A Tough Way to Break Even

Over the weekend I separated my poker between two different sources. On Saturday I had a four hour session of low-limit Hold Em and on Sunday I played in several Sit and Go’s and some low-limit Omaha Hi/Lo.

Over the course of my session at Brantford here were some of the starting hands that didn’t win:

KK (twice)
AK
JJ
TT
AJ

The sad part of the session was not the fact that I lost with these hands but rather that I won with :

33 (flopped a set and held on through heavy betting and raising)

T8 (these were suited and I turned a flush)

I look at the bright side though and it is pretty simple in this case. When I can still break even after getting a lot of strong starting hands beaten it means I’m able to read my opponents and lay down losing hands before I invest too much money in them.

I did end up making one mistake that I will hopefully learn from. I had a new player sit down two seats to my right. I was dealt ATo UTG. By the time the action got around to me the new player (in the small blind) raised it up. I called as did everyone else in the hand. The flop came A K 9 rainbow. The original raiser bet out, the person on my right called, as did I and most other people in the hand. A lot of argument could be made for me to raise here but with low-limit I wanted to see what would happen on the turn. I’m not knocking anyone out with a raise here and if the small blind checks I’m pretty sure I have the best hand. I realized that I probably had 5 outs, any Ten or Ace. Before the turn came I knew that the person to my right held JQ, and therefore any 10 gives him the nut straight. The turn comes a 6 and the small blind bets out again. The gut to my right calls (chasing a 3 outer) and I decide to fold. A blank comes on the river. The small blind bets out and Mr. Chase folds. The player turns over Jacks and takes down the pot.

Even though I know it was a bad decision to fold now, in the course of the hand it was very easy to put my opponent on AJ, AQ, AK, KK or Aces. He raised pre-flop in the blinds with Jacks. This is usually an overly aggressive move that doesn’t pay off that well. If any over card comes out, in this case two did, then you usually figure your Jacks are no good. At the same time this person came out betting on each street showing no fear with the Ace on board. My mistake was not raising the turn. If I raise the turn the original better probably calls and checks the river, or folds. Even though I may have made more mistakes throughout the session, this was the only one that kept me thinking.

I played several Sit and Go’s on Sunday as well as some low-limit Omaha. I won 1 one of the bigger buy in SnG’s and that took care of the few that I didn’t cash in. I also find that I do better in the non-turbo Omaha Pot Limit H/L Sng’s due to the structure and speed. I find myself making more mis-reads and mistakes during the Turbo sessions.

All in all a mediocre weekend of poker, but I did eek out a profit, I learned that I need to raise on the turn more often and I learned that even I can get lucky and win a pot with T8.

This is the Poker I Remember Playing

In the past two days I have played in 5 SnG tournaments and two short term (less then 2 hour) ring games.

5 for 5 cashes

2 for 2 in the ring games, 10 BB/hr for the first and 18 BB/hr during the second ring game.

I just hope I keep it up.

Maybe My First Time Was a Clue

Over the past week I have grown a great fondness for the poker game Omaha Hi/Lo. The game plays very similar to Texas Hold Em with a few subtle, and at the same time complex changes.

The similarities revolve around the mechanics of the gameplay and betting while the type of hands and draws played make up the complexities.

There are two different types of Omaha that I have seen, a Hi only version and a Hi/Lo version. The Hi/Lo version is the one I play since it tends to be more fun and generate more action. In the Hi/Lo version, the high hand and the low hand splits that pot at the end of the hand. For a low hand to qualify, it must be made up of 5 cards (3 on the board and 2 in a persons hand) that are all less then 8. The best low hand (and often the best high hand as well) is A-2-3-4-5. This is known as the "Wheel" since A-5 is the lowest possible straight and it also acts as a straight for a high hand.

The basics rules of the game are as follows. Each person receives 4 hole cards. Hole cards are hidden cards. There is a round of betting and like in Texas Hold Em there ar ethe blinds, sometimes an ante and the dealer position moves clockwise at the beginning of each new deal. Once the betting is closed out 3 cards are dealt in the middle. This is known as the flop. A round of betting occurs and once finished the turn card (4th card) is revealed. Another round of betting ensues and when the betting is finished the 5th and final card (the river) is flipped over. Then there is one final round of betting and any players still left in the hand reveal their cards.

