More Omaha H/L
November 16, 2007
In the last post, we got a few of the basics covered regarding Omaha H/L.
I was thinking of continuing this but first I want to talk a little about what Gopher mentioned in his reply in the last post.
Goph mentioned that he plays Omaha H/L better drunk. He admittedly points out the fact that it is probably luck that gets him through but it raises an interesting point.
Now, I am going to talk about plain Monkeys, drunk Monkeys, and aggressive Monkeys but I want this in no way to reflect on Goph. He is a good player. He just mentioned it and it got me thinking.
If you are drinking. In my opinion, the best game to play is Omaha H/L pot limit.
Why, you say? Well, lets look at it compared to No Limit. In Omaha you get 4 cards down. In No Limit you only get 2. So, right at the start, you have a lot more possible hand combinations.
In Omaha, there is typically, less pre-flop raising so the cost to play is generally cheap.
In No Limit, good hands tend to pre-flop raise to narrow the field of players so you have less opportunities to play.
But, there is a down side. If you don’t know what you are doing, or aren’t paying attention in Omaha H/L you can loose a lot of chips.
Lets say you have Qc, 9c, 10d, 4h (this is a typical Monkey calling hand).
The flop comes 8h, 8s, 10h.
Ok, you have been drinking and don’t recognize the fact that PP 8’s or anyone with a 8 10 has you crushed and there is a flush draw out there but you call anyway because you have 2 pair and a str8 draw.
The turn comes 8d.
Here is where a BIG mistake is made by a lot of people. If you think you now have a Full House, 3 8’s and 2 10’s, you are wrong. Your hand is 3 8’s with a Q high. Remember you have to use 2 cards from your hole cards. Anyone holding a PP in their hole cards has a FH not you. (Since a lot of people don’t realize this, if I had a PP, I would bet at this time if I were in this hand).
The river comes 10c
Ok, now you got it right? FH 10’s over 8’s. WRONG. You have 3 10’s. You still have to use 2 cards from your hand so the 8’s don’t play. Anyone with a PP 2’s or higher in their hole cards has a FH.
I lost a lot of chips with this type of hand once in a League game. The difference was I had a 8 and a 10 so I flopped a full house. 8’s over 10’s. I slow played (stupid move on my part).
The turn wasn’t a 8 it was a A and the river was a rag.
When the turn hit, I bet a little and got called and when the river hit I bet more and got called. The person I was playing against flips over 2 A’s. So, he has a FH A’s over 8’s which beat my FH.
My mistake was slow playing the hand. I should have bet the flopped FH hard.
So, to conclude, if you have had a little too much to drink, I would suggest playing Omaha H/L. The Monkey play can survive easier since there are a lot of hand possibilities and there can be a split pot if low cards hit.
But, if you do this, don’t sit at my table cause I will eventually get ya!
GL
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5 Responses to “More Omaha H/L”
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I’m glad ya picked a subject I got some experience with Dave and thanks go out to Gopher for bring it up.
I should advise against playing any game when ya been drinkin, but damn it, it really adds some fun to a boring ass game like poker, especially if ya are pie-eyed high and shit-faced drunk.
From my experience, and I got plenty, everything seems to look a lot better when ya have had a few drinks and we all know that even the ugliest chick in the bar just has to wait till closing and some drunk-ass bastard will be thinking she is Demi Moore. Been there, done that.
We tend to overlook the flaws and the drunker we get, the blinder we become. So it only makes sense that our cards start lookin better too.
Still 9 players at the table, I’m UTG and that Ac 9c 6d Qh I’m holding becomes a nice looking starting hand.
Ok, so my cards look a little better than normal, that’s not that bad of a problem for most of the skype crew when we are playing NL Holdem because we are strong players and can win a lot of pots after the flop with a decent info bet or a continuation bet after the turn and river.
PL Omaha H/L is a different animal. Early on the blinds are so low that the plain monkeys will chase most anything to the river. Now, if we add a bit of alcohol and our cards start looking better, we become the same chasers as all the plain monkeys.
