Poker Moth

A couple of HHs for you from a No Limit Omaha hi-lo Ante Up MTT . The first one is from the early stages: we’re only a couple of hands in, but I’ve already three-quartered someone to add 50% to my stack.

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SB ($2,050)
dermoth ($2,976)
UTG ($1,955)
UTG+1 ($1,749)
Hijack ($745)
Cutoff ($3,560)
Button ($1,950)

everybody antes $10
SB posts (SB) $5
dermoth posts (BB) $5

Dealt to dermoth Ts  Ac  Ks  2d

Which, on the face of it, is a pretty bloody good hand.  Surely good enough for a raise?

fold,
UTG+1 calls $5
Hijack calls $5
fold, fold,
SB checks
dermoth checks

Or… not. I should maybe explain this. If I raise, one of two things will happen. If I raise pot, I’ll get six callers and be out of position for the rest of the hand, and if I shove all-in, I’ll get three callers and be lucky to escape with half the low end of the pot. The thing about these Ante Up tourneys is that I have a massive advantage over the field, and so I have absolutely no desire to start flipping coins with a bunch of lowdonks until there’s a better than 5% chance that I can make everybody fold their AT75 rainbow type hands. I’m not even joking – you would not believe the trash these people are capable of calling with. I generally define the shove-calling range at this stage as “any two wheel cards”. I got called by 5552 once. Yeah, he made the wheel. 5552 always makes the wheel. You didn’t know that?

FLOP ($90) Qs  Jc  4h
SB bets $185

And now I flop the top wrap, and the small blind bets twice the pot. He’s either got a set, two pair (plus extras, probably), or the exact same wrap I have. I have position on him, 13 nut outs, the runner-runner nut low draw, and a pretty clear idea of what he has. I also have him covered, which will turn out to be important on the turn…

dermoth calls $185
UTG+1 folds
Hijack calls $185
TURN ($645) Qs  Jc  4h  3d
SB bets $1,850 (AI)
dermoth calls $1,850

Three things of note have happened. First of all, the turn brings me the nut low draw to go with my nut high draw. Secondly, the small blind has shoved, and thirdly, I’ve called him. That last part wouldn’t have happened if I didn’t have a few hundred chips behind, but I do, so I can gamble a little here. I say a little because at this stage, any A, K, T,  or 9 makes me the high, and any 5,6,7 or 8 the low.  Even with just one card to come, I’m a favourite to walk away with at least half the pot. So I call.

There was also a shortstack in the pot, who I’m ignoring, as he only had 745 chips to start. Annoyingly, he’s in there with AKT3 rainbow, so not only does he hold a bunch of my outs, but he also ends up splitting the pot with me when the ace hits.

Hijack calls $545 (AI)
RIVER ($4,890) Qs  Jc  4h  3d  As
dermoth shows Ts  Ac  Ks  2d
(Pre 37%, Flop 30.7%, Turn 38.9%)

Hijack shows 3s  Th  Ad  Kc
(Pre 24%, Flop 20.6%, Turn 18.1%)

SB shows 9c  Jh  7h  Qc
(Pre 39%, Flop 48.7%, Turn 43.1%)

dermoth wins $3,750
Hijack wins $1,140

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I’m still not entirely sure whether I approve of my play here, or not. In the context of Ante Up donkaments, risking a huge percentage of my stack on a draw while the antes are still tiny is… a bit dodgy, no matter how strong the draw is. It’s not just that I don’t need to gamble, it’s more that I actively want to avoid gambling wherever possible. Why flip coins when people will happily give you their chips?

Still, it’s hardly a huge error, and you can take gamblephobia too far, as this next hand history demonstrates. We’re back in the realm of pot-odds comedy here, and this one’s a classic of the genre.

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A few hours later. There are 13 players left in the tournament, and the antes are now 700 a pop.  We’re in the money, and things are tightening up for the final table bubble. BEHOLD, THE STACK SIZES -

SB ($43,701)
BB ($16,527)
dermoth ($33,553)
UTG+1 ($1,116)

Remember – the antes are 700 chips each. This guy has 1.5 antes left.

Hijack ($17,555)
Cutoff ($46,770)
Button ($7,092)

Everybody antes $700
SB posts (SB) $5
BB posts (BB) $5

Dealt to dermoth 8d  4s  Tc  9h
dermoth calls $5
UTG+1 calls $5
Hijack calls $5
Cutoff calls $5
Button calls $5
SB checks
BB checks

Unusual – nobody folded preflop. Every single one of these players would fold preflop from time to time, despite getting odds in excess of 1000-1 on the limp.  And this is Omaha hi-lo, ffs!

FLOP ($4,935) Qs  2d  Jh
SB checks
BB checks
dermoth checks
UTG+1 bets $20

Just to reiterate – this guy had $1116 in chips at the start of the hand. He then paid $700 for his ante, and five for the limp, leaving him with $411 in his stack. He has now bet TWENTY chips into a pot containing FOUR THOUSAND NINE HUNDRED AND THIRTY FIVE chips, offering his opponents odds of TWO HUNDRED AND FORTY SIX TO ONE on the call.

Although, to be fair, the implied odds aren’t great, as he now only has $391 left.

