How to Play NL Hold ‘em with a Short Stack

March 1, 2025 - by admin · Filed Under General Poker Leave a Comment 

This is a guest post from March Madness Picks:

Inevitably at some point in your poker playing career you're going to find yourself sitting at a table with a short stack. Hopefully it will be the final table, but if not a good strategy just might help to get you there. The most popular strategy (and usually the only logical option you have) is a push/fold one.

Short Stacking in Tournament Play

The first thing you need to do when you are short stacked in a tournament is to assess how long you have before you will have to go all in. For example, if you have 1000 in chips and the blinds are 250/500 it won't be long before the blinds will take your stack anyway. Depending on your table position, you may have one hand or several before the blinds hit you. If they hit before you make your move, then they will be making the move for you. The better option is to take the first decent hand that comes along and go all in.

If you have a short stack that allows you to play several hands, then you have a little more breathing room but ultimately are still looking for a chance to push. Knowing your opponents is especially crucial at this point. Those with bigger stacks know that you are going to have to make a move, and a smart, aggressive player may challenge you. Another short-stacked player however is unlikely to, as is a tight player, making it possible for you to build your stack steadily by stealing blinds. Alternately, if you happen to luck into a hand you would be happy to put your chips behind anyway, the aggressive players building the pot could ultimately be the ones that keep you in the game.

Final Table Strategy

If you are sitting at the final table, you have some additional factors to consider. One, how many of your opponents are also short-stacked? How many players have significantly larger stacks than you? What place would you be in now, and what's the payout difference between that place and the next highest one? If there is another short-stacked player slowly fading away, and the difference between the payout for this placing and the next is significant, it may be smarter to avoid pushing until after they do if your stack can hold out that long. This does not mean you should pass on hands with potential, just that you might wait to push, ensuring that if you do go out, you'll earn the extra payout of the improved placing.

Ultimately a short-stacked player has only one option—to push. If you do not take that option you will lose anyway, so the basis of your strategy will always be choosing the best time to make your final stand.

What Is Slow Playing in Poker?

March 12, 2025 - by admin · Filed Under General Poker Leave a Comment 

Slow playing is often referred to as the opposite of bluffing. Where the point of a bluff is to bet in a way that implies you have a stronger hand than you actually do, the point of slow playing is to underbet on a strong hand to give your opponents the impression that it is weaker than it actually is. To many beginners this seems counter-intuitive, but when the blinds are big and many players are quick to fold, slow playing may be the best way to get the pot your hand deserves.

When to Slow Play a Hand

There are a few conditions that make a slow play the optimal move. For one, you should be very certain that you already have the best hand. Furthermore, you should have plenty of outs available to improve your hand, as you are allowing your opponents to draw better hands too. The pot should be low (initially) and you should feel certain that betting aggressively will cause other players to fold, significantly reducing the final value of your pot. Slow playing is one of the few moves where an early position has an advantage, because it tells the players after you have a weak hand, whereas a late position player calling may just be satisfied with what has already been contributed to the pot.

Slow Playing Strategies

Suppose you are playing Hold 'em and are dealt a pair of oh-so desirable pocket Aces. As mentioned above, if you are in the final rounds and the blinds are high, a big bet will cause most players looking for a chance to go all in to fold. If you want to keep as many players contributing as possible, you have two options. First, you can check and hope someone else does the betting for you. Second, you can place a weak bet. Late in the game, many players are betting on marginal hands, so a weak bet is unlikely to wave any red flags.

Let's say the flop is AJ10 with the J10 suited. Obviously the flop has improved your hand significantly, and there is a good chance one of your hole cards is suited to the J10 for an outside chance at a flush or straight. Of course it is important to remember that this hand also offers outs to your opponents. Should one draw a straight, your three of a kind has been beaten. One of the biggest mistakes amateurs make when attempting a slow play is not knowing when to make their move. If you are satisfied with the pot and your hand is now being threatened (as in the example above), then you should bet more aggressively the second round. Only slow play a hand as long as you are sure that it is the best hand at the table.

PL Omaha Cash Game Tips

May 27, 2025 - by admin · Filed Under Omaha Strategy 2 Comments 

PL Omaha Cash Game Tip #1

If you’re going to take the plunge and become a regular at the pot limit Omaha cash games, then you’re going to need all the help you can get to keep your head above water. Even experienced Omaha players will tell you that pot limit Omaha is incredibly challenging, and that the big bets this game often features can make or break your whole bankroll. Still, if you find yourself winning regularly at the limit tables, and you feel you have the skills necessary to duke it out at pot limit Omaha, then read on for the PL Omaha cash game tips that are sure to save you some hurt.

Full TiltDid you know Full Tilt Poker has some of the best Omaha Poker action online? They have limits from $0.01 all the way up to $1000. There are also plenty of Omaha sit-n-gos and multi-table tournaments to satisfy your cravings. Check out the Full Tilt Review or Play Now.

