RUMOURS OF MY DEATH ARE GREATLY EXAGGERATED BITCHES!

I think this hand mostly speaks for itself:

PokerStars Pot-Limit Omaha High, $0.50 BB (7 handed) converter

Hero ($160.85)
MP2 ($26.65)
CO ($32)
Button ($40.45)
SB ($41.55)
BB ($154.95)
UTG ($58.75)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with 9c, 7s, 8c, 9s.
UTG calls $0.50, Hero calls $0.50, MP2 calls $0.50, 1 fold, Button calls $0.50, SB completes, BB checks.

Nice little suited connectors + pair hand. I probably won't win with this hand often but I can hit the flop in a number of interesting ways.

Flop: ($3) 9d, 4h, 5s (6 players)
SB checks, BB checks, UTG checks, Hero bets $2.5, MP2 folds, Button folds, SB calls $2.50, BB folds, UTG calls $2.50.

Great flop! Top set, gutshot straight draw, and no flush possible. I bet out here to protect my hand as neither of the other two players in the hand are likely to be a draw or two pair here, the only cards likely to be out against me. I'm not going to check hoping one or the other has 55 or 77.

Turn: ($10.50) 9h (3 players)
SB checks, UTG checks, Hero bets $6, SB folds, UTG calls $6.

W00t!

I have the best possible hand and nothing can beat me no matter what card comes off on the turn. I think the UTG player is drawing. I don't feel he has any sort of made hand already, like an under-fullhouse. I make a somewhat weak bet as though I really didn't like that 9.


River: ($22.50) 2c (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $10, UTG raises to $49.75, Hero calls $39.75.

Here I'm hoping just to get paid off. I would have been happy if he just called. I have no idea what hand he thought I had (really, no idea). I'm not betting top pair in EP, so it's unlikely I have naked trips. The only thing I could have here that would fear a reraise is something like 678x, which would have given me a very small wrap straight draw.

Final Pot: $122

Hero had 9c 7s 8c 9s, Four of a Kind, Nines, and won $122
UTG had As 3h 5d 6d and lost with a straight, Deuce to Six

I really would like to know what was going through his head. What could he beat?
Omaha is a crazy game and it seems there are a lot of crazy people playing it.

With any poker game you develop plays that work against specific types of people. Here's a hand I played very well, in my humble opinion. :)

PokerStars Pot-Limit Omaha High, $1.00 BB (5 handed) converter

MP ($88.90)
Button ($58.50)
Hero ($219.90)
BB ($36.75)
UTG ($89)

Preflop: Hero is SB with Kc, 6c, Kh, 4s.
2 folds, Button calls $1, Hero completes, BB checks.

PokerStars Pot-Limit Omaha High, $1.00 BB (5 handed) converter

MP ($88.90)
Button ($58.50)
Hero ($219.90)
BB ($36.75)
UTG ($89)

Preflop: Hero is SB with Kc, 6c, Kh, 4s.
2 folds, Button calls $1, Hero completes, BB checks.

Pretty raggy kings in the small blind. The game is short, but position is everything in PLO and I am very unlikely to raise this hand.

Flop: ($3) Qc, Kd, Jd (3 players)
Hero bets $2, BB folds, Button calls $2.

I flopped top set. I bet out right away for two reasons:

a) I want to know how I can play this hand on the turn. If I get raised anything more than 1/2 the pot here, I probably just muck it. It really depends on what I feel my opponent has.

b) As I said in the previous post, there are lots of Omaha players that will just call the flop looking for a safe card to hit the turn. Even in Omaha very few players assume that you are drawing when you bet. If I check here, he is sure to bet. I can't really call a bet because I don't have odds, unless I think he has a weaker hand here. So I opt to bet out to see what his response will be. Also, I have implied odds as I believe this player will pay me off if I hit my boat.

He did what I wanted him to do, which was just call. I made a somewhat weak bet because I wanted to feign weakness with a pretty powerful drawing hand. If he has AT, I want him to think I have 9T. If he has 9T, I want him to think I have something like two pair. I set this up by betting two pair into straightened boards on occasions when I have some other redraw, like a flush, or a straight tie. Sometimes I throw caution to the wind and do it with bottom two pair. My goal is to control the action as much as possible.

Turn: ($7) 8c (2 players)
Hero bets $5, Button raises to $21.7, Hero calls $16.70.

This is a very good card for me. It opens up my hand to the second nut flush draw, which I'm 99.5% certain would be good if it got there. I bet out again because I felt that I was either way ahead or somewhat behind and wanted to know which. If he has AT or 9T in his hand, I have somewhere between 13 and 15 outs depending on which clubs and or pair cards he holds.
This is a clear call. Folding would be a mistake at this point.

River: ($50.40) 2c (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $33.8 (All-In), Hero calls $33.80.

Final Pot: $118
Outcome: Hero shows Kc 6c Kh 4s and wins $118 with a flush, King High.
Button had 7d 9h Jc Th, a straight, Nine to King

Once again he did exactly what I wanted him to do: put the bulk of the money in when he had already lost. My check here is somewhat dangerous as he may just check behind me and I end up losing value on the hand.

However, I've played this individual on many occasions and my notes indicated that he would most likely continue his aggressiveness on the river even without the nuts. I also 'back-doored' the flush (caught two running cards to make it) and it is much more deceptive than a flush draw that had been there from the flop on.

The sad thing is, he went to the felt with nothing but the ass-end of the straight. I could have easily had AKKT or just AcTXcX here and had him drawing dead.

In the end I got lucky, but I set this hand up to lose a moderate amount or to win his entire stack. I was roughly a 45/55 underdog going into the river. His 'slowplay' or unwillingness to raise the made straight on the flop allowed me to take this hand away from him.

The moral? It's called Pot Limit Omaha for a reason. If you had a vulnerable hand like a weak straight you should be reraising to define your hand on the flop. Getting all the money in on the river when you no longer have anything close to the nuts is foolish.

DON'T BE A BITCH!

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.