Heads Up With Jeff Williams

Jeff Williams is a high-stakes cash-game player known as “yellowsub86” online. He also has had remarkable success in tournaments, with more than $2.5 million in cashes. Card Player TV recently caught up with him to discuss playing pot-limit Omaha tournaments at nine-handed tables.

Card Player: It seems that a lot of people who play pot-limit Omaha online play it shorthanded or heads up. How do you adjust to playing at a nine-handed table in a live tournament?

Jeff Williams: Well, it’s definitely different. You can’t play the same ranges that you would shorthanded. I have been adjusting by opening for the minimum. I do play some online, as they do have nine-handed tables. But live, the stacks are a little bit shallower, and you are dealing with a lot of different stack sizes, so I have been opening very small or just limping along, trying to keep pots small until I have actually flopped a hand, because Omaha is a post-flop game. Try to keep the pots smaller in the beginning, and do your gambling on the flop.

CP: Are there hands that are less or more valuable in this situation?

JW: Well, if you’re going to see a flop with seven or eight people, which will happen with people trying to keep the pots small preflop, you want to stay away from hands that involve a pair of fours, pair of fives, and smaller flush draws. If you flop bottom set, you don’t want to be in a huge pot with only one out. You need to play hands that can make the nuts. ♠