First time alone in the woods (long)

After exclusively playing very soft home games, I finally take the plunge and buy in at UB for 50$. I first played 10/.25 NLHE where I was at the right of a very loose aggressive player. (Is it considered bad manners to leave the table and sit down at an other place? anyway, I didn’t do it). The game became short handed and I lacked confidence + bad position so I looked for greened pastures.


Before I continue, a HE question. Should you call in the SB with A6o after a few limpers, or are you just giving yourself a good opportunity to lose money? I think the answer is Fold, but I want to be convinced.


There seemed to be a good .10/.25 PLO8 game and I sat down. Now I have never in my life played O8, but from what I have read here and on other places on the net, I gather you must play super tight, which my opponents where not doing.


A question: I have read Annie Duke’s O8 Starting Hand Strategy guide(http://ultimatebet.com/team_ub/duke/omaha.html) which is for limit games. How much do things change for Pot/No limit?


I played 1.5-2h. Here are my starting hands for all games where I put money in post flop, excluding “free” BB hands. Is my hand selection to loose, too tight, with what hands should I raise with? (There where basically *no* pre flop raises from anybody, including me)


AAJ3 A3 suited

A953 A3 suited. I don’t know why I played this hand. It seems a clear fold to me now.

AKJT AK suited

A842 48 suited

A542 542 suited

AJJ2 AJ suited


I played like a rock, and whenever I put money in the pot post flop I won.


A hand: I am in the BB with A873 (A3 suited: d), 5 limpers, including SB. FLOP: AQQ with a Q of d, checked around, turn 7d, giving me an A high flush draw. The SB bets the pot 1.5$. I folded. Comments?


A question: say the flop is K93 rainbow, What do you need to raise/call a raise? Trips, top two, TJQ ? What do you do with 2 pair K3 with no real hope of improving ?


There are a lot of questions in this post, I hope some of you answer at least some of them. I have not posted often here, but I read 2+2 every day. Keep posting guys.


Conclusion:

As I said, I have only played in weak home games, so I was a bit intimidated to be playing with “real” poker players. I lost 10$ (ho my god !!!) in 4 hours of play. It was fun, and I feel I can hold my own.


I will be back.

Answers to your HE questions.


First of all, it sounds like you play for money. So do we all, but ocassionally we get swept up in the social aspects as well. I think that you need to change seats if you feel that it will help you win. This is a very common tactic used in live games, and I would employ it without hesitating.


As for the question about A6o, the answer is, of course, it depends. In a vacuum where you know absolutely nothing about anyone at the table, I would most certainly fold every time. Those weak aces are deadly in NL, unless you play them perfectly. Obviously, there are situations where you should call with those cards. There are also situations where you should be raising with them as well. It all depends on the makeup of the table. If you don't feel comfortable with your ability to read other players, you've gotta play your hand. A6o is not playable.


Hope this helps.


-Marlow

On your O8 questions:


Pot limit is very different from limit. I would say that the biggest difference is that high hands are relatively more valuable because you can make it too expensive to draw at a low. Second most importat difference: the big bluff, especially in high-only pots, becomes very important in PL, and you really need the skill of pushing players off a mediocre high hand for 3/4 of the pot.


It's also very important to appreciate that big confrontations in the PL form of the game are usually heads up between two players who both have a share of the pot (usually the low) before the river and are trying to get a freeroll at the whole or three quarters. Often, a player will get three quarters with e.g. the nut low and two small pair, or even just aces. Suited aces are very nice for freerolling with.


You also have to bear in mind that getting quartered for you whole stack is far far worse than getting quartered for e.g. 4BBs. So counterfeit protection is more important in PL.


I would have played all the hands you played for no raise, and most for a raise. Since you say there was no raising, it's immaterial. I would have raised myself with the first hand if I thought it would get players out, since AA is very useful heads up, and I might have raised with some of the others just to mix things up.


The second hand is probably the most marginal you played, but I would still play it for no raise. A3 suited is nice and there are a few ways for the 5 to become important. However, the 9 is a pretty unequivocally bad card.


Oh no!! Not again!

WRT your starting hands not knowing what position you were in and whether you opened or called is very important.


FWIW the hands with only low and wheel draws in them are weaker then they look. A24s8s has a hard time getting any action when its a scooper. It does have some nice low protection so its worth getting in late, but I think its pretty marginal if there is going to be action behind you.

In this game, they where almost never a pre-flop raise, sometimes a .25 raise, so nothing to frightening. In such a game, is position still very important ?


In all these hands, there was never a pre flop raise.

anyway, here is more info.


A3sAJ : 3 to act, 1 caller before me.

A3s95 : First to act.

AKsJT : button, 3 callers before me.

84sA2 : First to act.

A 542s : 3 to act, no caller before me.

AJsJ2 : 4 to act, 1 caller before me.


There where 9 players total.


We generaly saw the flop 4-5 handed. I hade about 25$. The other stacks where mostly around 25$, some had +- 10$.


Gatlif.

"First of all, it sounds like you play for money."

I am trying to learnt to play, and the play money tables are not good for that. So yes, I am tring to win.


A6o: In this game there was often 3-4 limpers ( full table). I would think in such a situation a fold is mandatory ?

I imagine you could have to raise somtimes. A game where you often only have one late position limper, for example. Am I right ?


But a call ? Can you give an example where a call is correct ?


Anyway, thx for teh answers.

I would have dumped the A395 and probably the A248.