Review of Pot-Limit Omaha Poker

Title:

Pot-Limit Omaha Poker

Author:

Jeff Hwang

Publisher:

Lyle Stuart

Date:

2008

ISBN:

0-8184-0726-3

Pages:

332

Price:

$14.95

Reviewed by Nick Christenson, npc@jetcafe.org

August 21, 2010

Pot-limit Omaha (high) has gone through ebbs and flows in its popularity since gaining real traction in the poker world in the 1980s. Currently, this game seems to be on the upswing in popularity again, with games spread regularly online, in the South, on the tournament trail, and, especially, in Europe. Because of the large number of combinations with four cards in each player's hand and five cards on the board, it can be subject to very detailed analysis, and that's what we get in Pot-Limit Omaha Poker by Jeff Hwang.

There aren't a lot of books on pot-limit Omaha available. Bob Ciaffone wrote a brief book that is considered to be a classic introduction, his sometime writing partner Stewart Reuben has penned one specifically on the subject, and Rolf Slotboom has written several books on what I would say is his strongest game. All of these are worth reading, in my opinion, but to me they all seem incomplete. Hwang's first poker book is an attempt to fill some of the gaps in the Omaha poker literature.

The author's stated approach to PLO is different from what I've read elsewhere. Since it's a big bet game, his focus is on taking opponents' stacks. With four cards, hand values tend to fall close together hot-and-cold, and coin flip situations where one player is correct to push and the other is correct to call are not at all uncommon. However, winning at big bet poker is largely about finding the situations where it might appear to other players that it's right for them to play for their whole stacks when it's really not. Hwang's focus regarding PLO is to identify these situations, and he does a good job at that. This is a new perspective, and one that players who haven't mastered the game should appreciate.

Once I was about 180 pages into the book, I was kind of surprised to see Hwang's attention turn to limit Omaha high-low split eight-or-better. In fact, the next hundred pages of this 330 page book covers limit O8, which doesn't quite fit in with the title of this book. Also, the limit Omaha/8 material consists of a single chapter, concluding with forty-odd pages of quizzes. I like hand quizzes, and generally my opinion is the more the merrier, but I've now found a book that pushes this as far as I'm willing to go. At the very least, this interminable chapter should have been broken up.

Even though the material here doesn't have anything to do with the book title, it is worth reading. In Ray Zee's book on Omaha/8, he takes a strategic approach to the game, building from fundamentals. In Bill Boston's book, which is also good, he takes a statistical approach. I would describe Hwang's approach as tactical. He looks at a bunch of specific situations and states why he'd make certain plays there, and how his play would be different if there were small changes in hand composition. This isn't the end-all of limit Omaha/8 books by any means, but I found his approach to be more comprehensive than I would have expected had someone explained it to me before reading the book. It's another perspective that I think many students of the game will appreciate.

The book concludes with some thoughts on pot-limit Omaha/8, drawing on the PLO and limit Omaha/8 sections. Both his strategic and starting hand considerations vary significantly from each of the previous games. While I don't consider myself an expert on PLO/8, I found his perspective to be quite reasonable.

I believe that in some of the examples, especially in the limit Omaha/8 sections, Hwang recommends an over-aggressive style of play, especially on the turn. However, even when I ultimately disagree with his recommendations, it almost always represents a viewpoint that should at least be considered in any analysis of the specific situation. Also, while he mentions the vast difference in playing standards between playing loose (usually low-stakes) limit Omaha/8 and tighter (usually mid, high-stakes, or tournament) limit Omaha/8, fewer of these considerations than I would like are referenced in his examples.

While I don't think this book succeeds in being a comprehensive work on any of the three games it covers, I believe it adds significantly to the literature on each of them. I expect that anyone who plays PLO, limit Omaha/8, or PLO/8 below the master level will find this book well worth their time and effort. Further, at a low shelf price and significant page count, I certainly expect those who buy this book to feel that they've gotten their money's worth. I think this is one of the more intriguing poker books to come out in the last several years, and I heartily recommend it.

Capsule:

Despite what the title might indicate, Jeff Hwang's Pot-Limit Omaha Poker covers PLO, limit Omaha/8, and PLO/8. While it's not comprehensive on any of these forms of poker, I believe that the majority of the advice is sound and the perspectives are fresh. Consequently, I recommend this book to anyone with an interest in at least one of these games.