The Steel Wheel

In Omaha, the best possible hand is a five high straight flush, or the so-called "Steel Wheel".  This hand is superior even to the Royal Flush due to the fact that it is the best possible low hand as well as the nut high hand (assuming there is not also a royal flush on the board... like a board A/2/3/10/J, where you have the 4/5 suited in your hand, and another player has the Q/K suited).  That would be a very rare hand indeed.  You do not always hog the pot as other low card combinations can cause a chop pot on the low, but you would have the high to yourself.  Below is a hand I had today that illustrates this.

As you can see, the player two to my left also flopped the wheel, while the other player turned it.  As first action I was betting while they were both raising and re-raising.  We capped it on two streets.  The only better thing would have been another player with a flush joining in on the action.  I was never going to get less than a half pot plus a 1/3 share of the low.  Every time they raised they lost money.

I really do love Omaha and am planning to play a lot of it in Vegas next week.

Comeback Kid

First of all let me get this out of the way.  I am no longer a kid.  That said, Friday was probably my best comeback ever.  I made the decision not to deal to test my theory that I play better when focused on playing only.  Early on I got my butt kicked.  Had two failed bluff attempts, one with a flush draw that failed to deliver.  Funny how you can't bluff a straight and flush board against a donkey who has two pair.  I fired all three barrels and mucked the river when he called.

Somehow surviving until we consolidated to two tables I was definitely the short stack at our table.  With blinds now at 200/400 I was down to 600 chips and in the big blind.  Naturally the small blind, the dealer with a large stack, raised to put me all-in.  I snap called with K/8 and he tabled K/2.  My 8 played and the first double up happened.  After that is kind of a blur, but let it be said that the deck friggin' ran over me!  I was dealt AA twice, once doubling thru JJ, then another double.  Then my QJ got it all in against two players, one with K10 and the other with Q2 on a flop of Q/J/2.  I tripled up when another queen fell on the river plus posting the high hand of the night (ultimately worth $64).  I had a massive chip stack for the final table, probably 1st or 2nd largest.

My final finish was 3rd place worth $165 but the two players who finished higher had to get super lucky against me and the 4th place finisher.  The first "lucky" break for the ultimate 1st place player was my small blind raise with 3/3 vs. his snap all-in with Q/Q.  I called, the flop was x/x/3 and he had one foot out the door.  The river brought his two outer queen and he was now healthy but still in 4th place.  His next hand he got it all-in against the chip leader with 8/8 vs. Q/Q and hit his 2 outer again. The new short stack was soon out.  I doubled up our resident pro when he shoved his short stack holding 7/3.  I tanked for a bit but finally called with 10/8 suited.  He hit a 7 on the river to put me in the short stack.  I got it in good against the leader with my A/3 vs. his K/10, but he managed to hit a 10 and send me home.

In retrospect I was very lucky to even make the final table and if not for a couple of lucky breaks by my opponents would have come in no worse than 2nd.  The resident pro complimented me on my play, saying that I had played well but people had just gotten lucky against me.

Dealing, Nemesis, Observations

So now I have become one of the regular dealers in Wheeler.  I was tired yesterday and definitely did not want to deal.  Mike came to me minutes before the tournament started and asked if I would deal, my choice of tables.  I agreed to deal table 3 as only 24 players and surely a very short job as we would consolidate at 18.  Can you believe that nobody busted out before the first break?  Unreal. And then when we did break, the dealer on 2 was busted so I was asked to take over.  Oh, great.  Well, at least the tips will be better.  I made the final table but was knocked out by one of my nemesis players 2 from the money.

Here is how my always lucky nemesis rolls.  I am down to 2 blinds @ 200/400 on the button, he is in the small blind.  I have AK and elect to limp in, hoping for a big raise from either the small or big blind and knowing that my min-raise will accomplish nothing except for creating a larger pot.  They complete and check.  The flop is 9 high with 2 clubs, I have the king of clubs.  The small blind, donk that he is, bets big and it is folded around to me.  I consider, and call with my last chips figuring that my 2 overcards are good.  He tables A/3 of spades.  No pair, no draw and dominated.  Excellent. Then of course he hits his 3 outer on the turn and I am gone.  Nice play....perfect play to get me back into the game.

