What's happening? About Ace Ace & Media Ace in Videos Rolf Blog & Columns Some Personal Stories Recent results Dutch Poker Champion 2005 Ace Speaks: Articles Cover Stories Vegas Voyage Masterclasses Tournament Reports Book & DVD Reviews Pocket Aces Ace & Poetry Travel ACE The Dutch Poker Police Potnopine Hold'em                       Guestbook Ask Ace Poll Links Contact Ace   Question Your name Your email Type code * J % All fields are mandatory! Ron asks on Jan 5, 2009   Hi again PLO 10/10 300BI ,Rolfs SSS,my stack after winning a multipot in the second hand of the evening is 1900.Obviously i cant stand up now and the game seems so wild that even for an unexperienced but thinking player this is still a good game.Im on the button with 4d6d5s7c.Im still the shortstack at the table!Before the flop (straddle)1 raise ,several callers including me,straddle reraise,somehow in front of me are 4 players all in (two of them are BLIND all in!),and i ve already invested 300 or so in the pot,left with about 1600.Given i dont care about the swings and 2 players have random hands(1 has AA KK for sure),would ACE call allin 5hnd? A point to mention is that theres a real client with a BIG stack at the table,so this shot could bring me into this clients stack region. tnx Rolf answers: No answer yet... Eric (manila) asks on Jan 4, 2009   thanks again for your inputs. Yup, i was talking to the player on my left (not right). Regarding your suggestion of sitting 2 or 3 spot to his left (as your book says when playing deep albeit for full rings)), i found sitting to the maniac's right more "profitable" because he has these betting patterns that are pretty easy to read. after a potsized raise preflop, his smallish c-bet on the flop tells me he has nothing (typical big bet - big hand move), so i can easily trap all flop callers in the middle. always a lot of dead money. again, it makes post flop play easier for me imo. Playing 2 or 3 off his left with the intention of "isolating" is pretty much useless on this table - we never see the flop with less than 4 people in it! while the play has improved, top pair hands still call to see the turn - even small flush draws peel off and see if you fire that 2nd bullet when the turn "flushes". you pretty much hit me on the starting hands. Just lately i've been letting go of those KQ42ds (qj57 ds) hands. but i still play hands like K987ds though because of the straight potential, not because of the 2nd nut flush potential. looking forward to your book on short-handed strategy - it will be perfect since we tend to play 3 handed towards the end with a beautiful set-up: $5-10-20 with the button on straddle! Rolf answers: Hi Eric, Good point about your position. If indeed isolation plays won't work, and the maniac to your left rarely scares off other players, the position to his immediate right can indeed be quite good even with deep money - for the reasons you mention. K987ds is indeed a decent enough hand in the setting you mention, and the K-high flush draw can still have quite a bit of value, especially if you also flop some kind of straight draw with the 987 combo. Good luck with this fishing business! eric (manila) asks on Jan 4, 2009   Hi, it's me again. remember this great home game i told you? you are definitely right - they are catching up slowly. i have seen bare ace bluffs, folding non-nut flushes, not much chasing anymore. now i can pull off some of those bluffs myself! hands selection preflop is still horrible though, so my question is - do i lower my starting hand requirements as well? the other day was my worst session - i was stuck 5 buy-ins (at 200BB each buy-in!) - every top set cracked, every wrap missed, etc. it's a bit frustrating knowing you are losing to a bad player. pls convince me it's always profitable to limp or min-raise with aces (even at 200bb deep), KNOWING the guy on your right will raise pot and the entire table calls before it gets back to me. i jam almost 60% of my money preflop and go heads-up, lost 3 2k pots in a row. on the other hand, i keep thinking - "why play bingo preflop when i can play better post-flop against all of them? by the way, happy new year, and may we run good in 2009! Rolf answers: Hi Eric, Of indeed they are slowly improving, then there is nothing wrong with still playing "bingo" preflop by creating massive pots preflop with aces. Nothing wrong with 'gambling' in a huge pot when you have the best of it, even if the play carries a rather high volatility, and thus you could easily lose 5 or 6 consecutive huge pots like this. One thing: You talk about the guy to your right will raise pot and then the entire table calls so you can then raise pot with AA. However, I assume you mean "player to your left" - and with the money this deep, I would avoid having an overaggressive player to your left. Try to get the seat 2 or 3 to *his* left instead! Also, against weak opposition, I indeed would lower my starting hand requirements somewhat. HOWEVER: - I would only do it from the last 2 or 3 positions, not from upfront. - Make sure you still select mostly hands with nut potential, and avoid potential problem hands like KJ85 double-suited. Especially in multiway pots, these hands tend to perform horrible, as they have a tendency to maybe win a few small pots but lose all the big ones. Jerry asks on Dec 31, 2008   Hi Rolf, Misschien ken je mij nog wel, we hebben meerdere malen contact gehad toen ik nog bij Talpa werkte voor dat 'ene' programma in Eemnes... Ben nu een tijdje bezig met online low stake sit & go's en blijf moeten hebben om medium pocket pairs uit te spelen. Wat is volgens jou de beste strategie om ze uit te spelen? Groet, Jerry Rolf answers: Hoi Jerry, Tja, dat was een mooie tijd bij dat 'ene' programma. Blij dat ik eraan heb meegedaan - nu heb ik tenminste *helemaal* geen geloofwaardigheid meer als ik weer eens mijn riedeltje afsteek over het belang van kwaliteitstelevisie. Ik speel nooit sit'n'gos, dus neem mijn advies met een korreltje zout. De beste manier op medium pocket pairs uit te spelen is m.i. vrijwel puur voor set value in de echte beginfase (veel limpen dus, en tegen een raise gewoonlijk alleen callen maar niet reraisen), gewoon voor een standaardraise in de hogere blinds fase waar je readafhankelijk bepaalt of je tegen een reraise shovet of niet, en in de eindfase gewoon te allen tijde voor je gehele stack. 2 dingen die je moet voorkomen: 1) dat je ze te passief speelt in de eindfase met het shallow money - dan is het gewoon "ogen dicht, en schuiven maar". 2) dat je er teveel actie mee geeft / voor stacks wilt spelen in de beginfase, als het geld nog zeer diep (te diep) is. jay asks on Dec 11, 2008   Our casino in Canada just opened a 1-2 potlimit omaha game. I read your book, with lots of newbies learning from holdem, would you recommend, short stack, preflop re-raising stategy/ athanks, good book Rolf answers: Hi Jay, Newbies learning from hold'em are likely to make the following mistakes: - Too much limping with weak holdings - Overestimating hands - Giving away aces too early in the hand - Paying off handsomely with second-best hands The combination of all these factors mean that - provided you can buy in for as much as you want - you should try to have the biggest stack you possibly can, enough to cover all the weaker players. Shortstacking works better against overaggressive players, especially good players who cannot be easily outplayed, yet who often play their hands much more aggressively than the quality of their hands would warrant. Ron asks on Dec 10, 2008   Hi again Rolfs SSS-approach,but stack is growing,lets say 1.70BB 2.110BB 3.150BB Fullring livegame 10-10 500BI, all other players cover me(the shortstack). Im on the button,with some limpers in front of me.I have a premium rundown(all rundowns mean doublesuited),lets say T987(BTW i think this is the best rundown in multiway pots after working a bit with PLO-calculator,is that correct?) Now i make a minraise(Rolfs adjustment when stack is from 60-150 BigBlinds)from the button, suddenly the Big Blind makes a potsized REraise(Known rock,so its very likely running against quality Aces). Heads up i simply call for a favourable flop.But what if the blinds REraise gets called from a. 1 limper b. 2 limpers c. 3 or more limpers? Still call or REREraise pot? Should i commit preflop with such a premium hand when its nearly 100% sure that im a solid moneyfavorite(In this hand i had 29% plus dead money, 4 players, Raiser indeed had nonpremium aces). What do i do if the rundown is not that premium like 8765 or even 6543 (always DS). BTW after getting a bit experience, i recogniced now the weakness of small rundowns like 3456(DS) especially OOP like you said in a previous post).In multiwaypots (4-6 players) they are often dominated by a higher rundown and are nearly worthless despite looking so good.Beware off! And a final recommendation from me in exchange for all off your great help here: Tell your girlfriend to deal a bit more precise when youre involved i a pot!))) Rolf answers: On the button, I would rarely get too frisky with hands like T987ds. The advantage of a) knowing what you are up against, b) the implied odds that go with this and c) your good position are too important factors to negate this advantage by trying to go for a play where you *may* have a slight edge if things go as planned. In other words: Just calling the reraise in position probably gives you a bigger edge, and if there are other players in between the announced AAxx & you, then THEY are sandwiched - and again, this benefits you. The only time when I *would* reraise is when either the announced AAxx is shortstacked (in which case I could possibly min-reraise to give him room for an all-in raise that would reopen the betting, where I could possibly blast any callers of this all-in raise out of the pot by coming over the top - all of this to get better than 2-to-1 on my money against the aces while having close to 50% equity-wise), or when *I* am shortstacked, and my reraise all-in will almost certainly