Hijack folds

Well, he’s got through one player. Somehow.

Cutoff calls $20
Button raises to $6,387 (AI)
SB calls $6,387

Oh no! A reraise and a caller! What happens now?!

BB folds
dermoth folds

Wait for it…

UTG+1 folds

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You know, I wouldn’t blame you if you thought I was making this stuff up. It all sounds so unlikely, but this actually happened. He bluffed one two-hundred-and-fiftieth-ish of the pot, (or, if you prefer, one thirty-fifth of an ante), then folded getting odds of twenty-to-one-ish on the call, and with only half an ante left in his distance-quotes-stack.

Cutoff folds
TURN ($17,749) Qs  2d  Jh  6c
RIVER ($17,749) Qs  2d  Jh  6c  Jc
Button shows 4d  9s  Qh  Ts
(Pre 41%, Flop 32.3%, Turn 20.0%)

SB shows Jd  Qd  2s  3d
(Pre 59%, Flop 67.7%, Turn 80.0%)

SB wins $17,749

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So, that’s that. Sadly, I could only manage to finish 6th, after getting a bit short and jamming top two pair and naff all else on a K54 rainbow board. Got called by 2345, with predictable (and thoroughly deserved) results.

Ah, Ante Ups. Will you ever stop making me laugh? I doubt it.

And sometimes, they’re funny for normal donkament reasons. Bet sizing is not the problem here -

dermoth ($2,615)
BB ($1,905)
UTG ($1,850)
UTG+1 ($3,910)
MP ($1,370)
Hijack ($5,060)
Cutoff ($2,000)
Button ($2,000)
SB ($1,840)

dermoth antes $20
BB antes $20
UTG antes $20
UTG+1 antes $20
MP antes $20
Hijack antes $20
Cutoff antes $20
Button antes $20
dermoth posts (SB) $5
BB posts (BB) $5

Dealt to dermoth Th  As
fold,
UTG+1 raises to $20

Even at this early stage of an Ante Up, when the pots are relatively small, you see amazing things. This guy has just raised it by 3/4 of an ante.  There’s 190 chips in the pot, and he’s offering me 12-1 on my money in the big blind,  even if everybody else folds. That obviously doesn’t happen.

MP calls $20
Hijack calls $20
Cutoff calls $20
Button calls $20
fold,

So now there’s six people in the pot. I’ve got ace ten offsuit, which would be great for a raise round the back, but I could go all-in here and still get three callers. This is going to be a multiway pot, with me out of position, whether I like it or not. So I just call, getting omgthat’sridiculous-to-one.

dermoth calls $15
BB calls $15
FLOP ($320) 3s  Ts  2c

Top-pair, top-kicker, with a flush draw on board. (I hold the ace of that suit, although a bare-ace bluff against this crowd would be suicidal). I could bet out here, but with six really, really bad players still to act behind me, a check-shove seems more appropriate.

dermoth checks
BB bets $185
UTG+1 folds
MP folds
Hijack folds
Cutoff calls $185
Button calls $185
dermoth raises to $2,575 (AI)
BB calls $1,680 (AI)
Cutoff calls $1,775 (AI)
Button calls $1,775 (AI)

And now my cursor is hovering over the Close Table button, because this only ever ends one way: my measly TPTK needing runner-runner cards to beat the set, straight draw and  flush draw (or combinations of same) I’m obviously up against. Or maybe I’ve been playing too much Omaha? As it turned out, I was up against T5, 64, and A4, without a flush draw between them.

Just to recap, the flop was T32. I’m an EIGHTY-THREE PER CENT favourite on the flop, with almost all of the remaining equity going to the six-high gutshot draw. How the hell does this happen?

Not that I’m complaining, mind you.

TURN ($8,065) 3s  Ts  2c  2h
RIVER ($8,065) 3s  Ts  2c  2h  Kh
dermoth shows Th  As
(Pre 44%, Flop 83.3%, Turn 88.7%)

BB shows Tc  5s
(Pre 17%, Flop 2.7%, Turn 3.8%)

Cutoff shows 4s  Ad
(Pre 15%, Flop 0.7%, Turn 0.0%)

Button shows 4d  6h
(Pre 24%, Flop 13.4%, Turn 7.5%)

dermoth wins $8,065, shakes head.

