It’s a $5-$10 pot-limit omaha game. You ($3,500) are dealt 9
7
6 3 in the hijack, and you have two tight/weak players behind you.
Pre-flop: Two players ($800 and $1,500) limp in front of you.
1. Do you:
a. Fold?
b. Call?
c. Raise?
Action: You limp in. The cutoff folds. The button ($1,000) calls. The small blind ($1,500) calls, and the big blind ($2,000) checks.
Flop ($60): 9 7 5
. Everybody checks to you.
2. Do you:
a. Check?
b. Bet?
Action: You bet $60, and only the big blind calls.
Turn ($180): Q. Your opponent checks.
3. Do you:
a. Check?
b. Bet?
Action: You bet $180, and your opponent calls.
River ($540): A. Your opponent checks. Do you:
4. Do you:
a. Check?
b. Bet?
Grades and Analysis
1. a(10), b(7), c(0). 9 7 6 3 is a marginal hand that you should, for the most part, fold from the hijack. But to the extent that the players behind you are weak and tight such that you don’t fear a pre-flop raise, you can get away with limping in.
2. a(7), b(10). Checking the bare-ish top two pair (you do have a gutshot to a sucker straight) on this straight board isn’t necessarily wrong, but thus far nobody is saying they have the straight, and you only have one player behind you left to act. I think you have enough hand to bet.
3. a(8), b(10). You picked up a spade draw – and thus checking behind and taking the free card is a viable option — but in your opponent’s mind nothing’s really changed. Right now, your opponent looks to have one of two types of hands: a set or some kind of T-8-x-x straight draw/wrap.
A bet here is all purpose: It may protect your hand against the draw, or it might fold out a set or another two pair.
4. a(5), b(10). You can show down your two pair, which beats a drawing hand. But in a case like this, there is little downside to betting and continuing to represent the straight. A bet may fold out a set, or maybe a hand that backed in to two bigger pair than your nines and sevens.
In the actual hand, I bet $300 and my opponent folded, flashing Q-9 for two bigger pair.
Jeff Hwang is a gaming industry consultant, a semiprofessional player and author of Pot-Limit Omaha Poker: The Big Play Strategy and the three-volume Advanced Pot-Limit Omaha series. He is also a longtime contributor to the Motley Fool. You can check out his website at jeffhwang.com.