Omaha preflop raise sizing

I've been thinking about preflop raising in pot-limit Omaha. I've decided to try a new plan. Until now I'd opened with a minraise when first in. I'd read it in a book. But it looks like I may have misread it.

With the switch to buying in full I'm going to instead open with a 3x raise. Historically in no limit hold'em, the other big bet game I've played, I've used 4x, the max in pot limit is 3.5x. So 3x seems about right. To keep it simple I'll use the 3x from all positions.

In the micro stakes the minraise didn't seem to accomplish much. It didn't build a pot or thin the field or create position. So it seemed to just leave me out of position. Playing with deeper stacks it also makes it trickier in some ways in 3bet pots as stacks became harder to work with.

let's Party!

I've joined PartyPoker. I'd been lurking for a bit and decided to sign up. I made just a small $30 deposit since I don't play enough to clear any kind of bonus.

A young player at the casino said he plays at Party. He said the software is bad but the games are good. The software has improved in recent weeks or is at least different. It's playable enough the hand replayer is inferior to what Stars and Tilt have. I really just want a visual snapshot of the hands at showdown most of the time I care to see it but it's a hassle to work with. So I hope Party will improve that.

In a recent update Party is going on about challenges or some such. meh, I just want to go to a table and play cards. I can see what they are getting at trying to integrate it with your social scene to try to naturally get your buddies to also play. If it brings in bad players then sure. The games do seem friendly. So I'll give it a try along with the other sites and see how it goes.

halfway back?

In a small sample of 1000 hands I've won back half the loss from the $10 PLO downswing. Buying in full has gone very well. I've definitely been running well flopping sets, draws coming in, big hands and AA holding up. Still I feel I'm playing better, more patient. With money behind I've been thinking a bit more clearly it seems.

At the micro stakes the rake is effectively uncapped. So the small edges from playing short are actually often wiped out by the rake. Plus since people don't like to fold you often end up nearly all in on the flop multiway and having to call off the rest as a large underdog as you may be getting like 8:1 so what can you do.

The better plan at $10 PLO has been to play full and get paid off and win the max on your strongest hands. So far so good. I don't know how the next 1000 hands will go but hopefully can continue to run well.