Preflop play in Pot Limit Omaha can be daunting.
There are 270,725 hands to wade
through, and the all-in equities of 2️⃣ said hands run very closely together.
A♠A♦K♠K♦ is
arguably the best starting hand in PLO. Let’s take a look at its 2️⃣ equity against
T♠8♣4♣2♥:
This garbage hand musters over 34% equity against an absolute monster.
Edges
get smaller as equities run closer together, 2️⃣ which is why PLO feels more gamble-y than
NLH. But there are still tactics you can use to maximise your 2️⃣ edge preflop and set
yourself up for success postflop.
We’ll talk about two preflop tactics in this article:
‘pushing’ and ‘pulling’. 2️⃣ These tactics can help give structure to the often-confusing
world of preflop PLO.
Let’s get straight to it.
Pushing vs pulling in 2️⃣ Pot Limit
Omaha
‘Pushing’ and ‘pulling’ describe the two approaches we can take with a hand
preflop. More specifically:
Pushing: The act 2️⃣ of fast-playing to reduce the number of
players that will see a flop
Pulling: The act of calling to induce other 2️⃣ players to
call as well
If you’re a No Limit Hold’em player, you’ve probably used similar tactics.
Consider:
All the times you’ve 2️⃣ attempted to ‘push’ multiple opponents out of the pot
preflop by squeezing with a strong-but-vulnerable hand like AQo
The many times 2️⃣ you’ve
limped behind with a small pair to ‘pull’ more opponents into the pot for when you
spike a set
That 2️⃣ said, figuring out which hands to pull and push with is more
complicated in PLO than NLH. Let’s dive into 2️⃣ specifics.
Which hands should you push
with?
When pushing, our main goal is to minimise the number of players in the hand.
2️⃣ Therefore, we should choose to push with hands that play well in large, heads-up
pots.
Hands that benefit from low stack-to-pot 2️⃣ ratios–which allows us to get all-in on
earlier streets–function well as pushes. Semi-connected, double-suited broadway pair
holdings–think K♠K♥7♠8♥–and double-paired, double-suited 2️⃣ middling hands–think
T♦T♣9♦9♣–are candidates that do well when the SPR is low.
Multi-component hands
function well as pushes as well. (If 2️⃣ you’re unfamiliar with preflop components in PLO,
read this article.). Hands with multiple components will connect with the flop across 2️⃣ a
variety of textures, thus allowing us to exert more pressure on our opponent(s).
Here
are five examples of hands you 2️⃣ should usually look to push with:
AA45 single-suited
JJT9 double-suited 9988 double-suited ATTx double-suited T987 double-suited
Which hands
should you pull with?
Our 2️⃣ goal when pulling is to incentivise calls from the players
behind. The resulting multiway pot means we should look to 2️⃣ pull with hands that can
make the nuts relatively easy.
A single-suited, connected hand like A♦T♣9♦8♠ is a prime
example of 2️⃣ a pulling hand as it can hit the nut flush and multiple nut straights. If we
make our hand, we 2️⃣ may win a big pot against a player with the second or third nuts, who
came in behind us with 2️⃣ a weak range.
Pulling hands realise their equity in a rough
way–they hit a narrow range of board textures–and thus perform 2️⃣ best when the SPR is
high. It’s typically best to avoid committing to the pot with hands that realise their
2️⃣ equity in a rough way.
Here are five examples of hands that function well as
pulls:
JT98 unsuited QQ98 single-suited AJ89 single-suited 2️⃣ 789T unsuited AK98
double-suited
But it isn’t always that simple
Some hands are exceptions to the
pushing/pulling categorisation method used above.
Very strong 2️⃣ hands that are connected,
double-suited and A-high–think AKQJ or AKT7–may seem like pulling hands, but they are
simply too strong 2️⃣ to play as a call. Pushing with such hands is more effective, as it
will allow you to extract value 2️⃣ and thin the field, which means your great equity is
more likely to hold.
Similarly, there are instances where we should 2️⃣ pull with hands
that we would usually push with. For instance, using a push hand as a pull is a 2️⃣ good
adjustment if there have been multiple callers and we don’t have enough fold-equity to
justify pushing given the strength 2️⃣ of our hand.
Don’t get carried away with pushing
people around
Be careful not to go overboard when it comes to pushing 2️⃣ and pulling. Just
because a hand seems like a push doesn’t mean you should raise it–or even play it–every
time. 2️⃣ For example:
$1/$2 PLO Cash Game. 100BB Effective Stacks
Hero is dealt J♠8♦7♠6♦
in the CO
Tight player raises toR$6 from UTG. 5 2️⃣ folds. Hero…
Despite boasting multiple
features of a typical pushing hand, this hand should be folded. Since we are up against
2️⃣ a strong UTG opening range, pushing with a relatively marginal hand like this one would
be far too loose.
J♠8♦7♠6♦ will 2️⃣ find itself in a lot of tough spots postflop, and will
often lose big pots at showdown when it hits 2️⃣ good-but-second-best hands.
Keep this idea
in mind when categorising your hands. Don’t just push or pull for the sake of it 2️⃣ –
think about the ranges of your opponents and how your exact hand will shape up against
them before you 2️⃣ make your decision.
Final thoughts on pushing & pulling
Following the
core principles outlined above is a good starting point, but always 2️⃣ remember that your
ranges should be fluid and exploitative adjustments should be made depending on the
tendencies of your opponents.
Good 2️⃣ luck at the tables!
P.S.: My next PLO article is
going to involve analysing some interesting high-stakes hands – if you’ve 2️⃣ got any
requests for fun hands that you want analysed, tweet me at @GeorgeCMathias or post them
in the comments 2️⃣ section.
Read more from George and Upswing Poker:
