Poker Decadence Conference » Sam Farha

Please, Sammy Farha?!

pkrmn — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 14:05:56 +0000

Quite the funny find on the net today — website owner asking Sam Farha out to the casinos. I’m not sure if this is cute or opportunistic. It’s funny though. xD

Betting in Pot Limit Omaha: Best hand, bet your life?

pkrmn — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 22:09:52 +0000

One of the major mistakes in Pot Limit Omaha (PLO) poker is not knowing how to bet. The tendency for the rapid rise of the pot can make betting incorrectly a costly mistake. (Although others doing it can mean you have a very nice day) To help make sure you don’t sell your house down the river I’ve put together a few guidelines.

Bet the pot. No seriously. Bet the pot 90 – 95% of the time. The reason for this is twofold. Firstly it makes it very hard to put you on a hand. Better players will spot your betting patterns very quickly. If you don’t think you have the best hand or your draw is weak, fold. Messing about with small bets that you are going to fold later means you will leak money like the Northern Rock. Secondly, it will give people the opportunity to draw cheaply. The dodgy hand they had on the flop my turn into a blinder by the river if you let them get in too cheaply.

Bet on a draw. If you have a fantastic draw that has at least 10 outs to give you the nuts then bet. (Yes bet the pot). If you are first in then be aggressive. Do NOT slow play your hand. Just don’t do it. Omaha is game of draws and redraws and if you have the best hand by the turn, it could be all over by the river.

Finally watch what others are doing around you. If a tight player suddenly bets and then re-raises then get the hell out of dodge. If a big gambler raises pre-flop don’t give it as much weight. You’ll find more bluffing with the betting here than with Hold’em.

Pot Limit Omaha – Choosing your starting hands

pkrmn — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 22:04:27 +0000

Playing Pot Limit Omaha (PLO) can take some adjustment for the Texas Holdem Player. What constitutes a good starting hand in Holdem is not necessarily what you look for in PLO. Most new players of PLO are surprised to learn that being dealt AAAA is not the best hand going. What you must remember is you can only use TWO of your hole cards.

You want starting hands that hold straight, flush and set potential, two pair is just not going to cut it in PLO.

The top 10 starting hands are below.

1 AKsAKs
2 AJsATs
3 AQsAQs
4 AJsAJs
5 ATsATs
6 A9sA9s
7 AxsAxs
8 JTs98s
9 KQsKQs
10 KJsKJS

Although even in the very best heads up hand in the game, AKsAKs, is only 65% favourite against a random 4 card hand. There are some quidelines to playing a starting hand. All four cards need to work together in some way. AKsAKs can lead to a straight, two nut flushes and two different sets.

It is better to learn to look for features in your hand that could lead to the nuts than learning by rote all the PLO starting hands. Look for cards that run together, high pairs and flush cards. I would favour a card with straight or flush potential over any set. Unless you are very lucky trips are vulnerable to straights and flushes.

The truth is PLO is a post flop game. The most important decision you make is whether to play on the flop. Looking for info on Omaha players? The biggest name is Sam Farha!