Returning the Favor and other Slices of Life

Returning the Favor
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Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Omaha Multi-Table

So I've been playing around a little with Omaha Hi-Lo Limit Tourneys & Sit n Go's, and I'm running into a problem - I can't hold onto a big stack.

I can accumulate a massive amount of chips in the earlier - middle stages of a limit Omaha tourney by a combination of seeing a LOT of flops and getting a lot of outdraws that pan out, which is kinda the nature of Omaha - it seems to be a drawing game, and you don't have the nuts until the river usually, because the nuts can change with the drop of another card.

So last night I'm in a $10 O8 multi-table tourney on Stars, sitting pretty. I'm consistently in the top 10-15 in chips, and then for a while I'm dancing around the top 3. But as the bets get up to the $200-400 level, I seem to need to tighten up, and I guess I don't understand enough about the outs and the draws to make good decisions at that point. Early on, I'm calling a lot, leading out a lot more, and I'm winning 76% of the hands that I take to a showdown. But midway through the 2nd hour, I'm calling less, generally tightening up trying to hold onto my lead and only make moves when I have real hands that can go both ways, and getting hammered. Some of it is just outdraws, when the guy who's all in with two pair and no flush draws hits a two-outer on the river to double through me. Some of it is just absolutely silly for Omaha, like when the unimproved pocket Aces beats my unimproved pocket Kings. I expect that crap in hold-em, but I expect a little better than top pair to win a big O8 pot.

Maybe I should read a book. Or at least another article or something. The thing I worked on last night that I was pretty proud of was I very seldom played a hand all the way down when all I had was a low draw (unless it was a nut low). This led to me getting quartered in a LOT fewer pots than usual. I think I need to move away from middle straights, because I end up holding the idiot end of the straight too often, and that costs me chips. I also think I'm overvaluing my middle pocket pairs, because they're only good as part of a set or a boat, and I really need to see that set or boat cheaply to make holding pocket 7s a +EV move in Omaha.

That's what I think I think, and I welcome any advice.

Peace,

J

PS - my Harrington on Hold 'Em volumes 1 & 2 should be here in a day or so, so maybe I can kill the next Actor's Theatre tourney. Or at least not give Esposito all my f'n chips when we get down to heads-up.

1 comment:

Felicia :) said...

Why don't you write me at fzdyer, I'm @yahoo.com?

Also, quit the SNG's stat. LO8 is a very longterm game. Seeing <60 hands is not long term. Stick to the big, Stars MTT events, if possible. Cash games are even more profitable.

Also, there is no real thing as a "draw out" in O8. Almost all of the time you either have a hand which figures to be a loser by the river, or a winner, once you see the flop. Hand selection is very important, and laying down the nuts on the flop with a hand that figures to be a loser is the number one key in the game.

I have lots more information, if you want it.