The Poker Zoo Podcast

PZ95: Greg Vail, Split Pot Expert


Listen Later

This year we have focused on very broad issues in poker, both in poker theory and in its statistics, but today we are going to get very specific. Scoop! is a series of detailed books focused on one game in two variants: PLO8 and Big O. Its author, Greg Vail, makes a living playing and teaching these games alone.

In Hold’em, there are often cards on the board that are considered to be blanks or bricks that should not help anyone’s hand. This is almost never the case in High Low. Since there are so many combinations of hands in play, most cards on the board are going to help or connect with something or someone. Therefore, we must consider how the “best” hand can fare against the entire deck and the entire run out. Once this is done, the “best” hand is the hand with the highest equity. Most of the time, this is not the hand that a Hold’em mind would consider to be “ahead” right now.

Vail, Greg. Scoop!: Big O and PLO8: Winning High Low Concepts for the Hold’em Mind (p. 13).

For whatever reason, splitting the pot into two simply blows away many poker players. While I have been preparing a modest class for Double Board Bomb Pots in particular, the Scoop! series by Greg, soon to be completed with volume four, is the seminal contemporary text for big bet omaha games and is emphatically built around split pot concepts.

Play for the scoop. We wouldn’t draw to chop in Hold’em, so why would we in split pot games? We will gain most of our profit by exploiting players who do exactly that. We’ve all seen someone River an inferior Flush in Hold’em, pay off a large bet to the nut Flush, and say, “I hate it when I was drawing dead and got there.” That happens all the time in split pot games. Do not be that guy.

It is a conceptual series but also a detailed one.

Breakdowns like this, of the entire combo, help clarify what you are looking for in a split pot hand.

A few more links:

Here’s the software Greg mentioned.

Greg can be found at doublesuited.com.

Here’s a Zoo episode where I argue with Limon about a split pot double board spot. What would Greg have to say about it?

Basically, this is a great series, I don’t have a lot to add here. You should just buy and read the books if you are going to play Big O and PLO8.

Enjoy the interview!

Dean at work.

As for sourdough, I use allrecipes.com for everything these days. Maybe Dean will write out his own recipe and post it here.

The post PZ95: Greg Vail, Split Pot Expert appeared first on Out of Position.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

The Poker Zoo PodcastBy Chris M. aka Persuadeo & Dean Martin

  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9

4.9

30 ratings


More shows like The Poker Zoo Podcast

View all
Thinking Poker by Andrew Brokos

Thinking Poker

325 Listeners

The Bill Simmons Podcast by The Ringer

The Bill Simmons Podcast

30,084 Listeners

This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von by Theo Von

This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von

27,214 Listeners

Poker Stories by Card Player Media

Poker Stories

186 Listeners

The Daily by The New York Times

The Daily

111,562 Listeners

The Ryen Russillo Podcast by The Ringer

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

14,272 Listeners

Establish The Run Fantasy Football by Fantasy Football

Establish The Run Fantasy Football

1,470 Listeners

Third Man Walking by Charlie Wilmoth

Third Man Walking

97 Listeners

Circles Off - Sports Betting Podcasts by The Hammer Betting Network

Circles Off - Sports Betting Podcasts

498 Listeners

Free Crush Live Poker Podcast by Bart Hanson

Free Crush Live Poker Podcast

64 Listeners

Upswing Poker Level-Up by Upswing Poker

Upswing Poker Level-Up

101 Listeners

Table 1 Podcast by Table 1 Podcast

Table 1 Podcast

24 Listeners

Risky Business with Nate Silver and Maria Konnikova by Pushkin Industries

Risky Business with Nate Silver and Maria Konnikova

253 Listeners