Sometimes You Win, But Really Lose

"Billy, sometimes you win but really lose, and sometimes you lose but you really win"

- Gloria Clemente "White Men Can't Jump"

If you’ve ever played Omaha 8 or better, especially Pot Limit you have run into getting quartered. Yes you are awarded part of the pot WHOO WHOO CHIPS COMING MY WAY BABY SHIP IT!!! But you actually lost money on the whole deal because someone else had the same high hand or low hand as you have and they won the other half outright. Getting quartered in Pot Limit is only one step behind getting scooped since it can cost you half of your stack (or more) when it occurs. Trying to avoid/limit the damage done by being quartered is crucial to becoming a profitable O8 player.

One big mistake that many beginning PLO8 players face is overplaying the nut low with no chance at the high half of the pot. There’s a place and time to apply pressure when hitting the nut low and maybe if I ever get some of my brain cells back after leaving most of them in Vegas, I’ll try to apply those thoughts into internet print. Now most low stakes players up to $1/$2 (but I’ve seen it higher as well) tend to shove too many chips into the pot when they flop a nut low and have no counterfeit protection.

Counterfeit protection is having a third wheel card (A,2,3,4,5 are wheel cards for the newer players out there) in case your nut low becomes paired (Example: You hold A27K and the flop comes 3 6 7, you currently have the nut low, but now a deuce comes on the turn and your low still reads 7632A, but someone with A4XX or A5XX now has a better low 6432A and 6532A). You do have two pair now, but someone with A4 or A5 is now freerolling for the low half of the pot, not to mention they called your flop bet meaning A45X or a set isn’t out of the question. Much like holding a mid-pair on a board of broadway cards in Hold Em’, a counterfeited low leaves you in no man’s land to get quartered or scooped, and you’ll end up having to procede with caution. Instead of overplaying ALL A2XX hands, try to have at the very least one other low card to compliment this strong holding (3, 4, 5 with an A2 is premium).

I wish I could wax poetic poker advice into a semi-readable format like Hank or Felicia (the fish psychology post is a must read) but I’m that kid the teacher’s hated because he’d solve problems without being able to tell you how got to the solution.

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Last night the wife and Little Drizz retired early and with the Minnesota State H.S. Hockey tournament on, I settled in for some poker and hockey goodness.

Three hours played, four tournament entered, two rings games = 23 cents profit

I know that’s the hourly wage for a shoeshine boy in Haiti, but in the US it won’t even buy you a gumball at your local bowling alley. Sure I could take the low road and say “well if THAT hand would have won then I’d won more money blah blah blah blah”. I did take some beats but I also correctly laid down a straight flush and quads last night! Holy shit I rule at poker!

That was internet sarcasm at its worst folks.

I did manage to cash in two of the four MTT tourneys played, as Jordan (not of NKOTB so he says…) and TripJax got me to donate towards one of these 45 person SnGs that I have not played before. I bombed in the SnG as it was a turbo tourney and pretty Aces with picture cards failed to come through (another way of saying “I suck” by running into bigger Aces, well played sir).

Dime Tourney at Stars came up next as I battled my way to 595th place… too bad they paid 594th 13 cents. Hell, I could have bought a refurbished piece of colored lint! There’s something funny yet sad about bubbling in a dime tourney, kind of like accidentally knocking over the retarded kid in a school yard game of kickball in grade school. I just don’t quite know how to react to bubbling after playing for over an hour with no rewards, but feel retarded for even mentioning it.

I did cash in another dollah MTT tourney at Stars while getting taunted by an internet pro after he “trapped” my Kings vs. his Aces pre-flop. He went on to hit four full houses in the next two hours and still had a sizable stack when I finally bowed out. I say internet pro because this guy had a railbird who was sucking his cock in chat over the two hours I was at his table and he was making GREAT LAYDOWNS like not calling 200 more all in from me with 2K in the pot and him having 7K behind. At some point and time I hope to become as skilled as this future WPT finalist. U rOOl LOLOLOLOL!!!

The final tourney was my favorite PLO8 tourney at Full Tilt. I don’t get to play in this nightly tourney very often since the wife and Little Drizz are still up, but while the family is away the Omaholic will play! I battled thru 108 rebels without a clue to get into the money after two and half hours. SCORE!

Or is it a score… You see, the tournament cost $11 and I was awarded $10.40 for 18th place.

Sometimes you win, but you really lose.

Thanks for dropping by, now check out this very cool maze. Levels one and two are fairly easy, but I can’t seem to finish level three. It comes with sound effects so have your speakers turned up.

The Results of yesterday's tournament hand... My thought (or lack of) process that they both held big aces. And they did, giving me an almost 70% chance to triple up late in a tourney.

But a dirty four-outer hit the flop and I was out. Dem da breaks. And thank you all for the comments and suggestions!! That's the type of help I need, looking at the same hand from different angles.