Friday Omaha at PKR

It was kind of an uneventful night for me. The regulars were there most of the night, and a couple newer guys showed up later. As usual, I was bored and played way too many hands. I slowly bled off chips for an hour or two before winning a big hand, and this was the pattern for the entire night. I only had 4-5 decent hands, and I’ll post two of them.

The first was a monster. Omaha 8 - We had a $7 straddle going most of the night ($1/3 blinds), and this hand was no exception. I’m in straddle position and have another crap hand (9-9-4-3), but my lottery numbers can win just like anyone else’s can. I think the entire table throws in the $7, Frank makes a raise to $20, and most everyone calls that as well. My initial read was that he had aces and maybe another low card. The flop comes 9-9-2, BINGO! It checks to me, and I check, of course, to try and let others develop some kind of hand - with any luck someone will have pocket deuces. No luck there, and it checks around. The turn brings an 8. Not a bad card, as I know half the table will normally chase some crappy low draw (lol). The pot is around $160 and I make a little bet of $50, but I think only Frank calls. I still have him on aces, and I catch myself thinking “ace, ace, ace...” I’ll be damned if an ace doesn’t come on the river, giving me the double nuts! I figure if he hit a monster he’ll raise, and if he missed he’ll fold to a big bet, so I make a small bet to throw him some rope. He raises the pot, I re-raise, and we get all the chips in. He figures I have a low, and announces that “we’re chip-chopping” as he turns over his aces. I say, “Oh, there will be no chip-chopping” as I turn over my monster!

The other hand of note was the last hand of the evening (well, morning, since it was 4:15am). Omaha 8 - I think there are six of us left, and we’re all tired and bored after a long session. We decide to straddle, re-straddle, re-re-straddle, etc, to make it a true lottery. We each had $100-150 in blind (it was late, I don’t remember exactly…) with everyone all-in except Frank, Elvie and me, and I look down at some cheese like 9-8-7-5. The flop comes 7-5-5. I toss the rest of my chips in, and both Frank and Elvie call. They both have chips left, but check down the turn and river. Another low card comes, but my boat holds up to win half the main pot. I actually scoop the entire side pot, as neither of them have a low.

I ended the night winning money, though not as much as usual. I played pretty poorly overall, making a couple calls when, though I had a good hand, I knew I was beat. I would’ve lost money for the night if that last hand turned out differently. It just goes to show you how boredom can affect your game. All those $3 big blinds (and $7 straddles!), add up after 8-10 hours of poker. People normally talk about the “big hand” that is the difference between a winning and losing session. While this may be true, they often fail to realize that if they’re playing good poker, the “big hand” should normally be the difference between winning a little and winning a lot!

See ya at the tables…
Rick