Poker Tips from the Pros: Matt Ashton Plugs PLO Hi-Lo Leaks Pt. 2

22-12-2014, 08:35

We were fortunate enough to have World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner, Matt Ashton, take a gander at a $4.40 Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) Hi/Lo tournament that I played on PokerStars.

In the first part of the series Ashton evaluated eight hands. Here are another 10:

Hand #9

Blinds: 60/120

Seat 1: skyllasoll (6853 in chips) (SB)

Seat 2: KruCciAll (3140 in chips) (BB)

Seat 3: tabaza1 (4829 in chips)

Seat 4: vasandr62 (5521 in chips)

Seat 5: Andrew0208 (4271 in chips)

Seat 6: george-gr (7217 in chips)

Seat 7: ekta124 (5348 in chips)

Seat 8: mr omaha3500 (5824 in chips)

Seat 9: shurikenstar (10189 in chips) (OTB)

HERO: [2d Ac 7c 6d]

Action

There is a limp under the gun and one caller before Hero raises to 660 on the button. The initial limper calls, the second limper raises to 2,820, I raise to 9,300 and am all-in. Both players (who I cover) also call.

*** FLOP *** [Qh Qd 4c]

*** TURN *** [Qh Qd 4c] [4s]

*** RIVER *** [Qh Qd 4c 4s] [7d]

*** SHOW DOWN ***

ekta124: shows [Ah 3d Td 2c] (HI: a pair of Queens)

shurikenstar: shows [2d Ac 7c 6d] (HI: two pair, Queens and Sevens)

shurikenstar collected 1038 from side pot

tabaza1: shows [6c 8h 7h 9h] (HI: two pair, Queens and Sevens - lower kicker)

shurikenstar collected 14667 from main pot

No low hand qualified

Lee Davy: Here's another example of me going a little crazy with an A2 in my hand and a decent stack.

Matt Ashton: You are double suited, so equity is decent, but at the same time you get more value seeing a flop with deeper stacks. If tight players had limped I'd just limp as well.

In this tournament I'd probably pot it the first time round and probably just call the second time. Any flop with three high cards without your flush draw, and your equity, is negligible and you can save some money.

Hand #10

Blinds: 80/160

Seat 1: vanjjke (3300 in chips) (SB)

Seat 2: mimarosfil (7640 in chips) is sitting out (BB)

Seat 3: billygstar (5977 in chips)

Seat 4: Rookiend (4523 in chips)

Seat 5: Alienatu (5885 in chips)

Seat 6: onlythistime (4006 in chips)

Seat 7: sligoasassin (5982 in chips)

Seat 8: Joe Lutz (2163 in chips)

Seat 9: shurikenstar (21286 in chips) (OTB)

HERO: [Ts 8s 3c Ah]

Action

Villain opens to 320 in mid position and Hero flats from the button.

*** FLOP *** [7d 2s 4c]

Villain c-bets for 484, Hero raises to 2,332, Villain moves all-in for 5,565 and Hero calls.

*** TURN *** [7d 2s 4c] [Qh]

*** RIVER *** [7d 2s 4c Qh] [Jc]

*** SHOW DOWN ***

Alienatu: shows [Ac 8d Ad 7c] (HI: a pair of Aces; LO: 8,7,4,2,A)

shurikenstar: shows [Ts 8s 3c Ah] (HI: high card Ace; LO: 7,4,3,2,A)

Alienatu collected 6005 from pot

shurikenstar collected 6005 from pot

Lee Davy: I only call pre-flop because of my position. Is this too loose an open? Also, what are your comments regarding my bet sizing on the flop?

Matt Ashton: Without a nut suit I think it's too loose pre flop. I don't think you're ever supposed to raise/fold this flop so pot is the right size if you raise - and I would.

With it being a split pot game, and hands in both directions often being too strong to fold, the money just needs to go in very often.

