Alright, before I get told to "use the search button", I just wanted to let you all know that I did. I actually was drawn into this forum a long time ago by searching on google for best pot limit omaha book. I was directed to the thread that referred to Slotboom as "he who must not be named"

Anyway, I was looking to get my hands on every worthwhile book with good PLO instruction, and it can't be 100% geared towards cash games, because I am primarily a tournament player.

Now that I have give my criteria, I will tell you what books I have and what are on my list:

Have
Farha on Omaha: Expert Strategy for Beating Cash Games and Tournaments by Sam Farha
Championship Omaha (Championship) by Tom McEvoy & T.J. Cloutier
Doyle Brunson's Super System II (specifically Lyle Berman)
Play Poker Like the Pros by Phil Hellmuth

To Buy List
Secrets of Professional Pot-Limit Omaha by Rolf Slotboom
How Good Is Your Pot Limit Omaha by Stewart Reuben
Omaha Poker by Bob Ciaffone
Pot-Limit Omaha Poker by Jeff Hwang
The Full Tilt Poker Strategy Guide: Tournament Edition
Pot-Limit & No-Limit Poker by Stewart Reuben & Bob Ciaffone

If there is anything else worthwhile to put on there, please let me know!

Also, sorry about my post probably sounding like I am a jerk, but I just thought the more information I give to you, the less questions you have to ask, and the sooner we can get discussion going!

I promise I won't be this big of a jerk from here on out.

Mike Cappelletti did a book called Cappelletti On Omaha and he did a second book with Mike Caro called Master Hold'em And Omaha.

I cannot say whether these books are any good or not

Do you know anything about Cappelletti on Omaha? I found something called "The Best of Cappelletti on Omaha", which is a bunch of his best articles. Is that it?

Secrets of Professional Pot-Limit Omaha by Rolf Slotboom
Pot-Limit Omaha Poker by Jeff Hwang

I have these two, and found Hwang's pretty good and it's been well received. Slotboom's is ok.

I believe them to be the same book. I cannot say for certain.

Thank you! I have heard nothing but good things about Hwang's book, even though I have never heard of him... I'm not overly knowledgable about those in the poker community who are primarily writers and not players, so I could just be clueless on this subject.

I love the avatar by the way.

Thank you very much sir!

The two recommendations by gonso are the best out there. These two text will provide a wide variety of concepts etc to keep you busy for a long time. Also anything by Bob Ciaffone. But again you need only the two texts mentioned.

Slotboom, Ciaffone & Hwang. Those are the books you need.

Although I feel obligated to point out that I still suck at PLO, although maybe a little less so than before

Reading through the Hwang book (not that far), it makes PLO seem so easy... as a winning nl100 player (6max), what kind of stakes do you think are beatable with just the Hwang and Ciaffone books 'mastered', but not much experience with omaha before?
I would estimate PL50 should be beatable for someone who understands and uses the basic strategies from those books, am I about right?

As a winning NL hold'em player who has read Jeff's book and Ciaffone's various books I can tell you that PLO is not easy. She's a bitch, and she swings like the prom queen on eXtacy.

Plus, those "magic" hands that Jeff talks about, where you've got top set, a gutshot to the nut straight and the nut flush draw, they don't happen all that often.

Still though, if you've got a hand like top two pair plus a nut flush draw, then you've got a hand that might be best right now and has ~13 clean outs to the absolute nuts. You've got to back that hand with all your chips.

Don't you?

Honestly, the only thing bigger than my love of pot limit Omaha is my love of hating pot limit Omaha.

She's like a beautiful girlfriend that you know is going to cheat on you, but you lend her your car keys anyway...

"The Best of..." is a collection of articles. http://www.gamblersbook.com/weblink....il/482601.html

Cappelletti on Omaha is the book mentioned in that link. It was published some time ago (self-published), and is a text on the game, including Cappelletti's Omaha Point Count System.

On average, people are much worse at PLO than at NLH'em. Even at 1/2, the game can be defeated with a basic understanding and fundamental approach, which is one of the reasons PLO is such a ridiculously, ridiculously ridiculously profitable game if you can withstand the variance.

When you give some one 6 hands, they'll chase anything.

Thanks for the info bro!

Thank you to everyone who has replied. Although you all recommend only Hwang, Slotboom and Ciaffone, I was just trying to get a better understanding of all the material out there. I assume that learning every strategy possible would be a way to maximize the effectiveness of my game, because I would be able to mix and match the strategies from each author in order to find my own.

Another thing you may want to consider after getting a good understanding of the mentioned books is joining an online training site. It's good to see the pros applying the concepts.

Every time one of these PLO book threads comes up, I keep wishing that someone is going to eventually submit a good manuscript to Mason. It would be a great addition to the 2+2 list of books.

PJS

Just no money in Omaha books.

I earn so much releasing coaching videos (for Stox) it would be -EV to spend a large portion of my time finishing my PLO book. Good Omaha players make a ton by simply playing the game it would be foolish to tell other people how to play.

Do all the books mentione above cover both PLO high and high low? Or just high? Or just low?

I'm looking for book(s) mostly focusing on high/low but I wouldn't mind there being some high only info. I woudln't want a book on just high or majority high.

If that was true then why would a good player like Jeff Hwang write such a good book on PLO?

Theres always a small % of players that just have the itch to tell us how to play.

This thread was created for the purpose of Omaha Hi only.

Maybe it is because I haven't kept up with the poker scene for the past couple of years, but I have never heard of Jeff Hwang. Can anyone give me any details on his resume/credentials?

Our royalty rates are much higher than almost all other publishers, and in general our authors make four to five times as much with us than they do with other publishers. So there may be more to make than you realize. Of course, that only happens if you finish your book and we accept it for publication.

Best wishes,
Mason

high/low split poker by ray zee is pretty good for hi/lo only, but it only addresses the limit form of the game

I wont comment on Jeff's book as I haven't read it. However the PLO forum does not have such a clear cut opinion as yourself on it. Opinion is somewhat split over the book though I am sure it is a good book for beginners and to introduce some of the advanced concepts.

Most PLO books currently in existence emphasize full-ring, early-street play.

This is a solid foundation, especially when it comes to playing draws.


However, much of PLO is pure position poker, involving bluffing and pick-offs. Furthermore,post-flop hand-reading skills are also underemphasized as they are highly player/situation-dependent.

The books spend very little time on such things, however, Jeff Hwang said that his next book will cover more advanced, post-flop play, including floating.


In addition to the aforementioned books, I would highly recommend viewing some of the videos offered by cardrunners and other sites. You will see how more marginal hands are played, how position is used, and how to decode someone's hand. Furthermore, one's own image has to be considered in the analysis.

PLO is way more "dirty" and player-dependent than the books convey, especially short-handed.


The ideal book would be written more in the style of Harrington on Hold'em, where an entire hand is given background and analysis throughout each street. There has yet to be a PLO book written in such a style.

In short, the next book needs to emphasize the thought process, rather than a set of rules of thumb.

My worry isn't so much about royalty rates in this case Mason, but that of sales figures for Omaha books. Authors who I have spoken to that have released both Omaha and Holdem books have said figures were disappointing at best for Omaha. This might be because they were not exclusive Omaha players, but probably more due to Omaha still not capturing the imagination of the casual player.

Jeff does give 22 play of hand PLO situations that I found quite beneficial as a relative newbie to PLO.
Also jeff does an excellent job of clarifying of the "whys"