Observations:

1.  When you are running good you get lots of great starting hands
2.  When you are running good the flops hit you.
3.  When you are running good your draws come in.
4.  When you are running good almost any two cards will work.
5.  When you are running BAD, none of the above.

During this tournament I had only 2 pairs, 5/5 (hit set, small pot), and 7/7, lost.  As I recall, only 4 aces, AK twice (won one with shove, last one eliminated me), AQ once, and A/7.  It is really tough to get deep in a tournament with these hands.  

Little Tournament Little Win

Playing in a $1.00 buy-in $150 Guaranteed prize pool in America's Cardroom tournament, I did a late entry.  Starting chips were 5,000 and by the time I jumped in, the top stack was around 28K, with average stack over 10K. Ultimately there were 167 players including re-entries.  I played very conservatively and just hung out for a long time with close to starting chips.  Finally, I doubled up through the maniac at our table.  He was seated to my immediate right, was 1st or 2nd in chips, and his strategy was basically to shove every hand.  Usually he would just pick up blinds, but every once in a while someone would call with a good to great hand.  He was incredibly lucky, snapping aces once and kings once with absolute crap hands, Q/3 off making a straight using the 3, runner runner flush using one card, odd two pairs, etc.  It was a freaking nightmare.  Finally I said what the heck called with AJ and doubled up.  Several players doubled through him, but he would come roaring back with the same strategy.

I had some great hands and managed to rise to 2nd place with everyone in the money (they paid 27 spots).  I took a horrible beat when raising with J/J and re-raised by A/Q.  We got it all in pre-flop and he hit a queen to drop me way back (think I had about 125K to his 90K).  I managed to get it all-in with AK vs. his 10/10 and the maniac's K/8.  The big stack hit a 10 on the flop and knocked both of us out.  The maniac had a few more chips so he got 12th place, while I got 13th and .50 less payout.  My big win?  $2.77.  First prize was around $47., the money rose a lot on final table.

Cards have been getting better for me lately.  Today playing Omaha hit a royal flush and quads during a short session.  Getting ramped up for Vegas next month.  Can hardly wait.

Dealing Tired but not Tired of Dealing

So, lately I have been dealing in both games, Wheeler and Legion.  I have even dealt a couple of final tables, including last Wednesday.  Man, I was really tired after 4 hours straight.  My total "take" was only $44, or $11/hr.  Sounds like minimum wage, but when you deduct my $40 buy-in, only $1 an hour net.  Much better however than most of the players got.

So, super tired after that marathon of dealing, we drove to Portland to attend granddaughter Clio's end of school program.  I slept bad and was very tired after the drive back to the beach on Friday.  Even a 2 hour nap did not help that much and foolishly agreed to deal table 2 at the Legion game.  I was out of the game before we consolidated to 2 tables from the 4 starting, but fortunately a lot of players were eliminated early and got to quit by 9:15.  I left immediately and have no idea of my tips, but should come close to covering the entry fee.

Did I play as well while dealing as simply playing?  Would have to answer, no.  It is very distracting and takes way more energy.  When you are tired that comes into play on your decision making process.  I made a couple of huge errors in play that really cost me.  The first was raising an early position player when I flopped trip kings.  Should have just called his out of position bet and let him donk off some more chips to me.  Next big error was raising too small on the button.  A min-raise never accomplishes much and my failure to follow up with the c-bet begs the question, why raise if you are going to give up the lead?  Two checks led to trip 6's from the small blind who bet the river and like a donk I called with my pocket 5's.  My last error was calling a big bet (half my chips) after limping with QJ.  A 10 high flop led to his putting me all in and I called with the backdoor straight and 2 overcards draw.  He had JJ and I was done.

All of my mistakes were the result of 2 things.  Playing while tired and dealing.  I would never take those lines of play if I was rested, alert and focused only on playing.  I am not sure that dealing is helping my bankroll.  It is not hurting it as my poker is mostly paid for, but think I can do much better by only playing.  It is oh so sweet to deal and cash as I have done a few times lately, but must rethink the whole game plan.    

Laddering, Pot Odds, What's a Short Stack To Do?

