Chris Bowling

Hey guys. I created a discord group to chat PLO hands/theory in. I play 200 PLO online and getting ready to move up to 500 PLO soon. I also created my own private game for 5/10 PLO Live and would enjoy talking Live spots as well. I have already got several players. I want to get together a serious group who is dedicated to growing and improving. I study in MonkerSolver primarily and PLO trainer (sometimes when I have a membership). I like thinking through the theory of exploitative adjustments in spots. If your interested, send me a DM with a little bit about yourself/PLO journey and your discord name.

Thanks,
Chris Bowling

Spots like this I am a little lost in. 3 limpers. I raise to pot pre because I have big connected broadway cards and want to lower the SPR to hit hands like dominating NFD or dominating 2 pairs. I flop top pair, gs, and back door flush draw. All the players are pretty wide. I am OOP vs 3 players and don't really want to give players a good price on calling and playing position, but I know I have a lot of equity at the moment. I decide to pot it. Do you think my sizing is too big? What would your typical sizing be here? I don't want to narrow my opponents ranges to only sets and two pairs (I have pretty good equity still vs 2p and against T5, I am a favorite), but my opponents still may even come along with a hand like J9, JT9 that is an equity dog here so my big bet can still get good value maybe. What do you guys think?

5/5 Rock PLO
SB - $3000 – Call Station
BB - $4000 – Call Station
HJ - $3000 – Hero – AT77:ds
CO – 2000 – (Straddle) Loose Passive Fish
Btn – 3000 – Maniac (Bets when checked to a lot wide and barrels wide. Doesn’t 3bet preflop wide)

Preflop:
CO straddle $10, Btn calls SB calls, BB folds, Hero???

This spot I don’t understand theory wise and is a common theme for me. 4-way I think I have around 28% equity while my opponents have 22-24%. I don’t push a lot of equity preflop, but can flop nutted equity with the NFD or a set. In GTO, my preflop pot open should have fold equity blocking the A and me raising a strong range, plus after another caller, their continuing range should narrow, ect…But they didn’t limp in to limp fold! I raise a lot of these spots and I am going too multi-way all the time. I think it would be better for me to just raise to $20-25 and block someone else from raising and I don’t get 3bet often except by Aces usually. Does this sound good, or is there something I am missing and I should still pot it? I feel like the pot size raise I would want to do with hands that can flop very smooth (Like JT98ds) and/or push equity preflop (like AA:ds, AKJT:ss, KQJ9:ds).

5/5 Rock PLO
SB - $3000 – Call Station
BB - $3000 – Hero – AcAh4c2c
UTG - $3000 – Tight Fish
LJ - $2500 – Straddle Loose Passive Fish (Somewhat thinking)
HJ – 4000 – Maniac Fish
CO – 2000 – Loose Passive Fish
Btn – 3000 – Call Station

Preflop:
HJ Calls $10, CO calls $10, Btn calls $10, SB calls $10, Hero calls $5, UTG folds, LJ checks
Flop ($60) As 6c 4s
SB checks, Hero checks, LJ bets $55, Btn calls, SB calls, Hero???

First of all, this is a common spot preflop I am unsure about. I have am certain if I raise, I go 4-6 ways most of the time. The players play pretty loose. Unless I flop top set, it will be hard to realize my equity. Even when I flop the NFD, I am not thrilled if I am facing a pot sized bet from a set or straight and have limited outs. Typing my hand in an equity calculator 5-way I have around 24% while they have 19% ish equity. I just complete, but I feel another option is I could raise small to $20-30 pre. What do you guys think about preflop?

Postflop, since we are very deep OOP, would you rather c/r flop because villains are more on the passive call station kind of side, and facing a pot bet on spades or straight completing card, I can pretty comfortably fold. Or would you rather call since we are blocking some of our outs with the 4 and go for the c/r on a blank turn? It would be a disaster if I called though, and it checked thru on a blank turn. I guess a benefit of raising is I could potential get weaker flush draws to fold and get HU vs the original bettor if he has a set or 2p. I don’t think this player would ever go over the top with bottom set or top two pair. I think he only calls. I have a pretty tight image at the table.

