Secrets of Professional Pot-Limit Omaha

• #50 in Best Poker Books

15 Reviews

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Poker professional and "Card Player" magazine columnist Rolf Slotboom presents Secrets of Professional Pot-Limit Omaha: How to Win Big - Both Live and Online, a guide especially attuned to the complex elements of medium and high-stakes Pot-Limit Omaha poker. Drawing directly on his experience matched against top players, Secrets of Professional Pot-Limit Omaha dispels common misconceptions (such as the idea that an open-ended straight draw on the flop is always a hand to be excited about), presents practice hands and hand match-ups and analysis to test one's poker deductive skills, offers strategies especially for players looking to earn money in online games, and much more. In addition to suggestions for optimum bet sizes, correct seating positions, blocker play, the bare ace bluff, and numerous other tips and tricks, Secrets of Professional Pot-Limit Omaha features an accompanying DVD with Rolf Slotboom, Ed Miller, and Byron Jacobs in person. An excellent resource for poker players of all skill and experience levels looking to hone their Pot-Limit Omaha skills.

Finally a non-idiot book for pot limit 0maha. Rolf claims to "have held nothing back" in his book, and I believe him. Slotboom details his "small-stack" strategy which mathematically served him to become one of his games most frequent winners. He also details a large-stack strategy. His book is pretty comprehensive, he covers starting hands, but he goes into more detail--detailing on how he would play them on early and also on the button. This book also includes "classic" Slotboom articles. Slotboom's writing style is fun. He's a deep thinker but you'll also see him in a deep strategy section refer to an opponent as "tight-a**"!

Ok folks, up front this is not a how to book. Actually there is very little information in this book about starting hands, semi bluffing ect. This book is more about Power Plays. It is about using betting to lure in the action, controlling the pot, and most of all: understanding a great players use of logic rather than pure aggression. Rolf goes through hand scenerios that he has been in, in specific types of games.

For Example: He tells of his time playing in a loose aggressive game in Vienna and how he was able to develop a systematic approach in beating this particular game. P.S. It is fascinating to read.

His style is very erradic but once you read a few of his "Tales from the Felt" (as I call it) you begin to comprehend why he plays these hands a certain way in one game and completely different in another type of game.

If you are an intermediate player I would still say you should read: Jeff Hwangs, Pot Limit Omaha book first and then read this one. Because the concepts in this book are advanced and you must have a clear understanding of the game to fully grasp the ideas and plays in this book. If you don't you will loose alot of money attempting these Power Plays.

On a Personal Note:

I play Omaha hi/lo Ring Games at my local casino and there are moments when I can understand these plays and incorporate them into my game and they have helped me get that extra value for my hand that I could not get before.

Hope this helps!

- George Johnson

Rolf presents an interesting playing philosophy for the pot limit Omaha game. I especially liked the way he discussed the changes he had to make in his playing style as his competition adjusted to his game. His style takes more patience than many players possess but will constantly show a profit if followed. It has helped my game a lot.

Having read these reviews, I thought I'd better give my sad opinion too, since most of the reviews miss the biggest point.

Unless you are an advanced Omaha player, this book is not for you. If you don't have an exceptional understanding of the game, the stuff Rolf writes will go right over your head. God help you (and your bankroll) if you try using it in money games.

One reviewer is right in saying to read Hwang first. Ciaffone would be another good choice.

I bought this to learn and improve my Omaha game for possible entry into tournaments. This book relates a personal approach which, although interesting and with a few applicable hints, generally is not a "how-to" presentation.

The saying "don't judge a book by it's cover" definitely applies to this book. This is not a generic book that teaches you the "secrets of professional pot-limit omaha". For the fundamentals of playing Omaha you should read Hwang or Ciaffone instead.

This book is about a very specific strategy that the author uses. It should be titled "Secrets of a Professional's Quirky Strategy for Pot-Limit Omaha". It teaches a short-stacking strategy: wait for premium hands and go all-in. While it might be a successful strategy, it is not for the average poker book reader looking to learn the fundamentals of Omaha. Unfortunately the cover, back-cover and other descriptions of the book don't point this out. I'm not saying it's a bad book, but no-where does it describe who this book is useful for: experienced Omaha players who are looking to learn a few short-stacking tricks.

I agree with William J Nicholas's review... not for you and me...

If you buy into cash games for the minimum and want to reduce your risk, while raking in large pots, this book is for you. Rolf has written a unique approach that is really quite informative. It takes a real commitment to his strategy for it to work, but in the long run I am sure it works well. Even if you don't use this specific strategy, the book is worth it because it covers a lot of groundbreaking areas that other Omaha books haven't touched and it is well written. I haven't pulled the trigger yet on his strategy, but I learned a lot about the reasons behind a successful Omaha strategy. Well done Rolf.

Lots of good advice throughout the book, I was impressed enough to write a review. Using the short-stack strategy outlined in the book I was able to go from a winning player to a big winning player. I'd get it just for that. If you new to the game get this later if you want to improve your game and make more money, BUY.

If you are looking to learn PLO, this, Hwang, and Ciaffone are the standards.

The only thing I dislike about any of these books is that they tend to show you the easy hands - you play good cards, you get hit in the face by the flop, and then they explain what to do from there, which is fairly obvious.

They don't go into as much detail about what to do for what you really spend the bulk of your time doing, and that is getting cards that aren't that great, or whiffing on flops - because that is what is hard and requires thought and separates the beginners from the rest.

These books are all for beginners and basically tell you what you need to know to minimize the hard decisions and minimize your losses.
They also discuss a fairly tight strategy that is largely specific to full ring games and live. In that there are very few full ring games online, compared to the shorthanded 6max games that are becoming the standard for PLO regulars online.

Of the standards, Slotboom's is probably the best in terms of the next level discussion, but even then it is a lot of him talking about hands he played - but he does show a lot of the thought that goes behind it and it is a good book.

A fresh view on pot-limit omaha, a must read for everyone seriously interested in the game. Helps you understand the strategy of shortstack play perfectly.

Good Book, the short stack strategy is a very logical I'm trying it in some small cash games with a little success, I think you have to be very patient at it. Rolf's tips on Big stack play are also very good. Everything else he writes is very logical and seems like optimal play. For the good omaha player it will reinforce what you should know, and add a couple of useful tools to your game.

Slotboom takes a different approach to the game than the other books I have read on PL Omaha. I enjoyed reading this book and feel that it improved my game more than any other book has.

this dude talks about hands he has played throughout the entire book, quite possibly the worst book ever written

Best Omaha book I've read... ever. Clear and easy to follow chapters with some personal notes. Some of the concepts, (Tried with Wienna strategy) are adaptable even for NLHE.