Omaha 8/b

In my last post, I discussed my boredom with hold'em and my desire to play other games. I had started playing some 7stud and a little Omaha 8/b. I have played a lot of 7stud in the past, and I would guess that I am a winning player overall at the game. I have little experience playing Omaha 8/b. But what a game!

I think Omaha 8/b might be my new favorite game. I have been playing the pot limit version, which is quite subtle. In this game, you are inevitably faced with draws and other similar tough decisions. As a result, you have balance building a pot, protecting your hand, and bluffing.

I am still a novice at this game, but it's been entirely profitable. And when I say that I am a novice, I mean that I am still misreading hands, making horrible calls, etc. Luckily, most of my opponents are even worse and it's been quite good for my bankroll.

Right now, I am incredibly proud of a hand that I played last night. I can't remember the specific details, but the turn put a 3-flush on the board. I held the ace of spades as well as top pair, meaning that I held two important cards in the hand, but essentially had nothing. I checked it to the button, who made a pot-sized bet. Figuring that I held a couple of the scariest cards, he likely was bluffing, using his position. So, I check-raised him and he folded.

Taking a break from hold'em

I am starting to be enthusiastic about poker again, although I still think I'd like a break from hold'em. I am playing a few hands of it here and there, but mostly that is so that I can keep accumulating Party Points. I have my eyes on an MP3 player.

Yesterday, I played for about 45 minutes at Full Tilt Poker. I played some limit Omaha 8/B and some pot-limit Omaha 8/b. I played tight-aggressive, and I got paid off big time. I was playing about the lowest stakes possible, but I tripled my buy-in once and I doubled it another time. I would have quadrupled my buy-in except that I had a "bad beat". I held A234 on a flop that was AA3, giving me the nuts plus the nut draw to any low hand possibilities. I pushed hard on this flop and I got one caller, who held AK85, so he was drawing to a few outs. He hit one of outs, however, on the turn and we chopped. To be fair, I dished out my share of bad beats, so I am not really complaining about splitting this pot.

I also played a few hands of 7stud, doubling my buy-in very quickly. In my first hand at the table, I was dealt (KT)K. I bet it aggressively, and someone actually played back at me (queen showing). I caught another king on fourth street, and a third person raised me when they paired their door card (eights). I filled up on fifth street and took down a huge pot. I caught another full house a few hands later and I took down another huge pot.

An expensive mistake

This is going to be a short entry because I am pretty busy and I just don't have the time. Also, I am sick of poker right now and I need a break from it. That is, re-living my costly mistakes is not something I want to do.

I played about 1500 hands of NL on Friday, losing about $200 (net loss: $100, I cleared $100 of bonus). I have no idea of what I was doing. I didn't care and I played like it. Check-raised on the turn? I have top-pair, it's time to push all-in against the nets. What a moron I was!

I have played very little since then and I don't miss it. I think that I am going to stick to occasional heads up SNGs at Poker Stars and maybe 7stud for awhile. I just need a break. I definitely need to remember that I play poker for fun, not money. When I play for money, I get stressed out, play horribly, and lose money.

Finally, here is something that I have wanted to do for a long time. Here is proof that I once played a hand with Phil Ivey (see frazwood.blogspot.com if you can't see this at The Poker Forum). Note that he left the table after this hand, clearly afraid of me (sw).

Game Selection

Yesterday was a somewhat strange day with respect to my poker playing. First, I am in the middle of clearing Party Poker's three-stage bonus. The first stage is a $100 bonus for playing 1000 hands; the second is $100 for 1500 hands; and the third (if I get to it) is $100 for 2000 hands. The first stage must be completed within 3 days before you can go on to the second stage... I had originally deposited on Sunday evening. By Monday evening, I had cleared about 990 raked hands, so I stopped. I wanted to wait a bit before clearing the first bonus so that I could benefit from some upcoming free time on Friday. Anyway, I logged on to Party yesterday and I noticed that they had already given me my first stage bonus even though I had not cleared all 1000 hands.

(FYI: I am clearing these bonuses by playing $50 NL (6-max). About 85% of the hands are raked; and because it's 6-max, I can play a lot of hands very quickly... especially while 2-tabling and 3-tabling.)

This round of bonus chasing is going very well so far. I have made a major improvement in my NLHE game recently by focusing on game selection. My modus operandi is to buy-in to a table and play tight for about 20-25 hands. By this time, any total fish are easily identifiable (VP$IP > %60 or PFR > 20%) and I know who to attack. I then proceed to attack these fish, while generally avoiding everyone else unless I have a premium hand. If there are not any fish at the table (rare at Party), then I move on and find another table.

