Small pairs in pot limit Omaha

Marcus Bateman / Marcus Bateman / 02 September 2009 / Leave a Comment

Over playing these hands can be extremely dangerous in the long term in PLO, and although you will have a few hands where you crack a fishes aces, against even average PLO players these hands are long term losing propositions unless treated as extremely marginal hands.

Anyone who plays hold'em regularly - particularly pot limit hold'em - will know that as long as everyone is playing a reasonable stack, it is usually OK to play small pairs pre flop. The implied odds available from players getting it in with weaker hands if you do hit a set are so great that it happily pays for the flops where you miss or are coolered by a bigger set.

In Pot limit Omaha this is not the case. One of the most fundamental mistakes you see newcomers to pot limit Omaha make is to treat small pairs just like they do in hold'em; that is, play them to nearly any pre flop action, and then happily get it in anytime they hit a set. This is a key mistake for a few key reasons.

Firstly, in Omaha the likelihood of people holding bigger sets is much greater. There are so many more hand combinations in Omaha that set v set situations are extremely common (very good PLO players think very little of folding bottom set in the face of certain action). Compare this to hold'em, where set v set situations are extremely rare, and something you should not worry about too much, as even if you lose that particular pot, in the long run your opponents go broke when the shoe is on the other foot just as often as you do. This is not the case in PLO against a good player.

Secondly, Players are much less likely to get their whole stack in on the flop in Omaha without a strong hand on the whole. As the hand combinations in Omaha are so much greater, you typically need much more than just an over pair or top pair to get it all in. As a result, the money you win from players with over pairs/top pairs in hold'em is no longer there, which radically changes the implied odds on offer; due to the fact that not only do you have to hit a set, but your opponent has to hit something as well, and considering the only hands your opponent will typically hit that you beat with bottom set are top two pair or to be flipping against a big draw, you can see the problem (just think of all the times they have a bigger set and you are basically drawing dead).

Finally, small pairs, even when suited and connected, are extremely vulnerable to higher straight and flush draws even if you do flop a draw. A hand like AcAsJc10h also has the back of a decent number of flops giving a draw to the nut straight or flush, where as a hand like 4c4s5c3h can be in all types of trouble against bigger flush and straight draws (it is pretty common to actually basically be getting the money in close to dead with these hands on some flops if you flop a 'big' draw against a couple of opponents).

Small pairs are a radically different proposition in Omaha to what they are in hold'em. Over playing these hands can be extremely dangerous in the long term in PLO, and although you will have a few hands where you crack a fishes aces, against even average PLO players these hands are long term losing propositions unless treated as extremely marginal hands. It is very hard to lay down sets if you are used to hold'em, and this makes you an easy target for any good PLO player if you are habitually calling with these hands.

Related Entries

Pre flop initiative in Pot Limit Omaha
Danglers in Pot Limit Omaha
Adjusting Continuation Bet Frequencies in Pot Limit Omaha

Get Valueback at Betfair Poker