be followed by a pot-sized protection reraise by the AAxx. With the slightly lower rundowns you mention, you could / should basically play the same way. With the stack size you mention, minraising on the button and then calling the potsized reraise is a good play, with or without the players in between. One important thing: Keep in mind that if someone plays his AA in a very predictable / bad manner, you should almost never reward him by giving him the chance to win a massive pot. Better to *exploit* his bad play by making sure that the money will be deep enough, and to ensure that he will run into troubles postflop. Of course, with any callers in between him & you, you should make sure that after the flop you will adjust your hand values somewhat, given that the AAxx may not not automatically c-bet anymore in a multiway pot, and that for instance flopping two pair, a small straight or a small flush would not be the same through ticket for you that it would have been heads up. Martijn asks on Dec 8, 2008   Beste Rolf, Afgelopen zondag heb ik zoals elke zondag weer meegedaan met de Sunday Warmup. Ik won wat potjes, bouwde m'n stack op, maar direct in de beginfase kwam ik gelijk in een zeer lastige spot terecht. Een spot die wellicht voorkomen had kunnen worden door preflop te folden, maar dat leek mij gezien de hand en positie iets te nitty. Daarom mijn vraag wat je van mijn play vind en hoe jij deze hand gespeeld zou hebben, zowel pre -en postflop. Ik heb geen reads, zit net aan deze tafel. Het is wel beginfase toernooi dus het donkgehalte is nog wel redelijk hoog en wat me opviel is dat er wordt gecallt met een brede range handen. Ik heb de hand al uitgebreid gesproken op de fora maar daar zijn de meningen sterk verdeeld. Mijn eigen visie: Callen is geen optie omdat bij een turn hit, een Q of een schoppen de aktie gelijk dood is en ik veel value laat liggen. Bij een blank kan ik helemaal niks meer en moet ik afleggen. Folden leek mij hoe dan ook geen optie, maar een shove is misschien ook weer dubieus en iets teveel risico. Maarja meer dan die drie opties heb je niet. Ben benieuwd naar jou visie! Alvast bedankt voor je reaktie! PokerStars Game #22705245085: Tournament #123479716, $200+$15 Hold'em No Limit - Level III (100/200) - 2008/12/07 13:18:39 ET Table '123479716 64' 9-max Seat #5 is the button Seat 1: Onpasi (7525 in chips) Seat 2: martijn1979 (13200 in chips) Seat 3: aLFiosNob (12675 in chips) Seat 4: TOTY (10164 in chips) Seat 5: zizou33380 (8475 in chips) Seat 6: suz2209 (15436 in chips) Seat 7: maurice13510 (12275 in chips) Seat 8: samlaterreur (11250 in chips) Seat 9: BKiCe (23650 in chips) suz2209: posts small blind 100 maurice13510: posts big blind 200 *** HOLE CARDS *** Dealt to martijn1979 [Ks Js] samlaterreur: folds BKiCe: folds Onpasi: folds martijn1979: raises 400 to 600 aLFiosNob: calls 600 TOTY: folds zizou33380: folds suz2209: calls 500 maurice13510: folds *** FLOP *** [8s Td 9s] suz2209: checks martijn1979: bets 1200 aLFiosNob: folds suz2209: raises 1800 to 3000 martijn1979: raises 9600 to 12600 and is all-in suz2209: calls 9600 Rolf answers: Mwah... Ik kan wel leven met je actie, hoor. Je opponent zou wel heel goed QJ kunnen hebben (consistent met zijn preflop call en kleine flop checkraise) maar met je big draw vrees je die hand niet eens zozeer. (Daar heb je namelijk 2 maal 11 outs tegen, als ik het juist tel.) Lijkt mij een duidelijk geval van het er maar gewoon inkieperen. Er moet toch aardig wat fold equity zijn, en al zou je hier vaak gecalld worden, nou dan is er volgens mij alsnog geen hand te bedenken waartegen je niet minimaal 34.5% hebt. Trouwens: Ik neem aan dat de slechtst mogelijke tegenhand EV-wise tegen jouw KsJs top paar + nutflush draw AsTs is, dus niet QJ. Correct - of zijn er 'ergere' tegenhanden? Marko Elings asks on Dec 5, 2008   Hoi Rolf, Ik kwam toevallig op je site terecht, ik kan niet anders zeggen dat dat ie er mooi en goed gestructureerd uitziet. Ik speel zelf nog niet zo ontzettend lang poker en heb me er nog niet echt in verdiept. Dat wil ik dus wel gaan doen. Nou krijg ik op pokernieuws het advies om vooral veel artikelen te lezen op internet en als boeken worden aangeraden ( SNG Strategy van Colin Moshman voor S&G's uiteraard) en door iemand anders (Winning tournament plays {wie is de schrijver?})en Every hand revealed). Ik heb zelf alleen het boek Poker Unlimited. Je zal deze vraag ongetwijfeld al vaker hebben gehad, maar zou jij mij hier een advies in kunnen geven? Dus welk(e) boek(en) kan ik het beste mee beginnen?? Er werd op pokernieuws bijv door iemand gezegd dat "Er staat zoveel onzin in de harrington boeken dat ik halverwege gestopt ben met lezen". Alvast bedankt voor je antwoord en veel succes!! Groet, Marko Rolf answers: Hoi Marko, Je bent op de goede plek gekomen. Want linksonder, nummer 11 in de rij, staat een *zeer* uitgebreide sectie Book & DVD Reviews. (Wel alleen Engelstalig.) Ik ga ervan uit dat je hier zelf alle benodigde info wel uit kan verzamelen. Die Harrington boeken zijn trouwens prima, hoor. Er is alleen een bepaald publiek wat sowieso graag pokerboeken afkraakt, of het leuk vindt om Harrington als "weak-tight" te beschrijven. Echter, vooral zijn toernooiboeken zijn prima. (De recente cash boeken iets minder, vooral omdat ze over full ring gaan en die zijn er niet meer zoveel.) Michael asks on Dec 3, 2008   Al snel weer een volgende vraag (ik beloof je dat ik me zal inhouden ). Hoe kan je bij online tafels zien of er 'donks' spelen? Bedankt nog voor de tip! Rolf answers: Voor mij is het simpel. Ik speelde voorheen altijd PLO op Party & Poker Stars, en op de limieten waar ik speelde waren er eigenlijk nooit meer dan 6 of 7 tafels. En het afgelopen jaar speelde ik natuurlijk vast op 1 site door mijn sponsordeal, en we hadden meestal zo weinig tafels dat ik gewoon op elke tafel zat. Voor jou is het eigenlijk *ook* simpel. Kijk in de lobby naar potgrootte, misschien nog wel belangrijker let op hoog % flop seen, en zet de erkende zwakke broeders op je buddy list. Dat moet toch genoeg zijn om de beste partijen te vinden. Er schijnt zelfs een computerprogramma te zijn dat je kan helpen bij het 'spotten van de fish'. Maar de naam daarvan is mij even ontschoten, en ik weet ook niet of het programma eigenlijk wel legaal / toegestaan is. Michael asks on Dec 1, 2008   Hey Rolf, ik poker nu een tijdje, en eindig meestal redelijk hoog in toernooien, maar ik zit steeds net buiten de prijzen. wat adviseer je om te lezen, of beter (en een beetje brutaal) geeft Ace ook pokeradvies aan arme studenten? groeten Michael Rolf answers: Hoi Michael, Het boek van Gus Hansen - omdat hij je hand voor hand door een toernooi leidt, met een stijl die als doel heeft het event te winnen. Leuk geschreven en lang niet altijd perfect, maar waarschijnlijk precies wat jij nodig hebt. En nee, ik geef geen persoonlijk pokeradvies, zelfs niet als je er veel geld voor zou neertellen. Ik zou zeggen: Vraag af en toe maar iets hier (af en toe, dus niet te vaak) of doe het uitgebreid in mijn nieuwe feature op www.pokerinfo.nl: "Onder het mes bij Rolf". Eric (manila) asks on Nov 28, 2008   thanks for your response Rolf. valuable insights. just to let you know, there will likely be no hit-and-running players - this home game has been running for 2 years where NLHE was the only game played - aside from Chinese Poker where they play for $100 a point. all "made" businessmen who play poker to kill their gambling itch... they were all too happy to abandon Hold'em because they tend to get bored. With 4 cards, anything is possible! Wish me run gooooooooooooot... Rolf answers: In that case, if your opponents will stay AND you can buy in as much as you want so you can cover them at any time... in that case, I *would* play aggressively with 'just' my big draws and push any edge I may have, even if it is small and / or my opponent could get lucky in a huge pot. This because even after losing a pot, you will still have all the time to break the weak oppponents in the remainder of the evening. eric asks on Nov 28, 2008   by the way, it's a shorthanded game all the way - on rare nights we have 7 players, but usually its 6max. Rolf answers: Hi Eric, No, I don't think it is a losing attitude at all. If the opposition is indeed this weak, in a live homegame where every player counts and thus you want to avoid them hit & running, there is value in NOT letting them win a huge pot where the luck factor is high. So, in this case it could be wise to play a premium draw a bit more passively on the flop than you normally would, for instance by just waiting to hit your draw before investing your entire stack. I mean: The value of big all-in raises on the flop with a big draw is usually three-fold: 1. Try to semi-bluff opponents off currently better hands 2. In case of a call by the opponent: Secure a payoff on the flop from hands that would have folded on the turn or river once there would be money left and they could see that you have probably completed your draw 3. Push the slight edge that you may have over the current best hand As both 1. and 2. do not seem to apply in your game (your opponents will not fold better hands easily, heck they will probably still call you even AFTER you have hit your draw), there is value in NOT pushing your draw here, and wait for the exact situations you mention to put in your money. And obviously, you don't necessarily want to push small edges in risky / swingy situations when you can easily take your opponent's stacks with a bigger edge, and with less risk. All in all, I would say: Enjoy this game while it lasts - because it probably won't last long. Eric (manila) asks on Nov 28, 2008   Hi Rolf, hope all is well. i play in this really great home game where PLO was just introduced 2 months ago. everyone embraced it (they looooove to gamble), so it's a table of people chasing non-nut straights and flushes (yes, even on paired boards!) - it's Poker Heaven basically. the blinds are $2/4, often with an $8 straddle. the buy-in is mandatory is 200BBs! its deep stacked PLO. i usually win a huge pot 3 way when i have top boat and the 2 callers table only trips and a flush. No fancy plays for me - i dont even bluff (useless) and obv i'm the biggest winner given my enormous edge in PLO. given the table dynamics, my dilemma is pretty simple i guess. In the unavoidable confrontation of a wrap (+flush in some cases) vs. top set, what is the correct action? with such a small edge in these almost coin-flip situations, is it unwise to build a pot on the flop? Noting that the guys i play with are "married" to their hand, one huge pot cold be disastrous. i'm more inclined to pick a "better" spot to jam my money in (like a nut flush on a non-paired board, top set no wrap potential, etc) because im sure i am waaaaay ahead in the hand. is this a "losing" attitude? Rolf answers: Answer in post above. Ron asks on Nov 25, 2008   Hi Rolf Here 2 hands from me playing Rolfs SSS: 1.PLO live Fullring 2-4 100BI table pretty loose ,im in the cutoff,tablebully sitting on the button(you see im a real believer): blinds 2,4, 8€ straddle ,call,call,fold ,i hold KK(crappy):Correct action?call, fold or raise with either 100stack 250stack 500stack?