PLO + Slow-Playing = Bad Things

liquid's YTD: $893.91

Some decent gains over the weekend, partially attributable to good play by Hero. But strangely, the most satisfying wins were two suck-outs against slow-players. Each occurred on my first hand at the table with hole cards I would not have played otherwise. Maybe I need to reconsider my pre-flop tightness.

Figure 1:

$25 PL Omaha Hi (Real Money)

Seat 4: SlowPlayMaster (BB, $24.75)
Seat 10: Hero (MP3, $25)
Hero posts big blind [$0.25].

** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Hero [Td 5s Qc 8d]
UTG folds.
UTG+1 calls [$0.25].
UTG+2 folds.
MP1 calls [$0.25].
MP2 calls [$0.25].
Hero checks.
CO folds, Button folds.
SB calls [$0.15].
BB checks.

** Dealing Flop ** [4h, 8h, Th]
SB checks.
SlowPlayMaster bets [$0.5].
UTG+1 folds, MP1 folds, MP2 folds.

No one wants to push? I'll give it a go, with my four big outs as a fallback.

Hero raises [$2].
SB folds.
SlowPlayMaster calls [$1.5].

Smooth call. Not sure if I'll push this further.

** Dealing Turn ** [8s]

Then again....

SlowPlayMaster checks.
Hero checks.

** Dealing River ** [3d]
SlowPlayMaster bets [$4]
Hero raises [$10].
SlowPlayMaster calls [$6].
Hero shows [Td, 5s, Qc, 8d] a full house, Eights full of tens.
SlowPlayMaster doesn't show [Kh, Jh, 8c, Ah] a flush, ace high.
Hero wins $24.25 from the main pot with a full house, Eights full of tens.

Oh SlowPlayMaster. Why not push me out on the flop? Why bet the river, and then call a raise? How I long to understand.

Figure 2 is more dramatic:

$25 PL Omaha Hi (Real Money)

Seat 3: Hero (CO, $25)
Seat 6: LowBetSet (SB, $25.10)
Seat 7: Desperate (BB, $8.75)
Hero posts big blind [$0.25].

** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Hero [5d Jd 3c Ac]
UTG calls [$0.25].
UTG+1 folds.
UTG+2 calls [$0.25].
MP1 folds.
MP2 calls [$0.25].
Hero checks.
Button calls [$0.25].
LowBetSet calls [$0.15].
Desperate raises [$0.25].
UTG, UTG+2, MP2, Hero, Button, LowBetSet call [$0.25].

** Dealing Flop ** [3d, Jh, 8c]
LowBetSet bets [$0.25].
Desperate raises [$0.50].
UTG, UTG+1, MP2 fold.

Once again, no one shows strength. But I have the monster top and bottom pair!

Hero raises [$5.1].
Button folds.
LowBetSet calls [$4.85].
Desperate is all-In.
Hero calls [$3.15].

I can't worry too much about the short stack. However, I made a mistake by not re-raising here to attempt to isolate.

LowBetSet calls [$3.15].

** Dealing Turn ** [Js]
LowBetSet is all-In.
Hero is all-In.

** Dealing River ** [7d]
LowBetSet shows [8s, Tc, 8d, Ts] a full house, Eights full of jacks.
Desperate doesn't show [Kc, 4s, Jc, Kh] three of a kind, jacks.
Hero shows [5d, Jd, 3c, Ac] a full house, Jacks full of threes.
LowBetSet wins $0.1 from side pot #2 with a full house, Eights full of jacks.
Hero wins $30.9 from side pot #1 with a full house, Jacks full of threes.
Hero wins $26.85 from the main pot with a full house, Jacks full of threes.

A set of eights? Wha...? Desperate's J meant I had one out on the flop, barring my two back-door flush draws.

These non-betting folks will be the death of me.