Internet Tournaments for Fun and Profit (4)

Pot-limit Omaha Hi-lo. In the tournaments I have described below, the super-satellites and the speed tournaments, you shouldn’t be playing a lot of “poker”. By which I mean calling pre-flop, gauging the strength of your opponent’s hand, estimating the chances a bluff will succeed, all that rubbish :-). When you have a decent stack, you’re trying to get paid with a big hand ; when you’re short, it’s either pass or move in and let the other guy sweat. In fact, you are taking advantage of other players’ trying to play too much poker (that is any at all in the speed tournaments especially). Profitable maybe, but not so much fun.

It would be nice to play in some tournaments where we can take some flops and outplay our opponents. Well, all you have to do is play a different game. Instead of trying to play poker in a format which isn’t conducive, switch to Pot-limit Omaha Hi-Lo instead. In this game you are trying to commit pre-flop as little as you possibly can. Hands run quite close “hot and cold” when all the money is in pre-flop, but playing the wrong kind of hand will kill you when there is betting on the later streets. Opportunities to freeroll, three-quarter or completely smother your opponents will come if you wait for the right hands. Playing short-stacked is ok too, if you pick the right hands and make sure you’re raising to limit the field you won’t get scooped very often.

I was going to give a few tips here but coaches in the car park. Good advice can be found elsewhere, even via my own Links page. A little thought about exactly what you are trying to achieve with a hand will go a long way. Oh alright then, just one, don’t put all your money in trying to get it back plus half the blinds :-).