(Actually I had 250stack and raised ,which was a big mistake in my oppinion). 2.10-10 500BI FR ,i have a 600stack and did play 2 hands the last 5 hours.Fullmaniac raising 60% PRF to my left.I hold 3s4s5d6h in sec Pos.Pots where often 6--8 handed unraised or minraised by the maniac. UTG straddle,i call,maniac raises 80,next player call,CU reraise pot,i call(cause i knew maniac would call),maniac calls,now the original caller REREraises pot,allin ,allin allin: I was pretty sure AA and KK(or AA AA)was out,so according to PLO calculator i have over 30% even when the AA are premium . Can you give a comment on my play? 3.An interesting phenomenon happens when playing Rolfs SSS:Either opponents call you things(exactly like Rolf describes in his book),or the SSS-player seems not to be existant at the table:It happened more than once that when i moved my seat within the table(in general to the immediate right of the aggro),my opponents didnt even recognice that i had been sitting in the game with them for several hours and said hello to the new player or asked where the player from my seat has gone!!!Really amazing tnx for your help Ron Rolf answers: Hi Ron, 1. Crappy KK is tricky. With your 62.5 BB (=250) stack I would either have flatcalled the raise or folded. With 25BB (=100), I might have reraised pot. With a 500 stack (125BB) I would either have folded or called, depending on the 'crappiness' of the kings and also the aggression / tendencies of the players behind me. 2. I would not get involved with this type of hand in the setting you describe. If you are the only one wirth the small rundown, you may indeed be a (slight) money favorite, and you will have found a +EV spot to get the money in. But if one of your opponent happens to have gotten tricky himself with a 7653ds type of holding, you are dead meat. 3. Hehe. You are right - it is usually either one of them (receiving flames or getting unnoticed - rarely anything in between). Fabrice De Kimpe asks on Nov 24, 2008   Low priority bericht. Hallo Rolf, Ik ben een 29-jarig kind van de hold'em boom. Ik speel heel profitabel 1€-2€ nlh (niet zo zeer door geniaal spel mijnentwege maar voornamelijk door slecht spel van de tegenstanders)in het Brussels casino en ben nu een poosje bezig met het verbeteren van mijn plo, dit onder meer via jouw boek en andere te vinden lectuur omtrend plo. Ik ga op het internet vanop de laagste stakes opbouwen zoals ik dat met hold'em heb gedaan etc. Mijn vraag: In Brussel is het niveau op de 1€-2€ tafels barslecht. Ik zou graag es een tripje doen naar Wenen in de toekomst en ik vraag mij af of het niveau daar ook zo belabberd is. Maw, vermits het een pur sang cardroom is in Wenen zou ik verwachten dat het spelniveau hoger ligt dan hier in een casino waar poker slecht een fractie van de omzet betekent. Ik spreek hier enkel over nlh, niet over plo. Ik apprecieer jouw no-nonsense aanpak. Veel succes verder en Alvast bedankt. Mvg Fabrice http://www.linkedin.com/in/fabricedekimpe Rolf answers: Hoi Fabrice, Inderdaad is in Wenen het niveau van de NLH games wel een stuk hoger dan in het gemiddelde Belgische casino. Een belangrijke reden is niet alleen wat jij noemt, maar ook dat poker in Wenen al langer bestaat en er dus meer ervaren spelers zijn / meer winnende regulars. Maar alsnog is er daar prima te winnen, hoor. De bekendste casino's: Concord Card Casino & Poker World, Poker Royale (in Wiener Neustadt), en er is sinds kort ook een nieuwe cardroom, Montesino. Verder zijn er nog veel kleinere cardrooms, en iedereen heeft wel speciale acties. Dus zeker op de wat lagere limieten zoals waar jij op speelt is het daar prima winnen. Patrick van Riessen asks on Nov 14, 2008   hallo Rolf, Buitenom het feit dat ik je spel erg goed en je image idem zijn jouw boeken ook allemaal in het nederlands. Nu heb ik wat rondgevraagd. en er is een grote vraag naar goede nederlandse boeken hierover. ik heb die van jou gelezen. Zou jij er open voor staan om ze te laten drukken in het nederlands. Vertaling is geen probleem. ik hoop snel van je te horen Rolf answers: Hoi Patrick, Dank je wel voor je aardige woorden. Ik ga ervan uit dat je bedoelt dat mijn boeken allemaal in het Engels zijn. (Er staat Nederlands.) De reden dat ik ze nooit heb willen laten vertalen naar het Nederlands is dat ik denk dat de meerderheid van de potentiele kopers ze al gelezen heeft in het Engels. Mocht je het toch nog willen en met een soortgelijke aanbieding komen als de Duitse + Zweedse uitgevers van mijn PLO boek hebben gedaan, dan gaan wij graag met je in gesprek. Daar kunnen we dan mogelijk ook meteen de aankomende boeken in betrekken - het deel 2 van Secrets of Professional Poker en natuurlijk ook het shorthanded pot-limit Omaha boek dat ik schrijf met Rob Hollink. Hoe dan ook, als je een serieus plan hiervoor hebt plus ook de benodigde financiele onderbouwing, breng ik je wel in kontakt met mijn uitgever. scott asks on Nov 11, 2008   when is your next book and are you doing more dvd's sir Rolf answers: Hi Scott, I have no plans for a new DVD-series - even though if I would get approached for a PLO set I might consider it. The book release schedule looks like this: - Secrets of Professional Poker I (just released) - Secrets of Professional Poker II (to be released soon) - Secrets of Shorthanded Pot-Limit Omaha (with Rob Hollink, to be released in the spring 2009) nicolas roy asks on Nov 6, 2008   hi rolf do u know what really happen on t6 poker do u know if players could be take their money back what about the future of this site do u have money there perhaps t6 players could withdraw is there no way to transfer or ??? to take back money and do u always have some ept payed /sponsorised by t6 for this new season ? (it s ginsenseng we ever talked and played both there)Thx you rolf Rolf answers: Hey Ginsenseng. I always figured you were Dutch, so guess I was wrong there. To answer your questions: My situation is not different from the others. Just like many players, I have been unable to withdraw for a very long time now. And given that I was playing on the site almost every day, and that my results were more than decent, I have quite a bit of money there that right now I cannot seem to get hold of. Officially, I am sponsored until the end of this year, but my many mails regaing the problems / requests for contact have gone unanswered, and also the EPT's London and the ones that followed (part of our deal) have simply passed by without any kind of notice. Not the best of situations, that's for sure. Being just a player (albeit a sponsored one), I don't have any kind of inside information regarding the business side of things, unfortunately. So, I can't give you any kind of meaningful response, other than the mere hope for everyone of us that things will still work out / will be solved properly. Anyway, hope this answer is still (at least a little bit) helpful. Zhiren asks on Nov 4, 2008   Hey Rolf, I ordered both your "Secrets to Professional Pot-Limit Omaha" and Jeff Hwang's "Pot Limit Omaha Poker" from Amazon, in a bid to bolster my knowledge and understanding on PL Omaha. Starting to read off from Jeff Hwang's book before moving on to yours, I realise that there is a obvious difference in the ideologies behind the two. I understand from your point of view, the short-stacked strategy largely protects you against exploitation of implied odds that opponents have against you. Can I ask for your opinion if there is a way to implement a good mix of strategies from both big- and short-stacked play to find the optimum, especially in a tourney? Also, I realised that Jeff Hwang's book is not one of those included in your book review. Would you mind reading it and offer your insights on the book too? Thank you. Rolf answers: Well, to be honest I rarely write about PLO tournament strategy. But the other questions that you have are definitely answered in my book. What's more, an extensive review about Jeff Hwang's book *is* available here in the "Book & DVD Reviews" section - under the "H" of Hwang. Tim van Loon asks on Oct 27, 2008   Hey Rolf, Het boek 'read em and reap' dat je vermeld in u boek op pagina 149, hoe kan ik dat verkrijgen? Via welke site te bestellen? En is dat engelstalig, of ook een nederlandstalige versie van? Engels is niet zo erg hoor, maar mocht het int nederlands bestaan, altijd net iets beter nog dan. vriendelijke groeten Rolf answers: Is Engelstalig. Beste (en met flinke korting) te bestellen via Amazon. De auteur is Joe Navarro, en het boek kost nu slechts $12.89. Tom Tedrick asks on Oct 27, 2008   I ordered your new book "Secrets of Professional Poker" from Amazon and I find it is full of valuable insights which are useful to me. I also enjoy the personal stories of actual hands you have played, which also have a valuable educational aspect due to being easy to understand and relate to, so don't hold back on those personal