I was following this plan yesterday afternoon when I bought into a 6-max table that had another member of TPF in the room. I have previously played with other TPF members in full-ring games, but this was a first for me playing 6-max. In some respects, this was nice because I knew that at least one person should be avoided. The really nice thing is that he did not say "hello" (perhaps he did not recognize me) -- the last thing I wanted to do was announce to the other four people that at least two of us had a clue about how to play. More likely, however, he wanted to remain as anonymous as I did.

Anyway, after 20-25 hands, I had identified the lone fish at table and I went about attacking him. I perhaps pushed too hard and I lost a few hands. He eventually busted, leaving a table of tight players -- so I left. I think I lost $0.30 at the table -- hardly a success.

Last night, I continued with my game plan and found numerous juicy tables. I had a bunch of bad luck early on when I kept losing big hands on the river. I also played several hands very poorly when I tried to bluff call stations. The combination of bad luck and bad play had me stuck $50 at one point. The "bad luck" hand of the night was when I flopped a set of tens, check-raised all-in, and got called. My opponent flipped over KK. The turn and river, however, put a straight on the board and we split the pot. Grr....

Eventually, though, I hit some big hands. The best hand of the night occurred when I was dealt AKs under-the-gun. I raised to $2 (big blind = $0.50) and got re-raised to $3.50. The big blind cold-called and I called also. The flop was A 4 4 (rainbow). The big blind checked and I checked also. The button bet out $6 and the big blind called. I then pushed all-in with top pair, top kicker. Luckily, both the button and the big blind called, flipping over QQ and 55, respectively. Ahhh.... the joys of Party Poker, where you can find tables with two donkeys willing to call an all-in bet with an underpair. Neither of them improved and I tripled up.

A Return to Poker Stars and the Party Poker Reload

I made a small deposit late last week into my account at Poker Stars. I don't know why, but I can't seem to win at this site. It's the only site out of the 10 or so that I've played where this is the case. Per normal, I managed to take some hideous bad beats and lose about half of my deposit fairly quickly.

I then decided to start playing $10 heads up SNGs. Not to brag, but I have played these absolutely great! Great play at heads up sometimes gets you nowhere, however, and after my first six matches I had won three and I had lost three. I kept getting my chips in the middle as a substantial favorite, but I would somehow manage to lose the hand (for example, I pushed with AQs and got called by J7o and lost) . That's poker, I guess. Since then, though, I have won at least five matches in a row. I feel like Mike Matusow: Vindication! One time!

The other "big news" is that Party Poker has a reload bonus offer. I scraped all of my online bankroll together so that I could [barely] qualify for a $100 bonus. I started off terrible, dropping $75 by playing like a donkey. I then started grinding, eventually finding a few weak players to pick on and I got back to even. I then went on a hot streak, winning almost $100 before cooling off. I am still annoyed at getting AA all-in preflop only to watch my opponent catch a set of kings. I have about 75 hands to go to clear the first Party Poker bonus. I am seriously considering trying to play 1500 raked hands to clear the second bonus. I am definitely not going to try to clear 2000 raked hands to clear the third bonus, if I get that far.

Sick

While I was writing my last blog entry, I started feeling ill. I was playing poker while I was writing, and so I was quite annoyed when I started feeling so badly that I had to quit playing. I had doubled my buy-in (or nearly so) in both of the rooms that I had entered, and they were both full of soft players. That's life, though.

Since then, I have continued to feel bad and so I have played very little. When I did play, I played very poorly, in part because I could not concentrate sufficiently in between the dizziness, aches, and pains. I have also been quite busy with my "real job".

Finally, today, I am feeling healthy and I have some time to play. I just bought into a 6-max NL table at Party and I also started a HORSE SNG at Full Tilt Poker. So far, the SNG is going very poorly. In the first orbit (hold'em), I was dealt AA in the small blind. A donkey from late position raised and I re-raised and he capped. The flop was JJT and well... let's just say that he eventually flipped over Jh 4h.

This might sound like a complaint, but it's not. It's just an SNG. Besides, I just made an awful read, but then sucked out in my cash game. I flopped middle pair and bluff-raised my opponent who happily called with top pair, but then must have screamed "what a donkey!" when I caught trips on the river to take the pot.

Despite such donkey moves, I am feeling confident in my game right now. I am considering taking another crack at Poker Stars -- the site that seemingly holds an infinite supply of bad beats for me.

Who am I kidding?

In my last blog, I announced that I was sick of the swings of no limit poker. I was going to give it up and strictly play limit poker. Guess what? I have not played a hand of limit poker since that announcement. I think that I am addicted to no limit and I just can't give it up.

The good news is that I have been generally playing well and I am winning some money. I have even handled the bad beats well. Almost. Ok, not at all. This morning's session was a real treat. Let me tell you of the tale of a roller coaster ride...

