The power of check-raising in PLO after a 3bet
Once every couple of hands
you might feel the itch to get your whole stack
in the middle on a certain street in
pot-limit Omaha.
Depending on your playing style you do this more
or less often. Depending on your opponents'
playing style you can do this hardly at all, or
on any given board.
But what really is the big
advantage of putting in your stack with a
check-raise if you have a decent opponent? Well
for one, you are telling him you are able to
play out of position. Another reason, to vary
your play and keep the other players on their
toes.
Let's look at an example if
you want to make the life of a player more
difficult and – which is obviously the main goal
– to make it more difficult for him to play
against you in the future. Let's say you are
sitting on a short-handed table with 4 to 6
players and you are facing a button raise from a
regular. You are sitting in the big blind with
T986 single suited, do the standard 3-bet and
get flat called.
The flop now comes A-T-9
rainbow and you decide to check-raise to gain
value from good opponents who will stab at your
shown weakness. So you check and your opponent
pretty fast bets the pot. You now raise all-in
representing either a wrap, a set or at least
top two. He now has to fold a lot of his hands
like including an ace with bad kickers or hands
that have high pairs like Kings, Queens or
Jacks. You don't mind getting called by an ace
with higher kicker or by an open-ended straight
draw, because against his calling range you are
most likely flipping.
What adds to your value is
the check-raise and fold equity. If he would see
your hand, he probably can call with a very wide
range here, but you are disguising the fact that
you just hold bottom two and a gutterball to the
7.
The most benefit you gain
from this hand – if he folds – is how he has to
play against you in the future. He has to be
more cautious and can't just barrel the flop
after you 3bet him and checked. Also he has to
give your 3 bets pre-flop more respect and knows
that you will get it in there regardless.
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