Seat 1: BretMaver171 (1845 in chips)
Seat 2: dermoth (2984 in chips)
Seat 3: Bronxxx616 (5119 in chips)
Seat 5: Tay89 (6657 in chips)
Seat 7: Toneless (1565 in chips)
Seat 9: zaq13 (5020 in chips)
dermoth: posts small blind 75
Bronxxx616: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to dermoth[2h 2d]
Tay89: raises 150 to 300
Toneless: folds
zaq13: calls 300
BretMaver171: calls 300
dermoth: calls 225
Bronxxx616: calls 150
*** FLOP *** [2c Th 6c]
dermoth: checks
Bronxxx616: bets 450
Tay89: raises 600 to 1050
zaq13: raises 3670 to 4720 and is all-in
BretMaver171: folds
dermoth: calls 2684 and is all-in
Bronxxx616: raises 99 to 4819 and is all-in
Tay89: calls 3769
*** TURN *** [2c Th 6c] [2s]
*** RIVER *** [2c Th 6c 2s] [6h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Bronxxx616: shows [6s 6d] (four of a kind, Sixes)
Tay89: shows [8c Ac] (two pair, Sixes and Deuces)
Bronxxx616 collected 198 from side pot-2
zaq13: shows [Jh Js] (two pair, Jacks and Sixes)
dermoth said, “omg”
Bronxxx616 collected 6108 from side pot-1
dermoth: shows [2h 2d] (four of a kind, Deuces)
Bronxxx616 collected 12236 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 18542 Main pot 12236. Side pot-1 6108. Side pot-2 198. | Rake 0
Board [2c Th 6c 2s 6h]
Seat 1: BretMaver171 (button) folded on the Flop
Seat 2: dermoth(small blind) showed [2h 2d] and lost with four of a kind, Deuces
Seat 3: Bronxxx616 (big blind) showed [6s 6d] and won (18542) with four of a kind, Sixes
Seat 5: Tay89 showed [8c Ac] and lost with two pair, Sixes and Deuces
Seat 7: Toneless folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 9: zaq13 showed [Jh Js] and lost with two pair, Jacks and Sixes

It’s very nearly six years since I started playing poker, and I thought I’d seen it all. I have now seen it all.

Here’s a fun little quandary for you.

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http://www.holdemmanager.net

PL Omaha $0.20(BB)

SB ($19.73)
BB ($9.94)
UTG ($42.11)
Dermoth ($15.36)
CO ($11.98)
Button ($28.29)

Let’s get the introductions out of the way first; the BB is quite loose passive, and the cutoff is VERY loose passive; I haven’t seen him raise in 60 hands, and he plays 60% of his hands. (Yes, I am using tracking software again). As for me, I’m a little bit tilty after losing a 90/10 race a few hands ago.

SB posts (SB) $0.10
BB posts (BB) $0.20

Dealt to Dermoth 4h 7c Ad Ac
fold,
Dermoth calls $0.20

I have a bad habit of limping Aces in Omaha.  This is partly because I’ve been playing a lot of full ring PLO, where preflop raising isn’t much better than setting fire to your money. However, I’ve moved to 6max games in the last few days, and I’m a lot busier preflop in the short-handed game, but I still limp a lot of aces for disguise, and the opportunity to reraise shortstacks. No-one’s short enough here to justify that angle, though. I should have raised.

CO raises to $0.90
fold, fold,
BB calls $0.70

So, a raise from the loose-passive player (who I’ve never seen raise preflop before), followed by a call from the other LAP.  The pot’s now big enough for me to 3bet and get all the chips in on the flop. Thing is, I’m almost positive the Cutoff has aces as well, and the chances are they’re better than mine. Nonetheless, I decide to pot it back at them and worry about my side cards on the flop (if nothing else, we can divvy up the BB’s money)…

Dermoth raises to $3.70
CO calls $2.80
BB calls $2.80

FLOP ($11.20) Ah 8c 4s

OK, so the Cutoff doesn’t have aces.  I’m pretty sure about that, now. The problem here is that my 3bet preflop has effectively turned my hand face-up; there’s no way I can earn any more money by betting here. So, let the checking begin!

check, check, check,

TURN ($11.20) Ah 8c 4s 8d
BB bets $0.20

Owoosay… lol? I couldn’t have dealt this any better myself, and, err, what’s with the minbet? It has to be a spectacularly pathetic blocking bet with an 8 in his hand, surely?  No point raising here, I just call and hope that he fills up on the river.

Dermoth calls $0.20
CO calls $0.20

RIVER ($11.80) Ah 8c 4s 8d 8s
BB bets $6.04 (AI)

Oh, fuck off! And the hand history doesn’t reflect the incredible speed with which all the remaining chips went in the middle; with two players still to act, it’s a hell of a bluff. On the other hand, I have the second nuts, I’m getting almost 3/1, and… he’s blatantly got the case eight. Or KK? He could have KK. The minbet on the turn  is deranged, but maybe… ah, fuck it, I call.

Dermoth calls $6.04
CO calls $6.04

Oh, fuck off! But there’s no time to digest this disastrous news before the showdown…

Dermoth shows 4h 7c Ad Ac
(Flop 76.1%, Turn 100.0%)

CO shows Kh 3h Jd Ks
(Flop 5.9%, Turn 0.0%)

So the Cutoff has KK! They can’t both have them, can they?

BB shows 7s Qs 6d As
(Flop 18.1%, Turn 0.0%)

!!!

Dermoth wins $28.92, and is very, very surprised…

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The moral of the story; don’t play Omaha if you don’t know the rules. It had never even occurred to me that he could be shoving a Hold’em Boat. Although I would have been sick to my stomach if I had pulled out a hero fold there (and I very nearly did), the pain would have been lessened by the thought of the Big Blind trying to work out why he lost to KK. As it stands, he’s probably bemoaning his terrible luck… that lesson will whave to wait for another day.

Omaha is hard. But endlessly entertaining.

Yep, it’s another fascinating PLO hand history!