$10 PLO Double Board Bomb Pot

$1500 effective

BB - $1500 - Thinking Regular
UTG+2 - $1500 - Loose Passive Fish
HJ - $1500 - Hero - AsThJs4c

Flop ($80) Ac Td 3c | Ks 8d 2s
Checks to Hero, Hero bets $80, BB calls $80, Fish c/r to $400, Hero???

I don't think the fish is the kind of player to c/r really wide. I definitely think he has a strong hand. We block AA/TT and don't think he is prob c/r'ing bottom set like that. I kind of think he might have either AA or KK. I would think there is 3x as many combos as KK than AA since we block AA. I think the regular is pretty strong, but not willing to stack off after calling my flop cbet. The benefits of jamming is if he just has KK, we can be free rolling with our flush draw. If he has AA or TT, then he is free rolling us. I don't like calling because I think the regular has a lot of equity and my AT is worse 3way. If the fish has a set on both boards, then he is also free rolling us. AKT:cc is also free rolling us. A hand like 88:cc we are kind of evenly matched. What do you guys think?

Btn - $7000 - Somewhat thinking 42 year old player that plays something like 40/15. He is more on the good aggressive side, but still has a lot of leaks like most Live players (like limping in too much).
BB - $2500 - AsQhThTd

2/5/10 with mandatory button straddle

Preflop:
Sb folds, Hero raises to $20, 2 callers, Btn calls.

Flop: KcQdQs ($80)
Hero checks, 2 checks, Btn bets $40, Hero calls $40

Turn: 7d ($160)
Hero checks, Btn bets $125, Hero calls $125

River: Ac ($410)
Hero checks, Btn bets $300, Hero???

As played, villain can definitely have weak KK here and some AQ as well. Its hard for me to find a bluff though. It would have to prob be some random weak Kx hand. After we c/c twice, I think our range looks pretty strong. LIke Qx+, AA:dd. So I'm not sure how often villain will actually follow through with a bluff. Would you guys call or fold here?

Ignition - $200 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 6 players

CO: 197 BB
BTN: 140.53 BB
SB: 302.46 BB
BB: 31.18 BB
Hero (UTG): 116.3 BB Hero has 6s Ah 7s As
MP: 111.11 BB 41/30 over 27 hands

Preflop:
Hero raises to 3.5 BB, MP calls 3.5 BB, CO raises to 10 BB, fold, fold, BB calls 9 BB, Hero raises to 44 BB, MP calls 40.5 BB, fold, BB calls 21.18 BB and is all-in

Flop : (129.68 BB, 3 players) Th 6h Tc
Hero???

What do you guys think should be our flop strategy? Do you think it is better to check and plan on value betting turn, or betting something really small on the flop? If we bet really small and get raised, do we just fold with A of hearts blocker and the short stack all-in?

Hey guys. I have a theory question for you. First though, how much is the cap for you in rake? When I play 100/200 PLO, it is $4.00 USD max on Ignition Poker. Second, playing short stack, when I 3bet SB vs CO, AJ98:ss is towards the bottom of my 3-bet range. Monker shows it wins .05bb. I believe players overcall vs a 3bet at small stakes. Theoretically, if players are overcalling vs 3bets and you don't have FE, do you think it is a good idea to fold the bottom .1bb 3bets and lower (applies to 100bb play as well)? It seems to me in theory this would be the case. I feel like $4 is even higher than other sites, so that may be even more reason. In pro poker tools, vs a 30% range from the CO, AJ98:ss has about 48% equity. Seems like the key to 3betting in small stakes, is playing tight OOP unless we are pushing a good equity advantage preflop. Maybe like 52-53%+ and have good playability (Like maybe JT98s has 47%, but maybe more playability when we flop strong and check and show up with strong hand in unexpected spot). Maybe reasons for the opposite case, is if our opponents are overfolding after the flop and we can over-realize our equity. I am not sure this is the case though. Also, players definitely under 4bet which helps us realize a bit more equity. What are you guys thoughts? Should I be folding vs 3betting with the bottom hands of the monkersolver range that are around break even?

