Gamefly Ad - Me after bad beat online

I f'ng love this commericial. This is exactly how I feel after an online suckout (in anything other than poker, that line would be questionable).

AAxx holds in PLO vs 3 others

I'm at the end of a great run at AP, up well over $1000 in the past two weeks with a lot of variance. I dropped $150 in a 30 minute session tonight, but recouped most of it when I felted 3 short stacks with AAxxs after 3 betting preflop. I put them all in on a 952 rainbow flop, and they all called! Go figure.

I made a huge mistake here, when I flopped top 2 pair against a guy I knew to be loose aggressive. My read was dead on - he had top pair deuce kicker plus FD, and I pushed the pot at him. I only won $5 back, 'cuz there was a guy who flopped the nut str8 going along for the ride. That sucked. I was only paying attention to the maniac, and got felted for it.

FlamingRadio

I have the hardest time playing 50PLO against this guy. He plays like a total maniac, like here; then there's the two hands where he flopped top set vs my bottom set and I paid off his pot bets on flop and turn (both checking to scary river), and then when he flopped quads vs my turned nut flush. It's a little easier to play against such a style in Texas Hold'em, but in Omaha it's different. Each hand is like a box of chocolates. I can only really play the pure nuts against him.

Legendary First Hands (Part 1)

So I sit down at table "Kodiak St.", which AP graciously named after me (ok, they didn't, or at least I don't know they did, but this is my blog, so they did), and look down at pocket jacks and raise 5x from the big blind to a limping table. Normally I prefer pocket rockets my first hand, but flopping quads kinda makes up for it. Especially when the villain turns the nut flush. Especially when he doesn't care that the board is already paired. And nothing can stop him from shoving in his stack. Sweet!

Big Fold (well, not for PLO)

On two other 50c PLO tables I was up almost $150 in about 20 minutes. On this table I was getting the worst of the deck, but instead of tilting off my stack, I kept cool and made a big fold here, flopping 4s full of queens with a guy betting the raised pot into me. I called his $10 bet on the flop after considering raising, but when he bet pot $30+ into me on a turned blank 7, I had to reevaluate. The best hand I could put him on was QQ4x, where he had top boat and no worries about quads (rare even in Omaha, but still worth considering). And betting the pot into me in a game where some players only play the nuts, I had no choice but to fold (without more info about the player, other than the fact that he's up at least one buyin). Sucks to lay down a flopped boat, but you're not in Texas anymore, Dorothy. This is Omaha.

Worst Player Ever??

This is the kind of cold decking that drives me nuts. I raise pf w/ QQ, he calls w/ A6o, then calls down my bets with just about nothing, even after the turn brings a third club. He rivers an ace and we both check. Just remind myself - "this is exactly the kind of action I want." Except when it hits.

The game is crooked, but it's the only game in town...

There's a poker quote that goes like this:

George Devol: "Can't you see this game is crooked?"
Canada Bill: "Sure I know it, but it's the only game in town."
~William "Canada Bill" Jones

and that's exactly what this poker chat reminded me of:

( Result for Hand 1493661463 )
ED_BAILY wins ($15.00) with (Full house, fives full of nines).
LEBOSSDES3B: LIMP
AASEDUCTION: NEVER A DOUBT
AASEDUCTION: NO WAY FOR A BOARD PAIR TO MISS A PLAYER
AASEDUCTION: AT UB
LEBOSSDES3B: CRAZY
AASEDUCTION: ALWAYS THE LEGIT SHUFFLE
( Result for Hand 1493662648 )
AASEDUCTION wins ($5.00 chips).
LEBOSSDES3B: SURE
LEBOSSDES3B: LOL
( Result for Hand 1493669350 )
ED_BAILY wins ($49.40) with (Full house, fours full of queens).
AASEDUCTION: HILLARIOUS
AASEDUCTION: SO FUN TO WATCH HOW FIXED THIS SITE IS
AASEDUCTION: PREFLOP RAISE WITH TRASH FOR THE BOARD SET
KODIAKZERO: so why play here then?
AASEDUCTION: THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO REASON IN THE WORLD
AASEDUCTION: TO PLAY HERE....PERIOD
KODIAKZERO: ok then
( Result for Hand 1493671648 )
ALLINKC wins ($1.90 chips).
AASEDUCTION: just another online crooked site
KODIAKZERO: until you win
AASEDUCTION: nope
AASEDUCTION: if you think you will ever win here you are a moron
KODIAKZERO: I just cashed out $800 last night
KODIAKZERO: so I must be REALLY stupid
AASEDUCTION: you are a lying poker player
AASEDUCTION: as if that is new
AASEDUCTION: you will do nothing here but pay rake
AASEDUCTION: period
AASEDUCTION: if you tell me anything else i know you are full
AASEDUCTION: of shi...t
KODIAKZERO: so again, then why do you play here?
( Result for Hand 1493675537 )
ED_BAILY wins ($1.90 chips).
( Result for Hand 1493677455 )
KODIAKZERO wins ($3.32 chips).
KODIAKZERO: ok