Due to a fund raising garage sale at the Legion last night there was no poker.  Our Wheeler team decided to put one on there instead with a $100 buy-in.  I was on the fence about playing it until Mike sent me a text asking if I was interested in dealing table 2.  Yes Sir!  The tips should cover quite a bit of my entry fee so I was in.  A couple of players called and asked for rides (some of us don't see quite as well in the dark these days) so 3 of us made the trip.  We were expecting 20 players, but I believe 27 showed up, including my young out of town friend Billy (his parents own a house next to our old ice cream store) who had shown up at the Legion to find the garage sale.  He barely made it in time which was good for him since he ultimately won the whole thing.

Before I get into my main topic just a few comments on some stuff at table #2.  First of all, pocket jacks were the nuts.  I had them twice, doubling up each time vs. underpairs and big aces.  Billy won once with them in a pot I was involved with.  Raised with AJ suited, he calls with JJ in the blinds. Flop comes 9/10/Q and Billy shoves.  I had him covered and very close to calling with my straight draw to the nuts plus over-card but elected to fold.  Just too many of my chips if I miss.  Later, Bob, another friend shows JJ as a winner (he came in 2nd or 3rd).

What was definitely not the nuts was KK.  A player shoved with AQ suited, I came over the top with KK and he hit an ace on the flop then rivered the nut flush.  Ouch.  Later a player shoved with KK, I called with AK and hit an ace on the flop.  The third time  a player on the button (Ray the Pro who finished 2nd or 3rd), raised big with 3/4 suited and the big blind had the KK.  She re-raised all-in but "only" 2800 more and she had him covered.  He rivered a straight.  Double ouch!!!!  Like I said, kings could not win at my table and jacks were the nuts.  Go figure.

So, making the final table, we were paying 5 places.  I was one of the short stacks, but stayed in it winning a few hands.  Billy gets super lucky shoving blind from the button and getting 4 callers.  It was hilarious, an ace hits, player bets, he says "Oh great, an ace, I'm fucked".  He turns his cards over hitting 2 pair with his AQ and is suddenly very healthy.  There were 2 players to my immediate left who I felt played very loose and weak.  Sure enough they were the bubble and next to bubble out.  I knew that I just had to outlast them to make the money.  They had both entered the final table with very healthy stacks.

So, as the short stack this happened.  In the big blind @ 1000/2000 level with only 1800 behind, we are all in the money with 5th place paying $160.  The UTG player, Jeff, who is a very savvy player min-raises to put me all-in.  However, he is probably not counting on the entire table calling!!!!  It comes around to me and I have to call 1800 into a 17,000 pot, or almost 10/1 on my money.  Sounds like a snap call, right?  I thought about it for a moment, and folded.  My reasoning was this, it takes a pretty strong hand to min-raise UTG but it takes very strong hands to overcall the raise.  The first overcall may have made sense since I think that he thought the player was trying to isolate me and he had position.  Once he called, the biggest stack next to him had good odds and position on the button while the remaining player had awesome odds to call with chips already invested.  What I was hoping for was a couple of all-ins with one or more eliminations like last Wednesday which would "move me up the pay ladder".  Unfortunately it did not happen, and the button bet on the flop took it down. My cards, which were actually irrelevant to my decision were Q/2.  I hit a 2 on the flop but will never know if I could have won the whole thing with improvement.  Had I called and won the pot I would have been 2nd or 3rd in chips for sure.

I stupidly folded the next hand, was left with 300 in chips, and was out in my next big blind. Everyone just sort of folded around to wait for me to lose, which I did.  So, finished in 5th place despite my best efforts at "laddering".  In retrospect probably should have gone for the gold, but with $100 difference in 4th and 5th places felt I was making a good decision.  Sometimes you have to think about pot odds but pot equity is another factor to consider as well as moving up the pay ladder. With so many players in a pot, even aces have radically reduced equity, particularly when they cannot bet or raise to protect their hand. 

Snatching Defeat from the Jaws of Victory

Wednesday night, usual spot, usual suspects.  I have been doing some reading about tight aggressive play and decided to try out some suggestions:

1.  If first to enter the pot, raise or fold
2.  No limps except in small blind with callers.
3.  If you can't re-raise, then fold to raise.

