Let’s get flexible

I knew it was a special table the moment I sat down. A player was pot-raising every hand, regardless of position and cards, and calling any big raises. My plan was simply to wait for good hands and then get it all in.

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

CO ($1.05)
Button ($7.15)
SB ($19.30)
BB ($10.55)
Hero (UTG) ($11.15)
UTG+1 ($8.35)
MP1 ($17.70)
MP2 ($2)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with J, 6, Q, J

Hero calls $0.10, UTG+1 calls $0.10, MP1 bets $0.55, 3 folds, SB calls $0.50, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.45, UTG+1 calls $0.45

Flop: ($2.30) 10, K, A (4 players)

SB checks, Hero bets $2.20, 1 fold, MP1 calls $2.20, 1 fold

Turn: ($6.70) 2 (2 players)

Hero bets $6.40, MP1 raises to $12.80, Hero calls $2 (All-In)

River: ($23.50) K (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $23.50 | Rake: $1.15

Results:

Hero had J, 6, Q, J (straight, Ace high).

MP1 mucked A, 3, 4, J (two pair, Aces and Kings).

Outcome: Hero won $22.35

I thought he may have hit the flush, and my heart sunk a little lower when the Kings paired. Yet, in the short time I had been at the table, this guy had already made the same kind of moves with air and lost a couple times. Still, I had also seen him take down a pot or two with absolute crap.


PokerStars Pot-Limit Omaha, $0.10 BB (9 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG ($0.85)
UTG+1 ($6.20)
MP1 ($18.45)
MP2 ($2)
Hero (MP3) ($21.55)
CO ($7.90)
Button ($4.80)
SB ($11.45)
BB ($1.45)

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with J, A, A, J

UTG bets $0.30, UTG+1 calls $0.30, 1 fold, MP2 (poster) calls $0.20, Hero raises to $1.65, 2 folds, SB calls $1.60, 1 fold, UTG calls $0.55 (All-In), 1 fold, MP2 (poster) calls $1.35

Flop: ($6.20) 4, 4, 10 (4 players, 1 all-in)

SB checks, MP2 checks, Hero bets $3.30, SB raises to $9.80 (All-In), MP2 calls $0.35 (All-In), Hero calls $6.50

Turn: ($26.15) 6 (4 players, 3 all-in)

River: ($26.15) 8 (4 players, 3 all-in)

Total pot: $26.15 | Rake: $1.25

Results:

SB had K, 4, 8, 3 (full house, fours over eights).

UTG mucked 6, 4, A, J (full house, fours over sixes).

MP2 mucked 5, 2, 8, 10 (flush, ten high).

Hero mucked J, A, A, J (two pair, Aces and fours).

Outcome: SB won $24.90


So be it. It was clear that any hand one was involved in, it would be for one’s stack, and I was okay with that. In fact, a few hands later I had position and the odds to call with my nut flush and broadway draws, missed and was chipless. I rebought without a second thought. This table was just too juicy not to. (I had a great run earlier in the day in both NL and PLO, and my roll was almost back to where it was before that week’s little debacle. I was once again comfortable with a suitable number of buy-ins.) The game continued like this for a couple more rounds before the villain announced that he was getting ready to call it a night.

RUT510 said, "last hand guys gl all"
*No response*
Then his last hand played.
tberry89 said, "later ******"
RUT510 said, "good night all and good luck"
tberry89 said, "fuuuck offf u retarrrd"

Tberry had also been on both ends of playing with Rut, winning and losing big hands. And we were off to the races.

RUT510 said, "Tbeerryy i see you a child son get alive"
tberry89 said, "play me heads up ***got"
RUT510 said, "get off your mommys tit ok"
tberry89 said, "i got off my mums tit ages ago moved onto ur mums"
RUT510 said, "sure i will on the 5/10 nl table ill get it going ou loin right"
tberry89 said, "come onto fun amphios"
ForrestGump [observer] said, "headsup for play money, thas pretty hardcore"

Thas (sic) right. our boy Gump, never being able to resist stirring a pot, joined in the fray. Rut was sitting out while this bantered was going on. I thought we might get lucky and he would return to the table just to prove a point (whatever that may be) but he left shortly thereafter, and I thought that perhaps the game was over. Evidently some didn’t get the memo. Tberry meets a new nemesis in the form of a calling station who rivers a baby flush and gut wheel against his set of flopped Kings and top two pair.

tberry89 said, "wtf r u calling me all that way for essnop u fkn reetard"

Now, I wish I could say that I was able to take advantage of tberry’s tilt. He was to my right and primed for action. Plus, I could use the money. After my rebuy I did little more than maintain my stack. But he left. In the meantime, both Gump and my buddy Stan had taken seats, so it was pretty much game over. (Even so, I had a short run of luck and cards, and managed to walk away up $6.)

bastinptc said, "nitey-nite"

When I first started playing PLO, I would avoid these wild games. When I first started playing PLO, I had 1/4 of the roll I have now (most of it accumulated in PLO). Now, I relish them, but only at this level ($10 PLO). I have asked myself if I would feel as comfortable with this same scenario at $25 PLO, and the answer is a resounding NO. This realization has caused me to reassess my move up. While I previously thought that 15 buy-ins would be adequate, I may not be quite emotionally ready. I’d still be seeing $25 on the table and be thinking that is quite a lot of money. I’d be playing scared.

Now, this isn’t to say that I may not occasionally wander up to $25 PLO. From what I’ve seen so far, the skill level isn’t much different. Plus, it’s getting to the point that I end up playing against the same players day after day (last night was an exception, where none of the regulars were at the table), and unless I change my game up, which isn’t going to happen very soon as I am so new to this game, I’m going to become fairly predictable to these players.

OK, with that last sentence’s extraordinary length, I think it’s time to quit writing for the day.

Stay tuned.