise?
You want preferably to play pots with players who call multi-way pot pre flop raises with their medium
pairs or marginal suited hands.
Such players show an inability to fold medium strength hands and they will end up calling for
their stack with a second or third set or a queen high flush. This is how you make money in pot-limit
omaha. By attacking players who overvalue their hands and undervalue the risks when you both have a
very strong hand, but yours is stronger.
-
What are their flop betting ranges?
This is again the concept of risk control, which is predominant in PLO. As this is the poker game of the nuts
but having the nuts does not occur that often, there is always a chance that a player behind you has a
stronger hand.
At the flop, some players need at least medium set to bet, while others can fire a first bullet with top
pair in last position or two pairs in early position.
A good source of profit is the players who seem to play PLO like no-limit Texas Hold'em, and there are plenty
of them obviously as PLO is rising in popularity. Maybe they have not yet made the necessary adjustment. These
aggressive players will systematically c-pot-bet and may fire a second bullet by the turn even if they missed, exposing
themselves too much.
-
What are their bet sizes?
Bet size is another significant indicator of the style of each player. As this is pot limit, making pot-sized
bet all the way is very aggressive as it often leads to be all in by the river. So how thoughtful a player is
about his bet size shows how skilled he is at PLO. This is the so-called pot control.
Observe each player. Some will tend to make smaller bets when they have a monster. Some will bet their draws
aggressively, others will prefer to get a free card.
Especially revealing is when a player changes his bet size. Some players make smaller bets when they have a weaker hand.
If a player who routinely makes pot-sized continuation bets at the flop suddenly makes a 2/3 pot bet, this should
alert you. Does he have a monster? Make sure to take a note once you see the showdown.
If you focus on these five traits, you will obtain a good summary of how your opponents play and how
you can get their chips. This is how you play well
past the bubble
and reach the final table.
It is crucial to take notes in online pot-limit omaha. Not getting involved in a hand is the perfect opportunity
to observe the other players and to write down any significant behavior that you will be able to reuse at a future
date for maximal profit.