This game shares several similarites to Texas Hold Em with the two following rule changes offering the differences that make things interesting:

1 - When creating their best 5 card hand(s) the player "Must" use two of their four hole cards.

2 - When creating their best 5 card hnad(s) the player "Must" use three cards from the board.

In Hi/Lo, since you have to make two different 5 card hands you can use the same cards for both your low hand and you high hand.

If you need to learn more, read the article in Super System 2 as it will give you a great deal of valuable information.

The first time I played Omaha, along with probably 90% of beginers was totally by accident. I was trying to signup for a Texas Hold Em tournament when I clicked on the Omaha Tournament by mistake. By the time I was dealt my first hand and noticed I had 4 cards instead of my expected two, I knew I was in trouble. I quickly looked up the rules and tried to figure out the best way to play. I had a basic understanding of the game but I figured I had all but lost my entry fee.

By the time the smoke cleared I finished 3rd out of a field of nearly 100. I know I got very lucky one time but for the rest of the time I just focused on making the low and sometimes pulled off the high as well. I tried my luck at the game a few other times but never seemed to get anywhere so I gave it up, until now that is. Whenever I played HORSE I used that time to work on my Omaha Hi/Lo game as well.

On a ride home I read through the Omaha article in Super System 2 and I became very interested. I figured I'd give it another shot. Ever since I have really started taking a shine to the game. The main reason I feel is because it seems like Omaha rewards proper strategy more then Texas Hold Em. Patient players who play the right starting cards tend to do very well and when a person plays too many starting hands their stack seems to suffer. There is still luck and bad beats but it seems to be a lot more rare then in Texas Hold Em.

The main starting hand rule is: If you can't scoop the pot, there is no sense in playing the hand.

Maybe I'll Have Better Luck On Another Site...

Last night was the beginning of my vow to stay away from Full Tilt poker, except for the odd free-roll and AIPS tournament. I moved some money around so now I’m able to play at several different sites. My first night of non Full Tilt action was relatively successful.

I played in a total of four tournaments. My first was a NL Sit and Go that lasted only 1 hand for me. I had AKo on the button and was trying to limp in with everyone else. Before anyone thinks of raising this hand I didn’t really see a point yet. There is a lot of dead money out there but plenty of reasons to see a flop cheaply. Most importantly, with so many people in the pot, a small raise is getting plenty of callers. I’d rather see if I can flop big. An interesting development happened though. The big blind put in a min raise. By the time it got around to me there was over T400 in the pot. I figured a big raise would take all those chips in, and with AKo only 2 hands (AA, KK) really give me any trouble. I push all-in since any reasonable raise meant to drive out chasers gets me pot-committed anyways. I get one caller, the big blind and he flips over 77. This is a race situation and with the dead money in the pot, the odds are in my favor. Some will contest that some Aces or Kings were folded by some of the limpers but I still feel if one or two of my outs are gone the math is still correct. Plus, if I take the pot down I get a huge stack, a nice table image, and I can pretty much coast into four-handed play.

Alas no outs came and I was eliminated right away. This doesn’t bother me that much considering I felt I made the right play and I would do it again in the same situation.

The next Sit and Go was an Omaha Hi/Lo8 Hold Em split game. Since playing HORSE this game has quickly become one of my favorites, right behind Texas Hold Em. My first hand dealt was AcAs2s8c. This is a great hand since I can get the nut low and I’m in great shape if I get a flush draw. The action is capped pre-flop with 7 players and this hand, the first hand of the tournament is starting to set the stage for what should be a quick, action filled tournament. By the turn I’m any club away from the nut flush and any card less then an 8 to give me the low. With all the capping of the betting that has happened on the flop and turn I figure I’m going to tie my low with at least one other person so I’m really hoping for the club, and when the Ten of clubs hits the river I know I’m golden. By the time the dust settles I scoop both the high and the low and after hand #1 I now have 33% of the chips in play! 20 minutes later I take first place in the tournament, never really putting my chips at risk unnecessarily.

The next tournament was a Limit Texas Hold Em I mistakenly got into, figuring it was No-Limit. I love limit ring games but I’m not a big fan of limit sit and go’s. There’s not much to say about this tournament since I was playing the Omaha at the same time and focusing a lot more on that one. I finished the tournament in 5^th place, never really playing the game the way it should have been played.

