Son, ya bother me

I just pulled up the Hand History and haven’t looked at this hand yet. RH5252 was an aggressive maniac, playing all hands, rarely limping, instead opting to raise 75% of the hands he was in, and taking down 50% or more of them with pure aggression. It was difficult to get a read on him; yet Raipe44 had just gone to battle with him and nearly doubled up with a mere pair of Kings (two pair, actually, yet my readers know how I feel about calling a pair on the board one’s own…not the same as having two pair in one’s hand. I had seen one other showdown in which RH had raised it up with something like 4567 rainbow. Yes, he caught his straight.

Anyway, after taking me off of pairs without improving and middling 2 pairs, I had had enough. I rarely raised pre-flop, but he wasn’t paying any attention. Let’s walk through this hand, shall we, to see if it was a purely knee jerk reaction on my part. (2 to 1 it was.)

PokerStars Game #22113286081: Omaha Pot Limit ($0.01/$0.02) - 2008/11/17 3:14:14 ET
Table 'Magdalena V' 6-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: pokerchris80 ($3.67 in chips)
Seat 2: bastinptc ($3.08 in chips)
Seat 3: SSTANN6869 ($4.13 in chips)
Seat 4: RH5252 ($2.13 in chips)
Seat 5: JEUX D PLAGE ($2.08 in chips)
Seat 6: Raipe44 ($9.21 in chips)
SSTANN6869: posts small blind $0.01
RH5252: posts big blind $0.02
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to bastinptc [Ad 4h As Js]

I was pretty happy to see the Aces, one being suited with marginally decent kicker.

JEUX D PLAGE: calls $0.02
Raipe44: calls $0.02
pokerchris80: folds

With two limpers behind, I’m going to pop it a bit.

bastinptc: raises $0.08 to $0.10
SSTANN6869: folds
RH5252: calls $0.08

I figured he would. Perhaps I should have bet the pot. Yeah, right.

JEUX D PLAGE: calls $0.08

This guy’s a wild card as this he’s only been at the table for two or three hands. RH is giving him some odds to call.

Raipe44: calls $0.08

This guy had a sizable stack when I first sat down at this table, lost 40% of it, and then recovered through RH to more than when I first arrived. He has odds and a stack, so why not… Way to narrow the field, bastin.

*** FLOP *** [6d 3s 5s]

RH5252: checks

JEUX D PLAGE: bets $0.12
Raipe44: folds

Less than 1/3 the pot…

bastinptc: calls $0.12

There is now $.62 in the pot

RH5252: raises $0.34 to $0.46

What to do, what to do? $1.08

JEUX D PLAGE: calls $0.34

$1.42. I’m getting 3 to 1.

bastinptc: calls $0.34

$1.76

*** TURN *** [6d 3s 5s] [Qh]

I am quite certain this card has not helped anyone.

RH5252: bets $1.57 and is all-in

$3.33

JEUX D PLAGE: calls $1.52 and is all-in

$4.85

3 to 1 again. But I really need 4 to 1 to make this call. At least for the flush. What else can help me? Another 5? Doubtful. Another Ace? Maybe. Do I get extra points for having the nut flush draw? Someone flopped the straight with two piece of shit low cards, dammit. And I have a good idea of who it is. Friggin’ dupes! Half of my stack is already in the pot!

Bastinptc (closes eyes and holds breath): calls $1.57

*** RIVER *** [6d 3s 5s Qh] [4s]

*** SHOW DOWN ***
RH5252: shows [Ah 4d 7d Ts] (a straight, Three to Seven) Of course.
bastinptc: shows [Ad 4h As Js] (a flush, Ace high)
bastinptc collected $0.10 from side pot
JEUX D PLAGE: mucks hand
bastinptc collected $6.05 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $6.45 Main pot $6.05. Side pot $0.10. | Rake $0.30
Board [6d 3s 5s Qh 4s]
Seat 1: pokerchris80 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: bastinptc (button) showed [Ad 4h As Js] and won ($6.15) with a flush, Ace high
Seat 3: SSTANN6869 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: RH5252 (big blind) showed [Ah 4d 7d Ts] and lost with a straight, Three to
Seven
Seat 5: JEUX D PLAGE mucked [Qs 3d 9s 9h] Dodged a small bullet here. 3s would have done me in.

Seat 6: Raipe44 folded on the Flop

So, yeah, I got lucky. My place in the betting order kept me in. Still, some justice prevailed. I have to think that playing premium cards is a better starting place than calling a raise with a marginal hand and then getting lucky.

Or am I rationalizing? Was I pot committed on the turn? I have what, about 200 hands of Omaha under my belt so far? I am slightly unclear as to the merit of my call in a PL game. There were no implied odds, I know that much, so, given that, I guess I have to say, yep, dumb luck saved my reactionary ass.