Drawing Considerations

If the flop is two-suited and you’re holding a pair of the same suit then you will almost always want to draw.  The reason being is that your pot odds will be 2-1, and you will especially want to draw if you’ve got additional outs like overcards and/or a straight draw.  But there are also times when you’ll want to avoid drawing for the flush on a two-suited flop.

One of these situations is when you’re heads-up with only a flush draw to your credit.  In this case, the other player will most likely have better odds to win the hand.  Another situation is when there is a pair on the board and somebody is betting heavily.  Here someone probably has trips, and could hit a full house even if you get your flush.  One more time when you’ll want to fold your hand is if you have a small flush draw, and the flop sees a lot of action.  This scenario probably means your small flush will be beaten by a bigger one.

Playing 3-Suited Flops

Having 3 cards of the same suit on the board requires a little different strategy than having 2 suited cards.  In most cases, everyone will be a little more cautions unless they’re holding a suited ace so it’s hard to get any heavy action on the flop.  Unless your hand has additional value then you should avoid playing too aggressively on flops like this.

For instance, let’s say that you have a hand like 9d-7d-Js-5h and the flop hits 5d-7c-6d.  For many Omaha players, this hand would seem excellent since you’ve not only got a two-pair, but also a flush and an inside straight draw.  Unfortunately, things aren’t quite as great as they would seem for you in this situation.

To start off with, you’re holding the bottom pair which is rarely worth much in Omaha.  The reason being is that there is a good chance someone already has a better two-pair, and there is the likelihood that somebody will likely hit a set in the hand too.  Another thing to keep in mind with this hand is that you’re drawing for a low inside straight which means anybody holding 10-8 is already drawing for a better straight.

Your flush is also going to be a low draw too since somebody holding a 10 or higher is going to have a better hand as well.  In short, the main problem with this hand is that all of your outs still have you beat assuming other players are chasing the same kind of draws.  Now you can definitely play hands like this at the table, but make sure you don’t put too much money in the middle when doing so.

Calls are very Important

Whether semi-bluffing or trying to push the advantage on a great hand, many players are stuck on raising.  But the truth is that calling can be just as effective as a raise in many multi-way situations.  For instance, if you’re in a multi-way pot with a strong hand and simply call the first two streets while others are betting and raising then you’re setting them up.

If you raise or re-raise on the last street then you show how strong your hand is which might force others to eventually fold their hand.  Even assuming you don’t have the best hand, the call will save you from wasting any more chips when going against the nuts.

Using the Squeeze Play

Another great move you can do in large, multi-way pots is the squeeze play.  With the squeeze play you let a player in early position raise, watch the person before you call the raise, and then you re-raise (or possibly go all-in) in an attempt to take down the pot.  Of course the situation has to be right in order for you to successfully pull off the squeeze play.

The best situations to execute the squeeze play arise when a really loose player is the first raiser and you think they’re trying to steal a pot with a weak hand.  You should also be fairly sure that the player in the middle is only calling with a weaker hand too (or at least tight enough to fold to a big re-raise).

However, things are quite different when you are the short stack and have to fight for your tournament life.  In fact, you’ll have to go all-in at some point (or multiple points) just to get back to a decent chip stack.  Here are a couple things you should look at before deciding whether or not to go all-in with the short stack.

Hand Quality

This is one of the most obvious things you should think about before going all-in.  If you’ve got Q-Q or better pre-flop then you absolutely have to start thinking about shoving.  Even a hand like 9-9 or a drawing hand like Q-J might warrant going all-in if you’re really short stacked.  Of course, good hands don’t always fall to us when we’re short stacked so there is another thing you should definitely look at.

Required Odds

One more thing you need to be aware of before making the decision to go all-in is what your required odds are.  Basically required odds are really good odds that require you to go all-in when sitting on the short stack.  If you believe that you’re getting 2-to-1 odds on any hand then you should be shoving.

For instance, even if you think your opponent has A-K and you only have 10-9 then you should still be shoving since this hand will beat A-K almost 40% of the time.  When you put your opponents on this kind of range and get 2-to-1 odds or better then you need to be going all-in.

Reasoning

In poker there are plenty of ups and downs and this can put a major strain on one’s bankroll.  Fortunately, this problem can be combated by aligning with a financial partner.  Using a partner in poker allows two players to pull their resources together in tournaments or cash games and share the spoils of victory afterwards.  Plus it can be pretty fun as well as motivating having a poker partner too.

Pros and Cons

There are definitely positives and negatives to playing with a poker partner.  One big positive is that you will have somebody to keep you motivated and to share a bankroll with.  This is a big advantage when you are experiencing those days when you just don’t wanna play poker or are having trouble funding your bankroll.  Another advantage is that you will have a fellow poker buddy to hang out with which is great from a social aspect.

The biggest con to playing with a partner is the money issues that arise from any normal partnership.  Whether it’s the fact that your partner isn’t good with money or a dispute about how the cash should be spent, it is never easy sharing a bankroll with another player.  Another big problem with partnerships is that two players may have a difficult time agreeing on how long to play each week.  Some players like to keep a light poker schedule while others want to grind all of the time.

Colluding

If you have a poker partner then it can be all too tempting to want to cheat.  When somebody cheats with a poker partner, this is commonly referred to as colluding in the poker world.  While some players may get away with colluding for a short while, most of them eventually get caught.

And when you’re caught colluding there can be major repercussions such as having your account banned, money taken away from your account, and possibly the shame of having everyone know you cheated if you’re a big name.  The most common type of colluding involves players sharing hand information with each other in order to gain an unfair advantage.  It goes without saying that you should avoid colluding at all costs!

