skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Monthly tourney last night - $50 buy-in. I'm sitting around 20 big blinds, pretty healthy for this fast tourney. I'm sitting on the button and it folds around to me.
I stole the blinds two orbits ago - a king-eight type of holding. Last orbit I passed with Queen-2-off, I glanced to my left and the player there looked ready to play his cards. I was right, he raised all in and the big blind folded.
No such indication this time. Pretty sure he was folding. The big blind was giving no signals - he waits until it is his turn to act before looking at his cards (as I do). He is an older fellow who plays his 2 cards are little else. He will fold well over 90% of the time.
I check my cards- the truly awful jack-deuce. Jack-shit, as I like to say. The old-timers' stack size is a small consideration. He has about 7 big blinds, meaning if I raise and he comes over the top, I would be compelled to call with overwhelming pot odds. But he's not coming over the top, in almost every circumstance, except with maybe aces. He's the sort that would call with pocket kings and fold quietly if an ace hits the flop.
So fold my trash hand and preserve chips, or keep trying to chip up?
Meh. Fast tourney, all signs point to being able to steal. I raise to 2.5 the big blind. The guy to my left folds as he indicated he was going to, but the old-timer checks his cards and calls. Drat. There's 1600 in the pot, and he's got only 800 left.
The flop misses everything - 8-3-3. I can guarantee he has no three in his hand. He almost certainly has no eight, unless he has 88. But there are tons of overpairs that this weak-tighty has called with. He checks. This is probably a sign to just stick the rest of my chips in - there's no deception in this guy's game - he's not checking to checkraise me. But I check as well.
The turn brings a queen, and Mr. Weaktight checks again. This is the clearest green light I could ever hope to receive. He has no queen, and all almost all of his hands have been "caught" by the queen I will now represent holding in my hand. "I'll put you all-in". I say.
He looks down at his chips, perhaps considering for the first time in the hand how little he has left himself. He thinks for a moment, then gives a little shrug. I know the shrug well - it doesn't bode well for me. "Eh, I suppose it's time" he says, and puts them in. He turns over ace-king.
I laugh and state "Beats me, I don't have a thing". I decide to flip over my garbage and advertise my bluff to tarnish my own image for later in case I get dealt a real hand (which I don't). I could hit a jack or deuce on the river to win the pot but do not.
An Ace-high "what the fuck, I give up" call takes a third of my stack - chips that would have certainly helped me later when I ran out of gas in seventh place, out of the money.
I don't hate the play, it just didn't work out this time.
Watching people make plays that should cost them money and getting away with it is infuriating. Check/calling bets with jack-high flushes, getting freerolled with a good hand but no redraws and chopping the giant pot, playing bottom trips or top two pair like they're strong hands.
Bleah.
I'm losing in Omaha online more often than I'm winning, but I feel like I'm improving. The session killer, as is often true, is the devastating mistake - the river call without second nuts.
I think I just need to hit a hand or two also. I rarely have the nuts, and when I do nobody wants to come along.
I'm pleased with my progress, but the results aren't there. As was true in Holdem (at least for me), actual results are sometimes the last indication that you're becoming a good player.
More last hand of the night drama at Indian Matt's casino*.
We've lost players and are playing 4 handed for the last hour of the night, alternating orbits of Hold'em and Omaha on my deal. I'm getting pushed around, and I'm not liking it much. A 30BB profit has turned into a 30BB loss in 90 minutes, and I'm always guessing wrong - trying to pick off a bluff with a weak hand or running a bluff myself against a monster, isolation raises failing, etc. My stack is going down, down, down, with no cards to boost it up.
So I'm set up perfectly to play General Custer here and die with my boots on, given the correct hand. Obviously, the poker gods aren't going to let that opportunity slip by.
We're in the pre-announced last orbit of the night, Omaha, and I limp in with AKJd6d. The board is A9x, two diamonds. I bet out and get raised right away. Top pair and a non-nut flush draw isn't a great hand and a fold is in order, but Custer says otherwise. I call the raise, looking to see another card.