PL Omaha Cash Game Tip #2- Watch Your Opponents

With so much riding on pot limit Omaha hands, you want to be absolutely sure that every bet you make is the right one. Never before has it been so important that you peg whatever opponents that you can. While most smart players choose a tight strategy for PL Omaha, some of the more aggressive players use the high stakes to push less experienced or courageous players around. Once you’ve got a good hand, don’t be afraid to stick to it. If you come up against a calling station, in most cases it can only end in your favor—either they’ll continue to pump what is ultimately going to be your pot, or they’ll eventually realize the seriousness of your bets and fold.

PL Omaha Cash Game Tip #3 – Choose Your Hands Wisely

This Omaha tip goes for any virtually any variation of the game, but in pot limit it’s especially important that you bide your time and place your bets carefully. With the three-card flop, it’s easy to convince yourself that it’s worth the initial betting just to see what you draw, but in pot limit even a single round of betting can get pretty expensive. Furthermore, if your hand remains mediocre you’ve got to make the same decision about the second round. This is how many players rationalize their bankroll to death. Just one more bet…just one more card. Remember that it’s not a game of luck so much as omaha strategy, and your strategy should be to minimize unnecessary losses.

Common mistakes of Omaha and Omaha Hi Lo

May 18, 2025 - by admin · Filed Under Omaha Strategy 1 Comment 

poker-cardsForgetting that you are playing Omaha and not Omaha H/L
This happens more than you think, you jump into a cash game and start playing for low without realizing it is not H/L. Be sure you double check.

Playing a hand that has three or four of a kind
Remember you can only use two of the cards, so throw the other one or two out the window. This already limits you from hitting a three of a kind with any community cards. Most of the time the best hand you are going to make out of this is just a pair or two pair depending what is on the board. Try to avoid playing these hands at all cost regardless if it is 3 aces.

Overplaying Ace/Two in Omaha H/L
Don't' fall in love with Ace/Two thinking you are invincible. Several hands there is no low to begin, so your hand is useless. Also you have to watch out for other people holding ace/two as well and it could get your quartered.

Going all in with no low
Another common mistake in omaha is going all in with no low.  This is especially true when it is heads up. If you go all in with a player that has low, the best you can do is win high and most likely be a split pot.

Full TiltDid you know Full Tilt Poker has some of the best Omaha Poker action online? They have limits from $0.01 all the way up to $1000. There are also plenty of Omaha sit-n-gos and multi-table tournaments to satisfy your cravings. Check out the Full Tilt Review or Play Now.


Not using 2 of your hole cards
Do not forget that two of the four cards of yours must be used and three from the community. So to every get a flush you must have two of the suit not just one and four cards in the community.

Seeing too many flops
Don't see too many pots in Omaha Poker games. Almost every flop you see you will tend to get a piece of it. This will make you chase the turn and river cards way too often, and thus costing you more of your chips.

Omaha High Low Strategy

May 18, 2025 - by admin · Filed Under Omaha Strategy Leave a Comment 

poker_cardsYou need extremely extensive math skills to play this game. There is no set strategy to playing Omaha. In fact, many professionals often have heated debates about this subject.

Omaha Hi/Lo Strategy Tips

Good starting hands in Omaha hi/lo would be A-A-2-3, suited aces, and A-2-Q-K. For a beginner, you should either just work on your hi cards or lo cards, until your comfortable with playing both. The less starting hands you play the better. A low hand is five different cards under 8 (8 included). Having ace suited is ideal. You also want to play hands like A2xx, 2345, and two high cards paired with two low cards.

I sometimes like to start hands from the small blind. Rather than being out of ‘position’ for the whole hand, I look at the small blind as one of the better positions in limit Omaha Hi/Lo. I can start the bet if I am at a table of passive players to raise the pot, I can check if I totally missed everything and am ‘surrendering’ and might get a free card. Or if I have a good hand, I have what I think is one of the more powerful plays. The small blind is the first position to check raise. I like that play because I want to increase the pot and get those drawing hands out that could beat me. Making them call a 2x limit bet makes the drawing odds much less for them. Since this is also a game of perception, if you check raise, then lead out with a bet, most opponents will perceive the strength of your hand to be better than it is.

Full TiltDid you know Full Tilt Poker has some of the best Omaha Poker action online? They have limits from $0.01 all the way up to $1000. There are also plenty of Omaha sit-n-gos and multi-table tournaments to satisfy your cravings. Check out the Full Tilt Review or Play Now.

I especially like that play if the button is a holdem player who has the ‘always raise in the button’ mantra. I can confidently check, knowing he’ll bet, and usually the button folds on the raise or the next lead out bet. That’s why I use the small blind as the best position in Limit Omaha Hi/Lo to attempt a bluff or semi bluff as well. With the promotion and popularity of the H.O.R.S.E games, I find there’s more interest in Omaha. I think the differences between playing in a tournament with escalating blinds and in a ring game are most evident in Omaha E/B. Tournaments can be well played by good holdem players (who play the person and position as much as the cards) once they learn the basics. Limit ring games (IMHO) are successfully played more on pot odds and the drawing possibilities of a hand.

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