Actually, this one isn’t distance-quotes-fascinating in the same way that the last one was distance-quotes-fascinating. I’m mostly posting it up here because I’m either quite proud of the play I made,  or I just made a really rash move and got lucky. Only one way to find out!

Happily, I’ve worked out a way of getting at the text of iPoker’s hand histories, allowing me more time to DISSEMINATE ESSENTIAL INFORMATION (*). To wit -

It’s a $10 game, and I’ve been on the table for about ninety minutes. At one point, I was up to about $25, but some recent loose play has seen my stack dwindle down to $18 and change. I am on the button. The table is mostly made up of shortstackers, all of whom are terrible. On my right, I have a solid player with $20, and on my immediate left I have a..a well, he’s hard to pigeonhole. He joined the table with a short buy-in, played like a maniac, rebought a couple of times, eventually spun himself up to about $20, at which point he calmed right down and started playing solid TAG poker. However, he’s just been viciously sucked out on a couple of hands earlier, and is clearly tilting.

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Poker Ocean Burnley (No DP) 0.05/0.10, hand converted by the iPoker Converter at Talking-Poker
Visit Hand HQ to purchase hand histories from a range of sites, game types and levels.

saw flop | saw showdown

Button dermoth ($18.39)
SB ($13.78)
BB ($2.86)
UTG ($5.90)
UTG+1 ($1.45)
MP ($2.60)
CO-1 ($1.80)
CO ($19.90)

Preflop: dermoth is on the Button with 8 T 6 K
UTG calls 0.10, 1 fold, MP calls 0.10, 2 folds, dermoth calls 0.10, SB raises to 0.60, 1 fold, UTG calls 0.50, MP calls 0.50, dermoth calls 0.50.

Pretty standard to limp in with this on the button, and the call is mandatory; I’m getting 4-1 on my money.

Flop (2.50) 4 T K
SB bets 1.25, UTG calls 1.25, 1 fold, dermoth calls 1.25.

So, I flop top two pair on a fairly safe board. The SB bets half the pot, and with a caller coming round, I’m getting 4-1 on the call again. How many times have I lost money playing top two pair against a preflop raiser this way? LOADS. And I’ve only been playing PLO in earnest for a week or so…

Turn (6.25) 3
SB bets 6.25,

And not only does he bet the pot, he bets it like he was playing whack-a-mole. The turn card pops up and before you can blink, BANG, in goes the money. My thought process went pretty much like this – “Srsly? The three of diamonds? I’m supposed to believe that’s helped you in some way? None of this makes sense to me… I’m all-in”.

1 fold, dermoth raises to 16.54, SB moves all-in for 5.68.

And he calls, and for the record, looking back at it with the benefit of hindsight, I HATE my shove. As mentioned before, the old “I have top two pair, so he can’t have a set of kings or tens” just does not apply in Omaha. In Hold’em, when that happens, you take your lumps and complain about running bad. In Omaha… it’s standard.I also can’t rule out something like AA33, QQ33, JJ33… and pretty much everything else in his range has redraws against my rather weak hand. In hindsight, I think I should have folded. However…

River (34.72) Q

dermoth shows 8 T 6 K
SB shows 5 3 A A

dermoth wins 34.72 with Two pair, Kings and Tens with a Queen for a kicker

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…I’m glad I didn’t.  BUT. If I were to put him on Aces with no redraws – which would be one explanation for his panicky pot bet when the second flush draw arrives on the turn – I’d have been fading an ace, three, or four, and would have been a 62% favourite. OTOH, I could have been up against a big, big draw: AQJx with the spade draw, say. Against a hand like that I’m  exactly 50/50.  Throw in a wheel draw and I’m an underdog. Throw in a second flush draw and I’m… eww.

And that’s assuming I have the best made hand on the turn. I could always have been drawing dead to a set of Kings, or merely  miles and miles and miles behind to a lower set. But fortunately, I was just up against a flush draw + a gutshot wheel draw + superior two pair draws, and I was a WHOPPING 57% favourite to win the hand.

That’s sorted that out, then; it was a  textbook small favourite/ massive underdog ERROR, which ended up netting me quite a nice pot. I AM A FISH.

Omaha is hard.

OK, my least favourite PLO spot is flopping top set versus two undersets and getting one-outed. I don’t like that at all, but it’s hard to do anything about it. This hand history illustrates a far more complicated situation.

(I say hand history – this happened on iPoker, which, for some inexplicable reason, doesn’t do histories in text format, so I’m going to have to describe the action, rather than copy paste it…)

It’s a $20 full ring game, 10c/20c blinds. I have $29.33, my opponent in the hand has me covered by a couple of dollars. I’m dealt QQ73 rainbow in second position, and limp in. There are two limpers behind me, the SB folds, and the BB checks.  And up pops my nightmare flop – AQJ rainbow.

Middle set against three opponents, on that board… it’s horrible. There’s a strong chance I’m behind to the broadway straight already, and I’m not exactly chuffed if I improve to a full house, as it’s not going to be the nut full, and I know from bitter experience how weak Queens full can be in a multiway pot with an ace on board. If I don’t see the case queen on the turn, I’m going to be uncomfortable.

So I check. So does everybody else.

