The Pot Limit Omaha Book

When I was first approached to take part in a pre-release review and discussion of Tri "SlowHabit" Nguyen's upcoming eBook, The Pot-Limit Omaha Book: Transitioning From NLHE To PLO, I was pretty psyched. I'd followed the discussion about the NLHE book he wrote, co-authored by Cole "CTS" South, and the reviews of it were of high praise.
To be honest though, I didn't set the bar too high for this book before reading. The reason being is I've always been a little disappointed when I do. Most books end up just rehashing basic concepts, with little new content, so I end up taking very little from them. I can say with all honesty, this book goes above and beyond. Because there are so few PLO books, it's hard to compare this to anything. What I can say is The Pot Limit Omaha Book seems to start off where all others end.

The Pot-Limit Omaha Book: Transitioning From NLHE To PLO
by Tri "SlowHabit" Nguyen

To start off, there is basically no fluff in this book. It is 75 pages of pure content about how to play this high variance game and how to play it well. After a brief introduction, Tri gets right down to business in Chapter 2: Pre-Flop Play. In all honesty, this is the only section where you may be familiar with most of the content discussed, in some way or another. It's inevitable as pre-flop play only has so much that can be discussed that is original. But also notice that I said most, not all, because Tri managed to provide ideas that you won't see anywhere else as well expanding on previously discussed topics. When I got through the section on Calling 4-Bets, where he shows you how to calculate preflop equities necessary for proper post flop play(as I mentioned in a previous post), I knew that this book was different. I've never seen any aspect of this discussed and additionaly conveyed so it's easily understood through a series of graphs, useful equation templates and hand history examples. I was really looking forward to what was to come. SlowHabit finishes off the chapter with some great discussion of big cards and aces.

Chapters 3, 4 and 5 start to delve into a variety of aspects that are critical to successful PLO play. He starts Chapter 3: Key Concepts
by focusing on position. As it's pretty well known that position is important in just about every poker game, Tri enumerates how significant it really is in PLO by breaking down the different ways it can be utilized. He goes on to cover several other key concepts including bet-protection, value betting and bluffing, slow-playing and freerolling, as well as touching on realizing player tendencies and how to adjust your play accordingly. Chapters 4 and 5, Common Mistakes and Common Situations, go hand in hand. He touches on a variety of aspects including playing from the blinds, trouble hands and delves even further into understanding and taking advantage of +EV situations. Again in this section, there are concepts you may already familiar with. However, there are several that aren't often discussed and SlowHabit does a great job of breaking them all down so that they're easily understood and most importantly, easily adapted to your in game play.

At this point the book is half way over. My feelings about it were all positive, I felt like I was learning something new, but I still was wanting more. I had to put it on hold for a couple of days when some business matters popped up and during that time, I was reflecting on what I'd read. It was some great content, but I wasn't completely sure how significant is was going to be to actually improving my play. Learning new things and being able to utilize them are two different things. I then finished the book. While in the process I realized I had judged the information I'd absorbed too soon. It was all a lead in to be utilized with Chapters 5: Flop Play, 6: Turn Play and 7: River Play. I have one word to describe these 3 sections: RIDICULOUS. As in jaw-dropping ridiculous. As in WTF ridiculous. As in, I've never seen any of this discussed ridiculous. I'm not easily impressed, saying I was impressed here would be an understatement.

Tri starts Chapter 5 by discussing ranges and understanding your equity versus such ranges. Because you have 2 more cards than PLO, an opponents range in theory is much broader. Tri, through a variety of ways, enables you to break down and mimimize these ranges, allowing you to quickly understand where you stand. He breaks down flop texture and the relevancy of back door draws and blockers. He discusses c-betting, check-raising, and bluffing, while focusing through specific hand history examples on how and when to utilize these actions properly. While no play is set in stone, Tri provides the information needed to help you hopefully make the correct decisions. His equity examples are a great tool as well. They really pound home the concept.

Chapters 6 and 7 really compliment Chapter 5 and in some ways expand on ideas presented in Chapter 5. Chapter 7, because there are no more cards to come, is the shorter of the two. It primarily focuses on value betting, when and why, and bluffing. It's pretty straightforward stuff, but extremely important as this is where the bets are biggest and you may be stacking off. Chapter 6 on the other hand is much more in depth obviously and is filled with incredible content that WILL improve your game. Tri touches on a variety of aspects revolving around turn play, from bet-folding, fold equity and bluffing to marginal made hands and scare cards. The most interesting area I found was the discussion of Donk Betting and how to utilize it for value or as a semi-bluff/bluff. It is incredibly informative. Chapters 5-7 I feel are some of the most comprehensive discussions on post flop play ever put in print.

When I was finished with
The Pot-Limit Omaha Book: Transitioning From NLHE To PLO I felt like I'd just completed a solid coaching session, which I've never experienced with any type of poker book. Through his abilities to convey his thinking, utilization of hand histories and mathematical equations and overall understanding of PLO, Tri Nguyen has produced a PLO tool like no other. He helps you formulate a plan, preflop to the river, that enables you to have confidence that you'll be able to tackle any situation presented. I'd go so far to say if your game doesn't improve after reading this, you should quit. For a small to mid stakes player, this book will become a must. The only downside is the games are probably going to become a bit tougher, I'm glad I'm getting in now before it's too late.

I wanted to test my newfound knowledge with some actual play to see how if it really helped. Well, I've never felt as comfortable playing PLO, with virtually no instance where I felt overwhelmed and unsure. Thanks, Tri.

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