Betting Every Time

The simplest way to capitalize on a big hand is to bet every time the action comes around to you.  This means laying down a wager on the flop, the turn, and the river which can be tough to pull off if players can put you on a monster hand.  However, this way can work if you’ve got a loose table image and other players think you’re likely to bluff.

Overbetting

Another good way to maximize profits on an excellent hand is to overbet.  Overbetting involves betting far more than the pot which can lure players into the trap of thinking that you’re betting big because you are bluffing.  Overbets are especially effective when other players are left guessing as to what you’re large bets mean.  The only problem with overbetting is that it may scare tight players away from making the call.

Check-Raise

The obvious advantage to a check-raise is that it allows you to have two bets in a single round rather than just one.  But while check-raising may be very advantageous from a chips standpoint, the big drawback is that you can lose a whole round of betting if an opponent decides to simply check as well.  All three of the aforementioned methods are great ways to build a big pot….it’s just up to you as to which situation calls for which method.

Getting Quartered

Much like Hold’em, Omaha gives the full pot to the player with the best hand.  Omaha Hi-Lo, on the other hand, gives half of the pot to the best qualifying low hand if there is one.  And one thing about qualifying low hands is that players can often tie for the best one which means they’ll split a quarter of the pot (both players usually hold A-2).  For this reason, you can’t get overly excited when holding the low nut hand because you could actually lose money if you over bet and get quartered.

Starting Hands

When playing Omaha, you’ll find the best hands will be the ones that give you the best possible shot at the nut like A-A-K-K.  In Hi-Lo, you want to get both a hand that is capable of taking the high hand and one that is capable of taking the low hand.  With this being the case, you’ll be hoping to get A-A-2-3 or close to it as far as starting hands go.  So it is in your best interests not to bet too heavily with a hand like A-A-3-10 because the 10 puts you in no man’s land for a high hand.  Obviously this can still be a good hand for half the pot, but just be careful.

Bluffing

Naked bluffing in Omaha is something that can be pulled off sometimes in the later streets of a hand.  However, your luck won’t be quite the same in Omaha Hi-Lo since many players will call you if it goes down to the river.  The reason is that they’ll think they can still get the low hand and this is worth a call to them.  In short, you will almost always be called on the river if somebody thinks you’re bluffing.

Avoid Constant Aggression

Most successful No-Limit Hold’em players employ pretty aggressive style of play.  But the problem with some aggressive players is that they maintain this aggression throughout every playing session and never switch their play up.

When this happens, there are some players who will catch on and call anything just to resist these aggressive charges.  So you’ve got to be able to perceive when others are willing to push you to the showdown and switch up your play.

Switching your Play

When you think the table is ready to call all of your semi-bluffs and second-rate hands then you’ll want to switch to a tighter playing style.  This means only playing your strong hands because it will catch a lot of other players in traps.  They’ll think you’re still playing overly aggressive and will try to challenge you which will only allow you to make even more money off of them.

Stay ahead of the Game

You can only fool other players so long with the tight play before they’ll catch on to that as well.  So in order to stay ahead of the curve, you’ll eventually have to switch back again to playing more aggressive.  Making these switches is all about noticing how the table perceives you at any given moment and changing your game accordingly.

Most of the time people try to steal blinds through the use of a raise.  So if you can resteal blinds then you’ll not only get the blinds, but your opponent’s raise as well.  This is obviously better than only stealing the blinds though it’s a little tougher to pull off.  However, restealing can be made easier if you pay attention to certain things.

One situation you definitely want to watch for when attempting a resteal is when a good player in late position is trying to steal.  Now most people would think that it’d be easier to resteal from a bad player, but it’s actually the opposite.  Good players are willing to cut their losses when reraised – even in late position – while bad players will often try and protect their raise by calling.  In short, it’s easier to resteal from solid players.

Another great chance for restealing arises when you’ve got a decent drawing hand to do it with.  Obviously reraising pre-flop with K-K isn’t actually restealing….it’s just making a good play.  On the other hand, trying to resteal with something like 9-4 doesn’t leave you any backup plan if your re-raise is called.  So at least have a drawing hand like 8-9 or better if you’re going to try this move.

One more thing you should look for with resteals is how you’ve been playing.  If you have already attempted a resteal 3 times, then other players are going to catch on to what you’re doing.  But if you haven’t tried the resteal all day, then it could provide a great opportunity for you to do so.  Keep all of these factors in mind when performing resteals.

Reading the Board

As mentioned before, the turn will dramatically change everything when it hits the board.  This is why you need to be able to understand how certain cards will affect the outcome of the situation.  Certain cards will change the number of outs you have along with draws and possible made hands.  Making these reads takes practice, but it is something you must be able to do on the turn.

Figuring where your Hand ranks

After you’ve figured out what your chances are of getting a made hand by the turn, you need to evaluate where your hand ranks in comparison to other opponents and what they think you have.  If you’re playing a flush draw and have been betting like you’ve got a made straight then opponents are more likely to think you have something big.  And if they think you already have a made hand (even if you’re really only drawing) then your cards gain significant value.

Figuring where your Opponent’s Hand ranks

Figuring where your hand is and what your opponent thinks is only part of the equation because you still need to decide where your opponent is at.  If the board is representing a flush and your opponent (who happens to be a rock) is betting and raising heavily then you’ll probably want to fold if you’re only drawing for a flush.

Likewise, if your opponent is very loose and the board is weak for Omaha standards then you’ll want to extract as much money as possible from them if you’ve got a solid hand.