I'm playing $25 PL Omaha on Party with a stack of $100 or so. My opponent's stack is about $40.

I'm in BB with 9932 ss hearts and the main opponent is in SB. The action is 6 handed and villian limps, i check.

Flop comes down

Pot is almost $3. Villain bets the pot. I reraise the max with the current nuts. Its folded around to the villian who reraises the max nearly putting himself all in. I go all in, he calls his last few dollars. Turn is offsuit A. River is the which i know kills my hand, he had to be on least one of the draws and both hit with the one card. He shows [2s][8h][Td] for the open ended straight draw and 8 high flush draw.

Ok, I know why he did what he did. He put me on the set and assumed that I didn't have the flush draw. I had raised the pot to push out other draws so he could think his flush draw was live. I ran the hands in an odds calculator and on the flop, I was 52% to win to his 48%. Now I'm new to this and I was suprised to find it so close, but now I know.

My question is how should i have played this? called the bet on the flop, hope for a blank on the turn and then push? I would assume he would lead out again on turn with a pot bet. If he didn't, I lead for the pot, i can likely fold the check/fold the river since any draws there would have completed.

Also, what if I was first to act and the guy with the draw was after me. Bet pot on the flop and go all in if he reraised? Call? Try for a check raise? Was this a hand I'm just bound to lose and practically double the other guy? The only way I could see that I wasn't gonna double him is if I played it for a boat only and folded when I missed or if I can get him to fold the turn to a big bet after calling on the flop. After watching him play after this hand, i think he likely would have called me on turn anyways.

Any help is appreciated.

I have put my take on this in the omaha section because I know adam likes to answer these first.

Monk
xxxxx

Ok, basically when ever someone says that they have a SET, I respond rather much like someone just told of a dinner special, that's completely unappealing.

YEAH, SO WHADELSE YA GOT!

As you can see, a set can easily be only a small favorite . . . OR EVEN AN UNDERDOG, to a good or excellent draw.

i'M NOT GETTING too much into this, as I currently have a student who's paying for much the exact same lesson.

WHADELSE YA GOT This is what you should be asking yourself.

Also, do you REALLY want only the few bucks in the pot.

With no pot, and many to act, it is the correct play to smooth-call the bet, and hope to get people in with exactly what you want:

smaller sets
two pair.

This way, if the pair comes, you may get one or more WHOLE STACKS, and if you get a horrible turn card, you can either DUMP, or perhaps may be able to call, if the bet is small enough.

I'd like to say more, but then I've mentioned that extensive omaha training, falls under the "pay me" classification.


Well, OK since I just won a tournament and all.

The horror of having set vrs wrap straiht/and flush draw, is that on the turn, you are still now almost exactly (and in some cases, EXACTLY exactly) even.

So, the draw is going to be getting pot odds to continue.


By the way, I'm considering: WHADELSE ya got, to be an ATE trademark phrase

So no one use it!

well, if i had called the bet on the flop and the offsuit ace came on the turn, what would you have done then if the first better bet out the pot again. I put the guy on a draw so the ace didn't complete it and no one raised preflop so its unlikely (though not improbable) that no one had a set of aces now. Would you raise the pot now with only one pot to go or have to see the river before you made any aggressive action?

Well, remember that the very best draws, have a 50-50 chance of hitting, even with only one card to go. The primary strength of sets, is as a draw to a full house-when there is a premium draw against you.

It's just not a good idea, to put in large amounts of money, with a set only, when someone shows that they have a big draw. Especially if they are good enough to not pay off, if the board pairs.

WHADELSE ya got!