Reuben's PLO Book

[sherbert]

Hi.

I wondered too about the heresy of position being less significant than in Hold 'em. My final take on it was this: because a large part of Omaha is drawing hands you have to play them. Say you have a 14 card wrap straight draw, or like, then if you can't go all in on the flop you are seeing this through to the river.

If a scare cards comes on the turn or river - board pairs/third flush card comes - your response becomes player dependent and what you make of the betting pattern on the flop.

Often, on the river you'll have to pay off, as you can't let the Op bluff you off too many hands. So in that sense, yes position is less significant.

Position is also somewhat reduced because betting out in PLO is such a good strategy - so if you're first to act, you get the benefits that go with betting out.

There are probably other reasons but those are two I can think of for now.

As to his hand requirements being loose; curiously he also has a reputation of being a very tight player in some quarters.

Sherbert

[Rolf Slotboom]

Hi guys,

I have finished the book two days ago, and have just finished my review / rating. (It will be on my site in a few days probably.) Just like a few other posters, I have somewhat mixed feelings about the book. On the one hand Mr. Reuben is the first to come up with this kind of detailed analysis on PLO money games for stakes that matter, with example hands taken from the probably toughest PLO game in the world (the one in the Vic). On the other hand, there are a few unforgivable omissions in the book as well. (I will save these omissions for later; a few posters have mentioned some of them already.) Anyway, it's definitely an interesting book IMO, and a must read for PLO players, but certainly not the masterpiece that a proven PLO champion claimed it to be.

Rolf Slotboom
www.acespeaks.cjb.net

[sherbert]

Rolph,
Can you say who the proven Omaha world champion is who thinks it a masterpiece?

Sherbert

[crockpot]

after re-reading the book i'll revise my rating to 8/10. i still think the book can be very useful for the player who understands its flaws. unfortunately there isn't much of a market for a book that bogs itself down in things that casual players consider technicalities, such as stack sizes.

there are a few particularly valuable parts: he presents a few hands where you hit a monster and lose to a bigger monster; the instruction to call rather than reraise or fold is usually the best play. also, there are a couple of hands where he shows you how to manipulate and win a sidepot that is much bigger than the main pot, even while you are losing the main pot.

there are, of course, many hands where he loosens his starting requirements too much. i think these hands are good instructional exercises, because they show how to play weaker hands as well as showing how these hands usually don't flop very big. but he should have given more points for folding than for calling, in the scoring section.

i wouldn't make this my first omaha book, but i think it makes a decent second or third one.