UBOC UPDATE
Sunday, January 18, 2009 - Debo34
I got off to a solid start Friday in the UBOC series. The first event was a pot limit Omaha with re buys. I got off to a solid start in both the mini and the main finishing 17th and 15th respectively. It was nice to have a double cash to start off the series, but it was really bittersweet. I really thought I had a chance to win the main with two tables to go. Like we see so often in poker, your fate can be determined by one hand, or even one card, which was the case for me Friday. I was sitting with a solid 60k+ stack the following hand came up which sent me to the rail. I was in the big blind when the action folded to the small blind who limped in and I checked my option holding the As 6s Kc 2d. The flop came Ad Jc 2s. I had flopped top and bottom pair with the nut flush draw. My opponent led out with a pot sized bet, I raised the pot, and then he moved me all in. I called to see I was up against AJ for top 2 pair. Before I could blink the 7 of spades peeled off on the turn, and just as I was about to celebrate the river was an ace giving my opponent aces full, sending me to the rail. Omaha is different than holdem for me, in the fact that there is so much to see that you don’t always catch everything, every hand. I am still learning a lot of the odds and percentages. I always like to go back to see if I made the right decision based on the odds. In this particular hand, I don’t think either one of us was getting away from our hand, and this hand would play out the same most of the time. My odds on the flop were an exact 50/50 coin flip. After I made my flush on the turn I was a 92% favorite to win. Does this mean I played the hand correctly? I’m not exactly sure to be honest. What if I flat call his flop bet and the spade peels off on the turn? Maybe at that point he checks to me and I bet and he’s able to fold his hand. Perhaps I make my flush and get cute and check behind him on the turn. I then would be able to get away from my hand on the river when the board pairs, leaving myself the majority of my stack.
There are so many variables in poker and in a hand like the one I talked about here. I think it is what keeps me interested in poker, and in continually trying to learn and better my game.
I am really looking forward to the next UBOC Omaha event.
Debo
Related posts:
- Annie Duke – Slowplay Poker Tips – Q&A Hi Annie: My question is when I get a good...
- From The Felt: Some Basic Poker Hand Probabilities This is a quick and dirty guide to hand probabilities...
- The Dirty Half-Dozen As both a hockey fan and a tight-weak poker player...
- The Race for the UBOC Poker League Winner The UBOC’s have finally came to a close. It was...
- It is UBOC time If you haven’t heard, it is the start of UBOC....
January 19th, 2009 at 5:22 am
I think you played the hand fine. You are right though. There are lots of different ways you could have played the hand. I think I might have raised preflop. It probably would have made absolutely no difference, but I think xchecking your hand there is like checking A-10 in hold em after everyone folds to the sb and he limps.
January 23rd, 2009 at 2:27 pm
I agree with you Jason about possibly raising my starting hand preflop here. I definitley think it is a strong enough hand to raise against a small blind limper. In a sb vs. bb scenario like this i typically wont raise a hand that i dont intend to call a reraise or shove with, therefore i dont like to open the the betting up to my opponent here. Sitting with 60k in chips and the blinds 1/2k i decided just to see a flop with this hand. I do however think that i could have raised and gotten him possibly fold pre here. I also could have chose the option to raise to 8k then fold if he were to reraise me leaving myself with 52k and still in fine shape. As it stands i wish i had taken ANY of the different paths, but thats the way it goes sometimes. Thank you for your comment, i really enjoy going over some hand scenarios with players. Good luck at the tables
Debo