This is how you make money in Omaha

This hand came up this morning.  I flopped a set, one player ended up with trips, the other one got the "under-full" house on the river.  Everyone had a little something/something.  This is a hand I just would not have lost much money on.  You really have to dump these hands if there is a lot of action (I was raising and re-raising on the river...betting all the way).

Playing in a tournament today with Don, and we have a "last man standing (er sitting)" side bet.  Don claims to "play to win", not to last a long time but is making an exception for me on this side bet.  I got to thinking about my playing style and why I final table so often, but seldom win tournaments.  Here is the deal:  pay attention Don.  I go deep in tournaments so often because I am a "nit" early in a tournament (for definition of nit, look up "Randy" in your poker dictionary, this is an inside joke, Don, he is the tightest player in the universe).  My feeling is that I need to wait for premium cards and/or premium situations to play hands.  You cannot win a big pot with your pocket aces or kings if you are never dealt them because you played K/10 UTG, or 4/4 against a big raise and got knocked out early.  Those times when I have had super hands and/or super flops early in a tournament and doubled up, I pretty much know that I will be sitting in the money.  Now, here is the flaw in my tournament strategy.  When I chip up early through luck/great cards, I seldom turn into the big stack bully and accumulate massive chips.  This is bad, though I will temper the statement with the observation that often you see the bully donk his/her chips off making marginal calls of raises (think calling a big raise from a conservative player out of position with A/7 offsuit, or with any two suited cards).  I see that stuff a lot.  What I should be doing is being more aggressive in general, particularly in late position.  When a big stack, you need to be open raising on the button or cutoff more often than not, particularly when attacking medium stack hands that aren't forced to defend or will play back at you very often.  This is important.  Note that you are not donking off your chips by calling raises.  You are forcing other players to play out of position and bluff re-raise, or take the easier route and fold to your pressure.  This gives cover to those times when you actually have a real hand, and then you can stack them.

So, in conclusion today, I am planning on playing my usual game, but watch out for me Don if I chip up early.