You win with your crap

Yesterday was a monumentally bad poker day.  Sitting next to Tom, a friendly regular we commiserated that we had to lose a rack just to warm up.  We were both quickly rebuying.  Things got much worse as i got involved in big pots only to lose to long shots on the river.  Twice i flopped top set (aces) but lost to straights.  Got a big pot going with set over set, he had jacks, vs. my queens.  Aces hung in to the river where he hit his two outer.

Two memorable losses were a flop of 5/5/A, me playing A/2/4/5 which incidentally is one of the very best starting hands in OH8.  With 3 of us in the hand, the turn brought an 8, giving me the flopped boat full house plus 2nd nut low.  Betting was capped.  River didnt change anything and i lost both high and low.  One player had A/A for the Big full house, while the other had 2/3 nut low.  Unbelievable, but not as much as another big pot where I have A/A/2/x, and 4 way action with capped streets, I fully expect a possible "quartering" where I split the low with improbably another hand of A/2, but did not expect this showdown.  One player with A/2/2, another with The case ace and case 2!!!!  WTF!!!!  We chop low 3 ways, losing big to the high hand.  I have only seen this once before.

So, back to the title of this blog.  Brett, a very savvy player who has become a new poker buddy told me from across the table, " I see how you roll, Phil, you lose with your great hands and win with your crap".  Guess I should have played more crap as my premium hands cost me dearly.  Problem is, I usually only play good starting hands.

Take one off dammit!

Playing Omaha Monday I was in a hand with K/J of clubs.  The flop was not connected, one club, the ace, a 9 and maybe a 3.  I had no low draw so I folded to a bet.  The turn was the queen of clubs, then the river 10 of clubs.  Oh no, I folded a royal flush during the Monte Carlo time.  It paid $499.  What was crazier was a royal earlier during $50 High hands, and a queen high straight flush next to me worth $100.  Big hands.

On a sad note, a 95 year old regular had a stroke at our game the day before.  No information on his condition.  I wish him well but don't think we will see him again.

A new poker room will be opening this month, Jamestown Saloon.  It was started by one of the regulars in my old Tulalip game after they closed.  It is located just off I-5 in Arlington, about a 40 minute drive for me.  I don't anticipate playing there much, but will definitely try it out and reconnect with some of the guys.  If you are around here, check it out.  www.Jamestownsaloon.com.

Subbing

When my wife substitute teaches it is poker time for me.  So, with 2 subs lined up this week, game on.  Except felt lousy Monday so no go.  Tuesday played for 3 hours with an $85. win.  Great.  Then another sub called for Wednesday.  Awesome.  But granddaughter sick, I am the caregiver.  Oh well.  So as a make up I play today.  Good luck prevails, I crush the game and win $274 in 4 hours, wisely leaving at the end of my heater.

I enjoyed sitting next to a guy that I have been next to several times before.  We talk some poker, share hands that the other isn't in and commiserate on the many bad beats.  Trust me, there are many in Omaha.  I won a big pot today where he claimed 30 outs with 2 flush draws,  straight draws and nut low draw.  Probably caught the only card in the deck that wouldn't help him.  But that is the nature of the beast.

My most frustrating hand came on Tuesday when the button on my immediate right uncharacteristically for him raised preflop.  He is a super tight regular who always shows the nuts on the river, so I immediately knew he had AA23, probably double suited.  I threw away my small blind of Q986 double suited, a hand I will always complete with for $2.  The half hour high hand was in play for $50, and with 2 callers the flop came out QQQ.  Check to raiser, bet, folds, high hand QQQAA.  Double shit.  As luck would have it, didn't hold up, but my quads sure would have.

A quick observation.  It is weird how 2nd nut flushes and 2nd nut lows often lose, while bad flushes and ragged lows win fairly often.  I make a real effort to only chase the nuts but sometimes you get sucked in by sheer pot odds.  My experience tells me that it is usually better to pay off a river bet and lose $8 rather than forfeit an entire pot.  The key is correctly guessing whether the bettor is going high or low, even then it his pot luck and you can often be tricked by the player betting draws.