Stealing from the Church

On the same table, a player named "FatherBrown" took the same donkey seat as the gutshot guy. He was just as bad, but with less money (vow of poverty?? ha ha) - must be something about that seat. Anyways, he min raised preflop in early pos. with KTo, one caller, then I call from big blind with J3s. Not a great hand, but when I know that the min-raiser is loose-aggressive, this hand might pay off. So I flop 2nd nut flush, bet into him, he minraised with 2nd pair and 3rd nut flush draw, then calls my 3bet. The turn brings another diamond, I bet into him, he minraised with his lesser flush, then calls all in on my 3b. Sigh. I almost feel bad. I guess another $50+ from this pot will make me feel better.

Running with Donkeys (revisited)

This hand made absolutely no sense to me. Did the guy call by accident? Hit the wrong button? Or did he think his gutshot was good? I bet the flop with OESD and flush draw, donkey one calls, donkey 2 min-raised with top-top, I shove with my massive draws, then donkey 1 pauses and calls. What was he thinking??? (Usually when that question is asked, then answer is "he wasn't"!) I expected the big stack to fold whatever he had, and the short stack to call with his overpair or top-top (or even AK/AQ).

Funny part (aside from an all-in gutshot call), was the poker chat from the short stack with top-top. He doesn't seem to understand that I had a 50% chance of winning the hand, aside from the folding equity of shoving against him and representing two pair or a set. But maybe I'm wrong. Don't think so tho:

(Result for Hand 1489874644)
KODIAKZERO wins ($219.00) with (Straight, five to nine).
ACEMYNAME: nhs, LOL
KODIAKZERO: thx
ACEMYNAME: i was joking. horrible flop bets
KODIAKZERO: ok
ACEMYNAME: both of you deserved to lose that
ACEMYNAME: but that's poker
KODIAKZERO: what did you fold? AK?
ACEMYNAME: AJ, glad i got out, but still
ACEMYNAME: had flop top pair
KODIAKZERO: then don't complain
(Result for Hand 1489876101)
KODIAKZERO wins ($58.00) with (Flush, ace high).
You've been awarded 3 Absolute Points + 1 FAME Status Point.
ACEMYNAME: i ain't complaining. just calling an idiot an idiot, ha
KODIAKZERO: just fold and shut it
ACEMYNAME: i played mine right, did you?
KODIAKZERO: if you thought my play was bad, then you don't know jack
KODIAKZERO: about poker
ACEMYNAME: lol, you almost lost!
(Result for Hand 1489878518)
DHOUSE wins ($12.35 chips).
ACEMYNAME: ther'es a difference between losing and folding
KODIAKZERO: save it for your book
(Result for Hand 1489879810)
WASA636 wins ($28.05) with (Straight, six to ten).
ACEMYNAME: "in memory of kodiakzero" i'll be sure to give a shoutout
KODIAKZERO: thx
(Result for Hand 1489881036)
KODIAKZERO wins ($2.40 chips).
You've been awarded 3 Absolute Points + 1 FAME Status Point.
KODIAKZERO: send me a copy
ACEMYNAME: cools!



On the other table, a 50PLO 6 max, I lost half stack to another donkey that takes the worst of it, only this one consistently sucks out. In this hand, I figured the guy for a big overpair like KKxx or AAxx, so when he bet pot into me when I flopped 3 pair, I figured I was good (as long as the board doesn't pair against me). Instead of folding (which I admit, would be very un-donkeylike), he calls my pot raise for most of his stack and turns his two outer. Sick.

Ka-POW!!

I played on this one table just because CJMunny was still burning chips like they were subprime mortgages. I outplayed him on a couple of hands, checkraising him all in with only 2nd pair. He literally donked off hundreds of dollars; I can count at least $500 across 3 or 4 reloads since I got on the table (and I joined because of the attractive table stats, most likely due to him). So I waited until this hand, when I flopped 2nd set vs two players, both with top pair aces. CJMunny had the worst of it with a six kicker and no draw, and the other poor sap turned top two pair aces & kings. I checked the turn and CJ instabets $77, most of his stack, guy 3 snap calls all in (as would anyone, esp. against CJ), and I checkraise CJ - he pauses to think, then decides that $15 more into a $300 pot is a good call (if the $77 wasn't a good bet, $15 more is certainly a good call). The case ace stays home on the river (as does his cowboy cohorts), and this little piggy took the $320 pot.

