Ok, so as I've stated in my other post, I'm just
getting back into PLO after an extended absence
so I'm sorry if I'll be posting a lot of hands, but
I'm trying to get back up to speed here and get
into the bigger games again.


***** Hand History for Game 2995099269 *****
0/0 Omaha Hi/Lo Game Table (PL) - Mon Nov 07 00:54:34 EST 2005
Table Table 68968 (No DP) (Real Money) -- Seat 3 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 1: Hero ( $523.50)
Seat 2: ( $807.79) CO
Seat 3: ( $501.20) Button
Seat 8: MP ( $410.10)

** Preflop**
Dealt to Hero A , 3 , J , Q
2 folds, MP calls, 2 folds, Hero calls, CO raises to $12,
Button calls, Blinds fold, MP calls, Hero calls.


** Flop ** ($54) : 8 , Q , J
MP checks, Hero checks, CO checks, Button checks.


** Turn ** ($54) : 9
MP checks, Hero bets $15, CO folds, Button folds, MP calls.


** River ** ($84) : 4
MP checks, Hero......


So, my street by street thoughts...

Preflop, call is a bit loose with only A3 for low, and no suited cards.
When it got raised, if I were in any other position but last to act,
I likely would have folded, but when I saw it get raised up, and 2
other players call, it was $8 more into a pot that would be $50+, so
I called.

Flop, not too bad, I hit 2 pair, but the 3 hearts were scary.
The nice thing was that I held the Ace so at the very
least I was thinking I might be able to run a bluff on a later street.
I wasn't feeling nearly comfortable enough to bet out though,
given the action on the flop.

Turn, though the 9 kind of sucked, I was very surprised at the action
(or lack thereof) on the flop, so I figured nobody had hit a flush, and
that a medium sized bet might take this down right here.
At least the original aggressor folded, but I wasn't thrilled about
getting a call here.

River, well..the 4 I don't think helped anyone, I still have
2 pair, and the naked Ace . Is a bet here for value, a
semi-bluff, or both? Check behind??

I don't think you will be able to outplay MP on the river, just check and lose the pot.

If you decide to make move with naked Ace, you should bet a certain amount on the flop, then pot the turn, play it just like you are actually holding the nut flush.

I think I would bet on the flop, unless you were thinking that you could check-rasie the preflop raiser. Not that I'm saying your two pair is the nuts, but a lot of times I'll bluff with the naked A on a board like this.

I would probably semi-bluff again on the river. A call on a hand like this will usually mean either, the player has a small flush and wants to see if it's good, or the players has a set and is trying to fill up. But it could also mean he's slow playing a flopped straight flush.

Without knowing the players, it's hard to say if someone would call with a straight or a set on a flush board. But I think a lot of times a bet on the river is going to win you the pot, so it's not a bad play.

The only way you are going to win this pot is by betting the river - and betting enough so that MP goes away. For him to call your turn bet, he has to have you beat with either a set or a straight (you hope) or a flush.

I don't think you bet enough on the turn to define either your hand (as a flush) or his, since you were offering him just over 4.5:1 pot odds. Also, due to your lack of flop betting, he could easily put you on a straight now and call you down with his 23h.

You can sort of get away with checking the flop as he may assume that you were looking for a check raise, but I would have bet at least half the pot on the turn.

Dry-ace bluffs are highly +EV when executed correctly, but are unfortunately very easy to screw up.

The most important requirement is that you've identified your opponent as being one who is capable of folding a smaller flush. Many players are simply too bad to make this fold; therefore, I find that dry-ace bluffing is most successful against winning opponents. Without reads, I'm more likely to try the bluff than not, because monotone flops are generally intimidating to the average player.

Secondarily, a dry-ace bluff should be a pot-sized bet every time. Even a weak player recongizes the need for the nut flush to be protected from boat draws; a $15 into a $54 pot is not going to offer the kind of representation you need. A full pot bet on the turn will win the pot most times on this board.

In this case, since you put a weak bet in on the turn that was called, I'd put your opponent on a small flush that corretly detected you do not have the nuts; checking behind on the river is very likely the best line, barring any specific reads you didn't mention.