That's it.  Simple.  I started off with an amazing run.  Won several pots, culminating with the elimination of Joe, my worst nemesis (has knocked me out at least 3 times).  He always seems to "notch" me.  If I have 10's, he has jacks, if I have KQ, he has AK, etc.  It was no exception on this hand.  I raised in late position with QJ suited (usually not good for a raise from me, but trying to play more aggressively plus it had been winning a couple of previous hands).  He had limped UTG with KQ, true to form, he had me notched.  Flop was J/J/K and when he checked I c-bet, then he check raised all-in.  Call.  Untrue to his form he failed to find another king and hit the road (literally, I might add, later saw him walking home), and yes I offered him a ride.

Now the big stack at the table, I ran into some early trouble raising with AQ suited only to have an early caller limp with AA.  With a small flop my continuation bet was met with a re-raise all-in. Good fold, minimal damage to my big stack.

Finding QQ on the button with several limpers, I raised big, only to have the cutoff push all in.  He had won a few pots and could seriously damage my stack but I snap called.  He was not a regular and had no idea of his style of play, he had pushed me off an earlier hand (10/10) with no overcards with aggressive play and assured me that he had me beat after I showed and he didn't.  He sounded either sincere or full of s--t.  I was super happy when he tabled A/9 off!!!  Unfortunately for me, he hit an ace on the river.

Now short (750 with blinds @ 50/100), a solid player ("Juicy"), raises to $250 and the cutoff  who just got my chips, calls.  I find 5/5.  Now, if I had not just lost my stack I fold here (or re-raise big to isolate and/or push him off his hand), but with $650 in the pot, decide to push.  The original bettor calls and the cutoff folds as he has become the "monkey in the middle" from the squeeze.  I ask if he has a pair, he says no and tables AQ.  Unfortunately for me, my luck runs out on the turn with a queen and I too am hitting the road shaking my head at my bad luck.  I was playing so well and running so good there was no way I thought that final table and possible 1st would not happen.

Chop Chop Bubble Talk

How about some friendly talk about chopping and bubble pay?  We have all been in that situation where the blinds are huge and everyone is friendly, and pretty evenly stacked.  Chop?  No problem. We have also been in those tournaments with the jerk who absolutely refuses to chop or pay the bubble boy.  Ego?  Thinks he is giving something up like his equity in an eventual win?  Here are a couple of my favorite stories about chopping and bubble paying (or not).

Playing in the Crazy Moose $25 tournament we were down to 2 players, me and "Sarge".  Sarge had been a command sergeant major in the army, and had taught hand-to-hand combat to Rangers.  He was one tough old bird, however he was around 90 years old at the time.  He had 90% of the chips in play.  I am not sure if I had even 2 big blinds.  He said, "Do you want to chop?"  I answered, "Sarge, you have most of the chips here, are you sure?"  He then said, "It is time for my nap, yes".  So we chopped.  A most generous act and one I have not forgotten when the chop times come and there is a short stack sitting there hoping for the best.

Playing a deepstack at the Venetian, I am remembering a $130 or so buy-in.  I had taken a really bad beat early on, re-entered the tournament and played down to the final table.  I was playing great, had the 3rd largest chip stack, and we were on the bubble with 6 players remaining.  Everyone but the big stack wanted to pay the bubble.  He was a class A A-hole.  The chop was out of the question.  I picked up KK in the small blind with a min-raise UTG and of course the big stack calling. I shoved (poor decision as better to see a flop and avoid an ace) and both players called.  The flop came ace high and the AA that had min-raised took it down.  I bubbled but had the satisfaction of seeing the big stack jerk drop into a distant 2nd place.  What hurt was the big blind had almost no chips and would certainly have been out before me had I waited.

My general attitude toward both of these subjects is Karma and variance.  I want to create as much good karma as possible and both of these situations accomplish that.  Same with variance.  By chopping you are getting more than if you are the next one out.  I cannot tell you how many times I have seen the guy who refuses to chop or pay the bubble be the next one out, irregardless of his chip stack.  I think it is a personality flaw as they are often jerks in general.

Short Stack Success

At Wheeler last night with 29 players, I really just putzed along with starting stack most of the night. Making the final table was a minor miracle and was probably 2nd shortest stack with around 5 big blinds.  We got down to 6 players, paying 5, and the shortest stack insisted that we not pay the bubble.  He explained later to me that he has been crushing the tournaments and never chops or pays bubble so when he is shortest he thinks it would be hypocritical to agree to pay it.  O.K., guess I can agree with that logic.  He was the next player out.