Hand #11

Blinds: 100/200

Seat 1: vanjjke (3520 in chips) (OTB)

Seat 2: stfc_nuts (3710 in chips) (SB)

Seat 3: billygstar (6617 in chips) (BB)

Seat 4: Rookiend (4233 in chips)

Seat 5: Alienatu (4485 in chips)

Seat 6: onlythistime (4206 in chips)

Seat 7: sligoasassin (6467 in chips)

Seat 8: Joe Lutz (1653 in chips)

Seat 9: shurikenstar (22381 in chips)

HERO:[Qh Kc Tc 7h]

Action

Hero opens to 400 in the cutoff and Villain calls from the small blind.

*** FLOP *** [5s 2c Ah]

Hero bets 560 once checked to and villain folds.

Lee Davy: I included this hand because, up until this point, I had not played these types of hands. By this point in the tournament my stack was growing, as was my confidence, and I started playing very loose.

Matt Ashton: I like this open if the blinds are folding a lot. Stealing wide from late position works well and you can open up a lot from both button and cutoff.

This hand might be good to open in most situations from the cutoff.

Hand #12

Blinds: 100/200

Seat 1: vanjjke (3520 in chips)

Seat 2: stfc_nuts (3310 in chips) (OTB)

Seat 3: billygstar (6417 in chips) (SB)

Seat 4: Rookiend (4233 in chips) (BB)

Seat 5: Alienatu (4485 in chips)

Seat 6: onlythistime (4206 in chips)

Seat 7: sligoasassin (6467 in chips)

Seat 8: Joe Lutz (1653 in chips)

Seat 9: shurikenstar (22981 in chips)

HERO: [Ad Ks 3s 6s]

Action

Villain limps into the pot from early position, Hero raises to 900 from the hijack and Villain calls.

*** FLOP *** [9c As 9d]

Hero takes it down with an uncontested 750 bet.

Lee Davy: I was raising to isolate a weak player and play in position but is my hand too weak? And are there too many players to act behind me?

Matt Ashton: The king kicker adds a lot of value to this hand and with most stack sizes being around 17-20bb's this hand's value goes up a lot.

That said, unless you know the limper is playing a lot of junky hands you're not much better than 50% against his range and anyone else coming into the pot is bad news; so I think it’s a fold without a read the original limper is playing too loose.

As played, I like that you bet smaller on the flop than other times and could probably go even smaller too - around 1/5 pot.

Hand #13

Blinds: 1,000/2,000

Seat 1: flobadobweed (40101 in chips)

Seat 2: HarryThe RAT (20477 in chips) (OTB)

Seat 3: shurikenstar (185875 in chips) (SB)

Seat 4: Agggrrhhh (26862 in chips) (BB)

Seat 5: PJB_ACES (8446 in chips)

Seat 6: Spiewi 67 (64548 in chips)

Seat 7: zebra re (81919 in chips)

Seat 8: ramvas (14290 in chips)

Seat 9: lotse17 (36709 in chips)

HERO: [5d 3s 3h 2c]

Action

Villain raises to 7,000 from the cutoff and Hero calls from the small blind.

*** FLOP *** [Qc 3c Ah]

Hero checks, Villain bets 16,000, Hero check-raises to 64,000, Villain calls and is all-in.

*** TURN *** [Qc 3c Ah] [4h]

*** RIVER *** [Qc 3c Ah 4h] [4d]

*** SHOW DOWN ***

shurikenstar: shows [5d 3s 3h 2c] (HI: a full house, Threes full of Fours; LO: 5,4,3,2,A)

flobadobweed: shows [Td Kc 7s As] (HI: two pair, Aces and Fours)

shurikenstar collected 41101 from pot

Lee Davy: Your thoughts on me getting it in on the flop?

Matt Ashton: Firstly, you have made a really big mistake pre-flop. This is a very bad hand and one that is over rated by so many players.

2345 would be a fold as well. These hands need big implied odds and preferably multiway pots.

