Some more PLO and some heads up

Played a session of Omaha today during happy hour to finish off the bonus. There were really only 2 big pots I was involved in. Here they are.

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 5 players - View hand 67923

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SB: $233.45
BB: $19.50
UTG: $124.60
CO: $50.00
Hero (BTN): $23.75

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BTN with K K 6 7
UTG raises to $1.75, CO calls $1.75, Hero calls $1.75, 1 fold, BB calls $1.25

Not too far into the session but this guy had been pretty aggressive in the few pots I've seen. I elect to call his raise with this hand, I got two kings and some flush & straight possibilities.

Flop: ($7.25) K Q 6 (4 players)
BB checks, UTG bets $3.60, CO folds, Hero calls $3.60, BB folds

Bingo Bango Bongo! I elect to just call here to disguise my hand, hoping to get it in on a blank turn.

Turn: ($14.45) 4 (2 players)
UTG bets $14.45, Hero raises to $18.40 all in, UTG calls $3.95

Great turn, we go all-in.

River: ($51.25) 2 (2 players - 1 is all in)

Nice river.

Final Pot: $51.25

UTG shows J A A 9 (a pair of Aces)
Hero shows K K 6 7 (three of a kind, Kings)

Hero wins $48.70

(Rake: $2.55)

So he had clubs and a gutterball. There's an argument for raising the flop, but maybe he gives it up. A call could mean a flush draw for me or maybe a straight draw or just KQxx. I liked how I played it, I got it in as more than a 3:1 favorite.

I basically play like a nit after that getting dealt next to nothing and then I get this.

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 6 players - View hand 67937

The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BB: $93.75
UTG: $57.25
MP: $93.85
CO: $100.55
BTN: $97.00
Hero (SB): $40.70

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is SB with A A 8 4
UTG raises to $1.75, MP calls $1.75, 2 folds, Hero raises to $7.50, 1 fold, UTG calls $5.75, MP calls $5.75

I elect to reraise here. Don't really respect either player, were getting involved in way too many pots with marginal hands. Of course they both come along galloping.

Flop: ($23.00) T 5 6 (3 players)

Hero bets $23, UTG folds, MP raises to $86.35 all in, Hero calls $10.20 all in

Shitty flop, but what the hell can I do? I have less than 1.5x the pot left, I'm just going to move that slider all the way to the right, hit the bet button, and hope for the best. Of course MP puts me all-in, I'm committed to calling.

Turn: ($89.40) 7 (2 players - 2 are all in)

River: ($89.40) K (2 players - 2 are all in)

Final Pot: $89.40

MP shows 7 9 8 8 (a straight, Ten high)
Hero shows A A 8 4 (a straight, Eight high)

MP wins $86.40
(Rake: $3.00)

2:1 favorite preflop, 2:1 favorite on the flop. Sigh. Hated raising there preflop but I didn't want to just call this time because I really didn't have much else. If the flop didn't come an A or diamonds I would have had to dump it. Also, evidently reraising doesn't give away your hand against *these* players. Absolutely dreadful putting almost 20% of the effective stack in there preflop.

The good news is I cleared my final $5 bonus and with a $10 win at the other table I was playing, put me only at a $10 loss for the session. Don't know if I'm going to continue with Omaha though, at least the high only version. I was playing way out of my bankroll, but it seems like a profitable game if you have the money and can stomach the swings.

Also played this private Stars tourney tonight. Was supposed to just be no-limit, but it turned out to be heads up. Nobody noticed until it started. First matchup I drew an unknown and we started out with $1500 each, I got down to about $700 after making a lot of laydowns. Not really getting run over per se, but probably needed to be a little more aggressive. Finally got it in with him first time I had A7 against his K9 when blinds were getting up there and it held up. Then in another hand I trapped him with QQ when I limp reraised all-in and he called with AT. My hand held up again. Had the chip lead and was basically just trying to seal the deal. Finally had a hand where it was limped preflop and I flopped bottom 2. We got it all-in against his 88 on a 9 5 4 board. Turn came 9, but river came a 4 to seal the deal.

Next round I drew another unknown and I quickly gained an advantage after I had raised with 55 preflop in position, took a shot on an A Q Q board, got called, and checked behind on a 2 turn. River came a 5, my opponent checked again, I bet full pot and he mucked A2. I figured he had to have at least an A to call my flop bet, I was hoping maybe he was slowplaying 3 queens, but I won a nice pot.

Even after losing an all-in when my QQ lost to his K9 in the 50/100 level, had a 2:1 chip lead for a lot of it when a hand came up in a limped pot where I had Q7 in the BB. Blinds were 150/300 at that point, he had 1500 left going into the flop. The flop came Q8x, I checked, he shoved for his final 1500 and I called. His Q9 held up. I slowly regained a chip lead stealing some blinds and some limped pots on the flop, when the blinds just got so high that we had to get it all-in again.

Finally we were basically even & trading blinds back and forth. The blinds got so high that I had to start open shoving preflop with a lot of hands. This ended it.