stories in future books, which are extremely interesting to some of the readers (at least for me :-) I was wondering what software you recommend for Omaha hi-lo (and Omaha hi) when playing online. Currently I use "Omaha Indicator" and the PPA calculator. My impression is that while they are very valuable tools, there is a lot of possibility for improvements, such as having an expert player look at the classification of starting hands for "Omaha Indicator". Rolf answers: I don't believe much in starting hand analyzers, and have never used them for Omaha. (Even though in the beginning of my career I used the Turbo Omaha/8 software; I presume your Omaha Indicator will be somewhat similar.) The only software that I recommend is PokerTracker + PokerAceHUD, and in addition sites like www.propokertools.com or www.twodimes.net for simulation purposes. David Heesch asks on Oct 24, 2008   Hey Rolf< I have been very successful in smaller NL games over about 7 years and have taken a real interest in PLO. I have read your book and have studied everything I can about PLO and have begun playing smaller online games (.50/1.00). What can a VERY disciplined player expect to make as an hourly rate in PLO against players who are VERY bad ? tx. Continued success to you Rolf answers: Hi David, On page 60 of my book, I discuss this - also the difference in expected earnings between shortstack & bigstack. I think that because of the PLO games that are now tougher than they used to be, just 10 big blinds / 100 hands is already an accomplishment - though at these stakes, easily attainable. (Note that I always talk about big BLINDS though, while PokerTracker calculates big BETS.) I nowadays play only shorthanded, at a site that doesn't support any poker software programs. So, I have no first-hand experience yet on how his big blind / 100 figure is different in 6-max. than it is in full-ring games that I used to play *with* the help of these programs. Tim asks on Oct 23, 2008   Hi Rolf, I recently heard an interview with a top online player, who was lamenting the now popular practice of constant 3-betting that has invaded no limit games. He was speaking specifically to the practice of 3-betting in position with suited connectors and the like. His point was that this has become common practice, and in 100BB games, this effectively turns it into a 30 or 40BB game, and negates much of the better players' skill advantage. I was thinking about this, and wondering about strategies to combat this now popular style. I know short stacking is a good solution, but I am speaking of strategies when I also am 100BB deep. Off the top of my head I believe 4-betting light, perhaps min-raising more, limp-reraising, etc. might be ways to combat this new style. I know you are always thinking of counterstrategies so I wondered what your thoughts were. Even though the pro was talking about NL games, I am seeing more and more 3-betting in 100BB PLO games, as well. With speculative hands in position. As soon as this becomes common practice in PLO as it has in NL, it looks like we will be in the same boat. (For what it's worth, the pro said he advocates keeping pots small PF to maximize the skill advantage, and that he thinks pros that advocate 3-betting a ton are only hurting themselves in the long run). Thanks, Rolf. Rolf answers: Hi Tim, I have just finished a fairly long section about this practice, a section that is part of my upcoming second PLO book (est. release spring 2009). For obvious reasons, I will keep the views on this to myself until the actual release. I agree with lots of things you say & have noticed. I don't think the pro is 100% right though about "the pros only hurting themselves by 3-betting a ton". However, fact is that the reraise-in-position-on-light-values has lost much of its effectivity in NLH now that so many players have started using it and have also started to take appropriate countermeasures, and without a doubt a similar development will start to take place in PLO. Sorry that I haven't really answered your question - but I am certain that you will understand this. Sabrina asks on Oct 20, 2008   Hi Ace, Alles goed? Ik zou graag in je lijstje links opgenomen willen worden. Ik kan ook naar jou linken als je wil. Vriendelijke groet, Sabrina pokerlistings.nl Rolf answers: Hoi Sabrina, Zoals je waarschijnlijk weet, wil ik mijn site zoveel mogelijk ad-free houden; ik wil het een pure informatiesite over mezelf houden zonder ook maar enig winstoogmerk. De enige links die ik opneem zijn sites waarmee ik directe banden heb (gehad) of content aan (heb ge)lever(d), ondanks dat ik daarmee enkele goede sites - zoals ook die van jou - uitsluit. Hoop dat je dit begrijpt. Ron asks on Oct 13, 2008   Hi again Rolf I have a question regarding PLO shortstack : Book : secrets of prof PLO page 76,on top of the page(game: 10-20 stack 380$ loose game with lag opponents) you write 9876 rainbow FOLD in earlyP EVEN DOUBLESUITED you normally dont play this hand in EP. I read more than once in this book a doublesuited rundown like 8765 is a premium hand which should be played limp/reraise or with a little deeper money minraise/Reraise (regardless of position?). Its clear that in EP i have certain disadvantages,but when i get my money in preflop,why do i need to care about position? Sure i dont know if the hand its going to be multiway when playing it from EP,but even if i get only 1-2 opponents and get most of my money in PRF the hand has nearly 50% against AA.So even in the worst case im nearly never a moneydog despite my inferior position. Example: live PLO 10-10 500BI me UTG direct left from me :tight,semitight,agressive/highagressive/maniac/supermaniac how should i play in these cases hands like (all doublesuit)7654,8765,9876,t987,t986,J987 either online where i can always buy-in for 20BBlinds(limit doesnt matter),and for livegame 10-10(500)and 10-20(1000) tnx a lot Rolf answers: Hi Ron, The reason why I don't like this 9876 no suits (or even with suits, although as I pointed out this is a MUCH stronger hand with a short stack) is that: 1. You don't KNOW if the pot will be multiway. Heck, you don't know if there even will be a raise behind you so that you can limp-reraise. 2. Being up against AA is not the worst-case scenario by any means. A situation that would be MUCH worse, is that you limp, then someone with a hand like T976ss or 9977 raises, and everybody folds. If you limp-reraise here you are in absolutely AWFUL shape, yet this situation is far from impossible. 3. If no one raises behind you but there are only limpers, you will be in bad position with this 9876 rainbow. As I pointed out in the book, even with a short stack this is not always a profitable situation, mostly because you don't have much money to pressure your opponents, and even seemingly good flops like two pair + straight draw may be 'trouble hands' now that in this multiway setting you could be up against both better hands and better draws. Double-suited, the hand can obviously be played, however I still play this hand just 20% to 30% of the time in this position / with this stack, rather than religiously - as most players would. Even with suits this is a hand that out of position in a limp-only pot could spell trouble, especially when you are up against higher flush draws or better straight draws after the flop. 4. Double-suited, I like the hand much better obviously. But still, it is not easy to get your money in preflop with a clear posititive expectation, or a very large edge. Usually, a successful limp-reraise might get you in a 3-way situation with 36 to 38% equity, or heads up with around 46% but where the dead money may still make you a money favorite. Not all that bad, and playing this 9876 under the gun also adds deception that could help you in future pots. But having developed a system that likes to AVOID marginal spots and / or expert judgments, I would not voluntarily enter the pot all that often with the type of holding + position that make it a bit hard to get your money in as a really BIG favorite - and especially the no suits hand is therefore a clear fold to me. As to the examples you give: I would be VERY careful to enter many pots with small & medium rundowns in EP, simply because they do much better in LP. If there's a maniac to your left, you would prefer big pairs / high cards with suits to limpreraise with, and even with tight players to your left the stack sizes would have to be over 50BB effectively to make openraising a viable option. (Openlimping not being very useful here, for obvious reasons.) And even then this raise should be an exception, even though in 6-max. rather than in full ring games I *would* often open raise from UTG with this hand type. Ron asks on Oct 13, 2008   Hi again Rolf PLO Livegame fullring, rake 5% max 15€ shortstackapproach blinds: 10-10 500BI 10-20 1000BI 20-40 2000BI 50-100 5kBI Questions: how many players(including me) are the absolute minimum to join with shortstackstrategie? which adjustments should be made on every limit regarding the relative high Buyin,high rakepressure,high blindpressure? Should i calculate in the Blind-Buy-in Ratio in Bigblinds or in Overallblinds(in 20-40 60€ in blinds with 2000BI is 33.33 for example,in 10-10 20€ in blinds 500BI is 25). When should i leave the game?Here comes the obove question again in other form: Having 150Bigblinds or at which blind-BI-ratio? What adjustments if theres a timecollection of 30€ per hour instead of every hand raked? tnx a lot Rolf answers: 1. High rake means 7 players minimum. If there are more shortstackers and / or other competent players, or if there are no overaggressive 'targets', then you would need 8. 2. Overall blinds is slightly better as it gives a clearer view of the total impact of the blind pressure. In the actual playing of hands though, the number of big blinds becomes the important figure, as it indicates the depth of the money. 