I have (one of your) outs

It is one thing to read Hwang and get the basic concepts of the game down pat. By and large I play how he suggests, tighter than whatever is really tight. But the book is just one aspect of learning the game. I spend my time while not in hands watching carefully what and how others play, and note some things that might work.

A few months back I had Aces in the hole and bet big on the Button. The small blind, a respectable opponent called. The hand went to the river with him hitting and winning with an improbable three card run down. Why had he called such a big raise preflop? Because his throw- away left me with one Ace in the deck.

I have also noted that some players are quite liberal with their double-suited hands. I prefer not to play Jd7d8s5s, as I believe one of the greatest misconceptions in Omaha is that any double-suited hand is playable. To do so is the mark of a newbie who has not read or played enough to know his ass from fat meat. Yet, there are times when certain of these combinations speak to me and I take a gamble.

Back to Hwang for a moment. He is correct to say that what money goes in preflop can be a very small portion of the pot at the end.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you another hand of questionable merit:

Full Tilt Pot-Limit Omaha, $0.02 BB (9 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
MP3 ($2)
CO ($1.94)
Button ($1.47)
SB ($2.98)
BB ($1.03)
Hero (UTG) ($1.99)
UTG+1 ($1.88)
MP1 ($2.44)
MP2 ($0.07)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 7, K, A, 6

Hero calls $0.02, UTG+1 calls $0.02, 1 fold, MP2 bets $0.07 (All-In), 1 fold, CO raises to $0.28, 3 folds, Hero calls $0.26, 1 fold

I tanked a bit here. With the re-raise, the CO has Aces, right? Well, more than likely. The hand would be HU, so I might be able to do something with the rest of the deck.

Flop: ($0.68) Q, 10, 4 (3 players, 1 all-in)

Hero checks, CO bets $0.68, Hero calls $0.68

Not a bad flop at all.

Turn: ($2.04) 3 (3 players, 1 all-in)

And the angels tune their harps. How many outs, let me count the ways. 4 Jacks, 8 more diamonds, and quite possibly 8 more spades. Ah, what the hell...

Hero bets $1.03 (All-In), CO calls $0.98 (All-In)

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

Total pot: $4

Results:

Hero had 7, K, A, 6 (flush, Ace high).

MP2 had 7, 8, J, 6 (flush, Queen high).

CO had A, 7, 2, A (one pair, Aces).

As one might imagine, there was some complaining after the hand, yet, after the flop I felt that the hand played itself and I was correct to continue. So, just to make sure, I went to the Hand calculator at CardPlayer.com. I was 48% to win on the flop. A bit to my surprise, I dropped to 42% on the turn, primarily because my opponent had picked up a gutshot wheel draw. Still, close enough to 2:1 for my taste so I really had no option than to put the remainder of my stack in the middle.