The set-up

Sometimes the adrenaline gets the better of me and before I know it, I'm in a hand that I probably should avoid. What can I say? If I get drawn out on, sometimes I say to myself, "Hey, if they can do it, so can I." It takes a couple hands to wind down, yet sometimes not soon enough.

PokerStars Pot-Limit Omaha, $0.10 BB (7 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

CO ($7.20)
Button ($10.10)
SB ($9.90)
Hero (BB) ($25.60)
UTG ($18.60)
MP1 ($5.55)
MP2 ($2.60)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 7, 6, A, 7

2 folds, MP2 calls $0.10, 1 fold, Button calls $0.10, 1 fold, Hero checks

Flop: ($0.35) 5, 7, 9 (3 players)

Hero checks, MP2 checks, Button bets $0.30, Hero raises to $1, 1 fold, Button calls $0.70

Turn: ($2.35) 3 (2 players)

Hero bets $1.20, Button calls $1.20

River: ($4.75) K (2 players)

Hero bets $1.50, Button raises to $3, Hero calls $1.50

Total pot: $10.75 | Rake: $0.50

Results:

Button had 4, 6, 4, 3 (straight, seven high).

Hero mucked 7, 6, A, 7 (three of a kind, sevens).

Outcome: Button won $10.25

I wonder how people can play such shit. And then I remember that I'm playing the micros. This particular opponent was relatively new to the table, maybe a couple orbits, limping into a lot of hands and raising from position. We had already mixed it up twice before, me coming out on the better end of it each time to the tune of about half of his stack. So, he was due (tongue in cheek).

The very next hand:

PokerStars Pot-Limit Omaha, $0.10 BB (7 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP2 ($7.20)
CO ($15.05)
Button ($9.85)
Hero (SB) ($20.30)
BB ($18.60)
UTG ($5.55)
MP1 ($2.50)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 7, 3, J, J

3 folds, CO bets $0.30, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.25, 1 fold

Admittedly, how can people play such shit? Heads up, I'll give it a whirl.

Flop: ($0.70) 4, J, 2 (2 players)

Hero checks, CO bets $0.50, Hero raises to $2.20, CO calls $1.70

Here we go again. Tell me he has a flush draw... Actually, what I'm hoping for is that he thinks I'm tilting from the previous hand. (It could happen.)

Turn: ($5.10) 2 (2 players)

Et voila! Now, I want to really confuse him. He might expect me to lead out, but I have something else in mind. If I showed strength on the flop, now I'll want to feign weakness, plus I want to see if he has any sort of hand with which he might take a stab.

Hero checks, CO bets $2.70,

Well, he must have something, The board has just paired and he still has enough confidence in his hand to bet out a little more than half the pot. I insta-jammed and said out loud, "Please think I'm tilted!"

Hero raises to $12.95, He ran out the time bank thinking about it. CO calls $9.85 (All-In)

River: ($30.20) 4 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $30.20 | Rake: $1.45

Results:

Hero had 7, 3, J, J (full house, Jacks over fours).

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

Outcome: Hero won $28.75

So yeah, I was lucky on the flop. I was also lucky he had a hand in which he had a strong draw, could discount my pocket Jacks with one of his own, and then those damn Aces...