3. You should leave if you feel you have no inherent shortstack advantage anymore and your bigstack play is not of high enough level. In most cases, and for many players, merely tripling or even doubling up would already be enough to make them leave, as they would not have an edge anymore. (Their actual postflop play being just too weak.) 4. Time collection is MUCH worse for the ultra-tight shortstacker. Just having time collection instead of rake could be enough reason for me to favor a BIG stack approach where I could play many hands without the burden of getting raked every pot I win, and battle things out in marginal spots over the shortstack approach that I used to practice often. (At least, at the time of writing the PLO book.) Krister Olsson asks on Oct 12, 2008   Hi Rolf! First of all I want to thank you for your very good books. I have just started to play 6 max PLO 100 BB deep online with some succes. What I am looking for is a starting chart for this games. Would be greatfull for you answer and I am looking forward to buy your coming PLO book! Rolf answers: I don't believe much in starting charts for PLO, and I have never used them. Much better to go by feel, and by a solid analysis of the relative value + postflop playing advantages of certain types of holdings after certain types of players have entered the pot. In other words: Analyze every individual hand on its specific merits or potential weaknesses for this specific situation + position. This is much better than any starting chart - that for that reason will also NOT be included in my upcoming 6-max. book. David H asks on Oct 5, 2008   Hi Rolf. I wonder what your position is regarding T6 Poker right now. People have not been able to make withdrawals for some weeks now, the website www.t6poker.com have been down for over a week, Tony G has dropped of, there's a thread on twoplustwo about the Russian high stake player "NiceHandLOL" that have €238k locked up. Do you have any info from the owner? I have a few bucks there myself. I am not blaming you in any way. Thanks, David. Rolf answers: Hi David, Thanks your your kind words. Well obviously, I am not very pleased with the situation myself. Until a couple of weeks ago, if there were some troubles with people withdrawing, I would send over a mail to the bosses and usually things would get sorted out on fairly short notice. But in the past 7 or 8 weeks or so, cashing out started giving more and more troubles, also for me - and especially for those who wanted to cash out amounts of any substance. I have expressed my concern in a couple of e-mails to my bosses and also face to face when we had a few chats during the EPT Barcelona. Torben then said that already 90% of the outstanding payouts had been taken care of, and that the rest would follow soon. However, as since my return from Barcelona there seemed to be hardly any improvements and also the number of games continued to decline (possibly as a result), I started corresponding more often, and also in a more direct manner. However, I have not been provided any clarifications since, or been given any useful information - other than the same information that was already provided by support about problems with Neteller, or being in the middle of an updating process. This means I have no more information than any of you - and as a result, I share the same sentiment of worry that you have expressed here. Of course, I still hope that things will get sorted out / will start running smoothly after all. But this is not more than just "hope", because unfortunately I just don't have any concrete evidence to back this up. Hope this answer if of any use, man. stephan g asks on Oct 3, 2008   call/shove? PokerStars Game #20895431129: Tournament #110965666, $100+$9 Hold'em No Limit - Level II (15/30) - 2008/10/03 13:29:49 ET Table '110965666 59' 9-max Seat #7 is the button Seat 1: BillyBob888 (2940 in chips) Seat 2: goGaBullDawg (3090 in chips) Seat 3: da_champp (5585 in chips) Seat 4: BareAre87 (4700 in chips) Seat 5: Krymi (3400 in chips) Seat 6: CphFlyer (2630 in chips) Seat 7: Hemmy1969 (6455 in chips) Seat 8: gublahlochem (3595 in chips) Seat 9: gh6868 (3385 in chips) gublahlochem: posts small blind 15 gh6868: posts big blind 30 *** HOLE CARDS *** Dealt to gublahlochem [Ah 6h] BillyBob888: folds goGaBullDawg: calls 30 da_champp: folds BareAre87: folds Krymi: folds CphFlyer: folds Hemmy1969: calls 30 gublahlochem: calls 15 gh6868: checks *** FLOP *** [6d Ac Jh] gublahlochem: checks gh6868: checks goGaBullDawg: bets 30 Hemmy1969: calls 30 gublahlochem: calls 30 gh6868: folds *** TURN *** [6d Ac Jh] [Qh] gublahlochem: checks goGaBullDawg: checks Hemmy1969: bets 120 gublahlochem: raises 210 to 330 goGaBullDawg: calls 330 Hemmy1969: calls 210 *** RIVER *** [6d Ac Jh Qh] [2c] gublahlochem: bets 630 goGaBullDawg: raises 630 to 1260 Hemmy1969: folds gublahlochem Rolf answers: No way you're shoving here. goGaBullDawg is representing an extremely strong hand, raising small on the turn and even minraising on the river. Given the small bet, you're probably going to call here, but against anyone other than a total lunatic this would be a crying call - I expect you to get shown a set, a higher two pair or even KT for the nut straight something like 8 times out of 10. The only hands your opponent *might* have here that you can beat are A2 (unlikely, given opponent's turn raise) or QJ (again unlikely, given opponent's river raise after your bet-into-him that basically represents A2 or better), or a split with A6. Paul Johnston asks on Oct 2, 2008   Rolf, I read somewhere that you were writing a book on PLO focusing on 6-max/deep stacked play is this true and if so do you have a release date in mind Regards Paul Rolf answers: Yes, Paul. We want to finish the script before the end of the year, so that we can get the book released in (or just before) the spring of 2009. I say "we", because the book has a special section written by Rob Hollink, someone that I have played PLO with for many years, and who thinks about the game in a highly interesting manner. He now plays shorthanded PLO for *much* higher stakes than I do, and in a pretty successful manner. Right now, the focus is obviously still on Secrets of Professional Poker I & II. Once part II will have hit the shelves, I will use this site to start providing some additional info about the new PLO book. What I can already give you is the title: "Secrets of Shorthanded Pot-Limit Omaha". 'skow' asks on Oct 2, 2008   Héé Rolf, Echt een mooie en interessante website! Ik heb deze week met de feestweek op nederpoker jouw omaha-boek gewonnen Ik vroeg me eigenlijk af, of je miss (nog) een keer een guestserie op Nederpoker.nl zou kunnen maken. Mits je hier niet te druk voor bent uiteraard! Ik ben ook benieuwd naar je nieuwe boek btw! (zie guestbook) Gr, Rolf answers: Hoi Skow, Nou toevallig ben ik pas benaderd om voor Nederpoker nog wat extra artikelen bij te dragen, oud danwel nieuw. Maar omdat ik zo druk bezig ben met mijn PLO boek & ook de tussenliggende release van zowel Secrets of Professional Poker I & II, heb ik hier simpelweg geen tijd voor. Wel staat er nog een vrij interessante serie over PLO exclusief op Nederpoker - die heb ik speciaal voor Nederpoker geschreven. (Heb je die al gelezen?) En verder heb ik natuurlijk mijn "Ace Speaks: Limit vs. No-Limit Hold'em" serie in Poker Magazine. Maar daar houdt het dan ook wel op - meer artikelen kan ik simpelweg niet persen uit mijn 1-vinger tikmachine. Bram asks on Sep 30, 2008   Hoi rolf ik kwam vandaag de volgende sitautie tegen. Utg+1 opent vrij loose en speelt op dat moment 27/22/7(3bet)/85(fold to 3-bet)/35(agf) Ik speel de hand verkeert in mijn ogen. maar wat is de beste optie in dit soort situaties?? Alleen callen en kijken hoe hij op de flop reageert?raise en besluiten weg te gooien na een 4-bet. of pushen? Ik vind dit soort situaties erg lastig. Zoek te vaak de cruciale flips op. Alvast dank voor je reactie Seat 1: Breckam111 (11575 in chips) Seat 2: Skinny1980 (5345 in chips) Seat 3: njrspaa (12260 in chips) Seat 4: hyepowere (11660 in chips) Seat 5: malacka001 (21833 in chips) Seat 6: Ronin Harper (22027 in chips) Seat 7: IONA06 (9220 in chips) Seat 8: SpotlightMed (17440 in chips) Seat 9: msch101941 (9900 in chips) Breckam111: posts the ante 50 Skinny1980: posts the ante 50 njrspaa: posts the ante 50 hyepowere: posts the ante 50 malacka001: posts the ante 50 Ronin Harper: posts the ante 50 IONA06: posts the ante 50 SpotlightMed: posts the ante 50 msch101941: posts the ante 50 Skinny1980: posts small blind 300 njrspaa: posts big blind 600 *** HOLE CARDS *** Dealt to Breckam111 [Td Tc] hyepowere: folds malacka001: raises 1183 to 1783 Ronin Harper: folds IONA06: folds SpotlightMed: folds msch101941: folds Breckam111: raises 2417 to 4200 Skinny1980: folds njrspaa: folds malacka001: raises 6600 to 10800 Breckam111: raises 725 to 11525 and is all-in malacka001: calls 725 *** FLOP *** [6s 4s 3d] *** TURN *** [6s 4s 3d] [2c] *** RIVER *** [6s 4s 3d 2c] [Ks] *** SHOW DOWN *** malacka001: shows [Kd As] (a pair of Kings) Breckam111: shows [Td Tc] (a pair of Tens) malacka001 collected 24400 from pot *** SUMMARY *** Total pot 24400 | Rake 0 Board [6s 4s 3d 2c Ks] Seat 1: Breckam111 (button) showed [Td Tc] and lost with a pair of Tens Seat 2: Skinny1980 (small blind) folded before Flop Seat 3: njrspaa (big blind) folded before Flop Seat 4: hyepowere folded before Flop (didn't bet) Seat 5: malacka001 showed [Kd As] and won (24400) with a pair of Kings Seat 6: Ronin Harper folded before Flop (didn't bet) Seat 7: IONA06 folded before Flop (didn't bet) Seat 8: SpotlightMed folded before Flop (didn't bet) Seat 9: msch101941 folded before Flop (didn't bet) Rolf answers: Hoi Bram, Wat je goed moet beseffen is dat je een stack hebt van minder dan 20 big blinds, en dat terwijl de ante-fase reeds is begonnen. Niet echt een situatie waar je nog heel veel leeway hebt. Dus als je TT opraapt in zo'n situatie, dan zou ook ik geneigd zijn die hand vrij agressief uit te spelen. Kijk, je M is iets meer dan 8, dus op zich *hoef* je nog niet in paniek te raken, en kun je dus enigszins marginale handen nog wel folden. In dit