Gesundheit

liquid's YTD: $2061.69

I finally caved into pressure from Napalm and sat in a few tourneys. First up was yesterday morning's $30+$3 PLO tournament on Hollywood, which attracted all of 34 entrants. With a dearth of starting hands, I scraped my way to the first break in 12th and last place. However, I still had a borderline-respectable (about 9BB) stack and was determined to push at any opportunity, since only the top five positions paid. I didn't have to wait long. The first hand after the break, I picked up a smattering of high cards (something along the lines of KQT8) in the big blind, jammed pre-flop, pushed all-in on a K and rags flop, and managed to double up with two pair. The very next hand I picked up AKxx double-suited in the SB. The same foe I just doubled through raised pot and I pushed. He showed AAxx rainbow, the board blanked, and I was out. If I'd managed to take that pot I would had an above-average stack going into the final table. Oh well.

Naplam is right, tournaments are fun. Immediately after busting out I started jumping into $10+$1 SNGs, which hold little promise cash-wise but do have some entertainment value. I've sat in six of them since yesterday, placing 4th, 4th, 2nd, 2nd, 4th, and 1st. Considering the soft opposition and some poor decisions by hero, these results aren't much to be proud of. The last SNG was the only one where I managed to build a decent stack early, flopping the nuts with a redraw and somehow managing to get two thin-drawing foes all-in. Wow. Thereafter I was able to clobber the table, taking out every foe except for one. A big stack makes a big difference.

So I spent $99 on seven small tourneys, cashed in three, and turned a whopping $11 profit. Good practice and good fun, but by contrast, I also squeezed in two one-hour ring game sessions and won $70.

It's been a relaxing change of pace though. Last week I was three-tabling for two or three hours each night, and the cumulative effect didn't feel very healthy.

Tournament Tear

Napalm's YTD: $12,300


Hold'em NoLimit 2005-08-01 19:45 $10.00 1813 / 106
Omaha Hi/Lo Limit 2005-08-05 23:15 $10.00 296 / 37
Stud Hi/Lo Limit 2005-08-06 12:30 $1.00 506 / 28
Omaha PotLimit 2005-08-06 21:15 $5.00 520 / 14

Pretty good little tournament run. I have to learn more late game strategy to get to the final table though.

It Would Have Worked If It Weren't For You Meddling Kids

liquid's YTD: $1879.66

Fun table, fun hand:

Omaha Hi $0.50-$0.50 PL (real money)

Seat 3: LAG (B1, $55.50)
Seat 7: Straggler (UTG+1, $56)
Seat 10: Hero (MP3, $42.50) [8D,7D,10H,6C]

ANTES/BLINDS
LAG posts blind ($0.50), B2 posts blind ($0.50).

PRE-FLOP
UTG calls $0.50, Straggler calls $0.50, MP1 folds, MP2 calls $0.50, Hero calls $0.50, CO calls $0.50, Button calls $0.50, LAG checks, B2 checks.

FLOP [9D,KD,5S]
LAG bets $2, B2 folds, UTG calls $2, Straggler calls $2, MP2 folds,

Nine-out straight draw and a middling flush draw. Okey doke.

Hero calls $2, CO folds, Button folds.

TURN [9D,KD,5S,4H]
LAG bets $12, UTG folds, Straggler calls $12,

More straight draws for hero. The known LAG could be pushing two pair. Straggler is an unknown player; could have anything from a flush draw to a low set. I'm in good shape if I can get rid of any bare flush draw that beats mine. The problem is that LAG could call with anything other than a bluff, giving Straggler odds to tag along. It might be better if their positions were reversed, but here we go:

Hero bets $40 and is all-in, LAG bets $41 and is all-in, Straggler [thinks and thinks and thinks and finally] calls $41.

RIVER [9D,KD,5S,4H,4D]

SHOWDOWN
LAG shows [2S,KC,9C,6H] for two pair, kings and nines.
Straggler shows [5D,4C,7S,5H] for a full house, fives over fours.
Hero shows [8D,7D,10H,6C] for a flush, king high.
Straggler wins $26, Straggler wins $129.

It almost worked.

