PLO8: Am I getting chopped up?

[The Gift Of Gab]

5-5 PLO8. EP (1500) limps, MP (700) limps, I (1000) make it 20 with

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The button calls, the blinds fold, and both limpers call.

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Checked to me, and I bet the pot (90.) I have a tight image. The button folds and EP calls. He's fairly experienced but pretty loose. MP calls also. He is very loose and will make bad calls for half the pot. I think he overvalues high hands when a low or low draw is out.

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Aces up and number two low. EP Checks, MP now bets 95. I'm pretty sure this means he has some kind of high hand, maybe with any low, maybe not. I call and EP calls.

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Ugly. Checked to me, I think and check.

How should I deal with a situation like the turn where I have decent hands both ways in a three way pot?

[crockpot]

well, i typically play for a tenth of the stakes you're going for here, so take it with a grain of salt.

that said, i flat call here unless my opposition is competent. if they are, i will pot it.

by competent, i mean they will fold a hand like a set or a flush draw without a low. none of my opponents online fit this description, so i would just call and hope for a nice river.

[omaholicson]

In my experience, you probably will be receiving exactly 0 of the pot. You have to assume that the loose player has the nut low, afterall he is more than happy to receive half the pot, and the other player probably has a set and is too stubborn to lay it down. I think the optimal play would have been to raise on the turn, thus representing a set of aces. The player that has a set would be forced to lay his hand down and the nut low might possibly do the same as he probably has no high draw and wants to avoid getting quartered. This however is all speculation. From the imformation that you have given, these are the hands and plays that would lead to an optimal win. /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[nicky g]

I know very little about O8, but I'll have a stab anyway based on advice I've read:

If you think you can get someone to fold on the turn, then you should raise the max to knock them out and get heads-up, as it's quite difficult for one opponent to have you beat both ways. Otherwise I think calling is probably OK, given the small bet, but I think it's likely you're beat both ways, especially by the river.

[Greg (FossilMan)]

What they said. Raise the turn, and get it heads-up where you have a very high chance of half, and a decent chance at everything.

Later, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)

[Zag]

First a question: You describe EP as "fairly experienced but pretty loose." Is he loose with calls, or raises, too. If the former, then I put him on 245, perhaps with spades. His bet on the turn tells me that he really liked it and wants to keep MP in, and that is the only hand I can think of for which that makes sense. (Otherwise he would have bet more, or check-raised.)

You said that you think he has some kind of high hand, but what could he have? A set of aces? I doubt it. If he had a set of 9's, he would have check-raised you on the flop to make you pay for your low draw. A different set and now nut flush draw? No way. (6h 6d Ks xs? or 3s 3h Ks 2x? ick to both)

The only hand that I see makes sense is that the ace gave him a nut low, and he has something going for high -- flush or straight draw, probably both. Given this read, I would have folded the turn.

Now the river comes, and he checks. This tells me that he doesn't have the flush, and maybe your two pair is good for high. But certainly not worth a bet when they check to you.

[The Gift Of Gab]

On the turn I couldn't tell if EP was going to overcall if I just called MP's bet. I decided MP probably had me for high already and was locked in till the bitter end.

On the river I didn't think anyone was going anywhere. I checked and got chopped up (obviously, since I posted.) EP had the nut low with KK24, and MP had a flush (and a set) with 233s7s.

EP said he would have called a raise on the turn, but there's no way to know for sure. It was hard to put him on exactly 24 so I didn't think it was important to blast him out. Oh well.