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Storytelling In PLO! What’s That?

Bets tell a story. In any game of Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO). Betting gives you information and conveys information to opponents. First tip, be aware of the story you are telling or can be telling because that can give you an edge in the game. When you are betting, you can be telling multiple stories.

For example, in PLO 6, whenever you bet a street, opponents will either keep you on a made hand or a potential drawing hand. If deep enough, this story can help you win a hand without having it provided you don’t have very loose opposition and you are deep enough to win the hand without showdown. When you play the story game, you can potentially represent a lot more hands.

Example:

Say we are 4-way. You have the ace of hearts and the turn card completes the flush. You can bet pot turn and river as you block the nuts should the flush nuts hold out on the river. You should also factor your opposition’s image, your own image and stack sizes / SPR before making this decision.

• Story tell: When you start your play in this hand, be aware of two things. First, you maximize your winning if you hit big. Second, if you are making a bluff or stealing on any street, the story should make sense.

Flop – Th 4d 3h

You have Js Jd Ts 8h 2h Ac. You are heads-up with villain. You have top pair on the board (T), and Js which is what you’re playing, and are alive for the nut set. You also have a few backdoor wraps / open ender straight draws. Pre-flop you had min-raised and got one caller. In position, you bet to steal the pot.

You get called. Now you know your hand can improve in a few ways, so you aren’t out of it yet. On a draw heavy board, it is unlikely that your opposition flats out of position with a made hand (in this case, a set). He might have a few 4s and 3s he’s playing cautiously. What is more likely that he has is some straight draws and some flush draws.

ALSO READ: PLO 5- How Committed Are You To The Pot? Stack To Pot Ratio By Aditya Sarkar

Turn is the 4h which serves as an excellent bluff card as the board pairs. Remember, when the board pairs and a player has called your bet, you can typically represent trips or even full houses especially on draw heavy boards and in position, as the nut hand possibilities have severely lessened.

With a turn bet, you are representing a flopped set / two pairs turned full house. It will be very difficult for the opposition to continue the game on this board as he has most likely called the flop on a few draws. Anyway, as you are in position, you will get information about his holdings based on if he calls or folds. If he calls, he might have trips or be a stubborn caller (usually indicative of a loose player) with some over pairs turned two pairs. Playing the float is very difficult on the turn out of position, then he would have to lead into you with almost zero info on what you might have

Learnings:

• If you want to make plays at the pot more often, ensure that you either have position or the betting lead pre-flop or both.
• When you are three way or lower and preferably, in position, only then attempt moves in which you are trying to bully your opposition off the hand
• Be more conservative in full ring games and wait for better spots to tell stories, like with blockers for instance. Remember in full ring games, it is more likely for opposition to believe your blocker play, as multiway, odds of being up against the nuts significantly increase.

In conclusion, convincing storytelling is key to execute a profitable play and pick up. A lot more pots than you should. Small bets (0.5 – 0.6x pot) in position allow you to get more info on the opposition and should be used often to pick up pots heads-up.

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