As any mixed game player will tell you, poker isn't so much a game as it is a collection of games.
Most casual players will be familiar with no-limit hold'em, but one of the fastest growing variants out there is Omaha.
The four-card twist on hold'em has nuances, depth and strategy all of its own, and one of its deepest thinkers is Fernando 'JNANDEZ' Habegger, the subject of this month's edition of PokerOrg's The Interview.
Watch the full episode above, read on or check the links below to listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
The pre-solver era
As Habegger dove into an immersive study of pot-limit Omaha theory during the pre-solver era, he simultaneously developed a curiosity about pursuing coaching on the side.
He eventually created a Twitch stream, where teaching became part of his own learning process.
“I had to make a decision between pursuing just the coaching videos or building more of a personal brand on Twitch,” says Habegger. “I started with Twitch for a while, and then I eventually received a lot of requests for private coaching.”
Teaching forced Habegger to think about PLO at a much deeper and more refined level.
“I started thinking more about how you even teach the game from a conceptual perspective, because you didn't have any PLO solvers to really guide you. That entire journey was obviously many, many years for me.”
Translating NLH solvers for PLO
The next leap came with the arrival of PioSolver, giving Habegger a stronger theory foundation that he worked to adapt to pot-limit Omaha.
“Back then, PioSolver allowed me to think about pot odds and minimum defense frequencies and all these concepts.
"They're not any different in PLO; in some ways, there had to be a connection. The way I basically started teaching on a bigger scale was to take NLH Piosolver outputs and ideas and translate them into PLO.”
Once dedicated PLO solvers arrived, Habegger had access to a myriad of powerful new tools as a player and a coach.
“Then a couple of years later in 2017, we had the introduction of a PLO solver on the public market, and that changed everything once again.”
An investment that paid off
To save money on rent as he was growing his poker bankroll, Habegger remained enrolled at university to take advantage of cheaper student housing.
But more importantly, he invested a significant portion of his savings in two areas he believed would determine his career for the better: improving his mindset and deepening his understanding of the emerging popularity of pot-limit Omaha.
“I put $2,500 into mental game coaching from Jared Tendler and $2,500 into a massive PLO book. It wasn’t a video or a course or anything, but an actual book about pot-limit Omaha. It was Tom Chambers' Advanced PLO Theory. That's basically how I started as a professional PLO player in 2011.”
It was a gamble that helped lay the foundation for one of poker's most respected PLO educators and coaches. From that point on, Habegger never looked back.
In 2020, he published his first PLO book through D+B Poker, Mastering Small Stakes Pot-Limit Omaha: How to Crush Modern PLO Games, just as the game was skyrocketing in popularity.
The book would go on to be one of the best-selling PLO books in the marketplace and cement Habegger’s status as an author, coach, and player amongst his peers.
The Interview — Fernando ‘JNANDEZ’ Habegger
Highlights from our exclusive in-depth conversation with Fernando include:
- What intrigued Habegger most about PLO vs. NLH
- How he began his coaching career inspired by a message from Phil Galfond
- The moment PLO solvers became available and changed everything
- The contents of his new book 100 Essential Tips to Master Pot-Limit Omaha
- And much more...
Watch Fernando Habegger's full interview with PokerOrg’s Craig Tapscott in the video above, or listen now on Spotify or Apple podcasts.
Check out more in-depth interviews with some of poker’s biggest names below, or check out other episodes with Esther ‘Etay’ Taylor, Chris Moneymaker, and Daniel Negreanu.
