- Won a $5.50 PLO8 167 plr for $225. Feeling competent at poker again. #
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- I'm still learning razz, so not sure if I should dump this at 4th or not: http://www.handconverter.com/hands/835472 . With extra $, prob not #
- 54 big bet loss in LO8 tonight, from $1/2 to $5/10. Pretty sure it's mostly variance but I still need to plug a couple of leaks. #
- Leak #1 Quite certain I should pitch this on the turn here: http://www.handconverter.com/hands/836344 . 12:1, but best case 3 outs to half. #
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- Small sample confirms what DC says: the $5/10 limit O8 really is looser than 2/4 or 3/6. Real gamblers must like playing with red chips. #
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- Classic LO8 situ I don't know how to handle: http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/831121 . OK to pay off bc every1does? Fold, 1/2 @ best? #
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- Today it's like all the other LO8 players are playing how I play when I'm tilted, and I'm the one catching cards. Wish I could bottle it. #
- I've noticed that in online split-pot games, the dealers are always very good about keeping the pot stacked. #
- Running a lot better today. Still made a couple of dumb LO8 plays, but playing a lot better too. #
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- This is how I ran yesterday. http://akqj10blog.com/?p=263 #
- Watching episode 2 of All Mixed Up. Somehow I overlooked that series when looking for O8 content. #
- Really suffering from fancy play syndrome right now. Tried river CR bluff (LO8) on flush card vs fish who bet/3bet turn 1st+3rd pair. Spew. #
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I used to pride myself on not tilting. Of course in those days, my primary game was the Foxwoods $2/4 or $4/8 limit hold’em, and not tilting meant not despairing to the point that I started playing Q9 offsuit in middle position or 63 suited on the button. I had confidence that if I could just maintain the discipline to not deviate from my cookbook starting hand chart, I would win in the long run, and I did.
Now the decisions I need to make aren’t out of a cookbook, so my understanding of tilt is a lot deeper. Tommy Angelo’s definition is helpful: Tilt is any time you aren’t playing your “A” game. Therefore, any time I make a decision based on the intuition that my opponent may bluffing more than 8% of the time, but he’s really bluffing 4% of the time, that’s tilt.
Today I played a brief LO8 cash session that quickly fell apart by combining aggressive opponents who led me to be even more aggressive, running slightly bad, fancy play syndrome, and plain old tilted decisions. Some of my play here is awful. As an aside, the $2/4 and $3/6 games have been very good lately.
Alas, I’m going to move down in stakes for at least a few days to build up confidence. One general lesson I absolutely must take to heart is not trying to 4-table at these stakes for a good long while. 4-tabling is for once you’ve mastered stakes, once you can beat them on autopilot. Now’s not the time for that.
For each of these hands, click through to thehandconverter.com’s archive in the link in each header to see results, and for the 2nd hand some additional commentary on my decision.
Hand 1: Dry double-suited board, AA facing a check/raise
This hand was before the classically “tilted” portion of my session, but I think it casts some light on my decision-making.
Poker Stars $3/$6 Limit Omaha Hi/Lo – 6 players – View hand 827188
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter
Pre Flop: (1.333 SB) Hero is BTN with 8
A
3
A
2 folds, CO raises, Hero 3-bets, 2 folds, CO calls
Flop: (7.333 SB) 3 9 9
(2 players)
CO checks, Hero bets, CO calls
Turn: (4.667 BB) Q (2 players)
CO checks, Hero bets, CO raises, Hero ???
Only 30 hands on CO: 40/23, 41% aggression, typically the stats of a somewhat LAGgy player in these games.
Not betting the flop or turn seems horrible. Against a really aggro player I can see calling down here, because there’s so little to have connected with the board already, and a few draws he could be C/Ring. I’m not going to know what card beats me on the river, so calling the turn is committing to call the river.
But until I know an opponent can C/R a draw on the turn, I have to fold this, right?
Hand 2: Blind vs. blind, I go apeshit with a combo draw
I’m quite certain my river play sucked here, but otherwise I’m not even sure which streets I played poorly.
18 hands on BB, hardly a sample at all given that this hand will distort my stats. 61/11/52% aggr.
