Coming into my own

I suppose I’m becoming a fixture at the .05/.10 PLO games on Stars because I recognize the nicks of at least half of the players at the tables each time I sit down. Last night was a little different in that there were mostly unknowns playing. However, there were a couple other usual suspects, good players who I have learned to respect when they come into a hand.

One such player goes by the nick, Sausager. He is from London. I have two tables open and he is at both of them. To make a long story short, Sausager limped on the button and I was in the BB with KKxx. The flop came with an Ace and a King. I bet, he raised, and I called. The turn may have given him a wheel if he had kept a hand with 23 in it but I was more concerned that he had pocket Aces, while hoping he had AK. The betting proceeded with my bet and his call. He may be trapping. The river was a King and I was all in against his set of Aces. He typed, “Sums up my day” and left the room.

By the time I had turned my attention back to the other room, the word had gotten around; either that or players were watching other tables and had seen the hand. One player typed, “You the one who caught the quads bastin?”

“Yes.”

Sausager typed, “You caught a one-outer.”

“Sorry about that, Mate. Your limp on the button threw me off. I figured AK. I like playing with you, Saus, so please don’t hold it against me.”

“Don’t be silly. You had a good hand.”

One doesn’t encounter a lot of chit chat at these tables, but this one was a bit different. There had been some chat between friends, one who had left after busting out, and the other one, a complete newbie, had kept light chat going, engaging another regular who never, ever chatted. I thought it might be time to get to know him a bit better.

“BTW, I also like playing with you too, Fmr.

“Thanks, hehe. I like playing with you, too. You’re aggressive. I like that.” So, someone is paying attention. He continued, “You would do well at the six-handed game.”

“I do like six-handed, but I’m trying to build a roll. Besides, I’ve just started Hwang, so I have to be patient.”

“Hwang?” I thought I’d drop the name to see if he knew what I was talking about. “Oh yes, Jeff.” And now I knew.

When I first started playing PLO, I was playing at six-handed tables for .02. That was when my roll was one-third of what it is now (Completely restored after the hand below). Six-handed was certainly action-packed, and maybe a little too much so for my paltry account. My buddy Stan suggested I move to a full game as the variance was not as high. Yet he warned me also that many of the players in full ring were good, so tread lightly. He was correct, yet there are enough fish to make the game fairly profitable.

After Sausager left the second table, the only regular players left were Fmr and me. Then my buddy Gump showed up and set to my immediate left. Although not a regular PLO player, he is good enough that I tread lightly. And, between the three of us, we closed the table. I started the massacre. (You can see Gump’s big hand here.)


PokerStars Pot-Limit Omaha, $0.10 BB (8 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG ($9.30)

UTG+1 ($12.65)

MP1 ($13.75)

MP2 ($6.80)

CO ($6)

Button ($13.45)

Hero (SB) ($14.15)

BB ($10)

Preflop: Hero is SB with K, A, 8, Q

3 folds, MP2 calls $0.10, CO (poster) checks, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.05, BB checks

Flop: ($0.40) Q, Q, 8 (4 players)

Hero checks, BB checks, MP2 checks, CO checks

My intention was to check-raise should someone get frisky. I'm not a big fan of slow-playing the flopped nuts in PLO. Any bigger pair that hits a set on the the turn will have me crushed.

Turn: ($0.40) 6 (4 players)

So, no more free cards. I liked that there was now a flush draw out there.

Hero bets $0.40, BB calls $0.40, MP2 calls $0.40, CO calls $0.40

Sweet.

River: ($2) 7 (4 players)

Hero bets $1.60, BB calls $1.60, MP2 calls $1.60, CO raises to $5.50 (All-In), Hero raises to $9.40, 1 fold, MP2 calls $4.70 (All-In)

Total pot: $21.70 | Rake: $1.05

Main pot: $20.10 between MP2, CO and Hero, won by Hero

Side pot 1: $1.60 between MP2 and Hero, won by Hero


Results:

Hero had K, A, 8, Q (full house, Queens over eights).

MP2 mucked 7, J, 7, J (full house, sevens over Queens).

CO mucked 3, 2, 7, Q (full house, Queens over sevens).

Outcome: Hero won $20.65