Hi guys,

In my Live $2/$5 nlh game, there is a $20 bomb pot when the dealer changes. You can put out $20 if you want. Then, the pot usually is 7-8 way and a hand of PLO is dealt. You go straight to the flop. Sometimes, it plays normally starting at post flop. Sometimes, the dealer deals 2 boards, then the hand is played through with 2 turns, and 2 rivers. Do you think playing in this setup is +EV in the long run? You can sit out if you are in a bad position as well, and play when IP. Do you think it is profitable IP? Usually there is 2-3 fish at the table with $1k stacks and several fish with $400-700 stacks. I always have at least $1k in front of me.

I have played several hundred thousand hands of online PLO and beat $0.25/$0.50 at 8bb/100 and have a 50k hand sample at 100 PLO where I have beaten the game for 6bb/100. This is on ignition poker. I am also a profitable PLO live player. I understand how to play postflop, and how not to overvalue hands like bottom set and medium flush draws multi-way. I'm not an oustanding PLO player and mainly focus on NLH, but I know enough to have a skill edge in PLO Live line ups. My concern with this setup is that you get dealt a lot of trashy hands that play bad multi-way where you are often just folding post flop. We are put in a lot of high variance/marginal spots post flop. Even though these players have little PLO experience, since its heavily multi-way, we will often have to play pretty straight forward with the 7-8 way pots. On the other hand, can we overcome rake in the long run just nut pettling, making a hand, and value betting vs nlh fish that overvalue their PLO hands?

What do you guys think? What about 1 board vs 2 boards?

9-handed:
BB - $750
UTG+1 - $2000 - 25% opening range ish in hand I believe. New to PLO. Regular in NLH games
UTG+2 - $600 - Splashy fish, very station'y, bets too wide multi-way with non nut draws
UTG+3 - $350 - Loose passive fish
LJ - Hero - $1000 - As Qd 8s 4c
CO - $700 - Passive Fish
BTN - $1000 - Aggressive Fish
SB - $320 - Splashy Fish - Probably about a 60% VPIP range

Preflop:
BB limps, UTG+1 raises to $20, UTG+2 calls, UTG+3 calls, Hero calls, Btn calls, SB calls, BB calls

Flop: (~$140): Qc 8h 6c
UTG+2 bets $75, UTG+3 calls, Hero calls, SB goes all-in for $245, UTG+2 calls $170, UTG+3 calls $170, Hero???

Preflop:
First off, because of this situation, it makes me question whether I should be calling this hand preflop or folding. I am deep with some pretty big fish that certainly stack off light with non-nut combo flush draws on the flop, so in hand, I am calling to basically try and get that situation multi-way, but I'm not sure if that will happen often enough it is worth calling. Reason being is because the other times, with more people in the pot, it seems like my hand becomes worse and worse for its other components because if I stack off on the flop like this one with top two pair, I can easily run into a set or the same hand, but a redraw. But it is possible to especially stack some of the shorter players when they have a hand like Q5xxx on Q85 and I have the AQ84:Ass. Seems close. What are you guy's thoughts?

Flop:
After a bet and a call 7-way, I'm very hesitant to pot/stack off multi-way with no re-draw. I know my all-in equity multi-way here won't be too great. My idea here is to call with pot odds and look for a safe turn, then go all-in. So I call and the SB shoves, and gets two calls. I know my equity here is already not that great, but with the shove, I feel a bit concerned now I could be potentially drawing dead or facing the same hand with a redraw. Or maybe he has a hand like Q6:cc/T97:cc/Acc ect...So very unsure weather I should be committing another $245 here, just folding, or pot shoving guessing that the other two guys that just called probably don't have a better made hand than Q8, but with a 3-way all-in, my equity can probably still not be too great here I'm guessing.

Idk guys. What do you think?

Btn - Hero - $71.74 - Ad Jd Js 7h
MP - $648.11 -86/49 over 37 hands *Villain has shown 3betting me with AJ95ds BB vs Btn and giving up on a low board 3 streets with a pair of 5's. Seems to be a little more thoughtful maybe and not a complete bad aggro maniac like you might expect of a rec playing that loose.
BB - $12.48

Preflop:
MP raises $1.75, Hero calls Btn, BB calls.

Flop (~$5.25): Qd Jh 7c
BB checks. MP bets $2.62, Btn raises to $9.00, MP raises to $32.23, Btn (hero)?

