Tales from Omaha 8 - A Jason post

Posted on behalf of Jason:

Omaha 8 has been my new game as of late, as I am seeking out a game where I think I have a major competitive advantage over the field. As Ryan has noted, some of the play at microstakes is just plain awful but there are some good players as well.

I try to multitable 2 tables when I play. As you all know I can be a bit slow in my decision making but multitabling lowers my risk of playing boredom hands. Boredom hands can be brutal as pots in Omaha 8 tend to get big.

Key Hands

Best Flop Ever,

I raise with KK,A,2 and I get reraised. 6 handed microstakes. I call. Villain and I to the flop. Flop is K,3,4. All my money and villain’s money gets in on the flop. Villain has AA,3,x. Low and High hold for the scoop.

Worse Flop Ever,

I am in the small blind, playing 6 handed low stakes, 9 handed. One raiser everyone else has folded. BB calls. I have A,44,x, and I decide to call. Flop is 4,A,x. I decide to check raise. Original raiser bets, I check raise and he puts me all in. Villain has AA,2,3. Oops. Can’t really beat myself up too much for that one. I mean the case A and one of the two fours come out on the flop and I am toast except for quads.

No way to lay down hand

I have 2,3,xx and the flop is 4,5,6, with 2 diamonds. I have no redraws and decide to check raise anyways from the blind. 3 handed. Original raiser bets, I check raise, and all 3 of us are all in. Middle position player has squat but original raiser has AA,2, x with the ace suited in diamonds. No way am I going to lay down a flopped straight and a good low. Diamond hits on the river and I lose the 3 way all in.

Little too early to tell if this is long range profitable at microstakes but I am ahead. Can’t beat the low stakes tables though. The rake can be particularly brutal as all ins with split pots spell lose/lose for everyone but the house. I have played some Omaha High recently as well with similar results, ahead at microstakes, behind at low stakes.

Stressful Way to Win a $10 Pot

Playing 6 handed NL Hold’m .10/.25 stakes bunch of LAG players at the table, I am constantly getting my blinds stolen by raises from the button. Pick up pocket tens in the small blind. If playing against a TAG player, I would almost always reraise here to see where I am at. I decide to smooth call here, as I really don’t want to resteal with a decent hand, figuring the villain will just fold. Flop is A,9,9. I check, wait for the continuation bet, and call. I could raise here to figure out if villain has a random nine as I doubt he had an Ace and would bet it. He appears to be a tricky player, likely to not bet an Ace, if he had one. The next card is a low card, check, check. The final card is an Ace, I check and he bets pot. Is he really firing a second bullet with nothing, or does he have a random nine, or possibly an Ace. I click the time button to give me a few more seconds. I figure the only play that would make sense here for him to be ahead was that he had an Ace or a 9, bet the flop, then checked the turn to fake a failed continuation bet, then value bet the river. I decide to look him up and he flips over 7,5 suited for pure air.

I know I am often wrong with these hero calls and I try to avoid them on line. This one just didn’t add up and I took down a decent size pot.

Current Total: $311 and change. Following a few more bankroll management principals, but not Ferguson like. I will risk up to 1/6 of my bankroll at any one time about once a week, otherwise risk no more than 1/12.