Bad Beat ???

i had this interesting hand in Omaha 8 (home game, 5-10). was utg and limped in with garbage (everyone sees flop in this game). 8 players.


flop 5-5-10 (two spades).


my hand was 10-10-x-x. i bet and get 8 callers!!!


turn is 8. i bet get raised and reraised. at this point (only one fold), i figure that the two fives are out there (separate hands), and someone might have a pair of 8's. i cap, and am called 7 handed.


river is an 8.


i bet, am raised. everyone else folds to me. i'd have mucked my hand, but the pot is way too big (well over $300). sure enough, raiser has quad eights. at least he had a five to go with it.


while this was obviously rotten luck, i think it points out what a crappy hand medium pairs are in O8. the only card that i wanted on the river was a nine, everything else, esp. with 7 players, would have either split the pot with me or potentially given someone else a better hand (J,Q,K,A -i asked, and in fact two players had jacks and kings). in an amazingly loose game like mine, it's probably worth seeing the flop for, but when 7 players are trying to chase you down, it's really uncomfortable.

the tides change in omaha so much due to the number of cards that are already out. i once had top set with 3 different ranks of cards that could give me a straight, as well as a flush draw. theoretically, about 1/2 of the deck (if not more, i don't remember now) would give me the best hand if i didn't have it already. i had one opponent left, and one of like 5 rags in the deck came on the river.