Now That's a Flop!

The Tuesday night game with the Jizz brought out the usual group of hunters, all in search of the elusive perfect flop (Latin: slapmeupsida theheadamus). This is a rare animal, but can sometimes be stumbled upon by even the most neophyte sportsman. Unfortunately for the intrepid hunter, it rarely travels alone. Normally, hiding in the bushes nearby, is the most feared creature of them all, the river (Latin: porkimus yerassimus). And quicker than you can say “velociraptor,” the predator then become prey…

In Omaha 8, it’s fairly rare to get dealt four near-perfect cards. When you do, you’re hoping for that (seemingly) one time in twenty when you actually flop to it. After hours of crap hands and crap flops, it’s exciting to finally get hit upside the head with a flop while holding a premium starting hand. It’s even more exciting when that hand holds up! To actually get a little action with it, well, that’s almost too much for a humble poker player to take in.

I was in the middle of a nice run of cards, and had accumulated a nice little stack, when I look down to find As-Ac-3s-4c. Getting dealt a hand like this normally guarantees one thing: that the flop will come 10d-Jd-Qd. Most of the table calls the usual pre-flop straddle, and I patiently wait for the red, painted flop so I can muck my hand. Imagine my surprise when the flop brings Ah-2s-5s. Sa-weet!

While I’d love to say I got all the chips with three other players and quadrupled up, the truth is that I got a little flop action before everyone folded to a bet after the turn brought a brick. It’s way too dangerous to slow-play anything short of quads in Omaha 8 – one bad card and you’re getting quartered (or worse!). Of course you’re always hoping to rake in a monster pot with a big hand, but as they say, it’s better to win a small pot than lose a big one.

My rush continued through the night and into the morning, allowing me to cash out for almost $8k - a very nice session indeed. Though I obviously won several much larger pots during the night, the hand mentioned above was my favorite. Tonight it’s back to Cary, where I hope the rush continues!

See ya at the tables…
Rick