geval zou je TT inderdaad als een beetje marginaal kunnen zien, aangezien de UTG geen absurde stats heeft en hier bovendien in EP raist in een full game. Echter, ik zou hier ook niet flatcallen. Net als jij zou ik reraisen. Immers, je hebt zeer waarschijnlijk de beste hand, en folden sluit de betting niet, is alsnog 15% van je stack, je weet niet waar je staat, bent kwetsbaar om na de flop uit de pot te worden gezet, en geeft bovendien een zwakkere hand goedkoop de kans de flop te zien / jou te outfloppen. Plus, als je hier reraist en iedereen foldt, dan kun je 1783+900+450=3133 aan te stack toevoegen - voor een bijna 30% stack increase! Dit is zo'n flinke hoeveelheid, dat ik als ik jou was niet eens het risico had willen lopen je opponent met AJ of AQ de flop te laten zien. Ik zou dus een grotere & committed reraise hebben gemaakt. In dit geval had dat niks uitgemaakt hoor (opponent had met AK sowieso nooit weggelegd), maar door vrij klein te reraisen nodig je eigenlijk een opponent uit om tegen je te shoven met de gedachte dat er misschien nog fold equity is, terwijl als je groter & committed reraist, het de opponent duidelijk is dat jij niet meer zal passen en hij dus puur & alleen op basis van hand strength en / of odds zal kunnen callen. En er zijn natuurlijk minder handen / situaties waar iemand profitable een grote bet kan *callen* dan zelf shoven. Ron asks on Sep 20, 2008   Hi Rolf I read you PLO book and despite im a total PLO -beginner shortstack works in livegames 5-5 and 5-20 amazingly good. However i dont have an idea how to play the 6 handed tables in the internet(fullring is nearly dead)with an adjusted shortstackstrategy. My Questions: Where do i find more on 6hnd shortstack? If you have content on that i would buy it even if its not in print. What are the PLO correct stats for 6hnd play(deep) and what stats are correct for shortstacks. What stats do you use for pokeracehud showing up? Any tips are really welcome. ty Rolf answers: Hi Ron, My answer will probably be disappointing to you: to my knowledge, there is no shortstack 6-max advice available in print. In fact, I don't shortstack myself in 6-max! I don't think it's very good strategy to buy in for the minimum in 6-max, I think in the range 30-40BB would be better (for the reasons given in my book). In the spring of 2009, I will have Secrets of Shorthanded Pot-Limit Omaha released... but also there there will be no more than 10 or maybe 15 pages on shortstack play in 6-max. I always write about how *I* play... and as I have shortstacked in 6-max only for limited time (only when I made the transition from full-ring to 6-max), I simply don't have the same in-depth knowledge here as I have for full-ring. Also, as I play strictly on T6 now where it's not possible / allowed to use PT/PAHUD, I also have no clear answer for you here. Hope my answer is still of any use to you, man. Edward asks on Sep 20, 2008   Rolf, This was near the money of the 1k today, I think I'm about 30 pct win 5 pct tie if he has what he's representing, I'm about 1/3 avg if I fold, most of my table are not good PLO players. I think if I call turn and hit my hand, he's calling 100 pct, I ended up folding but curious of your thoughts? Thanks, and good luck. PokerStars Game #20540961814: Tournament #200800030, $1000+$50 Omaha Pot Limit - Level X (400/800) - 2008/09/19 21:43:00 ET Table '200800030 35' 9-max Seat #1 is the button Seat 1: michaelsc (30507 in chips) Seat 2: liberace (49507 in chips) Seat 3: ELSei (17793 in chips) Seat 4: NYC P.I.M.P (4165 in chips) Seat 5: the_schmenx (19446 in chips) Seat 6: Skjervøy (78730 in chips) Seat 7: GRinDer444 (66390 in chips) Seat 8: dankness3 (29770 in chips) Seat 9: MangosPapa (19470 in chips) liberace: posts small blind 400 ELSei: posts big blind 800 *** HOLE CARDS *** Dealt to the_schmenx [9h Jh 3d Ad] NYC P.I.M.P: folds the_schmenx: calls 800 Skjervøy: folds GRinDer444: calls 800 dankness3: folds MangosPapa: folds michaelsc: folds liberace: calls 400 ELSei: checks *** FLOP *** [As Kd Td] liberace: checks ELSei: checks the_schmenx: checks GRinDer444: bets 3200 liberace: folds ELSei: folds the_schmenx: calls 3200 *** TURN *** [As Kd Td] [3c] the_schmenx: checks GRinDer444: bets 9225 the_schmenx said, "gb" the_schmenx: folds Uncalled bet (9225) returned to GRinDer444 the_schmenx said, "grrrr" GRinDer444 collected 9600 from pot *** SUMMARY *** Total pot 9600 | Rake 0 Board [As Kd Td 3c] Seat 1: michaelsc (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet) Seat 2: liberace (small blind) folded on the Flop Seat 3: ELSei (big blind) folded on the Flop Seat 4: NYC P.I.M.P folded before Flop (didn't bet) Seat 5: the_schmenx folded on the Turn Seat 6: Skjervøy folded before Flop (didn't bet) Seat 7: GRinDer444 collected (9600) Seat 8: dankness3 folded before Flop (didn't bet) Seat 9: MangosPapa folded before Flop (didn't bet) Rolf answers: Hmmm.... It looks like you are clearly below average, while your opponent has a pretty big stack. In full-ring PLO with low blinds / no antes, there is no need to push the panic button too soon. However, in this case, if I were you, I would still have taken much more initiative. I would have bet out small on the flop, mostly to represent AA/KK or QJ, and when someone would raise me I would probably reraise pot to simply represent QJ for the nuts, possibly with redraw. As your big-stacked opponent has just limped behind you, he probably won't have AAA or KKK, and thus might not be able to stand the pressure. And even if he *has* QJ for the current nuts, your hand could still have about 40% equity. Plus, if you get it in on the flop, you at least are secured of a payoff by the nut straight who might fold if the turn would have been a diamond. So, to give you the concrete answer: I would NEVER have check-called the flop oop. I would either have chek-folded or check-raised, mostly to avoid the turn problems that you now face after your flop check-call and a blank on the turn. Given the stack-size, I like check-raising pot here, although I actually prefer the combo "bet out small on flop, if raised reraise pot" even better - for the reasons given above. *If* you play this dangerous starting hands from early position (dangerous because too many holes & gaps; this hand is MUCH better in position), then you should be willing to represent a wide range of strong holdings after the flop. And with the nutflush draw + a gutshot nut straight, you are in the pleasant situation that if even after excessive flop action of you reraising and getting called, you will only rarely have less than 32% equity with two cards to come. This is good enough IMO to commit fully on the flop, where your check-raise or reraise will easily get rid of (currently better) hands like ATxx or KQTx, meaning you will have sufficient fold equity. Steve asks on Sep 17, 2008   Hallo Rolf, Ik heb een aantal maanden terug jouw boek aangeschaft en daar wil ik je zeer mee complimenteren. Ik ben aardig bezig met het oefenen van PLOmaha hi op de laagste stakes, puur om de theorie te implementeren in mijn spel. Toch komen er vaak situaties voor waarbij ik zo snel niet weet wat nou de perfecte play is, zo ook in de volgende situatie. (overigens niet zelf gespeeld, maar tegengekomen op internet) Hero zit op de button met Qc/10c/Qd/8s in een six-handed PLO hi game waar iedereen minstens met 100BB zit. Net aan tafel, geen specifieke reads op spelers. UTG limpt, cut-off raist naar 4BB en hero besluit te callen, net als beide blinds en de limper. We zien dus met vijf mensen de flop met 20BB in de pot. De flop is Kc/Jc/5d. Hero flopt dus een OESFD. UTG checkt waarna de PFR 12BB bet. Wat doet Hero nu? Aan de ene kant denk ik potten die hand, waarschijnlijk veel Fold Equity tegen PFR, desnoods veel outs en tegen AAxx/KJxx doet de hand het goed. Aan de andere kant is het zo dat er nog 4 spelers na hero aan de beurt zijn. Mocht hero potten en 1 van deze spelers komt over the top, dan kijkt hij vrijwel zeker tegen een set of een betere draw aan. Maar als ik (als uiteindelijk enige speler) call, dan is mijn hand behoorlijk face-up en zal ik bij een hit waarschijnlijk weinig value op de turn kunnen halen van de handen uit de range waarmee de PFR bet. Zou een mini-raise hier gepast zijn, om het initiatief te houden en toch nog eventueel te kunnen folden? Rolf, zou jij me misschien kunnen vertellen wat hier de beste play is? Ik zou graag je reactie willen horen. Ik denk dat hier misschien wel een leak in mijn spel kan zitten omdat ik vaak niet genoeg op de situatie van de hand let bij draws. Groetjes, Stephan Rolf answers: Mwah... Moeilijk te zeggen. Ik ben licht voorstander van gewoon pot raisen hier. Vind callen een redelijke optie, met de minraise als meest gelukkige van de 3. De opties in vogelvlucht: OPTIE 1: CALL 6.5/10 Positief: Hoe meer callers je nog kunt meekrijgen door alleen te callen, des te betere prijs je krijgt op je draw. Negatief: Je kunt moeilijkheden krijgen op de turn. Als dat een blank is kan de cutoff mogelijk zelfs met een marginale hand als AAxx of AKQx besluiten gewoon de pot te zetten, en dsat is niet goed voor jou - niet in de laatste plaats omdat jij precies het soort hand heeft dat hij verwacht. Ook negatief: Door alleen te callen zou iemand met een paar + nut flush draw kunnen besluiten een potsized check-raise te make, terwijl als JIJ potraist, hij mogelijk zal FOLDEN - en dat komt jouw lagere flush draw ten goede. OPTIE 2: MINRAISE 5/10 Positief: Je krijgt initiatief. Negatief: Als opponent jou leest op een goede draw, flatcallt hij waarschijnlijk jouw raise, en bij een blank op de turn zet hij dan pot tegen jou in. Kortom: Er is makkelijke verdediging tegen jouw play. OPTIE 3: POTRAISE 7/10 Positief: Als niemand top of midden set heeft, kun je de pot waarschijnlijk al op de flop binnenhalen. Potraise drukt mogelijk A-hoog flush draw uit de pot wat jouw equity GIGANTISCH verhoogt. Opponenten zullen misschien denken dat je een gemaakte hand hebt ipv een draw, wat betekent dat een QT97 soort hand, mogelijk ook met een kleine flush