Quote:
Originally Posted by ICuRaRook
I think the flop bet is fine to get value and deny equity when the field checks to me on the button. T98r is a draw heavy board against 7 players. Interesting spot with 2 players check raise repotting for sure. I think it might be a get it in spot if I had TTxx for the $1,500 effective stack. I could be wrong. I don't play much PLO.
A flop bet is defensible, but I'm not sure if it's optimal. I wouldn't know for sure without understanding the flow of the table and the meta-game. My instincts are honed from playing in games that are more passive than typical.
The pot is still relatively small, so you're not denying that much equity. In these sorts of pots, players often check non-nut straights and bare nut straights, so betting for value may be thinner than you realize. The basic question I ask myself is whether my hand is good enough to play a big pot. Middle set when a straight is possible isn't a big pot hand. It's in bad shape if you run into a hand like QJT8. In an eight-way pot, it's probably not too far from wrong if your betting range on the button is polarized between hands you don't mind getting it in on the flop with and hands that you would probably fold if you checked and someone bets the turn. Middle set feels like neither of those on this board.
Because of the way the pot can grown in PLO, you have to understand how this hand will play out on future streets. If you bet and get called, how many turn cards make you happy to get it in against someone who wants to play for stacks.
One thing betting accomplished is keeping the nut straight in the range of hands you can credibly represent, so betting here makes sense if you expect the need to bluff hands like TT and 76 on a future street. Knowing when to turn a set into a bluff takes a bit of hand-reading. That may be less important if you can still represent J7 after checking the flop.
Maybe the equivalent hold em hand on this board would be something like top pair. I don't play much hold em these days, but should people bet hands like QT and JT in a family pot or take the free card and see what happens on the turn using the benefit of position?