Friday Omaha at PKR

Friday brought another exciting game of Omaha 8 (high/low) at PKR. It’s actually dealer’s choice between high and high/low, but it’s the usually the latter 99% of the hands. We play $2/5 pot limit, and depending on who’s there on any particular night, it can range from an action game to downright crazy. This past Friday a few “action” regulars such as Akash and Elvie were noticeably absent, but it turned out to be a pretty active game nonetheless. We had a couple newcomers to the game in Stone and Matt M, who both played relatively tight

I’m usually a pretty active player, so there were a couple hands where I had scoopers on the turn but ended up with only half the pot. I also made a couple big calls with good three-way draws, only to miss everything. That having been said, I had a fairly lucky night overall. I hit a couple draws in large pots, and had the best hand hold up (always a pleasant surprise!) a few times as well.

My biggest suckout of the night came against Matt. I have Ad-2d-2h-6d UTG, and the flop comes Kx-5d-2x, giving me bottom set, a decent low draw, and backdoor straight and flush draws. Not an incredible hand by any means, but one that will be good most of the time. I lead out with a pot-sized bet, hoping to take it down right there, but I don’t mind a call from a low draw. Nate is on my immediate right, and makes the call. I don’t remember, but I think there’s one other caller before it gets around to Matt, who raises all-in for around $300 more. He’s playing fairly tight, so I’m reasonably sure he has the top set of kings. With my low draw and other backdoor draws, and me getting more than 2:1 on my money, it feels like a pretty easy call if we were heads-up. My only concern here is Nate, who doesn’t have a lot of chips left (maybe $200+?). With him smooth-calling my flop bet, he could easily have nut low draw and/or some kind of a small wrap. If he had a large stack, I would probably raise and try and isolate Matt. In the end, I decide to make the call and hope I’m not stuck in the middle. Nate is now getting a great price, and insta-calls with the nut low draw. Crap. Luckily, two diamonds peel off the deck to give me the nut flush and half the pot.

This hand is a good example of the nature of Omaha, in that it’s a drawing game. In Hold ‘em, Matt would be in a golden position on the flop, even against several opponents seeing the flop, and might even slow-play. In Omaha, however, I believe that flopping top set of kings with a 2-5 on the flop will probably cost you money in the long run if you play it fast on the flop. With two cards to come, and your opponents most likely holding a bunch of smaller cards, it’s just too easy to get drawn out on. Any low card means that you’ll probably only win half the pot, and many low cards make both a low and a straight, leaving you with nothing. It’s almost like you have to “get lucky” by pairing the board, and even then some idiot might make quad deuces! :-) For me, in this situation I usually prefer to play top set a bit slower on the flop, then bet big on the turn if a good card (Q through 9, for example) comes. It’s a lot easier for your opponents to fold a drawing hand on the turn than on the flop.

Another nice hand comes when I have X-X-3c-4c, and the flop comes Ac-5c-6x. I’m first to act, make a pot-sized bet and get several callers. Of course, I’m thinking “2c…2c…” and BOOM! Here comes that little beauty on the turn, giving me the steel wheel – get the monkey! I lead out with a smallish bet just praying someone with the nut flush will raise me. No such luck, but I do get a couple callers, including Nate. The river brings a 4x, and I again make a smallish bet ($100 maybe?) in relation to the pot size. Nate looks a bit suspicious, but makes the call, as does the other guy. Nate shows the queen-high flush, and the other guy shows 3-4 for the nut low, giving me ¾ of the pot. In retrospect, I think the $100 river bet was just about the right amount. The other guy didn’t have a lot of chips left, and Nate wouldn’t have paid off too much more than that with the third-nut high.

I continued to steadily build my stack the rest of the night, and when the game broke I was able to cash out for almost $3,200. For those wannabe Omaha players out there, you should come on out and play! The game is rapidly growing in popularity, thanks primarily to its action nature. Almost everyone flops some kind of hand or draw, so you normally get several players seeing a turn card. If you haven’t yet tried Omaha, you’re really missing out on a fun game. By comparison, playing Hold ‘em is like watching paint dry. Go out and get yourself a book or two, then jump in and get your feet wet!

See ya at the tables…
Rick