PLO 100, generic situation, I need a game plan

[Finnykourov]

When to 3bet and why in Omaha is something I'm having trouble with. I think I will too often watch a video and learn something but not understand what to do with it, and why, and I wind up getting worse instead of better. Here is a situation that illustrates this:

PL Omaha $1(BB) Replayer
SB ($57.80)
BB ($47.95)
UTG ($105)
UTG+1 ($122)
Hero ($125)
BTN ($104)

Dealt to Hero J:heart: A:spade: 7:heart: K:spade:

fold, UTG+1 raises to $3.50, Hero ?

UTG+1 is a standard good player, running 25/16/6.5, w/ a CB% of 70%

Do I 3bet because:
-I have a good double suited hand in position?
-Villain is opening pretty wide and I can punish him?
-I'm planning on taking the pot w/ a CB?
-Try get the button?
-A combo of all the above?

Do I just float because:
-I have some nuttier draws and would like to induce multiway action?
-I can float most flops and try to steal the pot if we are heads up, and play my strong draws straight forward if multiway?
-If I get 4bet he most likely has AA**, and I'm committed w/ a bad hand vs aces? (scared poker obv, but im just throwing some ideas out there!)

What hands do you like to 3 betting and why?
What hands do you like to flat and why?
Does the profile of the player opening change things?

On a side note, I feel like 3 betting ends things quickly, instead of giving you a chance to play more streets in position, when you can potentially have a bigger edge. I feel like what we can exploit is the fact that the villain likes to open lots and likes to CB lots. What is the best way to try an exploit this?

[James Davis]

Hey finny,

A few thoughts about 3 betting.

You have a very premium hand here, so three betting can't be awful. The biggest consideration, imo, is his 4b%. If he 4b's a lot, I will usually just call and try to use my positional advantage. If he doesn't 4b much, I will almost always 3b this hand, with the idea that there will be a lot of flops where he thinks he has a lot more equity than he actually does(examples are if he has smaller spades or hearts). Additionally, you will win the pot a lot since you are effectively forcing your opponent to make a hand that has good equity on the flop. Other numbers that will be very helpful here are his fold to c-bet in 3b pots, and if your sample is too small there, his fold to c-bet in general.

With no reads besides "decent player," I think a 3b is quite standard. Your hand is pretty good multiway, but I don't think it's super or anything. Making wraps is very tough for you, and wrap+draw even tougher. So how excited are we really to take a flop multiway? Unless it comes exactly QTxss we aren't thrilled getting it in. HU, on the other hand, there will be lots of flops where our opponent will get it in dominated, as people will play their small flush draws much more aggressively. Consider flops like K83ss where your opponent has the medium rundown with spades and an 8. he won't always get it in with you in a single raised pot, but he will in a reraised pot.

Now obviously that's a dream flop, but the point remains. Unless our opponent is a habitual 4better, hands like this are absolutely ideal for 3betting. It also helps unpolarize your range from aces and suited garbage.

[Finnykourov]

In the games i play (plo 100 and under) opponents 4 betting ranges are pretty much just aces. I like your points and i have been messing with some situations in pro poker tools that i will post once i sift through it all.

I think 3 betting leaves me feeling like my opponent can play unexploitable post flop because being OOP with an SPR around 4 is fairly standard play. A villain with stats around 25/15 probably knows how to play properly there. But im thinking we are probably minting money due to all the times he folds on the flop.

[James Davis]

Yeah, he will fold on the flop a ton, and he will be playing his range against aces, which certainly isn't unexploitable considering the times where we can flop better than aces would have flopped.

JD