Here are the numbers:

pokenum -o 2s kc 9c 6h - 5d 4c 7s 5h - 8d 7d th 6c -- 9d kd 5s 4h
Omaha Hi: 36 enumerated boards containing 5s Kd 9d 4h
cards win %win lose %lose tie %tie EV
2s Kc 9c 6h 4 11.11 32 88.89 0 0.00 0.111
7s 4c 5d 5h 16 44.44 20 55.56 0 0.00 0.444
6c 8d 7d Th 16 44.44 20 55.56 0 0.00 0.444

If I'd been able to shake Straggler, I would have been almost even money heads-up:

pokenum -o 2s kc 9c 6h - 8d 7d th 6c -- 9d kd 5s 4h
Omaha Hi: 40 enumerated boards containing 5s Kd 9d 4h
cards win %win lose %lose tie %tie EV
2s Kc 9c 6h 21 52.50 19 47.50 0 0.00 0.525
6c 8d 7d Th 19 47.50 21 52.50 0 0.00 0.475

So my equity three-way was actually better than heads-up. I think I still need to push, though, since I need my flush outs.

I didn't have any problems with this bust out. The odds are in line with what I anticipated, there wasn't a terrible beat, and I'm happy with my play. In fact, jamming likely helped my table image, since four hands later I got my buy-in back when top two pair pushed against my top set.

Bad Nuts

liquid's YTD: $1862.66

Another fun hand from the ongoing "Only In Omaha" series.

Omaha Hi $0.50-$0.50 PL (real money)

Seat 3: UnluckyAces (B1, $13.50)
Seat 7: BareStraight (MP1, $62.50)
Seat 8: Luckbox (MP2, $51.25)
Seat 9: Hero (MP3, $144.50) [3H,5C,5D,3D]

ANTES/BLINDS
UnluckyAces posts blind ($0.50), B2 posts blind ($0.50).

PRE-FLOP
UTG calls $0.50, UTG+1 calls $0.50, BareStraight calls $0.50, Luckbox calls $0.50, Hero calls $0.50, CO calls $0.50, Button folds, UnluckyAces checks, B2 checks.

With four limpers to me, I really wanted to put in a pot-sized raise (or just fold -- who wants bottom set vs. the field), but for some reason I ended up calling instead. In (results-oriented) hindsight, it's a good thing I did not raise.

FLOP [AC,4S,2S]
UnluckyAces bets $4, B2 calls $4, UTG folds, UTG+1 folds, BareStraight bets $20, Luckbox calls $20

Ugh. I have the current nuts but am likely in heaps of trouble. I don't think I've folded the nuts before, but with only $0.50 invested I can't imagine a better first time to do so:

Hero folds, CO folds, UnluckyAces calls $9 and is all-in, B2 folds.

TURN [AC,4S,2S,4D]

* sigh of relief *

BareStraight bets $42 and is all-in, Luckbox calls $30.75 and is all-in.

RIVER [AC,4S,2S,4D,10C]

SHOWDOWN
BareStraight shows [5S,3C,2H,10D]
Luckbox shows [8H,4C,4H,AS]
UnluckyAces shows [8D,AD,AH,6S]
BareStraight wins $11.25, Luckbox wins $119.50.

Actually my equity was much better than I anticipated. The monsters I was imagining under my bed had improved straight redraws, sets, and flush draws galore:

pokenum -o 3h 5c 5d 3d - 5s 3c 2h 6d - 8s 4c 4h as - 8d ad ah 6s -- ac 4s 2s
Omaha Hi: 528 enumerated boards containing 4s 2s Ac
cards win %win lose %lose tie %tie EV
5c 5d 3d 3h 0 0.00 321 60.80 207 39.20 0.196
5s 3c 6d 2h 24 4.55 297 56.25 207 39.20 0.241
As 8s 4c 4h 196 37.12 332 62.88 0 0.00 0.371
6s Ad 8d Ah 101 19.13 427 80.87 0 0.00 0.191

Instead, considering all the action, I had what was close to a best-case scenario: two sets eating each other's outs, and no flush or improving straight draws at all:

pokenum -o 3h 5c 5d 3d - 5s 3c 2h td - 8h 4c 4h as - 8d ad ah 6s -- ac 4s 2s
Omaha Hi: 528 enumerated boards containing 4s 2s Ac
cards win %win lose %lose tie %tie EV
5c 5d 3d 3h 0 0.00 134 25.38 394 74.62 0.373
5s 3c Td 2h 1 0.19 133 25.19 394 74.62 0.375
As 4c 8h 4h 32 6.06 495 93.75 1 0.19 0.061
6s Ad 8d Ah 101 19.13 427 80.87 0 0.00 0.191

So I passed on a hand that was 3:1 to split. What a funny game.

Side note: I was also on the happy side of the redraw coin this evening, jamming with the nut straight and a flush redraw that hit on the river. Final pot: $216.50. Yay for Omaha!