draw, denkt een berg outs te hebben terwijl ze eigenlijk een mega-dog zijn. De kans hierop is misschien niet groot, maar het scenario dat de beste made hand fold en dat je in de pot blijft met weaker hand / weaker draw IS aanwezig. Negatief: Hoewel je hand sterk is, ben je zelfs tegen de simpele hand top paar + aas hoog flush draw gewoon een significante dog. In dat geval investeer je mogelijk te veel om relatief weinig te winnen. Hermy asks on Sep 15, 2008   Hoi Rolf, Wat vind je wat betreft de komende Dutch Open van 24 oktober wat in feite een finale is, dat tijdens de eerste 3 levels nog spelers via de reservelijst kunnen instromen. Persoonlijk vind ik dat een finale niet waardig. Je hebt 150 spelers doe het daarmee. Rolf answers: Ach, ik denk toch vooral als speler, en in termen van hoe iets zo winstgevend mogelijk kan zijn. Ik houd altijd van ofwel heel KLEINE velden, danwel van zoveel mogelijk spelers in een toernooi. Als het er toch al 150 zijn, wel dan zeg ik: Laaat die alternates ook maar komen. Immers, de goede spelers komen toch wel, dus alle 'extra' spelers zijn gewoonlijk de zwakkeren. Helemaal de alternates. Immers, wie zich niet op tijd inschrijft en dan wel bereid is het zelfde geld te betalen als terwijl men pas veel later in dat event kan instromen, wel die persoon is wat mij betreft van harte welkom. Neemt niet weg dat wat er nu nog ligt en wat moet doorgaan voor officieus Nederlands Kampioenschap, natuurlijk niet veel meer is dan gewoon een enkel, eendags toernooi open voor iedereen, en dat gewoon gewonnen gaat worden door de GELUKKIGSTE speler. Lang dus niet de prestigieuze titel die het een beetje was, of misschien beter gezegd: wat men in ieder geval het plan had ervan te maken. michel van drunen asks on Sep 11, 2008   Hey Rolf, Allereerst mijn complimenten voor je leuke en leerzame boeken. PokerAce las ik in een dag uit en jouw boek over limit holdem vind ik ook erg interessant (alleen soms moeilijk om goed te volgen). Mijn vragen zijn de volgende: - Hoe bereken je de preflop/flop/turn/river odds van een pokerhand het makkelijkste? - Daarnaast ben ik benieuwd in welke situaties je een hoog pocket paar of AK moet limpen en wanneer je deze moet raisen. Ik ben onlangs een aantal keer flink nat gegaan met KK of AA tegen bijvoorbeeld J3! (na een raise 2j's op flop) en KK vs QJ met (QJ op flop). Als ik zo'n tophand heb geraisd vind ik het moeilijk om deze weg te leggen. Daarnaast ben ik benieuwd of het nog wel zo slim is om tophanden diep ik een tournooi met gemiddelde stack en relatief hoge blinds te raisen preflop. Ik kijk uit naar je reactie! Rolf answers: Hoi Michel, Thanks voor je aardige woorden. Over de odds kan ik kort zijn. De meest voorkomende odds staan allemaal al standaard in de meeste pokerboeken, dus de meest voorkomende situaties daarvoor zul je de percentages zowel met 1 als met 2 kaarten te komen makkelijk uit je hoofd kunnen leren. Belangrijk daarbij is ook nog gewoon de percentages per out zo'n beetje globaal te kennen, zodat je eigenlijk te allen tijde wel weet wat de winstkansen en dus de benodigde potgrootte is. Bij twijfelsituaties of concrete vragen maak je gewoon gebruik van bijv. www.propokertools.com om simulaties uit te voeren, en zo je inzicht verder te vergroten. Ik limp zelden met grote paren of AK, ook niet in deep-money situaties. (Sterker, daar maak ik gewoonlijk nog wat GROTERE preflop raises.) In toernooien en zelfs in sommige cash games is het vaak wel aan te raden om postflop iets meer pot control te spelen. Stel, je hebt bijv. AA op een JJx flop tegen 1 of 2 opponenten. Je doel is dan vaak om geld te verdienen met de hand als 'ie goed is, maar om tegelijkertijd NIET broke te gaan als iemand toevallig een J heeft. De manier om dit te doen kan bijv. zijn de flop te betten, indien gecallt op de turn terug te checken, en op de river te betten als de opponent checkt of gewoon te callen als hij bet. Op deze manier probeer je op TWEE straten geld te krijgen, en niet op drie - en hiermee vind je gezien de relatieve kracht van je hand gewoonlijk een goede balans tussen maximaliseren van winst en minimaliseren van verlies / risico. eric asks on Sep 8, 2008   oops my bad - the reveiws are up already... Rolf answers: No worries man. Hope they are of use. eric asks on Sep 8, 2008   2 more questions rolf... when are your reviews coming out on Hwang and Farha; and 2nd, just noticed that your shades are worn upside down like marcel luske - who started that trend 1st? thanks again... Rolf answers: Actually, these are all old pictures. Nowadays I always use my special PokerSpecs glasses. These pics with upside down glasses are more a bit of a 'joke' where I happened to perform well in an event, and then kept it liker that. (Marcel had always claimed that he wore his glasses like that strictly because it allowed him to see the flop better. And when I noticed that indeed he was right in this respect, I sterted doing it for a while as well - at least until I got my new glasses that make it even easier again to see the flop, the hole cards and that are better against fatigue on the eyes. So yes, quite clearly Marcel was first.) Eric asks on Sep 8, 2008   Hi rolf, it's eric again. what is the best play on this scenario? on a 6 handed sh-game and with deep money (150x bb stacks), i raise pre-flop with A987ds - i've been very active doing my 3x the bb raise. the villain who has position on me is a very good player. Playing with him a couple of times, he likes to "play your hand" more than his (meaning he mainly reacts to the action that goes on the table) i flop the nuts AA7 and decide to bet pot (normally i never bet pot on a board like this but he has seen me bluff a couple of times when i bet pot). he flat calls. turn is a 9 so i still have the nuts. i bet pot again and villain calls again. if the river is a brick (any card lower than 9), would you rather check and induce a bluff 9 (or even a bet from AK) or just lead a value bet on the river? in this case i think checking makes more given the info i know regarding villain's propensity to bet when you show weakness. but with no info on the player, is it better to just lead out or is it too obvious that i have the nuts? Rolf answers: Hi Eric, Given your actions up to this point, I would simply bet again if a brick would come. As it looks, your opponent probably has a hand like AQJ5 or AK44 or so, or - a bit less likely - an underfull. Once you bet pot twice, he probably figures you for a fairly good hand already, so the "induce a bluff" concept won't be of all that much use - as for him to call the turn I think he definitely has an A. At it looks, he is probably more likely to just check back a (for this situation) marginal hand on the river, rather than try to bet you off a (slightly) better hand. So, even though a river bet by you would be a fairly obvious value bet, I would still bet the river. Depending on your estimation of the psychology of the situation and the characteristics of your opponent, you could choose a fairly small (say, slightly less than half pot) bet or even a 'suspicious' third full pot bet. But in all honesty, if the opponent is good at reading hands, he won't call you anyway once you make a third bet - yet he would also know that betting with a good-but-non-nut would be ill-timed as your river check might very well be a trap. My guess that he called the turn in the hopes of a) getting a free showdown with an Axxx type of holding, knowing that if you would make a THIRD bet you are definitely beat, and b) getting a big payday if on the river he would hit one of his kickers. (I assume he would have something like an A with at least two cards >9 in this case.) Izzie Nutz asks on Sep 6, 2008   how long can T6 keep going when there are hardly any players on there.? Rolf answers: Hi Izzie, I hope a very long time. In a few days time, I will meet my boss in Barcelona, and I hope we can discuss some possible improvements while we're there. I will update the results of our discussions here on this site. David asks on Sep 4, 2008   Hoi Rolf, ik heb je boek PokerFace gelezen, en ik wil je een compliment geven! Goed boek, leuk geschreven! Maar ik heb ook een vraag. Zijn er bij jouw weten nog meer boeken over NL Hold'em in het Nederlands?? En dan geen boek voor dummies^^ Succes met alles wat je gaat doen, en ik hoor het graag van je. Groet David Rolf answers: Hoi David, Eigenlijk alle Nederlandse boeken zijn wel een beetje basic. Dat komt ook omdat we een kleine markt hebben, en als je dan alleen maar richt op het wat hogere segment (qua spelniveau), dan verkoop je gewoon te weinig boeken. Specifiek over NLH gaat het boek Poker Unlimited. Geen slecht boek, maar het is ook zeker niet meer dan een mager zesje. Wat betreft Nederlandse stukken zou ik PokerMagazine lezen (aantal goede vaste columnisten), het PokerNews forum checken (goede stukken van bijv. Julien Nuijten & Pappe Ruk), of op betaalde videosites als NederPoker rondkijken. Tom Tedrick asks on Sep 1, 2008   Thanks very much for the info on Omaha hi-lo!!! Your book on pot limit Omaha hi is my poker bible, and I have been trying to apply the short stack principles in it to Omaha hi-lo. Your book is like a graduate seminar on poker, yet easy to read and understand, and every page is filled with valuable information which I frequently underline in red for future reference. I am planning to pre-order your new book from Amazon in a few days, along with Mark Tenner's book on Omaha hi-lo to get free shipping. But are there any other books you would recommend instead of the Tenner book, for someone primarily interested in Omaha hi-lo, focusing on short stack strategy in ring games? I have Bill Boston's book which I like very much, also Hwang's book and Ciffone's book. T6 looks like a very nice site, but they don't seem to allow American players. Are there any plans to make it possible for American players to play there? I wish you good health and financial prosperity, and especially hope that you can write many more of your very fine poker books, which have given me a great deal of intellectual pleasure. Rolf answers: Thanks man - I appreciate it. As to your comments: 1. No, T6 accepts no americans. (at least, not to my knowledge.) 