Bankroll Builders, Vol. 8: Rush Poker PLO, Part 2

March 25, 2010

Nicole Gordon

Bankroll Builders, Vol. 8: Rush Poker PLO, Part 2 0001

In Part 1 of this article, we introduced you to Rush Poker PLO, discussed bankroll requirements, and gave you a few things to think about when deciding whether you are ready for the Rush experience. Now, get ready to dive into some strategy. In the two or so months since Full Tilt introduced Rush Poker, we’ve been hopelessly addicted to the turbo-charged tables and lucky for you, we’re sharing some our time-tested tips.

Tips from the trenches:

Tight is right ― at least at first. If you’re new to PLO or are coming off an extended break, stick to premium hands in your first few sessions as you get a feel for the pace of play. The auto-fold button makes tight play a breeze because you can quickly scroll your way to a quality starting hand. High pairs, double-suited big cards, suited aces, and “rundowns” like 8♠9♥10♠J♦ are all premium starting hands in pot-limit Omaha. Two-pair combinations like Q♦Q♥10♦10♠ or 8♣8♥9♣9♥ can also flop very well. Either of these hands could flop sets as well as straight or flush draws.
Position is everything. One of the best things about Rush Poker PLO is that because you are able to see so many hands in such a short period, there is really no reason to play any marginal hands from out of position. Re-steal moves like three-betting from the blinds behind a late position raiser may work beautifully in a tournament situation, but in a low-limit six-max cash game, what do you hope to gain? Maybe three big blinds? What will happen far more often is that your three-bet will get called and suddenly you’re playing a big pot out of position. Ease up on the blind defense and make more of your three-bets from the button or late position ― it’ll put you in the driver’s seat post-flop and give you more control over the size of the pot.
Stay aware of stack sizes. This usually goes without saying in poker, but in Rush it’s worth reiterating because your lineup of opponents, their stack sizes, and your position relative to their stacks is constantly changing. Stack sizes vary wildly in Rush PLO. In a $10 buy-in game there will be some folks with over $100 in front of them and there will be even more with only $2 or $3 in front of them. As you go to each flop, note how much your opponent has behind and what percentage of that stack he or she has already put into the pot. If there’s $1.80 in the pot pre-flop and the opponent who just three-bet you has only $6 behind, there’s a very good chance that he’ll re-pot all-in on the flop if you lead out and he caught a piece of it. On the other hand, if he had $16 behind, it could be a very different story.
Slow down on the auto-fold button. What? Slow down in Rush Poker? Maybe not so much in no-limit hold’em, but in PLO, you might want to consider letting up a little on that auto-fold button. The hand that looks so trashy to you in the small blind could turn into a missed opportunity if you just auto-fold it. What if five people limp in front of you? Now you’re getting huge odds to call and it’s worth it with any four cards. They don’t call it the “small blind special” for nothing! If there’s already action in front of you and you’ve already decided to fold, go ahead and take advantage of the auto-fold button. However, when people begin folding around to you, hold off until the pre-flop picture becomes clearer.
Practice good tilt control. Four times as many hands per hour means four times as many suck-outs. As easy as it sometimes is in this game to win two buy-ins in ten minutes, it is just as easy to lose two buy-ins in the same amount of time. The good news is that it is easy to take breaks in Rush Poker — you can simply sit out and rejoin the player pool whenever you want. There are no concerns about breaking a table, losing position on a fish, or having to get on a waiting list. At the first signs of tilt, just sit out, even if just for a minute or so. Look at the hand histories, run through your play, shout at the heavens, kick a trash can, do whatever you need to get over the beat before getting back to work. Tilt control can be your saving grace in Rush Poker. It’s the difference between building a bankroll on these tables and losing one.
Grab the newest patch for your tracking software. It was just a matter of time before a bunch of computer geniuses figured out a way to make tracking software work with Rush Poker. Both PokerTracker and Hold’em/Omaha Manager have released beta updates to their software that include heads-up display support for Rush Poker tables. These patches enable the HUD to keep up with all the table changes, and it can pull up your recorded stats on each fresh set of opponents in real time.