Now as the game moves along and I have that alcohol pumping thru my system, I become more aggressive. Those same crappy ass cards I thought were a good starting hand are forcing me down a path of no return, hell they ain’t forcing me, I’m running as fast as I can down that path.
I become the calling station from hell. I know that my hand is best ( well they look kinda good) and I will pay to prove it. Take me to the river and I’ll put in a pot sized bet 8 out of 10 times and by now the pots are getting fairly large.
But this is H/L so we will split a few of these pots and hang in the game for a little longer, hmmm must be time for another beer.
Ok, we been sitting on our asses slamming the beers and smoking some killer stuff for an hour or two and we’re down to the bubble and we’re short stacked.
The first marginal hand that comes our way is looked at like it’s our savior. A hand like Ac 4s 6d Qd is good enough to push it allin in a last ditch effort to double up. It usually doesn’t pay off and we bubble out.
So I guess what I’m saying is that a monkey is a monkey. Plain, drunk or aggressive doesn’t matter cause it’s all monkey play.
But I’m not saying you should never play poker when ya got a good buzz going, it’s too much fun hanging out with ya pals on skype slamming brews and getting twisted. So drink up Gopher and play omaha h/l pl cause it’s fun. We’ll all make the small amount of cash we lose drunk back when we’re sober.
Drink up folks and I hope to catch ya on skype soon …
See Ya on the Felt
Great response Dog!
I think most of the Skype crew are Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde’s.
When we are together just hanging out, drinking beer, smoking whatever we smoke, we play for fun and don’t really play to dominate and win.
I also think when we are off on our own, sober, and comitted, we are very dangerous players. That’s why we can rebuild after Skyping.
I really do enjoy the Skype sessions. Paulie and I were talking the other day about the post he did after the night with Lippy’s wonderful quotes. Gosh, I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time.
I wish my enjoyment of the game was at my old level. I am trying to work back into really liking the game again. I just need to stay away from the Monkeys and suck outs as much as possible cause that’s what gets me.
If you take the skill out, its just a game of chance.
Maybe I’ll see ya this week…
Take care Brother!
A drunk monkey….. lmao! I don’t think I could put it better myself!
I take no offence being called that, because that’s exactly what I turn into at times. As I said, I do better at omaha h/l when I’m drunk. But, I also know that when I win these games (while drinking) it’s down to one of two things.
Either I’m just ‘in the zone’ - that little place that we all get to at times where we play virtually the perfect game of poker….. or I’ve hit on a huge wedge of monkey luck!
As any of the skype crew will tell you, monkey luck will be the reason for winning more often than not. We all know alcohol impairs your brain functions and makes things look nice and pretty, even some of the worst starting hands in omaha. It stands to reason that the skillfull player, who chooses their hands will win in the long run. Monkey drunk players will find their accounts diminishing before long.
So, to cap it off, I agree with what both of ya have said. When you are playing with friends you are alowed to fall into drunk monkey mode. You gotta have some fun!!! You just have to make sure that when you sober up you go out monkey hunting to recoup any losses you might have incurred when intoxicated.
Well yah make it sound like we in the Skype Crew are nothing more than a bunch of beer swigging, pot smoking, hard partying degenerates.
Hmm ok point taken.
Well the problem is when i try to both drink and play i end up disco-ing on the livingroom-table or screaming dirty suggestions to people from the balcony instead and since i’m no millionaire i can’t afford any more tables and don’t wanna wake up with icky strangers in my bed i have to be a bit careful about that.
When starting with one or 2 beers it have the strange habit of ending up in emptying the whole stock and i mean mixing liquires with beer, wine or even chilisauce cause you get the munches can do some real damage to the head.
Now not to say i don’t drink and play but i’m less lucky at the pokertable with the booze than i am in ending up in deep trouble rofl
By the way more sidebet-wagers to the people