How to play top set flopped against PLO draws

This hand perfectly exemplifies how to play flopped top set (nuts), against flush and OESD's: when the guy bets the unraised pot, you call. You don't raise, you don't shove, you don't bet the pot - you just call. In Texas Hold'em, you do the opposite - you shove every chip you can into the pot on the flop. But in Omaha, as this hand illustrates, I was actually behind in the hand - he had a better chance of winning from the flop than I did. So, I call his pot semi-bluff (which maybe, you can't even really call it a semi-bluff), take a look at the turn (which completed one of his draws), smooth call his value bet to try and fill up on the river, and then he gives me a chance to bluff at it. I think he should've made a small value bet, almost a begging bet, which I might have donate-called anyways, but maybe he gets a raise from others.

Back in the Grind

Been grinding away at 50PLO, up $400 or so the past week. Nothing too impressive, except this table from today, where a guy was up over 11 buy-ins. How is that possible? Even if you buy-in for the $100 max, most of the players here buy in for $50 or less. Even if the other players bought in for $100 each, they would all still have to lose two stacks to him.

Piñata Player

After an awesome run at 50PLO, I regressed into Rambo mode and donked off hundreds of dollars in winnings, busting out at FullTilt and nearly doing so at AbsolutePoker. I came up with a metaphor for the style of play I've exhibited of late: The Piñata Player. It's like I'm in a room swinging a big stick while wearing a blind fold. Only instead of there being a big fat piñata filled with goodies, the room is full of other guys with big sticks, only they're not wearing blind folds.

PLO - Live by the sword, die by the sword

Frustrating session of 50PLO. I doubled up on a table, then decided to play that fated one last hand before leaving the table, in which I flopped the nut str8 and slowplayed it vs flopped top set. I pushed all in for over $100 on a blank turn, the guy pushed his chips in (did my slowplay work, or was he just that bad? turns out, just that bad), and the river paired the board. I put my name on the waiting list, bought back in, and started on my refund here, flopping draws to the nut flush and an open-ended str8, giving me outs on half the deck. The donk pushed top and bottom pair, a hand that should be easily foldable for most Omaha players. But I'll take his money. He donked out before I could get a full refund.

Back in with PLO

Been having a good run at 50PLO lately, but the funnest hand was this one, where the up-six-buyin bigstack overplayed his weak draws, and I doubled up with rivered quad queens. Sweet. And then the ladies turned around and slapped me when I pushed 2nd set + top of open-ended draw here. The big stack from the first hand has two preflop moves: fold or raise the pot. And then he gets out of the hand quick if he misses the flop, but will bet pot in position if he smells weakness. He has a very successful strategy: by raising so much against players who have so little (in terms of stack size), he's pressuring them to get lucky. The players at 25PLO tend towards the obvious - bet if they hit, check/fold if they miss. So by raising the pot preflop, and betting the pot on the flop to a table of checkers, he scoops a lot of pots, barring of course the occasional all-in short stack checkraise (like in this hand when shorty felt really strong about 2nd set - and this time the bully flopped top set, rivering quads). Omaha is a tough game - it's less about reads, like in Texas Hold'Em, and more about fundamental hand value (especially the value of draws).

My ladies club hand sparked an unruly response from the big stack:

KODIAKZERO wins ($94.05) with (Four of a kind, queens).
KODIAKZERO: I love quads
CAMPBN44: ***** off'
KODIAKZERO: lol

and then when the ladies struck back he razzed me a bit:

MICK40165 wins ($79.95) with (Full house, queens full of twos).
CAMPBN44: lol
KODIAKZERO: funny?
CAMPBN44: yep
MR_ANDERSONJR: yeah you called
KODIAKZERO: with 2nd set and open draw

but we made friends after quadding it up himself:

CAMPBN44 wins ($37.87) with (Four of a kind, nines).
TILLTHEEND: lol unreal
KODIAKZERO: nh
CAMPBN44: ty K
KODIAKZERO: quads are nice eh?
CAMPBN44: yes sry about being an azz to u
KODIAKZERO: np
KODIAKZERO: its all part of the game ;-)
TILLTHEEND: u bet
TILLTHEEND: thats poker

It's all good bro. And don't forget, there's no sorry in poker.

Ultra-Luckbox?

This hand looks way too suspicious (like he knew the turned gutshot was gonna hit): http://www.pokerhand.org/?4308057. Also suspicious: he plays like this and is up almost seven buyins.