2. Other than the books you mention, there might be some info on the following sites: www.bet-the-pot.com, www.playwinningpoker.com and www.winningonlinepoker.com. Rod McGrath asks on Aug 30, 2008   Hi Rolf, Im from Australia, and would like to thank you persoally for your book "Secrets of Professional PLO"..it has turned me into a winner in a very small sample but im loving the game.... When is the "Part II" book being released and when it does may i get a signed copy please (paying of course)? Love the new site......thanking you Rod Rolf answers: Hehe... I'm not really the "signed copy" type of guy. But if you just bring the book with you to one of the events where I play, I'll happily sign it. Expect the release to be somewhere in the spring of 2009. I'd rather have an absolute top book a little bit later than that, that a merely-decent-book-with-some-clear-errors-though-simply-because-of-time-pressure. Hope & expect that this is exactly in line with what people want & expect of me. Thanks for your kind words! Stuart Robinson asks on Aug 29, 2008   Hi Rolf, I am in the process of setting up a new Poker web site and would be interested in obtaining a UK distribution license for your DVDs. Could you let me know if you would be interested in such and what the cost of such a license would be? Many thanks Rolf answers: Hi, Best to just get in touch directly with Chris White from www.expertholdem.com. He can provide you with all the direct (& correct) information. Tom Tedrick asks on Aug 28, 2008   I would be interested in your thinking on shortstack play in pot limit Omaha hi-lo (full ring games) Rolf answers: Well, in theory this should not be all that much different from PLO high. Especially if there would be one loose-(over)aggressive player in your game, you could simply limp-reraise him with your A264ss and AKK3ds types of holdings, just like in PLO high. However, players like this are a bit hard to find in PLO/8, and especially if there would be loose-passive players who are used to playing limit, well then playing a BIG stack could be the best way to go after their entire stack, rather than just settle for trying to double / triple up. Also, as there tend to be fewer PLO/8 games, it will be harder to profitably shortstack multitable, as you could do in PLO high. (Even here it has become harder though, due to the increase in shorthanded games and the decrease in full-ring.) Eric asks on Aug 28, 2008   Hi Rolf, greetings from Manila. nice to see you are back! looking forward to your review on hwang's and Fanha's PLO books - i already ordered them online see you on the upcoming pokerstars wcoop? Rolf answers: Hi Eric, Nice to see that you are back to. But no, as I play strictly on T6, you won't find me at any other site. Cathal Freeley asks on Aug 27, 2008   hi rolf, welcome back, where have you been, I've been searching for you for months!!! Like the new look though. best, Cathal in Ireland Rolf answers: Hey Cathal, I won't bore you with all the details. Let's say that a combination of a few problems, plus me being a bit lax here / a bit too trustworthy in some respects, has led to the site being down way too long. But I have used this time to basically renew the site a bit, choose a new design, and make everything just a little bit better than before. I hope that from now on everything will be the same as it always was - with just one major change: that I will update more frequently than I used to. Dennis R. asks on Aug 25, 2008   Heej Rolf, wil je nog ff feleciteren met je mooie resultaten tijdens de WSOP 2008. Maar ik heb ook een vraag, ik speel zelf geregeld poker en dan veel met vrienden en ook veel in Holland Casino te Venlo. Ik hou heel erg van toernooien spelen en doe dit dan ook meestal in Venlo. Heb al een aantal mooie resultaten geboekt en een overwinning. Maar eigenlijk wil ik mijn toernooien uitbreiden dan alleen in Venlo. Oftewel de VIP-days spelen die in alle HC's zijn in Nederland. Nu ben ik maar student en heb ik niet de bankroll om het te kunnen spelen maar in mijn ogen zeker wel de drive en de skill (nouja, laat ik zeggen dat ik zeker geen beginneling ben). Want dat heb ik in Venlo al laten zien. Heb tot nu toe 1 iemand die ik heb leren kennen (versloeg hem heads up )in Venlo die het wel ziet zitten in mij en die mij wil backen. Maar 1 iemand is niet genoeg. Weet jij hoe ik dat aan moet pakken? Moet ik mensen vragen? Moet ik ergens bekendbaar maken dat ik backers zoek? Heb jij bijvoorbeeld backers gehad en hoe heb je dat aangepakt? Succes in Utrecht deze week. Dennis R. Rolf answers: Hoi Dennis, Om je de waarheid te zeggen zou ik helemaal niet met backers werken. Mijn visie: Als je niet de bankroll hebt om live toernooien te spelen, speel ze dan ook niet. Veel beter is als je je met je eigen geld langzaam hebt opgewerkt. Dan doet verlies namelijk extra pijn, en gewoonlijk betekent dit dat je spel dus ook op hoog niveau / +EV is. (Immers, anders had je je bankroll niet zo kunnen opbouwen.) Normaal gesproken lopen deals met backers vroeg of laat altijd op stront uit. Immers, zelfs vrienden willen toch op een gegeven moment enig rendement zien. en als je nog niet zo heel ervaren bent in live toernooien op dit niveau, wel dan is het al moeilijk genoeg break-even te spelen (immers, oppositie sterk & veel juice + ook nog fooi min of meer verplicht), laat staan dat je dan ook nog zoveel wint dat je backer(s) tevreden zijn. Dus: nee, ik heb nooit backers gehad. Tot aan mijn sponsordeal heb ik alles altijd op eigen kracht gedaan, en ik geloof dus dat dit ook echt (op lange termijn) de juiste weg is. Maar als je het toch wilt wel zorg dan dat je prominent post op forums als PN, PI & PC... dan kweek je meer ruimte / goodwill voor eventuele BAP's. Jelle Jansen asks on Aug 25, 2008   Hey rolf slootboom hoe is ie, vette site wel hoor, | Back je me voor de SM kalm aan loater Rolf answers: Thanks Jelle, ik waardeer het. Maar over het backen: Nee man - ik ben te gierig. angelo a asks on Aug 24, 2008   hey rolf ik wil geen stlker zijn maar nog een vraagje jou contract is dat een bepaalde tijd of een x aantal toernooien gr Rolf answers: Hehe. Als je een mooi meisje bent mag je me best stalken hoor... maar gezien je voornaam zal dat wel niet het geval zijn. Contract is voor 1 jaar, en T6 heeft een eenzijdige optie voor nog een jaar. Dat wil zeggen: Men kan, mocht men dat wensen, mij zonder opgaaf van reden aan het eind van het jaar op straat zetten. angelo aalderink asks on Aug 23, 2008   hey rolf mooie site heb je je stukken op pokercity lees ik ook erg graag.maar speel je ook veel live cashgames en als je het doet wat voor speel je ohama of holdem en wat is is het hoogste wat gespeeld heb live Rolf answers: Thanks Angelo. Sinds twee jaar speel ik eigenlijk nooit meer live cash games, omdat ik nu geswitched ben naar a) live toernooien (en daar speel ik nooit side games omdat ik me wil focussen op 1 ding) en b) online cash games. Tot die tijd was onze vaste partij de €10-10 blinds PLO in Amsterdam, minimale buy-in €500. Soms werd dat ook €20-20/1000 of zelfs €40-40-2000. De duurste game die ik gespeeld heb live was de €50-100/5000 game in de Cercle tijdens de MCOP. Maar eigenlijk was dit te hoog voor me, en teveel uit mijn 'comfort zone' - ik heb het dan ook slechts 1 dag gespeeld. (Gelukkig wel met een goed resultaat.) Ik speel nu wel NLH online, maar live is mijn ervaring beperkt. Hoogste was €10-10/500, en dat speelde ik alleen als er geen betere (lees: PLO) games waren. Nu word ik er wel steeds beter in, maar speel het nog steeds niet graag om heel hoge inzetten, of tegen heel sterke oppositie. Tim M asks on Aug 23, 2008   Hi Ace, Recently I have been watching a fair amount of training videos on PLO. The coaches seem to advocate 3 betting in position with hands like medium suited rundowns. This makes me a bit squeamish. It seems akin to 3 betting with 87s in NL hold 'em: something else which makes me feel similarly squeamish. I am just wondering what your opinion of this play in PLO, as to the more natural play of cold calling. Is this more a function of stack size and/or opponent? I am trying to work on my PLO game and get better, but this 3-betting with less than premium hands business really has me confused. Thanks, Rolf, Love the new site! Rolf answers: Thanks Tim. Actually, I have been experimenting with this play a lot. Now that I only play shorthanded, it is imperative to keep initiative in the pots that I play, especially to pick up pots postflop when no one has much. Even in full-ring games, I used to occasionally reraise with ds medium rundowns for a) deception, and b) to secure a decent payoff those times I actually had AA and would play it the same way. BTW, stacksize IS indeed very important here. You would like to make these plays only a) in position, b) against predictable players or players who think YOU are predictable, c) you need to be deepstacked so that a re-reraise cannot shut you out of the pot, and d) preferably you don't want any shortstacked players behind you who could simply move all-in with any decent hands now that there's so much (possibly dead) money out there. Dansgek (Pokerinfo) asks on Aug 21, 2008   Hey Rolf, Leuk dat je site weer up is. Ga je de 440 FO bij de Summer Classics ook spelen ? Eens kijken of de tafels weer gek worden Rolf answers: Hehe. Ja hoor, ik ben er bij; speel alle events tijdens de Summer Classics. Chupa asks on Aug 21, 2008   Komt er ook nog een PLO DVD set van je uit? Rolf answers: Nee, Chupa. Daar is even sprake van geweest meteen na de release van mijn 4DVD set over hold'em. Maar omdat de makers van de serie "Expert Hold'em" heten, is het plan in de ijskast gegaan. Vind ik ook niet erg, want eigenlijk vind ik boeken schrijven ook leuker. Het tweede PLO boek is nu in de maak - zie ook de homepage en mijn laatste PokerCity column.

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