The turn brings an offsuit nine. T8 just joined AA (which I’m not too worried about) and KT in the list of hands that beat me. All things considered, though, it’s a pretty good card, which does minimal damage to my holding. Time to find out where I am! So I bet the pot, and get one caller.

The caller is on the spewy  side, and not known for slowplaying. I’ve just seen him dust off twenty dollars with bottom set, and find it hard to believe that he’d check the nut straight on the flop and then coldcall with it on the turn. So now, I’m scared of one thing, and one thing only – T8.

The river brings a five. Should I bet out? Probably. Do I? No. I check/call, or at least I would have done, had he bet. Instead, he checks behind with AJ for two pair, and I win a tiny pot.

So, on the face of it, not a momentous hand. I flopped a set, mislaid my balls, and won two dollar. I mention it here for two reasons; firstly,  it’s a nice illustration of the perils of Omaha, and secondly, I’m trying to work out if there’s any way I could have played it better. Maybe I should pot the flop? But I’m first of four players to act and could easily be dead to one card in the deck, and I’m trying to play smallball at this limit, particularly when out of position. So I think I like the check.

The pot bet on the turn is fine. It’s a fairly innocuous card which only improves one specific holding. (This is often enough to kill you in Omaha, of course). If I get reraised and call, I have a whole new set of problems on the river. If I fill up, do I check/call or bet/fold? Check/call, I think; a donkbet on a paired board is unlikely to be called by a straight, and I may end up folding to a weaker full house. And bet/call is horribly spewy, even if the river is another nine.  And what if I get reraised on the turn and miss the river? I have to check/fold to anything but the weediest value bet.

Of course, I don’t get reraised on the turn, and so to the river, which is where I’m really unsure about my line. There’s $3.14 in the pot… should I bet out?. Against a different player, I could well imagine that they’re playing the broadway straight cautiously; a lot of players will check/call nut straights to the river, and then jam it if it’s still the nuts. Against this opponent, that simply isn’t happening; I just saw him throw twenty dollars in the pot with bottom set on a flushy flop. So, should I put him on two pair and try and value bet the end?

On reflection, I find it hard to believe that he’d just call with T8 on the turn either, and feel I should have bet half the pot. If I’m reraised, I can give the hand up without too much difficulty, but nothing about his line suggests that he has me beat.

Ah well. One thing’s for sure. Omaha is hard when you don’t have the nuts…

Hey, it’s a bad beat story.

Fortunately, it’s only a $5 game; a little background poker while I do some work. Had this happened at a higher limit I’d have a mouth full of furniture right now…

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PokerStars Pot-Limit Omaha, $0.02 BB (9 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

saw flop | saw showdown

UTG+1 ($5)

MP1 ($11.39)

MP2 ($2.98)

MP3 ($2.62)

CO ($1)

dermoth (Button) ($4.80)

SB ($5.28)

BB ($3)

UTG ($3.74)

Preflop: dermoth is Button with 6, A, 9, A

UTG calls $0.02, 1 fold, MP1 calls $0.02, MP2 bets $0.08, 2 folds, dermoth raises to $0.31, SB calls $0.30, 3 folds, MP2 calls $0.23

Flop: ($0.99) K, A, J (3 players)

SB bets $0.06, MP2 raises to $0.64, dermoth calls $0.64, SB calls $0.58

Turn: ($2.91) K (3 players)

SB checks, MP2 bets $2.03 (All-In), dermoth calls $2.03, SB raises to $4.08, dermoth calls $1.82 (All-In)

River: ($12.64) 7 (3 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $12.64 | Rake: $0.60

Results:

dermoth had 6, A, 9, A (full house, Aces over Kings).

SB had K, 3, 9, K (four of a kind, Kings).

MP2 had J, 6, A, J (full house, Jacks over Kings).

Outcome: SB won $12.04

—————————————————————————

It’s a fascinating hand. The small blind is a very tight player, and wouldn’t coldcall two bets preflop without a strong holding. We played a hand earlier where we both had aces; I raised preflop, he reraised, I threebet, and he flat called, then shoved on the flop which failed to improve his hand. ( I had flopped two pair with my raggy kickers, so called; he made a runner-runner broadway straight, of course).

The  player in MP2 is new to the table, and I have no reads on him.

The small blind bets super weak on the flop, which means he’s definitely hit something; MP2 makes a weakish reraise, which means he’s probably hit something too; and I’m sitting there with top set. I can only assume my opponents both have QT, or one has QT and the other an underset, or possibly one of them has KKQT/JJQT. There’s probably a flush draw out there, too.  I would never, in a million years, assume they both have undersets.

So, I just call. So does the Small Blind. And then he makes quads on the turn, so obviously he checks to the raiser, who instashoves with the worst possible full house.  The call is mandatory, and I want a call behind, so I’m not raising to isolate. When the SB shoves instead… eww. I knew I was behind; he could have been playing AK or KJ, but given his range and the action, it would have to be something very specific like AKQT, or KJQT. And by this point, I’ve worked out that the guy in MP2 has got a full house or quads as well, which means the number of hands the SB plays in that way that I can beat is pretty damn small. But it’s only $1.82 to call, and there’s $10.22 in the pot. Folding is clearly not an option.

Omaha, there. Sick, sick game. But fun.