Flop:
So on the flop, villain is opening pretty wide and there is quite a few bad turns, so I go with a flop raise IP. Was thinking with the small half pot bet and a lot of bad turns, I don't mind just winning the pot now, and if he calls, I think sometimes players don't have a leading range as often as they should and I can always check back on a bad turn. Also, think villain could perceive my smaller than pot raise as attacking his flop c-betting range since he is super wide preflop, but maybe he's not thinking that in depth. Once I face the flop 3bet though, puke. It seems like we are crushed by QQ or flipping vs a wrap, especially since we block a 7. I'm guessing I should just call/call here on blank turns. Maybe fold on a wrap completing turn? Wondering if I should have been just flatting flop? If I did flat flop, I guess on bad turns, I would mostly be going call/call flop/turn and evaluating river? What do you guys think about this spot?

Hi guys. I was working through a board texture this morning in Pio, and was wondering from any of you guys that study in Pio a lot, whether on KQ4tt if you would have only a 1/3rd sizing or 2 sizings, 1/3rd and 2/3rds pot? It makes sense to me to simplify the strategy here and only have the one sizing. I ran both in Pio and got (EV OOP: 3.155, EV IP: 5.845) for both runs. Since the EV's are the same (or very close if I ran the sims further), it doesn't seem like I'm losing out on much, but gain the ability to more easily employ the strategy in game. With two sizings (below), it prefers the 33% sizing most, and when it uses the 66% sizing, its usually always mixing in a substantial freq of 1/3rd sizing as well.

Just wanting to make sure of my thinking and confirm it with some of yal before I start simplifying a lot more strategies in the future, but potentially be overlooking something. Heard from a video I believe that as long as you don't incur more than a (I believe 3%) EV loss, simplifying a strategy to make it easier to execute in game is a good idea.

P.S. Also, wondering if someone can explain the difference between EV and MES to me? Been wondering that for a while. This is what I get on this sim:

EV OOP: 3.155
EV IP: 5.845
OOP's MES: 3.291
IP's MES: 5.975
Exploitable for: 0.133

Hi guys,

I was studying preflop ranges in monker solver, UTG vs Btn and taking a look at which hands want to 3bet/flat. While I was studying I came across something rather interesting I don't understand and would like you guys' input. After facing a UTG pot raise, with "Connected A-high non-broadway, suited ace" hands, Hero is flating 19.2% and 3betting 1.3%. Hero is flatting/3betting hands like AJ97ss, AT97ss, AT98ss, A976ss, ect… on the btn. Okay, makes sense. Hero has 45% equity with a hand like AT98ss vs UTG range and has position and will be able to realize most equity, or over realize equity here.

After, MP+CO cold calls, Hero is mostly folding all of those hands as stated above! It took me by surprise at first, especially since the Solver is not squeezing much from the blinds after 4 players are in the pot, but again it now makes sense. MP is cold calling the 6-10 percentile of hands optimally, and CO is calling the 5-8 percentile of hands optimally, so now Hero only has 22.63% equity 4-way with AT98ss, and can easily be dominated playing against such strong of ranges.

But, fish don't play optimally, so I tweaked the ranges to 1%-19% utg, 6%-40% MP, 5%-50% to illustrate more how a fish soft game might play, and too my surprise 4-way so far, we only have 23.88% equity while MP has 24.02%, and CO has 23.63%! I would have thought with a dominating suit and connectedness that we would be pushing more equity than that. Without UTG, we still only have 34% vs the 2 fishes' ranges. In game, I am always calling in these spots (with the hands above) because I feel like we have higher implied odds than an optimal strategy vs the 2 fish players. I would be probably be calling hands like A765ss and playing cautiously IP. With 2 fish callers, is my assumptions that this is a profitable call because I'm netting more EV when I hit my hand probably, or is my thinking too ambitious and I should be folding and only expanding my calling range from optimal only a little bit. An optimal strategy with this hand category is folding 96.9%% on the btn in the multi-way scenario where vs just the utg, its only folding 79.5%. Pretty big difference I would think. What do you think about these spots? From a theory perspective with the loose fish callers in between, should we be flatting the hands above, or is it too ambitious and we will have to play too straight forward and we should be folding?