Well, let's get the inconsequential items out of the way first. I'm probably pretty close to finding a place for the fall where I can cut down my rent pretty significantly. Also, I've decided to go to Vegas with a friend of mine July 10-14... I figure the government is giving me free money, so I'll use it.

Now to the red meat. I have started playing $0.10/$0.25 Pot-Limit Omaha on Stars, and I am really enjoying it, since I am putting a lot of focus and dedication into it. Previously, I would usually just go play PLO to play ultra loose and gamble it up, but I'm much more in control now. I am up about 4 BI in 4-5 hours of total play, playing usually 3 6-max tables at a time. I am going to try, using all my focus and energy, to stick to this, hone my skills, and rebuild on Stars.

Playing PLO has given me a new appreciation of how important it is to consider equity. There are some situations where folding the current nuts is correct, and where big draws can be favorites over sets. That said, the competition so far has been HORRIBLE. These players just do not understand position, equity, or hand ranges. I see them limp UTG with junky four card combos all the time, and draw to non-nut hands like they were golden. There are so many mistakes it's hard to catalog them all, but I'm sure I was once guilty of them as well.

Just some observations about the game so far:

1. Starting hands. I have really tightened up from where I once was, and try to play hands with 4+ live combos. Remember that there are 6 ways your 4 hole cards can be combined, and the more cooperation there is, the better. A hand like AA72 is not that good, especially if you overplay it out of position, whereas a hand like 9876 double-suited is one of the better classes of starting hands. Things you want to look for: big pairs (for top set/boat value... small pairs are much more dangerous, as set-over-set is more common than might be believed), close connectors (preferably 3 or 4 instead of just 2... "wrap" straight draws that have more than eight outs are much more powerful), and suited cards, especially Aces (you have to be careful with non-nut flushes, especially multiway, but it's always nice to have "blockers" or redraws). AAxx double-suited is also an incredibly high equity hand.

2. Position. Position might be more important in Omaha than any other game, because information is so much more crucial, as an opponent's range is automatically like six times bigger! Play very carefully out of position, and conversely, play much more aggressively when checked to in position.

3. Draws and redraws. If you make only a flush draw or an 8-out open-ender, your hand really isn't that great. This game is all about combo draws, made hands with draws to stronger hands, and so on. A lot of money can be made on freerolling people who hold the same straight you do with no redraw.

There are probably a lot of other items I can go on about, but I'd like to confine a lot of that discussion to the PLO Study Group thread I posted. If you're interested in getting better at PLO like I am, please check out those thread in the non-Hold'em section of the forum!