Back on the Ante-Up horsey today, and I managed my first cash (at the fifth attempt). Final table, in fact; I just got bumped out in 7th, running KQQTss into a slowplayed AA33, SAD FACE. I very nearly didn’t play, as I was on the verge of quitting for the night, but when I saw that Stars had added Ante Up MTTs in no-limit Omaha hi/lo, it became clear that I had no choice. Ante-up tourneys in NLO8? New BEST THING EVER!

Yeah, I made the final table at my first attempt, so I’m obviously going to say that, but they really are fantastic. Ante-up is a beautiful structure in bog-standard hold’em, but you still need to hit the occasional flop. In Omaha/8, that’s not so hard to do, and it’s… gorgeous. I was chipped up for most of the tourney, although there was one point where I came perilously close to being knocked out; a turdjuggling flump called my pot sized bet on the flop with a gutshot wheel draw, then called my mahoosive overshove after he completely missed the turn, (and I still had the nuts with top set), but he obviously hit one of his four wheel outs on the river to scoop me. That took me from being among the chip leaders to a perilous shortstack (often a fine line in Ante Ups) which was deeply annoying, as I’d have been all but untouchable if I’d won that pot, but hey. I managed to finaigle my way back into contention with a couple of races, although I never fully recovered, and things took a turn for the worst again around the final table bubble, where I ended up pretty flop-dead, and frequently out of position against a totally unbluffable chipleader, which meant I had to batten down the hatches for a while until the bubble burst. That took about four hours (approx), and by the time it did, I was running on empty. Probably my own fault for being a bit too passive/payout conscious. Oh well.

Anyway, it ended up being a healthy (if not spectacular) payday, but it was also the funniest tournament I’ve ever played. I was in actual, factual fits of laughter for huge portions of it, largely because of a table expert who was slagging off all and sundry for playing “loose”, while he was folding 75% of his hands preflop despite getting odds in excess of (for instance) 500-1 on the limp. And then there were hands like this one (from the eternal final table bubble) -

Seat 3: dermoth (32750 in chips)
Seat 4: Seat 4 (16340 in chips)
Seat 5: Seat 5 (42962 in chips)
Seat 6: Seat 6 (171337 in chips)
Seat 8: Seat 8 (37823 in chips)
Seat 9: Seat 9 (22170 in chips)
dermoth: posts the ante 800
Seat 4: posts the ante 800
Seat 5: posts the ante 800
Seat 6: posts the ante 800
Seat 8: posts the ante 800
Seat 9: posts the ante 800
Seat 9: posts small blind 5
dermoth: posts big blind 5

That’ll be 4810 chips in the pot to begin, then.

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to dermoth [Ac 9s Ts 8d]
Seat 4: calls 5
Seat 5: calls 5
Seat 6: calls 5
Seat 8: calls 5
Seat 9: checks
dermoth: checks
*** FLOP *** [As Qs 7c]

Not a great flop; top pair and ropey runner runner straight possibilities versus almost guaranteed flush and low draws.

Seat 9: checks
dermoth: checks
Seat 4: checks
Seat 5: checks
Seat 6: checks
Seat 8: checks

Things had got very trappy by this point. Seat 6’s enormous stack and loose betting range, combined with the payout structure (which at this stage offered a 10% payout jump for tenth place, followed by a 33% one for reaching the final table), meant that people were checking a lot of strong holdings on the flop, and check-calling with draws. Anything less than an overpot bet was likely to be called, and my hand certainly didn’t merit that kind of strength.

*** TURN *** [As Qs 7c] [Th]

I make two pair on the turn and pick up a straight draw, but I’m out of position, and all an information bet is likely to tell me is that I’ve got four decent outs and am very, very vulnerable. If I make my straight, I’m not happy; it will either complete a low draw or 700 different broadways, depending on which end hits. Check!

Seat 9: checks
dermoth: checks
Seat 4: checks
Seat 5: checks
Seat 6: checks
Seat 8: checks
*** RIVER *** [As Qs 7c Th] [7h]

Lows and flushes miss, but I’m still losing to AQ, KJ, AA, QQ, TT, and now any hand with a seven in it. So I check and hope for a free showdown.

Seat 9: checks
dermoth: checks
Seat 4: checks
Seat 5: checks
Seat 6: checks
Seat 8: bets 5

No, that’s not a typo. This is the kind of thing that happens in Ante Up tournaments. Seat 8 bets 5 (five) chips into a pot containing 4810 (four thousand, eight hundred and ten) chips. It’s worth remembering that we’ve been in this tournament for three hours at this point, and the original field of 250+ runners is now down to just 11. And one of those eleven survivors – theoretically one of the eleven best players in the tournament – has just made a bet on the end, into five players, offering them odds of 962-1 on their call.

Seat 9: folds
dermoth: calls 5

OK, yes, this looks like an extremely passive response, but I’m not fond of making raises that will only be called by hands that can beat me, which limits my options in this spot to calling, folding, or making a similarly pathetic raise, to, say 275, or something. I’m obviously not folding with odds of 962-1, and I don’t fancy any kind of reraise because a) there are still three players to act behind me, including the chipleader, b) my hand’s pretty weak, and c) how can a minbet possibly be anything other than an attempt to keep the action alive and provoke someone into reraising? So, yeah. Just a call.

