During the early 2000’s when online poker really started taking off, slow-playing was one of the most preached bits of advice to beginning players.  Slow-playing supposedly seeks to extract the maximum amount of value from a hand by only checking and calling with monster hands.  But when slow-playing, one has to ask them self if they are definitely getting the maximum value from a monster hand this way.

Sure the idea of the slow-play is that you’re fooling others into thinking your hand is second-rate so you can trap them in the end, and make them commit even more chips.  However, slow-playing doesn’t build the pot along each street and players are less likely to fall into a trap when they’ve got to commit most of their stack at the end; folding becomes the better option here.

But if you would make small raises on the flop, turn, and river then you’d be slowly building the pot while making an opponent(s) commit more of their stack.  If an opponent bets enough of their stack along the way, then they’re more likely to call your big raise on the river.  For instance, if you slow-played a set of kings all the way to the river and tried to raise a $100 pot by $80, then it’s more unlikely that the other player will call this.

However, if you made raises all along the way and built the pot up to $200 (with the opponent contributing a good portion of this) then it’s more likely that they’ll call the $80 raise at the end.  Plus you’d be taking down a $360 pot instead of a $260 pot in the end.

Of course you need to consider an opponent’s table image as well as your own when deciding whether slow-playing or betting out is the best option.  An extremely tight player isn’t as likely to call all of your raises along the way so slow-playing is the better option when it comes to some situations.

Those who stick with Texas Hold’em their entire lives don’t really get to see the importance of combination draws.  There are only two hole cards in Hold’em so players are lucky if they have one draw towards winning the pot.  But in Pot-Limit Omaha, the game changes dramatically with the introduction of two extra hole cards, and players get the chance to have multiple draws for winning the pot.

And one of the best combination draws you can get in Pot-Limit Omaha is being double suited since this gives you two shots to hit a flush draw on the flop.  Your pot odds become unbelievable when you’re in this situation since you have 18 different outs to hit a flush on the river when double suited.

Another great situation to be in when playing Pot-Limit Omaha is having 4 connecting cards.  Once again, you’re going to have multiple options when going for a straight draw if you hold a hand like 8-9-10-J.  Whether you’re trying to get an inside straight or an open straight, holding 4 connecting cards is an excellent position to be in.

But if you think having 4 connecting cards or being double suited is great then think of the possibilities when you have both options available.  This is simply one of the best possible scenarios when playing Pot-Limit Omaha because you have the ability to hit multiple straight draws on the flop along with two different flush possibilities.  Having 4 connectors and being double suited is also able to stack up well against players who hold Ac-As-Kc-Ks which is the top starting hand in Pot-Limit Omaha.

Of course, even when you have these great combination draws you need be selective about which flops you play.  Because, in the end, combo draws are exactly what the name implies – draws.

There is no argument that, out of all the starting hands you can receive in poker, pocket aces is statistically the best.  Unfortunately, there will be many times when you aren’t the one holding the pocket aces and must find a way to crack them.  But if you’re going to attempt to beat pocket aces, you have to keep several things in mind.

The first thing is putting an opponent with pocket aces.  This is next to impossible with loose/aggressive players and maniacs, but it is very possible when you’re up against a rock who has just raised from early position.  In this scenario, you can almost be assured that they have pocket aces.  Once you’ve identified this, you’ll need to keep one thing in mind when trying to crack aces: win big or get out of the hand cheap.

When going up against pocket aces, chances are that your hand will have less than a 20% chance of winning over 5 streets.  With this being the case, you want to see flops, turns, and rivers as cheaply as possible while trying to put together a hand that can win big.  Make sure you are going up against a rock who is willing to bet big with their pocket aces as well if you want to win major chips.

Once you know this, you’ll need to recognize the hands which can win big.  Small pocket pairs, and suited connectors are definitely the best hands to crack aces with since they go under the radar and work well on weak boards.  For instance, pocket 3’s on a board of 4h-3s-9d are going to be good since an opponent with pocket aces will likely still bet big in this scenario.

On the other hand, stay away from using hands such as K-Q and J-10 to crack aces since they’re only good on boards where you’re highly unlikely to make a big profit because other players will fold on these boards.