2011 World Series of Poker

Event #51: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-low Split-8 or Better
Day: 1
Event Info

2011 World Series of Poker

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
a8105
Prize
$268,235
Event Info
Buy-in
$1,500
Prize Pool
$1,227,100
Entries
946
Level Info
Level
26
Blinds
25,000 / 50,000
Ante
0

Fun, Fireworks, and Frustration: PLO/8 Awaits!

It's not hold'em. Not no-limit, either. It ain't Omaha/8. Nor is it PLO.

Welcome to Event No. 51, the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-low Split-8 or Better event that is guaranteed to bring lots of action, and perhaps a wild variety of skill and preparation, given the relative uniqueness of PLO/8.

A game largely confined to the online realm, PLO/8 was added to the WSOP schedule for the first time in 2007. It's a game that attracts specialists, many of whom believe they can find an edge against less experienced players coming to it from PLO high or fixed limit O/8. Too great a reliance on high cards (as the PLO players sometimes demonstrate) or only playing low cards (as will happen with some from the O/8 crowd) can get players in trouble, an edge the more agile PLO/8 players hope to exploit. The relative value of draws and made hands is different here than in other Omaha games, too, creating more challenges for the less experienced.

It's also a game in which the frustration factor may be a touch higher than in other games. As Lou Krieger and Mark Tenner write of PLO/8 in Mastering Omaha/8 Poker, "this is a game in which even solid players often tilt the hand following a tough beat, or after a hand where they miss a big draw with a lot of money committed to the pot."

Expect fireworks, then, with lots of wild hands and hotly-contested pots as players today line up with hopes of repeating the success of Steve Jelenik, who last year bested a field of 847 in this event to earn a cool $245,871 return on his $1,500 investment.

Play is scheduled to start at noon Vegas time. See you back here then when the action begins!