Book Review: Pot-Limit Omaha Poker — The Big Play Strategy

Pot-Limit Omaha Poker — The Big Play Strategy came out in early 2008, and except from Rolf Slotboom’s Secrets of Professional Pot-Limit Omaha, there was no up-to-date Pot-Limit Omaha book on the market back then. PLO had not yet attracted the interest it is starting to get today, and both the author and his publisher were probably not sure how the book would do, in that context.

Jeff Hwang, the author, was not really known in the poker community prior to his book. The short bio on the inside back cover says he is “a semi-professional poker player and investment analyst who regularly writes about the gaming industry”. Anyway, I am not one to judge a book by its inside back cover; the content trumps everything else, right?

The book counts 317 pages and 9 chapters, the two last ones dealing with Omaha Hi-Lo. After the introduction, four prerequisites to make the most out of the book are mentioned: some Hold’em experience, having already read a book before, knowing the rules of the game and having “an open mind about what it takes to win at Omaha”.

Chapter One (15 pages) announces the big play objectives, ie. knowing where your edge is at PLO. The author explains that this is far from a 50/50 game as some people like to make it out to be. Sure there are much more coinflips than in NLHE, but there also are typical situations where one player is significantly getting the worse of it, sometimes drawing dead. Seven cases are listed, like the nut vs nut+redraw, overfull vs underfull or flush vs lower flush. Each time, one or several concept, summing up the author’s points, are given.

This is fundamental knowledge, that many newcomers to PLO will not know. The explanations are clear and concise, with several charts to illustrate how the equity runs in various situations. Good chapter.

Chapter Two (20 pages) is about Basic plays and key concepts. It contains general advice, like “Omaha is a flop game”, “draw only to the nuts” or “don’t give free cards”. It mainly aims at people starting out; it recommends a very solid style, while emphasizing that big draws are very good hands in this game. Interestingly, Jeff uses chess as a metaphor, explaining how his thought process evolved in that game, from very basic threats not to be overlooked to more elaborated traps, and up to real strategical concerns that matter more than tricks. I have some chess experience too, so I definitely see what he means here.

His point is that your plan starts from the moment you choose to play your hand preflop: as you sow so shall you reap, one would say. If you start with a mediocre hand, you will end up in tough or bad situations, even though your all-in preflop equity was not bad in itself. Therefore, you should carefully select your starting hands, and that’s what Jeff is going to show you in the following chapters.

This is fundamental knowledge
in the sense that you got to know this.

Chapter Three (18 pages) focuses on straight draws. The weakness of eight-card straight draws is underlined, then it make a structural analysis of 13, 17 and 20-card straight draws, paying attention to which outs are to the nuts and possible redraws. Again, this is fundamental knowledge, in the sense that you got to know this. Some hand structures are examined, based on what kind of draws they could flop; two hands that could appear pretty similar to a beginner might in fact be quite different when it comes to playing big pots with them.

Chapter Four (29 pages) follows up with a study of starting hands and preflop play. As he previously said, the goal is to win big pots, with relatively deep stacks against multiple opponents. Consequently, you want to build strong hands that you can bring to showdown. He also suggests an acid test for starting hands: imagine your dream flop, and if you’d rather have something else on this flop, then your hand is probably no good. Several examples are provided. The discussion goes on with twelve preflop concepts, regarding position, speculative hands or the danger of aces, then about 25 practice situations ends the chapter. It is a solid set of recommendations, erring on the side of caution.

There is little consideration for hand ranges
and equity, which is regrettable.

Chapter Five (19 pages) deals with postflop play. Now the advice is pretty basic, and very close to nut-peddling. This is consistent with the objectives, but it says almost nothing about short-handed games where you just cannot play so tight. Unfortunately, these 6max games are very popular, and many readers will probably not realize that they should adjust a lot in these games. Since the recommended style focuses so much on the nuts, there is little consideration for the opponent’s hand range and one’s equity against it, which is regrettable.

Chapter Six (57 pages) contains some examples and 22 practice-hand quizzes. The strengths and weaknesses are the same as in the previous chapters: it shows a solid play, but often too prudent and straightforward.

Chapter Seven (19 pages) is entitled “Miscellaneous Topics”. It includes several considerations on bankroll or the general approach of the game, with many quotes from the business world and famous investors, looking how it could apply to poker. It is not surprising given the author’s background, and it is more or less convincing, depending on the quote.

Chapter Eight (99 pages) and Chapter Nine (37 pages) discuss Limit and Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo, respectively. They are good read, much in the line of the previous chapters: starting hands are analyzed, several flops are examined, and many examples illustrate Jeff’s points. If you are interested in Omaha Hi-Lo, this will effectively get you started.

Recommended, with a few caveats

Pot-Limit Omaha Poker — The Big Play Strategy is a very good book in some aspects, like the discussion on draws and starting hands. A lot of beginners do not have the fundamentals right, and they will profit enormously from reading this book. However, the postflop play is way too conservative for most of the online games people play, and as far as short-handed games are concerned, the recommended style could only serve as a basis before some radical adjustments.

Jeff makes PLO a pretty easy game, but there is definitely a lot more to say about it; so don’t take it as the be-all and end-all of Pot-Limit Omaha.