Seat 4: calls 5
Seat 5: folds
Seat 6: folds
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Seat 8: shows [6s 9d Ad Kc] (HI: two pair, Aces and Sevens)
dermoth: shows [Ac 9s Ts 8d] (HI: two pair, Aces and Tens)
Seat 4: mucks hand
dermoth collected 4845 from pot
No low hand qualified
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 4845 | Rake 0
Board [As Qs 7c Th 7h]
Seat 3: dermoth (big blind) showed [Ac 9s Ts 8d] and won (4845) with HI: two pair, Aces and Tens, and then fell off his chair laughing.
Seat 4: Seat 4 mucked [4d 6c Td Qh]
Seat 5: Seat 5 folded on the River
Seat 6: Seat 6 folded on the River
Seat 8: Seat 8 (button) showed [6s 9d Ad Kc] and lost with HI: two pair, Aces and Sevens
Seat 9: Seat 9 (small blind) folded on the River

I am aware that this kind of funny will only appeal to the nerdiest of poker nerds, but my god, I’ve never seen anything like it in my entire poker career.

Dear PokerStars;
Please run this tournament ever day. Ty,ty.
Moth.

So, I’m still playing micro limit Stud/8 on Stars. I’m currently alternating between four tabling the 10c/20c games and single-tabling higher up. And why am I still grinding the micro games? Because of hands like this -

PokerStars Game #20334990267:  7 Card Stud Hi/Lo Limit ($0.10/$0.20) – 2008/09/11 21:53:52 ET
Table ‘Mustel III’ 8-max
Seat 1: seat1 ($1.65 in chips)
Seat 2: dermoth ($12.74 in chips)
Seat 3: seat3 ($3.84 in chips)
Seat 4: seat4 ($2.29 in chips)
Seat 5: seat5 ($10.95 in chips)
Seat 6: seat6 ($3.83 in chips)
Seat 7: seat7 ($3.77 in chips)
Seat 8: seat8 ($3.61 in chips)
everyone: posts the ante $0.02

*** 3rd STREET ***

Dealt to seat1 [7h]
Dealt to dermoth [2d 6d 4h]

Three to a six-low, with two diamonds. Why not?

Dealt to seat3 [Qs]
Dealt to seat4 [Ah]
Dealt to seat5 [3d]
Dealt to seat6 [5h]
Dealt to seat7 [Kh]
Dealt to seat8 [6h]
seat5: brings in for $0.05
seat6: calls $0.05
seat7: calls $0.05
seat8: calls $0.05
seat1: calls $0.05
dermoth: calls $0.05

I will usually raise in this spot to get more money in the pot, but the call felt right here. I mix my  3rd street raise/calls up a fair bit, which I believe is the correct strategy; I doubt many of my opponents are paying much attention to what I’m doing, but Stud/8 is a game where it pays to be unpredictable. (More so than other forms of poker, I mean).

seat3: folds
seat4: calls $0.05

So, just the seven players on 4th street. Tight!

*** 4th STREET ***

Dealt to seat1 [7h] [7c]
Dealt to dermoth [2d 6d 4h] [Qd]
Dealt to seat4 [Ah] [Ac]
Dealt to seat5 [3d] [Ts]
Dealt to seat6 [5h] [Kd]
Dealt to seat7 [Kh] [6c]
Dealt to seat8 [6h] [8d]
seat4: bets $0.10
seat5: folds
seat6: folds
seat7: folds
seat8: calls $0.10
seat1: calls $0.10
dermoth: calls $0.10

Being a total noob at this game, I’m not sure how horrible this call is. I’ve got a three card draw in both directions, and as three card draws go, it’s not too shabby.

*** 5th STREET ***

Dealt to seat1 [7h 7c] [7s]

Zomg.

Dealt to dermoth [2d 6d 4h Qd] [4d]

Woo! A four flush. Shame about the trips behind me. I’m drawing pretty thin here…

Dealt to seat4 [Ah Ac] [Ad]

ZOMG!!11

Dealt to seat8 [6h 8d] [2s]
seat4: bets $0.20
seat8: calls $0.20
seat1: calls $0.20
dermoth: calls $0.20

Yes, I know. It closed the betting, I was getting loads to one… and I’m almost certainly drawing dead for high and ultrathin for low.  Oh god, it’s so embarrassing… I did mention I was playing four tables, yes? Also, my mouse is unpredictable, and thinking back, I believe this was a misclick. Yes. A misclick.

*** 6th STREET ***

Dealt to seat1 [7h 7c 7s] [2c]
Dealt to dermoth [2d 6d 4h Qd 4d] [9s]
Dealt to seat4 [Ah Ac Ad] [Th]
Dealt to seat8 [6h 8d 2s] [Jd]
seat4: bets $0.20
seat8: calls $0.20
seat3 said, “Call??”
seat3 said, “crazy”

More than you can imagine, my friend.

seat1: calls $0.20
dermoth: calls $0.20

Well, I’m not folding my sweet draw now, am I? Again, I’m closing the betting, and I’m getting 11/2, which would be just enough to call if it weren’t for the fact that five of my outs were already dead. Ah, well, to the punchline…

*** RIVER ***

Dealt to dermoth [2d 6d 4h Qd 4d 9s] [Jc]

Guess what? I lost this pot.

seat5 said, “wow”

HOLD THE FRONT PAGE! LOOSE CALLS IN MICRO LIMIT GAME! MORE NEWS AT ELEVEN!

seat4: bets $0.20
seat8: folds
seat1: calls $0.20
dermoth: folds

Are you ready for the punchline? THIS is “wow”. I got your “wow” RIGHT HERE.