I started playing $25 NL hold'em at Party while also playing an $11 SNG. I have not played an SNG at Party since they changed their structure, so I was excited about this. I accidentally signed up for a turbo SNG, but the structure was still better than before. I am horrible at tournaments and I made a bad move at the wrong time and I busted sixth.

I played pretty well in the $25 NL room, but I lost a decent sized pot to a short stacked who pushed with K7 vs. my AK. He flopped trip sevens. I then lost the rest of my stack when I pushed my QQ against a fairly safe flop except that my opponent flopped a set of fives.

I then bought into a $50 NL room and I played really well, building up my stack to about even for the session. Then, I made a donkastic decision to bluff a call station with Q9s. He called and flipped over KK. Oops.

Intelligently (sarcasm), I then bought into a $100 NL. During the first orbit, I raised from UTG+1 with Jc Tc. Two people called and then the big blind re-raised, but only 2.5x my raise, so four of us saw the flop. The flop brought two clubs and I pushed all in after the big blind bet out. He called, flipped over Ac As. The turn brought a third club, but the river did not and I more than doubled up. Two hands later I am dealt 88 in the big blind. There is a raise and a call in front of me, making it an easy call for me. The flop is J J 8. I overbet the pot on the flop and get one caller. I make a pot sized bet on the turn, causing the villain to fold. I quit a few hands later, about even for the entire session.

My current session is also going well. I tripled up in one hand when I held TT against T2 and a flush draw with a flop of 7 7 2. In my other table, I doubled up with KK against Ah 8h when the flop was Ad Kd 8d. I had raised big preflop (i.e., larger than my "standard" raise), so I figured that my opponent had at least one ace, thus ensuring that he had not hit his flush. I bet out; he raised; I pushed all-in; and he called. He flipped over Ah 8h for two pair. The turn was 3d but the river was not a diamond or ace.

Never Do Anything Always

Right now, I am sitting at work with little to do. I am passing the time by thinking about a few things poker related.

My first thought is the title of this blog entry: Never do anything always. The poker forums often have discussions about the correct way to play a hand. Much of the time, the "correct" way is obvious, but sometimes (and these are the most lively discussions) there is not one "correct" way to play, but several "correct" ways to play. The key, of course, is to know all of the "correct" plays and to randomize your actual moves a bit.

The specific hand that comes to mind was a post in which the hero, who held JJ in the first few hands of the final table of a no limit multi-table tournament, made a re-raise from UTG+1 of a mini-raise made by UTG. A player from late position then pushed all-in, and the question was whether or not the hero should call or fold. In my opinion, I felt like folding was the correct play because the third raise usually means AA or KK. Others argued that the pot-odds were too good to fold.

As is often the case with these posts, the discussion went off in another direction. Someone questioned the re-raise with JJ (it might even have been me). This discussion, I think, was much more interesting. I voted that the hero should have called with JJ and played "no set, no bet". Someone thought that there were not sufficient implied odds to play the hand this way. Many people thought that the hero should have pushed all-in. I certainly do not disagree with this play, but I think that it is risky from early position. No one thought that the hero should have folded, but perhaps that might not have been an awful play either. Why play a hand as weak as JJ from early position when you don't have a read on the table and you will be paid well for merely outlasting your opponents? The point of my rambling is that the hand should not be played the same way every time. The hero should call some of the time (maybe 30%), push all-in much of the time (65%), and fold every once in a awhile (maybe 5%).

The other poker thought floating around in my [empty] head is something from Rounders. I cannot remember the line specifically... but it was something about professional poker players not being able to handle the swings of no limit poker. Right now, I think that applies to me. I can certainly play no limit well on occasion, but the swings get to me far more often that I'd like to admit. I am seriously considering playing strictly limit from now on. I doubt I'll have the discipline, but it sure sounds good to me right now.

Speaking of my lack of discipline, I dumped about $25 playing no limit this morning. I was 3-tabling (mistake) and I was playing pretty tight. I mostly wanted to clear some rake hands for bonus reasons. On my bad hand, I was dealt KQ from the cutoff. Someone limped and I raised to 4x the big blind. The button and the original limper called. The flop was K 8 4 (rainbow) and the limper bet out, which I raised. I failed to notice that the button called (big mistake). The turn was another king and I pushed all-in when the limper checked to me. The button called; the limper folded; and the pot was pushed to the button (who held 44) when the river blanked. I don't know if I hate the way I played this hand or not. I certainly hate that I did not even notice that three of us saw the turn, but I don't know if I would have played the hand any differently.

Oh well, tomorrow is another day. I'll certainly have a different theory on how I should play.