Poker Stars $2/$4 Limit Omaha Hi/Lo – 5 players – View hand 827474
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter
Pre Flop: (1.5 SB) Hero is SB with 5 7 A T
3 folds, Hero raises, BB calls
Pretty standard bvb open, I think.
Flop: (4 SB) Q 3 6 (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets, Hero calls
Hard to explain why I don’t cbet here. I feel like cbetting 100% is probably a mistake because it’s so highly exploitable. (But are people good at exploiting it? That’s a very good question.)
But I also intuit that my A5 is about break-even to be the best low, I have a gutshot and backdoor flush draw for high, and BB hasn’t narrowed his range down at all by betting. I suspect he has nothing, so I decide to try to take the pot away through aggression if I get a favorable turn card.
Turn: (3 BB) J (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets, Hero raises, BB 3-bets, Hero calls
This is really a great card for me. It gives me a double gutter and a backdoor flush draw. I think the c/r semibluff is probably solid, given that my opponent still has a weak range. When he 3-bets, I have to figure him for top two, a set, or some combo draw probably including at least one big flush draw
River: (9 BB) 9 (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets, Hero raises …
Pure spew. Without a read that he’s capable of bet/folding, I should expect to get called by nearly all his range. Missed diamonds that he turned into a bluff are the only exception, although I could probably rebluff out missed diamonds + AK or a naked bottom pair.
But please do consider how you like my play on the other rounds. Then click through to the results, because there’s some additional discussion there.
Hand 3: Bottom two on a two-low flop, never a good thing
This is the closest to “classic tilt”, I suppose — playing a hand in an incorrect way just because I was on a vendetta, even if I wouldn’t admit it at the time.
The button here is a semi-reg. I have 141 hands at 22/15/55%. Still a small sample, but obviously not someone I should be trying to tangle with. He had two-outed me heads-up as a previous table was breaking down. Because of the table dynamic — I had been opening wide and taking down pots preflop — I figured he was 3-betting me preflop with a pretty wide range.
Poker Stars $2/$4 Limit Omaha Hi/Lo – 5 players – View hand 827620
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter
Pre Flop: (1.5 SB) Hero is UTG with A 5 Q 4
Hero raises, CO calls, BTN 3-bets, 2 folds, Hero calls, CO calls
Flop: (10.5 SB) 4 K 5 (3 players)
Hero ???
I’m pretty sure I have the best hand at the moment here. But as we know, in O8 having the best high hand on the flop does not make one a money favorite.
In my excitement over “outflopping” my nemesis, I bet, the CO cold-caller called, and button raised. In reality, I should just check/fold this flop, right?
Not even a 1-outer or anything, just a healthy 1.5 outer (6 
gives me the low half), but I love this example because it shows the level of play you can expect in an $11 LO8 tourney.
I tried to convert this at thehandconverter.com and do my usual HH tweet, but it didn’t work, so I had to go to FTR instead.
Full Tilt Limit Omaha, 11 Tournament, 100/200 Blinds (8 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
Hero’s M: 4.97
Preflop: Hero is MP1 with J
, A, 3
, 5
1 fold, UTG+1 calls, Hero calls, MP2 calls, 3 folds, BB checks
Flop: (4.5 SB) 10, 6
, 9 (4 players)
BB checks, UTG+1 checks, Hero bets, MP2 raises, 1 fold, UTG+1 calls, Hero calls
Turn: (5.25 BB) 2 (3 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero bets, MP2 raises, UTG+1 calls, Hero 3-bets, MP2 caps, UTG+1 calls, Hero calls
River: (17.25 BB) J (3 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero bets, MP2 calls, 1 fold
Total pot: t3644 (18.22 BB)
Results below:
Hero had J, A, 3, 5 (flush, Ace high).
MP2 had J, 9, 8, 7 (straight flush, Jack high).
Outcome: MP2 won t3644
- Note to self: Don't ever try 2-tabling the 17:45 $11 8-game and $11 HORSE on Stars again. #
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- So far so good in my mixed games foray. Definitely the way to extract a premium from my love of diverse learning and lack of desire to focus #
- Mix software threads: http://bit.ly/drtALY http://bit.ly/a7Nlc2 http://bit.ly/9KrDqu http://bit.ly/b44pyK #
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