The final sit and go of the night was a No-Limit Texas Hold Em sng. Glad I didn’t make that mistake twice. This was one of the best Sit and Go’s I’ve had in Texas Hold Em in a while. When I had strong hands, they held up, when I had weak hands it was easy to let them go. I was able to steal blinds efficiently and stay out of the way of any crazy hands and pots. Things tightened up considerably when we got down to 5 handed but I basically stayed in the area of the chip lead the entire time. By the time I made the money I was the short stack with a bit of a mountain to climb up. The blinds were still pretty reasonable so I wasn’t panicking. By the time I got heads up I was at a 3-10 chip disadvantage. I played strong heads up, doubling up, giving some back, doubling up again with strong hands. I did get lucky on one hand when I went all in after a low board with KQo. My opponent called with a pair of Tens and I spiked a King on the river to win the hand and give myself the 18-2 chip lead. With where the blinds were and the pre-flop action it was obvious that I was going to have to go all-in once the flop came down. My opponent went so far as to call me a “fish” which I found was very funny. We had been playing heads up for 20 minutes and on the Internet that is an eternity. I came back from being a huge dog and then yes, got lucky on one hand. It’s a player like these that I love being up against. They are willing to blame so many of there losses to fish and lucky players that they aren’t willing to look at the mistakes they made throughout the session and identify their own leaks and rough edges.

I’m not one to say that I didn’t get lucky; I did, for one hand. Most of the other hands I played were the best hands because I was patient and waited for the right situation to exploit. I get my fair share of bad luck at the tables but I never insult the opponent who just beat me. I get mad and I curse them in my mind but getting those beats is part of the game.

So, all-in-all it was a very good night and certainly a refreshing change of pace. Even earlier at lunch, while playing at Full Tilt, I was three outed on the river to knock me out in 4^th during a sit and go. 75-80% of my losses at Full Tilt are from when I have hands that are 70% favorites or higher when I get all my money in there. I know in time, that the cards will break my way and things will even out, I just think that for the next little while those cards are going to be dealt to me at Party Poker.com

TOP TEN

TOP TEN:

February has started off being a better month then January, and there is a still lot more time in the month to go. Even though I compare one month to another I know that comparing two constants in poker is never a good idea. Each situation, game, mood, etc is different. It’s better to look at the whole game and decide whether you are playing good poker or not.

As for January I feel I played OK poker. I made my fair share of mistakes and made a number of strong plays. I did get unlucky in a lot of my sit and go’s but I know that time will be the true measure of my luck, not just 20 tournaments. My live game was good, except for a tournament that I could get any traction in. My bankroll took a hit of about 15%. This sounds bad but it really boiled down to two sessions, a tournament and one on-line session where I let myself chase too much and go on tilt at the end. If those two sessions were removed then my bankroll would have taken less then a 3% hit, and after some of the cards I seemed to be getting, that would have been very acceptable.

After two live sessions and some on-line play, I’m slightly ahead in February. I won’t be playing live any more this month due to traveling conditions which means I’m going to have to focus on my on-line game. I’m going to start playing at Poker Stars and Party Poker a bit to see how things go there.

As far as the two live sessions go, things did go well. The first session I left with an ROI of 55% after 4 hours and the 2^nd I left down a bit, but still made more then a 1 BB profit per hour played. The most interesting story was related to the first session I played. I went to Seneca Niagara casino with a buddy on Friday night. My friend and I had gone several times in the last six months and he never seemed to be able to come up with a winning session. After some discussion of pot-odds, outs and the types of bets to make with drawing hands I came up with a strategy for him to employ:

The TOP TEN.

Very simply, when he was not in the blinds, or on the Dealer button, he was allowed to play anything other then the top 10 hands, and this would apply for the first hour of his session. After the hour was finished he would be free to play any style he wished. After 1 hour, he won two huge pots and nearly doubled his starting buy-in. I wanted him to get used to playing in position, and playing only with quality cards. Now, the hands that he won with were very playable, so I don’t think my strategy made him more money in those hands, but I do think that getting him to focus on position and starting hand selection got him to reduce the number of weaker hands he played. This probably caused him an extra 20% in ROI by the time his session was over.