And it's a beaut - at least on the surface - the king of diamonds. Second nut flush (instead of third), and top two pair to boot. My opponent leads out for $25. Since I've got only $40 left, it's a Degree all-in or fold moment. I'm feeling bullied, we're 4 handed, there's no guarantee that he's got the one flush that beats me, it's late, and there's no reason at all not to stick my chips in now. I stick them in, and get called just a little too quickly for my liking.
He's got the nut. Queen-Nine of diamonds, along with another nine for middle set.
And that's how you step into the bucket in Omaha.
The dealer (not in the hand) asks if we want to run the river more than once. I'm always willing to do this, whether on the good or bad end of things, but I defer to my villain who's ahead on this one to offer a multi-run river, to which I will enthusiastically agree. He looks at the cards and says in a strangely-joking way "I think I just want to run it once". That's fine with me - no ill-will - he's played the hand much better than I and deserves to maximize his winnings if that's what he wants to do.
I say "Once is fine..." and the dealer burns and turns the river, a black king. I continue my sentence "....except that I just sucked out on you".
Kings over aces beats nines over kings. My opponent hears my words but doesn't understand them - it hasn't clicked. He looks over the board again, then at my hand, (now sitting on the table), and the emotion drains from his face. He didn't see my (albeit weak) redraw, and is very upset at himself for failing to see it. He stands up and paces, then gets down on his knees (literally down to the floor on his knees), insulting himself in various ways. He claims he would have easily offered to run it twice had he been aware of any type of redraw I had to beat him, but the ace-king in my hand never registered to him - he was so focused on the jack-high flush cards. He decided to run it once simply because he thought I was drawing dead.
(An aside, I don't see it as much of a big deal either way - not all that much to worry about when up against a 4 out draw in Omaha, even though I caught up this time).
My opponent was too emotional to play the last 2 hands after that - he asked to cash out and ended our game. I was left to ponder the nature of my last hand decision, and getting my money in so badly. Tilt-induced? Or somewhat rational reasoning based on being so short-handed? Maybe a bit of both?
*This has become the nickname of my cash game.
In our live tourney last night, a competent player sits down late (still first orbit), and raises the first hand to 300 (big blind 50). We get to showdown, he tables 88, which is good.
Next hand, he raises to 300 again, gets to showdown again, and tables 88 again. It's good.
Very next hand, table is joking and telling him to take a break, but he looks at his cards and raises, one more time to 300. He gets a call. Board is queen high, uncoordinated. He bets out and is check/raised. He calls rather quickly.
Turn is a king. He continues to bet, close to pot. He is check/called.
River brings a third club, and also pairs the board. Now his opponent leads out, and he raises. The raise is called. As they're turning their hands over - I point at him and say to no one in particular - "he's got kings full". And that's what he shows. His opponent had top pair and rivered a flush, and is now crippled.
The woman next to me says "how did you know that"? I start to explain, but realize that much of the process of handreading is internalized and comes with hundreds of hands of experience.
Guess I'm getting there.
He flatted a hand he should have raised, then bet twice when he should have checked, and shoved when he should have folded - getting all in as a 19:1 underdog.
Then he won the hand and knocked me out. Sigh.
I had the nut straight three times in my session today - all three times the board was paired. I called one time (was wrong) and folded twice.
Never had the nuts today at showdown, and lost a buttload along the way. Shame, too - I was at the table with people overvaluing 2 pair and bottom trips, and generally playing Omaha like a Holdem player.
Happened in Omaha. Flopped it with only one opponent. Bet the turn and he folded. Ho hum.
missing every flop.
In OMAHA.
I lost every single pot. Never flopped a thing. Lost every showdown. I lost heads up - three handed, four handed, six handed, didn't matter. Lost em all.
One buy in down. This was during taking a shot to a higher level - I don't have the online bankroll for it on my small site - don't really care. I have reserves and can easily reload.
Not if it's gonna go like this, though. Brutal.
