Welcome to my poker blog. It's sure to be the retarded step-sibling to the many other fine blogs out there. I'm basically doing this as a sort of journal, to keep track of my results playing Pot Limit Omaha and No Limit Hold'Em. If you enjoy what you read I hope you feel at home here. If not, fuck off.

Here's an interesting hand I had tonight:

PokerStars Pot-Limit Omaha High, $1.00 BB (4 handed) converter

Button ($74.50)
SB ($35.55)
BB ($90.55)
Hero ($197.90)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 5c, 3h, Qd, Qc.
Hero raises to $3, Button calls $3, 1 fold, BB calls $2.

Omaha is an interesting game and I tend to be very aggressive when it gets shorthanded. QQ35 is hand I may limp with in middle to late position in a full game but would most likely fold in early position. With four players I think it has a lot of value, so I raised it on the button to build a pot.

Flop: ($9.50) 3c, 4h, 6c (3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $6, Button calls $6, BB folds.


Not a bad flop for my hand. Queen high flush draw, 2 or 7 gives me a decent straight, and I have an overpair. With four players I'm going to tend to play this hand out barring any unusual action.

Turn: ($21.50) Kd (2 players)
Hero bets $20.45, Button raises to $65.5, Hero calls $45.05.

Whoops. This player is fairly aggressive and has pretty loose standards preflop. He could have a wide variety of hands:

A bare straight: Something like 57 with no redraws. Many players will simply call the flop with a hand like that and get it in on the turn as they feel it's a safe move; they can get away from the hand if the board pairs or the flush card comes off. Against a bare 57, I am a 72/22 dog and I am not getting the right price for the call.

Trip Kings: KKxx. I felt this was the most likely hand. I'm actually in better shape against this as I have 13 clean outs, three 2's, 3 sevens, and seven clubs. I am a 2:1 dog, and the price I'm getting is better than 2:1. This is a +EV call, but is pretty marginal.

Flush Draw: Lots of players play the nut flush draw this way at these low limit games. If they feel you don't have much of a hand and can get you off it, or if they are just total donks and will push any flush, they will push the flop or turn as long as the board isn't paired. Assuming his flush draw is better than mine (ie he has the A or K of clubs), I am a 2:1 one dog if he has a king or an overpair, and a 3:1 favorite if he doesn't.

Two pair: You'll often see people play two pair very fast heads up. The flop call really doesn't make sense but people do tend to gambool from time to time. Against two pair I'm 55/45, basically a crooked coin flip.


I thought for the maximum time allowed, felt that he had KK and decided to call for the tiny EV I would be getting. PLO is a very high variance game and this kind of call tends to be not great for the bankroll.

River: ($152.50) 7s (2 players)

Final Pot: $152.50

Results below:
Hero has 5c 3h Qd Qc (straight, seven high).
Button has Ac Kh 5h Kc (three of a kind, kings)

Outcome: Hero wins $152.50.

So my read was right on a very basic level. He did have trip kings, but also had the nut flush draw. I was nearly a 6:1 underdog in this pot and I managed to snake one of my six outs on the river. As you can imagine, he was not amused.

In a full ring game this hand would have never played out this way. I probably would have checked the flop and folded the turn. HU play causes you to make odd decisions. Three hands later I had 6622 on the button, the same player raised out of the big blind and I called, looking to flop a set and possibly break him. The flop came 22x with two hearts, he turned the nut flush, and my quads broke him when he pushed the river.