Very good session today, up three buy-ins in a relatively short time. Got it in good three times with top set against second set, so I guess standard cooler for those guys, but I think they might have overplayed their hands. I'm not going to complain, because I finally had a session when I was catching my sets and full houses at the right times.

Yesterday, I played a Stud Hi/Lo tourney after my blog entry. I didn't play it all that well, and I ended up semi-bubbling, 14/80 (top 8 paid). Still, people really play badly in that game, so I might take to playing that tournament semi-daily, as I think there's a lot of dead money there.

So, new thoughts when it comes to Omaha: play very carefully when you do not have the nuts, and something even when you do.

Second set is something that can break you if you're not careful. I have gone bust it or an underfull several times since beginning the PLO project, and I busted guys with undersets on three separate occasions today, and each time we got the money in on the flop or turn (the guy who got it in on the turn didn't play badly, IMO, especially since I had KKxx vs his QQxx on a KQxx board... that's a true cooler). Now, getting it in with top set on a board with no straight or flush possible is probably never wrong (only the top of the top draws are even with top set, and there might only be a few that are slight favorites... and I emphasize slight), but sometimes you have to be careful with smaller sets, which is why I recommended staying away from the smaller pairs. Let's take a look at some nut or otherwise strong hands on the flop I might play more carefully.

Hand 1: You're heads-up with [7d 7c 6d 5c] on a [Qs 7h 2c] board. You bet pot, and the guy raises you pot. Now, unless he is a complete psycho, you have to be worried about top set in a situation like this, because there is not even a straight or flush draw out there. He might be overplaying Q7, AA, or 22, but QQ is probably his most likely holding. Be careful.

Hand 2: You have the same hand, [7d 7c 6d 5c], but this time the action is three ways and the flop is [Ts 7h 5s]. The first guy bets pot, and the second guy calls. Should you repot it here? Maybe; I'm not saying you shouldn't, but let's take a look at what might be going on here. That is a pretty draw-heavy board, and there's been a bet and a call. If you're up against TT, you're in real trouble, but there's a lot of cards that could come on the turn and scare you if there is another bet and call. Here's a spot where, although you have a very good (probably the best right now) hand, I might just call here and see what peels off on 4th street before I play a really big pot. If you raise here, you will certainly get repopped by TT, but you might also get repopped by a two-way draw, a wrap combo, or something similar. Again, raising is probably the default play here if there is enough money out there to deny odds to the draw, but be aware that you don't have to play a big pot super early here, and you should be even less apt to if you held bottom set here instead of second set.

Hand 3: You have [Ad 9d 8c 6h] and the flop comes [Js Ts 7h]. Are you excited to see that flop? Somewhat I guess. You do have the current nuts. However, the more players there are in the hand, the less I would want to play a big pot early, like on the flop. I would much rather let a card come off and try to deny odds on the turn than try and jam right away. If you happen to be up against one guy with a set and another with a flush draw, large portions of the deck are bad for you, and if you do happen to get all-in heads-up against someone else, you would be horrified to find him with 98 and a redraw as well, since you have only the straight with no chance of improvement.

So basically, if you do not have the nuts or some other strong equity hand (as we've seen, sometimes even the current nuts isn't all that great equity-wise), it might be best to keep the pot small, maybe check a street back, and try to practice marginal value betting.