Hi guys,

Is Jeff Hwangs big play strategy book still a good guide to apply to microstakes PLO?

Some of his stuff on limping I find a bit unusual but the rest seems pretty solid to me

Thanks

I am in the process of rereading it again.

I still believe it is and I play live for a living.

I'll let you know after my 3rd time through it.

I don't remember the specifics about limping, but you can use a limping strat from early position to see flops w/o getting 3 bet

Yeah one of the things he says is when playing out of position your first priority is to keep the pot multiway preflop. The stuff he says about limping is mainly in relation to when you are going to be oop postflop.

I only played holdem for a long time where limping is generally frowned upon so seemed odd at the beginning but with so many people calling pre in omaha it's starting to make sense

yikes

Let's give Hwang's big play range a percentage. It wasn't as tight as 10%. Nor was it as loose as 15% (unless you put in many of the marginal category). So splitting the difference, I'd say the big play range was probably pretty close to 12.50%. If you look at Hwang's back in the day range and compared it to a modern day solver 13% range it would probably be a reasonable match and most likely better than a pro poker tools' 13% especially for playability.

Also, OP I hope you are talking about full ring and not 6 max.

I'm playing a bit of both. Have played about 10k hands and was up about 12 buyins but have just had a bit of a downswing.

Problem is I'm playing on ignition due to stars leaving the aussie market so I haven't been using any tracking software.

At 6-max the about 13% Hwang big play range will work for early position. The other positions are going to need to be wider. Hwang made a later book about being loose, but there are better sources out there for range ideas. Furthermore, from early position all the way to the button don't open limp in 6-max. You can have an open limping range in the small blind if you want. If you do, you are going to have to protect your limping range by including some strong hands.

Thanks for the advice

Do not forget the title of the book - Big Play Strategy. The book is basically 2 parts (not counting the parts on O8) - fundamentals, and actual game play strategy. The fundamentals never change and therefore the book was and always will be relevant and current. For example, there has never been a better or more thorough explanation of the science of straights in PLO.

As far as game play goes, it is not a modern aggressive strategy. It's a foundation upon which to determine your own style based on the number of players and game attributes. The basic strategy is a description of what to do against multiple opponents or a reasonable opponent when all the money starts going in, and what sorts of hands you need to compete against that.

For a fuller description of strategy choices, you will have to read his Advanced series which goes beyond the basic principles in his first book and explores small ball and LAG play. There are of course other sources as well for such modern strategies. You will probably find yourself playing exceedingly tight in online 6-max games if you only were to follow the guidelines in his first book.

just gonna piggyback off this comment - if that's ok.

i'm about to go thru the book for about the 10th time now, and i find something useful each time i do. a timeless classic

I just recently read his book as well. I think a lot of it only applies to 9-handed games. You can certainly apply some things to 6max tables, but limping isn't as great of a strategy in 6max.

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