The WSOP started a few days back and the big 40kNLHE already has a winner. While that was certainly the big news especially with all the NLHE fans out there, I was more interested in another event. The 1.5k limit Omaha/8 produced Thang Luu as the winner yet again. In the last 3 versions of this event, Thang has won it twice and come in second the other time. The only other time someone has gone 2nd or better 3 years in a row was Johnny Chan, when he lost that third main event to Phil Hellmuth.
I was reading the results on the WSOP site and came across an interview with Thang Luu. He gave one of the most ineffable pieces of advice/strategy I've ever read/heard about poker. He says, "This is Hi-Lo, not No Limit. Other players in this game wait for a big hand to come, but not me. I play every hand because every hand can win." He LITERALLY plays every hand. Not all the way to the river, but it seems like from what I've read online he does see practically every flop. Obviously he has other poker skills like people reading, but it's still an amazing strategy nonetheless. In a way, it kinda makes sense. He's playing in a weak field (not sure if he'll use the same strategy in the 10k LO8 event) so there are good value betting opportunities and good fold vig. He's right that it's limit and not NL, so no matter how huge a hand you have, you can only win so much. More importantly, it's omaha/8, so the preflop dominance isn't as big as it can be in hold'em and so if he's going to outplay people after the flop, he increases his edge by seeing more flops. With regards to play, it makes it near impossible for someone to put him on a hand, and I'm sure the stuff he shows down with will tilt a lot of people. This whole strategy goes against practically everything I've ever read about poker, but the results speak for themselves.
No comments :
Post a Comment