Was just remembering a hand Bud posted a while back where he checked behind with AA on a paired board and he kind of got lambasted because a straight got there or something. Well, here's an example of it working properly. Not really asking for advice per se, but anyone that disagrees is welcome to pipe up. Also, this thread is definitely designed for strat discussion. Otherwise, I would have just posted it in the LC thread.

PokerStars Pot-Limit Omaha High, $2 BB (6 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FCP)

BB ($92.90)
UTG ($142.10)
MP ($82)
Hero ($182)
Button ($553.10)
SB ($237.95)

Preflop: Hero is CO with J , A , J , A .
UTG calls $2, 1 fold, Hero raises to $9, 2 folds, BB calls $7, UTG calls $7.

Flop: ($28) 6 , T , 6 (3 players)
BB checks, UTG checks, Hero checks.

Turn: ($28) 2 (3 players)
BB checks, UTG bets $18, Hero calls $18, BB folds.

River: ($64) 9 (2 players)
UTG bets $61, Hero calls $61.

Final Pot: $186

Results in white below:


Outcome: Hero wins $186.

i agree with the way this hand should be played out...you are close to dead when beaten, and often when you are ahead you are facing a lot of cards that can beat you

nice call on the end btw

Well, on the flop, my thought process is kind of the opposite of this. In that there really aren't that many cards that can beat me. Occasionally, someone will have a wrap with 9 outs, but more often, there will be a gutshot out or nothing at all when I'm ahead. It's a dry enough board that I really don't have to worry about being outdrawn too much. At the same time, I'm very vulnerable to being bluffed as I'll have to lay down to any raise and my opponents won't really expect me to have a 6. Also having the JJ and the BDFD with my AA means that I have a few more outs when behind and want even more to make sure I don't get raised off the hand.

Then, on the turn, they're representing trips so I certainly don't want to raise when I could be dead to 4 outs, but I do have enough of a hand to call, especially since a semi-bluff from a flush draw is likely. Also, I'm now a street closer to being able to get to a showdown which is a huge advantage versus having action on the flop.

Finally, on the river, the only thing that makes sense for a PSB is a full house that's trying to get value from a straight. However, looking at my previous action (PF reraise, flop check, turn call), it doesn't like I was drawing to a straight at all. It looks like I have an overpair. You'd think that if UTG had a full house here, they'd make a little smaller value bet, and if they had a straight, they'd definitely be scared to bet full pot. Therefore, the likeliest hand is a missed flush draw and the river's a pretty automatic call.

Hope that my thought process was informative there. As a beginning to intermediate PLO player, you usually think that you always always always have to hammer the pot when you have anything to keep the draws from hitting, but there are certain boards where that's just not viable/necessary at all. When you're playing a paired rainbow flop like the one in this example, the game plays much more like hold'em as the hand values are pretty absolute and keeping the size of the pot small while trying to get to a showdown can be more important than worrying about protecting your hand.

Hi. Can you teach me to have that same thought process, and be able to compute all that in my head before the little timer runs out?
Seriously. Please?

Well, some of it you only have to think about once and figure it out and then you can use it whenever. For example, AA+FD on paired board, I always check in position. AA on completely dry board (no straight or flush draws), I check in position, and AA on relatively dry board but some straights possible is a toss-up. Just figured the JJ was enough to sway it, so it wasn't too complex of a decision.

On the river, I really did need to think things through a little bit. I quickly went through the action to see what I was representing and what his most likely hand was and then after about 15 seconds, I figured that the missed flush draw was more likely. The time banks on Stars are kind of nice that way as I find I usually have 2-3 decisions a session where I need to take 30 seconds or so to think things through on the river.