Poker Stars $10+$1 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t200/t400 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 67952

The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Hero (BTN/SB): t3060 M = 5.10
BB: t2940 M = 4.90

Pre Flop: (t600) Hero is BTN/SB with 6 A
Hero raises to t3060 all in, BB calls t2540 all in

Flop: (t5880) 9 7 T (2 players - 2 are all in)

Turn: (t5880) 8 (2 players - 2 are all in)

River: (t5880) 9 (2 players - 2 are all in)

Final Pot: t5880
Hero shows 6 A (a straight, Six to Ten)
BB shows K A (a pair of Nines)

Hero wins t5880

Ah well, I should have won with the QQ earlier so I'll take the suckout.

At this point I'm in the final four and I'm guaranteed about 2x my buyin. This match I drew a very good player who is not only a good poker player but a good diplomacy player as well. That said, I still hadn't played against him much, so I didn't know how to approach it but I figured he would likely play a smallball approach, so I was going to have to counter that in some way.

It was a quicker match than the others and 3 really interesting hands came up. Here they are.

Poker Stars $10+$1 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t40/t80 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 67955

The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Hero (BTN/SB): t6840 M = 57
BB: t5160 M = 43

Pre Flop: (t120) Hero is BTN/SB with 7 9
Hero calls t40, BB raises to t320, Hero calls t240

He raised preflop, both of us were doing some limping and some raising (and even some folding) from the button. I elected to call in position and take a flop.

Flop: (t640) 5 9 5 (2 players)
BB bets t320, Hero calls t320

I flop top pair and just smooth call.

Turn: (t1280) 3 (2 players)
BB bets t640, Hero calls t640

I hate that he's leading the turn here, but I feel that he may also be in there with overcards or maybe a flush draw with overcards. I elect to call once more.

River: (t2560) 9 (2 players)
BB bets t1200, Hero raises to t5560 all in, BB folds

He leads again and I hit my miracle card. I think my hand is face up at this point but still have to give credit for a nice fold on the river. He said he had 33.

Final Pot: t4960
Hero mucks 7 9
Hero wins t4960

Poker Stars $10+$1 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t40/t80 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 67958

The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Hero (BB): t6520 M = 54.33
BTN/SB: t5480 M = 45.67

Pre Flop: (t120) Hero is BB with 7 7
BTN/SB raises to t240, Hero calls t160

I elect to just call in the BB here, and make my play on a favorable flop.

Flop: (t480) 3 4 5 (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN/SB checks

I check here 100% committed to checkraising, but he checks behind.

Turn: (t480) 6 (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN/SB checks

I make my straight on the turn, but I want him to take a shot at it.

River: (t480) 9 (2 players)
Hero bets t240, BTN/SB calls t240

I bet 1/2 here hoping he'll call with overs/doesn't have a flush. Admittedly it's sort of a blocking bet.

Final Pot: t960
Hero shows 7 7 (a straight, Three to Seven)
BTN/SB shows A A (a pair of Aces)

Wow, very nicely played. Lost the minimum. Sure, he was ahead on the flop, but if I make a big checkraise, what can he do? Well played hand.

Hero wins t960

Poker Stars $10+$1 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t60/t120 Blinds - 2 players - View hand 67959

The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Hero (BTN/SB): t9320 M = 51.78
BB: t2680 M = 14.89

Pre Flop: (t180) Hero is BTN/SB with K K
Hero calls t60, BB raises to t480, Hero calls t360

This is actually the 3rd time I've had kings in this match. The first time I raised from the button and he folded, the 2nd time he open folded from the button. I decide to play it tricky here.

Flop: (t960) A 3 K (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks

Nice flop, but I'm going to check it once.

Turn: (t960) 8 (2 players)
BB bets t480, Hero calls t480

He bets 1/2 the pot. I elect to call here, planning on shoving most rivers. I want to represent that I have a busted flush draw. If the flush comes in, I'm just hoping that he doesn't have the flush and that he is picking me off with something else.

River: (t1920) 2 (2 players)
BB bets t960, Hero raises to t1920, BB calls t760 all in

He leads river again, at this point I'm thinking he might have an ace and was playing it tricky as well. I just quickly hit the raise button and try to make it look like I had meant to call but misclicked. He actually said in the chat he was thinking about getting away from it but was committed and ultimately called.

Final Pot: t5360
Hero shows K K (three of a kind, Kings)
BB shows T A (a pair of Aces)

Hero wins t5360

Great poker hand. By both sides. You do not see this much anymore, at least not online. In most cases it would have been button opens with KK, BB reraises, and they get it all-in. I was reading Rasputin's blog today and he replayed a hand of $1/$2 where some donkey on the button opened for $64, yes sixty-four dollars, or 32 times the big blind, or 21.333333 times the pot. No action in front of him. Two card poker.

Anyway, ironically I did end up getting it all-in in the first hand in the final match. However, since we were tired of playing, we made an agreement to just go all-in on the first hand and split the prize money. My QJ lost to his 62 with a miracle 6 coming on the river, but he shipped me $15 so that we each received $52.50.

Ended up profiting $47 overall because I also played in the undercard event, which was $5.50 HORSE. I made it to the second round of hold'em and busted when I had 485 and the blinds were 100/200. I opened with 44 on the button, SB reraises, BB caps, I put in my last 85. My hand is 3rd best as it turns out the blinds had KK and QQ.

Really played shitty in the stud rounds, because memorizing upcards is tough when you're also involved in a heads up match at another table. I was able to steal a few pots in razz when opponents hit paint on 4th and 5th street a couple of times, but that was it.