Friday Omaha at PKR

Well, it was another exciting session of Omaha 8 on Friday. A great crowd too - we had two full tables at 3:30am! On a hand-by-hand basis, the luck pretty much evened out for me on this night (I’m glad that little streak seems to be over!). Fortunately though, for the most part the pots I won were larger than the pots I lost. My night really came down to three big hands.

In the first hand, I have Jd-Js-6s-4d, and the flop comes Jc-3s-6d. I have top set, of course, but it’s nothing to write home about. There’s two to a low and two to a straight, plus I have one of my boat cards (6s) in my hand. I hope to take it down right there and go on to the next hand, and I bet the pot. As is usually the case in this game, it’s tough to get anyone to lay down any kind of a draw, and I get three callers. The turn brings the Qd, a good card for me as it gives me a good flush draw as well. Again I bet the pot and get one caller, Elvie. I put him on the low draw, so I’m hoping for any diamond 9 or higher, or for the board to pair. The river brings the Kd, a beautiful card, and I move in with my last $350 or so with the second nut flush. Elvie calls, as he had a 10 to go with his A-low draw, giving him nut straight. I scoop a $1,400 pot.

This hand is a textbook example of the importance of redraws in this game. Hitting your redraw accomplishes two things. First, of course, it improves your hand. Second, and maybe more important, is the fact that many times your opponent doesn’t see it coming and will pay you off. Elvie may have (correctly, by the way) put me on a set, and maybe figured he drew out on me with his straight. Luckily he didn’t have the nut flush redraw to go along with his low draw!

I don’t remember the specifics of my second big hand of the night, but I scooped a $1,000+ pot with a double-nut flush.

Luckily, the final big hand for me came at around 5am, just as we were calling it a night. I have Ax-4x-6x-Kx in first position, and the flop comes Q-7-3 rainbow. Not a bad flop, as I have the second-nut draw and a gutshot. I check, Big Dave checks, and a new kid I haven’t played with before tonight makes a pot-sized bet – around $30. I call, as does Dave. The turn brings a 5x – bingo! I check, Dave bets the pot, and the other kid calls. I’m not sure whether Dave has the nut low, or the same straight as me. I put the kid on a set, and at this point I’m on the fence about raising. I love my hand, but if the board pairs I might get nothing. I decide that if a brick comes I’m still getting paid, so why risk more chips than necessary – I just call. The river brings a Kx – sweet! Again I check, and again Dave bets the pot, $480 or so. The kid is torn, but makes the call. It couldn’t have worked out better for me, and I raise all-in. Dave mentions that he’s afraid maybe he’s quartered, and makes the call. When he said that, I figured he had the nut low and we’d be chopping. The kid knows he’s dead, but by now he only has $250 or so left, so he makes the call as well, and turns over Q-Q. Dave turns over the nut straight and a crappy low, and I win ¾ of a monster pot to end the night on a good note, cashing out for over $3,400.

In my opinion, this is a prime example of how easy it is to get yourself into trouble after flopping top set. Some players simply cannot let it go. Here the kid played fairly well and tight most of the night, and had over $1,000 in chips for a while. He gave some of them back, but still started the hand with close to $900, and simply didn’t need to go broke here. He was a bit unlucky, of course, but the bottom line is that when the big money started going in (on the turn), he was drawing to half the pot. Again, this shows the importance of having a backup plan. You can draw some interesting comparisons to my first big hand, when I flopped the top set of jacks. Here I’m fully prepared to dump the hand (depending on the action, of course) if the turn brings something like a 5s. Once the queen comes on the turn, however, I’m comfortable betting big because I have a hand that, at the time, is good for the entire pot, and I have a redraw as well.

I think most people who play with me would be surprised at just how often I fold the best hand at any given time, especially when they consider the seemingly marginal hands I may call a big bet with at other times. For me it’s all about the big pot, and that’s why I place so much importance on the implied odds. Those sneaky little two-way drawing hands so often get you paid after you hit them, but just as often everyone folds when the board pairs and your big set turns into a boat.

So it’s off to The Jizz’s game tonight, where the plan (as usual) is to sneak up on Dave and take all his chips. Of course, there’s not much challenge in that - you can sneak up on him with a chainsaw and squeaky shoes. Call it a guilty pleasure. Still, like a Wes Craven movie, it’s entertaining just the same. Dave, the call is coming from inside the house!

See ya at the tables…
Rick