Now in the money (5th paid $90) but with no chips a miracle happened.  A big stack raised with A/9, a smaller stack shoved with A/Q, and the biggest stack called with 9/9.  The 2nd largest stack then shoved, the biggest stack tanked and finally called.  The case 9 hit the flop and we were down to 3 players!!  I doubled up with AA, then doubled again to pull almost even with the 2nd stack.  Finding A/2 on the button shoved and was called by him with QJ.  Flop good, turn good, river brings in the gutshot straight.  3rd place money was $220.  Glad to win it.

Random Thoughts

A comment was made to me after our Friday night game.  A player told me "your problem was that you let yourself get too short stacked on the final table".  I have been thinking about that for a while since I really respect the player, but came to the following conclusions:

1.  I entered the final table with a decent chip stack, maybe around average stack.
2.  I was extremely card dead.
3.  There were a couple of shove opportunities for me, but was pre-empted before I could do it.
4.  I raised a few times and did not get callers with my premium hands.
5.  My next to last hand was a good shove, 10/J in small blind vs. BB.  Just rotten luck to run into JJ.
6.  So, don't think I made any egregious mistakes on final table, just didn't pick up cards or opportunities.

Other random thoughts:

1.  The longer I play, the more I believe that you have to play the player.  I do much better when I semi-ignore my cards and pick places and people and stack sizes rather than waiting for the nuts.  I want to be less predictable so that when people target me as weak tight, or tight aggressive I can either bluff them or stack them with unpredicted holdings.

2.  Playing some pot limit omaha 8B lately with very mixed results.  It is a super scary game in that you never really know if the jammers...and there are usually at least one per table.... have high hands, low hands, draws or made hands.  It is a great game if you have really great board reading skills and are good at putting people on hands.  It really plays like a no limit game in that you can definitely get your whole stack in the pot given certain circumstances.  The game favors aggressive play, you will lose your ass if you just call most of the time.  It is unlike limit omaha in that the draws usually get poor odds, but often will come along anyway.

Omaha is essentially a drawing game as my poker expert (3 books written) pointed out.  If you flop the best hand, the draws that call actually have a great chance to beat you.  An example of this is, you hold A/3/8/10.  The flop is 8/9/10.  You have 2 pair plus the second nut low.  Looks good right? Except if your opponent holds something like J/K/A/2 you are really in horrible shape as any low card except a 2 loses the low for you, and you are drawing to 4 outs to fill up, while your opponent has 8 outs for the nut straight.  It can get even worse if the flop is suited and favors the flush draw for your opponent(s)!  If in the above instance he has the A2 of clubs and there are 2 clubs on the flop you can add another 7 outs to his draw.  Youch!

Anyway, my hope is to buy in light to the low limit omaha game at the Venetian and try my luck.  Goal is to play a ton of online omaha to get ready.

Sometimes I Suck (out)

My stories are usually filled with bad beats suffered.  Trying to become more aware of when I hand them out rather than receive them.  Here are a couple of recent ones:

Raised with J/J, 2 callers
Flop is A/10/x with 2 hearts
Turn is a queen, check, check, bet, call
River is king.  Bet, raise all-in, folds.
I was toast until the river.

Raised with KJ, flop is 8/K/x
We get them all-in, he turns over 8/8 for flopped set
Turn is a jack, river is a jack for my overfull boat.

One of the more interesting bad beats was last night at the American Legion.  On the final table the big stack raises large with A/3 of spades on the button, short stack in big blind defends re-raising all-in with A/8 off.  Flop is 3 spades with the 8 of spades (x/x/8) for the nut flush.  Turn is an ace, river is an 8 for a full house and what would remain as the high hand for the night worth an additional $48. The two players involved ended up chopping 1st and 2nd places.

I ended up in 5th place, worth $64, despite entering the final table with a good stack.  Just went card dead and two shoves got no callers.  My next to final hand was my shove from the small blind vs. the big blind.  The two previous hands had both folded their small blinds with the BB showing crap as well.  My hand was J/10 with the worst possible match-up, J/J.  I had him covered barely, so my next big blind was all-in with A/8 suited.  Two callers, one with j or q /8 caught a straight on the river as they checked it all the way.  Hate it when that happens.