Monday, January 4, 2010

Cowboys

I was playing 6-handed PLO with a couple of them last night. The guy to my left was Mr. Variance himself, up and down. never mind his nick was "tightpoker1." The other was a relative newcomer to the table, and had just taken down a big pot (all-in on flop) by hitting runner-runner 8s to boat with pocket Kings against a flopped straight. This game can be sick, but when you see someone get lucky like that, you salivate and wait. The next hand seemed to be one that had promise.

PokerStars Pot-Limit Omaha, $0.05 BB (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($12.48) (runner-runner guy)
BB ($2.32)
Hero (UTG) ($13.51)
MP ($18.77) (Mr. Variance is not quite even for the time I've been at the table)
CO ($4.69)
Button ($4.21)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 8, A, 5, A

Hero bets $0.17, MP calls $0.17, 2 folds, SB raises to $0.73, BB calls $0.68, Hero calls $0.56, MP raises to $3.65, SB calls $2.92, 1 fold, Hero raises to $13.51 (All-In), MP calls $9.86, SB calls $8.83 (All-In)

I'm not crazy about my hand, but given my opponents, I figured I had a small edge with the Aces and the one suit. I would have been content to see the flop had the SB flatted, but it soon became clear that all-in or fold were my only two options. (BTW, the BB, although folding after the SB's re-re-raise, was also a bit wild.)


Flop: ($40.23) 10, Q, 6 (3 players, 2 all-in)

Of course, I'm calling for another club at this point. CK?

Turn: ($40.23) K (3 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($40.23) K (3 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $40.23 | Rake: $2

Main pot: $38.17 between SB, Hero and MP, won by SB

Side pot 1: $2.06 between Hero and MP, won by MP

Results:

SB had J, 10, Q, K (full house, Kings over Queens).

Hero had 8, A, 5, A (two pair, Aces and Kings).

MP had A, 2, J, 10 (straight, Ace high).

Outcome: SB won $36.27, MP won $1.96

Runner-runner again. I'm behind on the flop, but only by 3%. Mind you, I don't consider this a bad beat. Even though Hwang says the Aces have the edge in such a situation, I can't say that I am entirely comfortable with such an assessment. Still, should I have folded when the SB re-re-raised? Given what I had seen so far, I'm not so sure, even with the inside weakness of my hand (the 8d).

What strikes me about the hand afterward is what cards the others held and what flopped. A lot of the Broadway cards were already out, yet more managed to show up. Yet, there is a lingering uncanniness about this hand overall. 3-way all-in preflops are a rarity, even in a wild game like this one, but I've seen worse hands than the winner take down huge pots. I guess I have to chalk it up to PLO... and perhaps tighten up a bit more.

6 comments:

Forrest Gump said...

Nope. Jam with a fist pump every time IMO - esp. with a suited ace and esp. against your spots at the table. The broadway run was in the upper upper end of his range so you got unlucky both pre and post flop.



FG

Anonymous said...

You raise, SB 3bets, BB calls, and hero flats?????? Why?

Had you raised again, MP might have folded, and if not, then you get what you got: all in getting 2:1 and 49.9% to win. That's huge!

If you did not want to get it in preflop with that hand, what hand would you like? (and why did you raise UTG?)

FG is right, jam with fist pump (a double fist pump even).

-Loki9

Anonymous said...

The funny thing about that hand is BB putting in 1/4 of his stack and then folding getting 3:1.

bastinptc said...

Loki - I think my flat call was an indicator of my experience with two Aces (suited or otherwise) in the past, and for that matter, this hand. I wish I had a tracking program that could show me exactly where I stand overall with these hands. I can think of another one just a few hours earlier. AsKsJhAh, all in preflop against KKJ9, single suited. J on the flop, 9 on the turn. It seems to happen a disproportionate amount of the time. If I don't set-up, I lose. Maybe that old adage applies: win small, lose big. Like I said, I wish I had a tracker for this.

As for the UTG raise? Believe me, I limp with 'em often enough.

Forrest Gump said...

I think you need to separate experience (or pain/suffering) from the actual odds on offer - cos our experience is typically from a small and unreliable sample size.

You need to turn yourself into a robot B - if you need somewhere to start, try imagining Keanu Reeves in 'Speed'.



FG

bastinptc said...

FB - I think like a song. Can't help myself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cShYbLkhBc

or if you prefer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCOPuGBg_W0

but when it comes right down to it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzNjmIWbns4