Big O Poker
A brand-new event on the 2016 World Series of Poker schedule is Event #53: Mixed Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Low/Omaha Hi-Low/Big O, set to begin this afternoon at 3 p.m.
Two to ten playersPre-flop and post flop analysisDetailed statistics on hand rankingsExample high hand holdings. Omaha Introduction. This poker calculator will give you the odds of a win, loss, and tie for each player in Omaha or Omaha Hi/Lo 8 or better. Click on any card and it will be used in the position indicated by the yellow frame.
That last part of the event's name is a bit of a surprise, actually. Despite being a popular cash game variant at the Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino the last few summers, 'Big O' has never been featured in any bracelet event until now.
Big O is a version of pot-limit Omaha Hi-Low in which players are dealt five cards instead of four. As in PLO8 (and other Omaha games), players use two hole cards and three board cards to make a five-card hand.
With such a niche game, there's very little material out there, so it's possible there's a big edge to be had in this tournament.
One man with considerable PLO knowledge is John Beauprez, founder and head instructor of PLOQuickPro.com, a training site dedicated entirely to PLO coaching. Beauprez has also had plenty of success at the WSOP, having won a bracelet in 2013 in a $1,500 NLHE six-handed event for $324,764.
He agreed to share some thoughts with us regarding Big O strategy in advance of the WSOP running an event with it for the first time.
PokerNews: Tell us about your history playing Big O.
John Beauprez: Up until a couple of years ago, I didn't have any. I play a home game back in Colorado, and they all give me a hard time because I didn't even know what a low was 18 months ago. But, it's a good home game and the Big O action is good out here in the summers.
It's important for people to learn how to play. You'd be surprised how it can help your other games, whether you're a PLO player or NLHE. It's just a different way to look at poker and look at board textures and analyze opponents.
So most of your Big O experience is playing cash?
It's all cash.
For a player used to regular PLO or PLO8, what's the No. 1 adjustment to Big O?
It's super-important if you're going to play a big pot to have a draw to both sides. One of the most common mistakes I see people play is drawing huge to one side of the pot. If people are deep-stacked and have just the nut-low draw, they'll play it way too fast. They have a good draw but it's to only half of the pot. You really have to have a hand that draws both ways.
How can a player exploit a mistake like that?
Big O Poker Calculator
I think the best players are really good at picking up when other people are weak to one side. They can use their nuttiness on one side of the pot to semi-bluff [out players on the other side].
How does having five cards versus four change the calculus of starting hands? Do you need three wheel cards to start (instead of two)?
Yeah, ace-deuce is still a really powerful combination, but you really want ace-deuce with another wheel card if you put in a lot of money preflop. The fifth card adds a lot more combinations. You're going to run into another ace-deuce hand pretty frequently, so it's really important to have ace-deuce with another low card. You have to play ace-deuce definitely a lot slower in Big O than you do in PLO8.
And to be clear, you still need ace-deuce or ace-three in your hand most of the time, especially in early position?
I would say so.
How important is it going to be that a player who enters this is competent in Big O?
Big O Poker Starting Hands
It's huge. It's going to be a lot of the tournament, so it's an extra edge. The guy who just won the PLO/NLHE combo tournament is a good friend of mine, Loren Klein. [In that event, it was] a huge advantage for him because he's great at both games.
No matter how good you are at one game... those tournaments where games are combined it's going to be a huge edge if you can at least hold your own in all of the games. You don't have to be Phil Ivey in all of the games, but if you can hold your own in all of them, it's going to go a long way for you.
And you would expect the Big O sections of the tournament to be the juiciest since it's the new game on the block, right?
Definitely. Big O and PLO8 games are legendary for being soft, so it's invaluable to be able to hold your own in those games.
Big O Poker League
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John BeauprezLoren Klein
It is no surprise No-Limit Hold’em is the most popular game in card rooms. With its popularity on television and in home games, it is the first game that many players learn.
But after you have been playing for a while, it’s important to expand your horizons, and Omaha poker is a great way to do that. As I have written before, I played my first hand of Omaha at Pechanga Resort & Casino.
When I discovered they were spreading five-card Omaha, also known as Big O, I would make the 90-minute drive to Temecula just to play $3/$6 Big O.
Lately, however, Hollywood Park Casino in Los Angeles has been spreading $3/$6 Big O, so I can play much closer to home, and on Saturdays I play the Big O tournament, which draws around 30 Omaha players.
Big O Poker Nick Name
Corey Silver, HPC’s tournament director, explains the details of the tournament, “Our Big O tournament, held every Saturday at 3 p.m., is the only one in town! The buy-in is $60 for 10,000 chips with an optional $60 rebuy for 15,000 chips before the second break. Players that sign up for the Big O tournament are rewarded with a food voucher and a Double Jackpot slip for cash game play.”
Hollywood Park Casino is catering to Big O players. As Silver says, “Big O is becoming very popular in Southern California. Players really enjoy getting five cards to play with to make a high and a low hand instead of the regular four cards in traditional Omaha.”
You can usually find three $3/$6 Big O and one $6/$12 Big O games on any given night at Hollywood Park. These games are a great way for beginners to get acquainted with Omaha poker.
For those players with dreams of playing on poker’s biggest stage, Hollywood Park is also sending players to the World Series of Poker via the “Road to WSOP” promotion.
On Saturday, May 21 and May 28 at 12 p.m., the $6,000 guarantee $60 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em tournament will send the top two finishers to the $565 Colossus event. A three-night’s hotel stay in Las Vegas from June 4 to 6 is also included in the prize package.
With the Colossus paying $1 million for first place, this will be a great chance to turn a $60 buy-in into a nice 7-figure payday.
How To Play Big O Poker
Patricia Chavira is a freelance writer and social media consultant specializing in gaming. She has played poker professionally for over 10 years. Email: [email protected]