Hand #14

Blinds: 1,000/2,000

Seat 2: HarryThe RAT (18477 in chips)

Seat 3: shurikenstar (226976 in chips)

Seat 4: Agggrrhhh (21862 in chips)

Seat 5: PJB_ACES (9946 in chips)

Seat 6: Spiewi 67 (60548 in chips)

Seat 7: zebra re (89419 in chips) (OTB)

Seat 8: ramvas (15290 in chips) (SB)

Seat 9: lotse17 (36709 in chips) (BB)

HERO: [4h Kh 5s As]

Action

Hero opens to 4,000 in early position, Villain raises to 9,946 from the hijack and is all-in; the big blind calls, Hero re-raises to 40,784 and the big blind calls and is also all-in.

*** FLOP *** [5h 2c Qd]

*** TURN *** [5h 2c Qd] [7s]

*** RIVER *** [5h 2c Qd 7s] [4c]

*** SHOW DOWN ***

lotse17: shows [Ad 5c 2s Td] (HI: two pair, Fives and Deuces; LO: 7,5,4,2,A)

shurikenstar: shows [4h Kh 5s As] (HI: two pair, Fives and Fours; LO: 7,5,4,2,A)

shurikenstar collected 26763 from side pot

lotse17 collected 13382 from side pot

shurikenstar collected 13381 from side pot

PJB_ACES: shows [2d 8d Jd Ac] (HI: a pair of Deuces; LO: 7,5,4,2,A)

shurikenstar collected 15419 from main pot

lotse17 collected 5140 from main pot

shurikenstar collected 5140 from main pot

PJB_ACES collected 5139 from main pot

Lee Davy: I assume that this move is way too loose?

Matt Ashton: This might be an underrated hand; easy open from every position and easy shove after the action that followed.

Against their exact hands you had 45% equity here (very favorable scenario). Against two random top 10% hands you are still 33%. Don't underestimate the importance of high equity.

Hand #15

Blinds: 1,250/2,500

Seat 2: HarryThe RAT (35836 in chips) (BB)

Seat 3: shurikenstar (215721 in chips)

Seat 5: PJB_ACES (7146 in chips)

Seat 6: Spiewi 67 (57298 in chips)

Seat 7: zebra re (94280 in chips)

Seat 8: ramvas (27830 in chips) is sitting out (OTB)

Seat 9: lotse17 (41116 in chips) (SB)

HERO: [Kc Qc Ah Jh]

Action

Hero raises to 5,000 from under the gun and the Villain calls in the big blind. The action checks through to the river on [As] [5h] [4s] [5s] [5c], and the pot is split, with Villain showing [Kd] [7d] [6c] [3s] for the six lo. Hero takes the high with trip fives and an ace kicker.

Lee Davy: Once again I am opening up every hand because I have the big stack. In this instance I don’t even have a qualifying low possibility and am under the gun. Is this a big mistake?

Matt Ashton: Not really sure how people are adjusting to this stage of the tournament. Normally people tighten up and I’d happily open this.

I don't think it can ever be that bad. In a cash game I would limp; I would c-bet flop small to try and fold out any kind of A3 wheel draw type hand he might have.

Hand #16

Blinds: 1,500/3,000

Seat 2: HarryThe RAT (57422 in chips)

Seat 3: shurikenstar (253096 in chips) (OTB)

Seat 6: Spiewi 67 (25548 in chips) (SB)

Seat 7: zebra re (71319 in chips) (BB)

Seat 8: ramvas (19580 in chips) is sitting out

Seat 9: lotse17 (52262 in chips)

HERO: [Ks Jh Ts Kc]

Action

Hero opens to 6,000 on the button, Villain raises to 19,500 from the big blind and Hero calls.

*** FLOP *** [Jd 9s 6d]

Both players check.

*** TURN *** [Jd 9s 6d] [8s]

Villain leads for 40,500 and Hero calls.

