Omaha 8 & Hold'em

Well, it was another exciting night with the Juice.... John M took down a couple of monster pots in O8 proclaiming "DOUBLE NUTS!" which is always exciting. He quartered me in a nice pot early on.... get this, how unlucky can I be...! O8 and I'm holding 2s, 3s, 4d, 5d and there's a standard pre-flop straddle to $15. I almost re-popped it, but decided against it. The flop hit me like bad Thai food. Ad, 4s, 5c! Sweet! I've been modifying my betting over there to try to catch a few guys off guard. I normally may have checked that flop, but decided to bump it up. I bet $40 and there are a couple of callers including John M. I like my wheel with straight flush draws and two pair. The turn brings another Ace. I bet $80 and everyone folds to John, he smooth calls. The river is a harmless 8 and John checks. I have him on an Ace, but not much else and think that a big bet might make him go away. So I bet out $125 and he pushes all-in. Now I'm thinking that he may have a wheel too and maybe a boat, but how unlikely could it be both! I call... he quarters me with Aces full of fives and the wheel! Wow! What a cooler! I held 2, 3, 4, 5 and he is holding A, 2, 3, 5..... and again the board..... A, 4, 5, A, 8..... I know, let's have a spelling contest! LOL... Nice hand, John!

I managed to re-build my meager stack to about $900 or so and receive a very nice set of hold cards for O8. There's a straddle and a raise and I smooth call. The flop is Kh, Jd, 9d. I'm in early position and I check. The Juice bets $80 and Rick calls and I call. The turn is another Jack and I check and the Juice bets $100. Rick folds and I raise it to $200. He makes a motion as if he is going to push all-in and then he mucks. Boy, talk about puckering up! He has been playing me very conservatively as of late and I thought that with a raise that I could take it down. My hole cards were Ac, 2s, 3c, 4s. The board, a complete wiff.... When he folded he said "you had a monster, didn't you?" and I said something like "I had a K, J and if you had re-raised me I would have probably folded." As far as the reason for the conservative play, he says that it is because he hates me and doesn't want to give me ANY chips, but I guess if that is true, then I should probably take advantage of it.... Oooops... I probably shouldn't have said that!

I didn't stay late.... I guess I'm just getting old! At any rate, Happy Birthday John M and many more sir..... and a very nice scoop for the night!