Since taking beta blockers as prescribed by my doctor I experience my steepest down swing (-7 buy-ins after 1500 hands) in PLO8. Please look at the following hands and tell me how do you play these hands and if I make strange mistakes induced by my new medicine .

Hand 1
Cryptologic
Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo Ring game
Blinds: $0.50/$1
10 players


Stack sizes:
MattSk: $98.50
CO: $108
SB: $88.08

Pre-flop: (10 players) MattSk is MP3 with
UTG folds, UTG+1 calls, 3 folds, MattSk calls, CO (poster) checks, Button folds, SB calls, BB (poster) checks.

Flop: ($5, 5 players)
SB bets $5, 2 folds, MattSk calls, CO folds.

Turn: ($15, 2 players)
SB bets $15, MattSk calls.

River: ($45, 2 players)
SB bets $45, MattSk???.


Hand 2
Cryptologic
Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo Ring game
Blinds: $0.50/$1
7 players

Stack sizes:
MP1: $77.75
MattSk: $95.50
BB: $129.25

Pre-flop: (7 players) MattSk is CO with
2 folds, MP1 calls, MattSk raises to $4.5, 2 folds, BB calls, MP1 calls.

Flop: ($14, 3 players)
BB checks, MP1 checks, MattSk bets $12, BB calls, MP1 raises to $40, MattSk raises all-in $91, BB folds, MP1 calls all-in $33.25.
Uncalled bets: $17.75 returned to MattSk.


Hand 3
Cryptologic
Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo Ring game
Blinds: $0.50/$1
3 players

Stack sizes:
Button: $53.25
MattSk: $107.25
BB: $100.88

Pre-flop: (3 players) MattSk is SB with
Button calls, MattSk calls, BB checks.

Flop: ($3, 3 players)
MattSk checks, BB checks, Button bets $2, MattSk raises to $9, BB folds, Button calls.

Turn: ($21, 2 players)
MattSk???

hand 1

pfr or no pfr... either is fine, imo. the catch is to know how your pre-flop play informs your post-flop play.

with no pfr, i'd raise flop and re-evaluate. you've got position and a hand with some decent potential.

as played, i'd really look at W$SD and those types of stats to see if this guy was a blufftard or not.


hand 2

i think niss' line of calling the flop raise is interesting, but not necessarily good given that there are two others in the pot and you have bad relative position to the reraiser. i like niss' line a lot better HU. that being said, i'd also like to know what the BB's stats were before i think about etching that in stone.

anyway, i think this is a tricky hand to play. with the paired board and a connected board, i think you need to discount your flush draw value enough so that you can't really justify an aggressive line. that is, you're only 55-45 against a bare set, and the likelihood that you're drawing dead for high is enough so that you don't have the value to jam. of course, you have that third guy in the pot who might be a donator, but that's not clear.

another point is that any made boat is going to try to lay a trap for you hoping that you have exactly what you have.

i'd actually consider checking behind on this flop in an attempt to get the other players to reveal the true strength of their hands on the turn. you can decide your turn line based on the turn card and the specifics of the villains.

as played, i suppose a call of the flop raise is the best line since you probably have enough pot odds to call, but that's a sort of back-handed compliment since i don't think you should have been in this spot to begin with. jamming can only be justified if you know that villain will fold anything but top boat or that he's a total retard that jams with a lot of janky draws.

the problem with my line is that you feel stupid when villain shows down something like a bare OESD. again, you really need to know your villains to be able to make an educated guess as to where you're at.


hand 3

this is so opponent specific that i'm very reluctant to give advice.

in general, i'm aggressive in sh games, but i have no problems being passive and laying traps when oop. you're cr on the flop isn't scary enough to push anyone off a hand unless they're on a pure bluff. i'd prefer to wait for a later street.

i agree with niss that betting out on this flop might be a better line. the catch is that you need to use that as a (semi-)bluff line, too, so that you're not painfully easy to read. again, sh is such a feel game that it's hard to give good advice.


hope this helps.



btw, welcome niss.