Omaha Hand - Am I doomed here?

Monday "free" tourney (i.e. ATS 50 entry fee, first buyin of T4000 is free), unlimited rebuys of T4000 for ATS 250, optional addon of T8000 in the break. The game is limit Omaha High, 83 players. Last 9 get paid with most of the money for place 1 and 2.


While I have not much experience in limit Omaha, I manage to aquire a sizable stack with my free buyin, mostly due to the extremely loose aggressive game on my table during the rebuy period (think 5+ handed preflop caps and people calling bets on the river with twopair after you've been jamming the pot ever since flopping the nuts).


5h into the tourney we are down to 11 players and both tables are dealt synchronously. T1200k chips are in play and the limit has arrived at T15k-T30k.


We are 5 handed at our table and, since we are close to the money, it is mostly small vs. big blind with occasional blind stealing, no one droped out during the last 1/2 h.


I am in the big blind with T90k and the chip leader, a very aggressive player, in the small blind. As usual, it is folded to the SB who raises. I look down and see AhKhJ8.


Given the situation and my own hand, I rule out him having a high pair, and put him on a steal. As I know that this player would never release his hand before turn and might come out betting if I don't play back at him now, I figure to get at least 5:1 implied odds with a decent chance to double up. So I call, planning to hit hard or fold.


Flop comes AT8 rainbow with 1 heart giving me aces up, a gunshot for broadway and a backdoor nut flush draw. He comes out betting and I raise. (Would calling have been a better play here? Should I even consider folding, fearing AATT or a set of tens?) Anyway, when he just calls I'm rather sure that my hand is good.


Turn is a black 9 putting a two flush and a 3-straight on board. When he comes out betting again, I figure that I am probably beat. Considering the T150k already in the pot, I make a desperation call with my last T30000 and sure enough get shown a straight (can't remember his exact hand). No help from the river, so I'm out, two places away from the money.


In hindsight, is there any way I could have avoided this disaster? As I said, I have virtually no experience with Omaha, esp. not short handed, so any advice would be appreciated.


cu


Ignatius

Unless you can read this guy well enough to know that he isn't betting the turn without a better hand than yours, you can't fold when getting 5:1. As you said, most of the money is in the top 2 spots. If you're worried about missing out on the bottom paying spot, then you should have folded preflop. Once you get to the turn, you have to call here (again, absent strong knowledge that you're almost certainly beat).


Now, should you have folded preflop? Again, unless reaching the final table and the money is of some extra significance to you, I think not. Others will disagree. I'd probably have played your hand just like you did.


Later, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)

Thanks for your reply!


> Now, should you have folded preflop? Again, unless

> reaching the final table and the money is of some extra

> significance to you, I think not. Others will disagree.

> I'd probably have played your hand just like you did.


Well, I was pretty confident that my play was +EV here, but being new to Omaha and never having made it so close to the money, I thought I'd rather get a second opinion (esp. if reraising preflop might have been the better play, despite not having a big pair).


As much as I would have liked to book my first tourney win here, on the bright side, even losing the hand actually had an EV of 5 times my investment, as it made me catch the last metro by the minute ... ;-)


cu


Ignatius