*** RIVER *** [Jd 9s 6d 8s] [2c]

Villain bets 11,319 and is all-in; Hero calls.

*** SHOW DOWN ***

zebra re: shows [6h 2s 8h Ah] (HI: two pair, Eights and Sixes)

shurikenstar: shows [Ks Jh Ts Kc] (HI: a pair of Kings)

zebra re collected 144138 from pot

No low hand qualified

Lee Davy: I hate everything about this hand.

Matt Ashton: Pre-flop is good and should never be played differently. Checking back the flop is a big mistake.

This is a really bad flop for the raiser and you have a strong but vulnerable hand - you must pot it here. You might as well get it in on the turn too.

Hand #17

Blinds: 2,000/4,000

Seat 1: vental111 (30714 in chips)

Seat 2: HarryThe RAT (48422 in chips)

Seat 3: shurikenstar (197777 in chips) (OTB)

Seat 4: edmar018 (60315 in chips) (SB)

Seat 5: Garmon1983 (35996 in chips) (BB)

Seat 6: Spiewi 67 (13548 in chips)

Seat 7: zebra re (142638 in chips)

Seat 9: lotse17 (56762 in chips)

HERO: [Kc Ah 3s Qs]

Action

Villain moves all-in for 13,548 under the gun, the cutoff calls, Hero raises to 60,192 from the button, cutoff calls and is all-in.

*** FLOP *** [8s 9h Kh]

*** TURN *** [8s 9h Kh] [3h]

*** RIVER *** [8s 9h Kh 3h] [Td]

*** SHOW DOWN ***

HarryThe RAT: shows [Qc 4h 2d Ac] (HI: high card Ace)

shurikenstar: shows [Kc Ah 3s Qs] (HI: two pair, Kings and Threes)

shurikenstar collected 69748 from side pot

Spiewi 67: shows [4c As Ks Ad] (HI: a pair of Aces)

shurikenstar collected 46644 from main pot

No low hand qualified

Lee Davy: Was this play too loose?

Matt Ashton: This hand is very standard. Even without the nut suit I’d expect to be getting my money in good here and be ahead of both their ranges.

Hand #18

Blinds: 2,500/5,000

Seat 1: vental111 (158148 in chips)

Seat 2: sligoasassin (30756 in chips)

Seat 3: shurikenstar (285991 in chips) (OTB)

Seat 4: edmar018 (55315 in chips) (SB)

Seat 5: heriot (188850 in chips) (BB)

Seat 6: Alienatu (117728 in chips)

Seat 7: zebra re (88170 in chips)

Seat 8: AABLACKie (50104 in chips)

Seat 9: KruCciAll (71938 in chips)

Hero: [4d Qs 6h Jc]

Action

Hero raises to 10,000 on the button and Villain calls in the big blind.

*** FLOP *** [5d Qc 7s]

Villain check-calls a 13,500 c-bet from Hero.

*** TURN *** [5d Qc 7s] [As]

Both players check.

*** RIVER *** [5d Qc 7s As] [Jd]

Villain leads for 49,500 and Hero calls.

*** SHOW DOWN ***

heriot: shows [Jh Qd 6c 3c] (HI: two pair, Queens and Jacks; LO: 7,6,5,3,A)

shurikenstar: shows [4d Qs 6h Jc] (HI: two pair, Queens and Jacks; LO: 7,6,5,4,A)

heriot collected 37125 from pot

shurikenstar collected 37125 from pot

heriot collected 74250 from pot

Lee Davy: This is a major leak for me. I know that if I call on the river I am likely to only pick up a quarter of the pot, but I don’t understand the math in these situations.

Matt Ashton: I'd play it the same. While you're virtually never scooping yourself it’s also really hard for you to be scooped on the river.

There are not many hands that have you in both directions. In situations where you're very confident you're only getting 1/4 of the pot (usually nut low vs. nut low), you need to make some folds but this is definitely not one of those spots.