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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