Dealers choice game playing 3 handed: button chooses LO8:

button raises, I call in the big blind with QK23.

AT5

I check, he bets.

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Also, I'm curious to know your thoughts on choosing games on the button in this dealers choice format. I've played a decent number of hours in dealers choice homegames, where it doesn't really matter which game I pick. The opposition is pretty bad so even stud games, which negate positional advantage, are ok to play on the button. In this game, I'm forced to play games that I really suck at such as Badacey and Badeucy when out of position. I'm wondering which games would give me the best winrate on the button. I guess it depends on my skills in the games I pick. No limit holdem is an option, and that would probably offer the best winrate. However, limit holdem is also an option and it's definitely my best game. The problem I see is that the opposition has the option to call games such as PLO, which probably offer a higher winrate for the button than limit holdem. Should I abandon my favorite game in this format because of the winrate ceiling?

Thanks.

The games that give you the biggest advantage when OTB are the draw games especially the ones that aren't split pot draw games such as 2-7 and Badugi. But, chosing the game that you're best at is the way to go. If it were me, I'd hone up on the games that I wasnt so good at because I just can't see playing a game where I'm getting the worst of it, thus positional advantage and things like that really don't matter much if you don't have the knowledge of the game.

Personally, in a dealers choice game, I really don't think it's fair or good for the survival of the overall game if you're allowing players to chose PL and NL games unless you're putting a cap on these games. If it was just PL games or just NL games, that would be a different story, but clearly a player who excels in PL is going to crush this type of game, so, I'd be very leary of that.

As an aside, if you can play O8, you can learn badacey and badeucey MUCH easier than a player who doesn't have much split pot game experience.

As for the hand: you obviously have a very strong two-way hand on this flop so the way I'd approach it would just depend on how my opponent plays. Ie; if he likes to bet bet bet, then I'd check check check/raise(when I hit). if he tends to back off and/or if he's easily outplayed, then I'm likely to make a move somewhere w/this hand.

this is the most snappenest snap-check/raise of all time. your equity is insane and you want dude to fold an ace. pretty simple. as for big bet games being included in a mix, as long as the blinds are correct like in a typical 8-game mix, i have no problem with it, and think the big bet players put themselves at a disadvantage against limit players with a clue (because of the blind sizes).

Thanks guys.

So I check raised the flop and he 3 bets. Can I assume he has AA? If so, I should just call the 3 bet and hope to hit, right?

You can probably assume that he has at least one Ace, but that's ok because youre drawing to the nuts in both directions. Naturally, I wouldn't be thrilled to see the 5 on the turn because there is a chance that villain could be full w/that card, but the point is, it doesn't matter how many bets you put in on this flop because you're certainly not folding; you're not folding the flop and you're not folding the turn(even on a paired board) because you still have a draw to the nut low. Very hard to make a mistake w/your hand---you either hit your hand or you don't.

If you hit the Broadway on the turn, you should checkraise----villain is probably focusing/worried on wheel cards and flush cards hitting and is likely to feel that a Broadway card is safe for his hand(even if he has trips), so make sure he pays for it if/when those cards hit.

If villain is very aggressive or if he views you as someone who plays pretty straightforward? Then, let's say you hit a wheel on the turn? I'm likely to just c/c that street and just donk the river.

yeah, i'd just call the 3bet and c/r any improvement. might wanna just donk out a low diamond though.

Yup I ended up heads up against a guy that called PLO8 every time and I got crushed. I think I should've started calling no limit holdem instead of limit holdem.

Yeah, but if you're better at limit Holdem, then opting to chose NL just because you think it's more of a balancer vs. PL, then you're likely to show even worse results; maybe not from the plo8 expert but from one of the others.


Why not post some of those plo8 hands?

I'd 4bet the flop.

Most of the hands I lost were basically me calling a 3x raise in the big blind and check folding missed flops to a pot sized bet. I didn't think any of the spots were particularly close cus I was missing the flop terribly. Perhaps I could have used my fishy image to donk bluff some flops, but that seemed too risky with the little equity I had.

Were they bad hands to begin with?^

In games that I have little experience in, I prefer to wear the life jacket opposed to diving right in without one. In other words, I wouldn't be donk-bluffing any flops at this point; wait until you really hit something and then try to think of ways to max out on it.

Probably. AJ45 comes to mind.

Well ok, that's definitely a playable hand.^

As long as you're not calling off big amounts on just a low draw or just a high draw(when the low is already there) and you're able to get away from calling off large numbers in those obv. 1/4 situations in 3 handed pots, then you're ok. Probably just need more playing time in this game. Just don't chase or get stubborn.