Rookies

Omaha hi low is not a game for rookies.  Today we had two at our table.  They literally did not know how to play.  For example, the worst one was calling a hi low board with no low and a small pair, or later thinking he had a flush because there were 4 of a suit on the board and he had one in his hand.  He was bleeding money mostly to one expert regular.  He must have lost $700 plus.  Unfortunately i could not connect with the board even with super premium hands so no chips for me.  After making a grand total of $5 in 5 hours of play yesrerday, lost $170. Today.  Sigh.  

Two Days Two Dollars

It is sometimes very tough to win money playing Omaha hi low due to the many split pots.   Monday in a 4 hour session won $52.  Today, lost $50 despite collecting two $50 high hands (quad 8s and queen high straight flush).  Won a few giant pots but lost several with lots of bets invested.  In the half kill 4/8, it is possible to lose 24 + 24 + 48 +48 for a total of $144 on a single hand, even 6 more if straddled.  Of course, i have seldom been in a maxed pot to the river, and if so usually claim some of it.  If my monster draw or big made hand had held up on a couple of pots today would have been a big winner.  Alas.  My last hand had a preflop monster of A/K/K/Q double suited in a jammed pot with the flush draw and overpair.  A small flop and river 4 which missed me brought a straight and a low.  Left with my 2nd high hand $50 in my pocket for a 2 day net win of $2.

Steel Wheel? Monte Carlo bonus denied.

Playing in the Red Dragon 4/8 Omaha game this week, an old gent turned over the holy grail of Omaha, the "Steel wheel", A/2/3/4/5 of spades to evidently scoop the pot.  But wait, he is playing 5 cards!  The floor is called, rules a misdeal, all money is refunded to all players in the pot, which also requires the retrieval of the rake.  Took a few minutes to sort it out.  I have only seen a few steel wheels, and never had one, even in thousands of online games.  My royal flush results much better, usually one or 2 every year.  I don't really understand why, as normally any suited cards 5 and under are usually playable, with of course A/2 and A/3 nearly always played.

Had two high hands on the board which pay $75, but both knocked off with minutes to go.  It would have changed a slight loss to a break even or win day if they held up.  As it was, turned around a 3.5x buy in loss day to just a 3/4 buy in loss.  I can live with it.  Still adjusting to the new venue and players.  A reasonable game, sometimes wild but generally not.  

Catching Up

So, long time no posts.  What gives?  After my go-to casino closed it's poker room I quit playing until Pendleton.  It was a good trip for me, with a couple of winning cash sessions, a turbo win, and 25th out of 370 in the seniors.  Not super profitable but o.k. 

Back in the Omaha high low saddle trying Fortune poker room in Renton with one good win, one small loss and one medium loss,  overall a break even.  The drive is long, around 40 minutes each way down the dreaded 405, so may not be back soon.  Tried the Red Dragon, much closer and had a great day, about $300 profit in 4 hours.  Will probably call that home.

Wanted to reflect on yesterday's bad game for a moment.  A super loose and aggressive player raised every hand.  He caused a lot of variance and naturally left stuck $500 or so.  These players a.k.a. maniacs are tough.   They create giant protected pots in limit games (this one was 4/8 Full kill, so often it was 8/16).  If you call the initial raise with multiple players the pot becomes so huge you cannot fold draws or marginal made hands like 2nd nut low, 2 pair, weak flushes, sucker straights,etc.  Very expensive when you miss but big payoff when you hit.  I won a  big pot with ace high when we got heads up one time!!! Despite my reasonably tight play couldn't catch a break often even with super premium hands.  Some days are like that.  When faced with a maniac best to tighten up and ramp up your own aggression, re-raising to hopefully isolate.