If you're first to act, and there's (say) $20 left to bet into a $150 pot or something, and you've been check-calling all the way, you should still keep the cash back on the turn. If there's a possibility your opponent doesn't have a set (i.e. is betting a big wrap, similar drawing hand to yours etc etc), rather than making a pointless turn shove which is certain to be called (and thus be -EV if you can't even beat A high), you KEEP the $20 to the river and THEN push it, regardless what hits.
If your opponent had a big wrap (presumably with a bigger high card than yours, or a tiny pair on board) there's a good chance he'll fold it. This only needs to happen one tim in 7 for the play to be +EV (pot odds on the bluff) so it's a MUCH better use of your last $20 than pushing it on the turn, when it's basically going in with no fold equity and clearly behind your opponent.
Not a very frequent situation, but using it in the right spot and against the right opponent it'll win you a big pot maybe once or twice a year. You need a spot when an opponent is playing aggressively but not NECESSARILY with a made hand, you need to be first to act, and you need to be up against someone who can fold a total no-hoper like bottom pair (even for a small bet). You also need to have a hand that has absolutely NO equity if you miss (ace high, K high, small pair, something like that) and which is pretty sure to be behind whatever your oppo has even if he's just on primarily a draw. It also helps if you've shown at least SOME aggression at some point (i.e. you bet the flop and got raised, you raised preflop signifying that you might have a high pair etc). It's certainly better than just pushing when you're behind on the turn, as you lose the same amount either way but at least waiting for the river there's a slim chance you can win the whole pot with the worst hand.
You would make an analagous (but slightly different) play with the nut straight on the turn when someone bets into you with almost certainly the same straight - instead of just pushing your last raise in with the nuts, and probably getting a split, you wait for the river then push WHATEVER hits (again, you need to be first to act, one of the rare occasions you want to be OOP in PLO). If a flush or open pair comes you may get your oppo to fold a tying hand (you both still have the nut straight) and thus win the whole pot for the same price you'd have paid on the turn to split it. Of course, if he has a redraw and hit it, you now look stupid for betting into him and losing BUT a) you'd have lost the money anyways if you pushed it in on the turn, so you've lost nothing and b) you get a little bit of image value from making what looks (at face value) like a dumb bluff after calling with the nuts. It's a pretty standard play in PLO but a lot of folks don't know about it.Statistics: Posted by Felonius_Monk — Tue Jun 06, 2006 2:11 pm
]]>