*** SHOW DOWN ***

seat4: shows [5d As Ah Ac Ad Th Tc] (HI: four of a kind, Aces)
seat1: shows [7d Qc 7h 7c 7s 2c Jh] (HI: four of a kind, Sevens)
seat4 collected $2.78 from pot
No low hand qualified

dermoth said, “wow”

It takes a lot to shock me. This… this shocked me. Not only was this the first quad over quad I’d seen in any game for several years, but take a look at that betting sequence…  Seat four makes quads and flat calls all the way to a showdown, for what can only be described as a small pot. And sure, they were drawing dead from fifth street onwards, but, but, but… HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN? HOW DO YOU NOT VALUE BET QUADS?

The best bit was the subsequent table chat; the Sevens were left with about 80 cents after the hand, and complaining about stuff; I politely remarked that I was amazed they had any chips left at all, and more amazed that I had managed to get to seventh street against two quads. The response…

“Well, I could hardly fold quads, could I?”

No. No, you couldn’t. It’s now half an hour later, and my head is still involuntarily shaking in disbelief. I may end up with whiplash.

I just crashed out of a fascinating Betfair tourney in 9th place, just scraping into the money. I was chip leader or thereabouts for most of the tournament, but when we got down to the final 12, the bubble really kicked in, and a couple of eternities seemed to pass with no-one being knocked out. (This happens a lot on Betfair, with it’s very friendly chips/blinds structure). I was amazed to see I’d made the money, as last time I’d looked, there were still 11 runners left.

Anyway, I spent most of the bubble involved in a gargantuan tussle with a regular on the site, who shall not be named. I’ve played with him many times before, but never really crossed swords with him, but in this game he was sat on my immediate left, and with the game as tight as it was, there was lots of blind v blind encounters between us. I doubled him up after throwing an out of position gutshot semi-bluff push at him in a pot he’d raised, on a raggy board, but he was holding pocket Jacks, and I missed my four outs, which was unfortunate. Not as unfortunate as this, though -
————————————————————–
***** Betfair Poker Hand History for Game 380288308 *****
Table 2 9-max (Real Money)
Seat 2 is the button
Total number of active players : 5
Seat 1: bystander 1 ( 1,168.52 )
Seat 2: bystander 2 ( 11,184.96 )
Seat 4: dermoth ( 14,146 )
Seat 7: villain ( 23,313.52 )
Seat 8: bystander 3 ( 19,916 )
Tourney Level:9 Blinds(300/600-50 ante)
*everyone* posts ante [50]
dermoth posts small blind [300]
villain posts big blind [600]
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to dermoth [ Js, Jd ]
bystanders – fold
dermoth calls [300]
————————————————————–
Yeah, damn right I’m trying to trap him here. We’d been at war for ages, bluffing at each other with gay abandon, and I was positive I could see his tiny, birdlike soul by this point.
————————————————————–
villain checks
** Dealing Flop ** [ 8c, 7c, As ]
dermoth bets [1,087.50]
villain raises to [2,175]
————————————————————–
So, my first big decision. I couldn’t give him credit for an ace. I doubted he gave me credit for one either. What to do? I dwelled up for ages, and decided I’d just call. A little weak, perhaps, but I was fairly sure I was well ahead and wanted to milk it.
————————————————————–
dermoth calls [1,087.50]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 8s ]
dermoth checks
villain bets [5,800]
————————————————————–
And this is where my read goes sour. First up, I made a horrible error in not leading out. If he reraises, I’m done with the hand, but in spots like this where my opponent has taken the lead on the flop, I rarely lead out on the turn. But when he bets the pot at me… ah, credit where credit’s due, it was a great play on his part, and I totally fell for it. The sick thing is I was so obsessed with the issue of whether he had an ace that I never even considered that he might have been playing an eight. Hey, I’m hungover.
————————————————————–
dermoth goes all-in
dermoth raises to [11,321]
villain calls [5,521]
** Showdown **
dermoth shows [ Js, Jd ]
villain shows [ 8h, 3d ]
————————————————————–
It burns! It burns!
————————————————————–
** Dealing River ** [ 5s ]
** Hand Conclusion **
villain wins 28,442 from main pot with three of a kind, Eights
************ Game 380288308 ends ************
————————————————————–

Still, I got paid. It’s hard to know how to feel about my line here, really – on the one hand, I think I played pretty damn beautifully up until the turn, but to stack off like that was unnecessary. I’d seen him blow up in similar spots twice before; he was definitely capable of making that play with pure air, but by this point it had become personal, and I may have been motivated by a foolish desire to outplay him. That’s never smart.

Well, I guess I wanted to win the enormous pot, of course…