The importance of three betting in PLO

Pot Limit Omaha / Marcus Bateman / 27 May 2010 / Leave a Comment

Look to raise pre flop as often as possible in PLO – the most key mistake players make at the lowest stakes is in this area, and taking advantage of it is one of the fundamentals of winning.

Most people who first start playing Omaha simply look down at all the possibilities in their hand, think something along the lines of: 'Well I have to see a flop with so many options' and simply flat call a large percentage of hands. Then when they suddenly look down at a hand like aces or kings, they decide they are back playing Hold'em again - raising the pot all of a sudden and telling any observant player at the table their exact hand.

This is a very weak strategy in PLO and one that good players can rip to pieces in the long run. When playing PLO (especially short handed) it is critical that you are regularly three betting and raising limpers with a much larger percentage of hands than just big pairs. PLO is much more about hands that flop well than just having a big pair (watch how many times one pair wins at showdown in PLO compared to Hold'em and you will quickly realise why this is true), and three betting hands that fit into other categories is crucial to long term success.

Hands to consider three betting with include wrap hands, such as 5c6c7s8h (it is worth noting that even with no suits these hands are still very powerful); suited ace connectors, such as Ac5c9s10s, which both give you nut flush possibilities and straight options; and medium double paired hands, such as 10h10c9s9h, which are also very powerful hands. Many players simply flat with these hands pre flop, but in fact they are exactly the hands you want to be building pots with.

Not only do these hands play well on the flop, but by three betting pre you have the added bonuses narrowing the field, carry the betting momentum (which makes continuation betting much more successful), and force mistakes from weak players putting you on big pairs - where they will often go with two pair or better simply thinking you are over playing a pair. Look to raise pre flop as often as possible in PLO - the most key mistake players make at the lowest stakes is in this area, and taking advantage of it is one of the fundamentals of winning.

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