AAxx in a Big Pot Limit Omaha Game

[ShipDaCheese]

In a recent live 50/100 PL Omaha game I'm dealt As Ad Ts 8h
UTG.

I limp in, waiting to check raise. The game is not too wild, even though there is a lot of pre flop raising. After two more limp in, the small blind makes it 600 to go. The big blind calls the raise. I like the situation since I have noticed the small blind beeing close to tilt, so I make it 2400 to go. The small blind and the big blind call.

I have around 12 000, small has 6 000 and big has 14 000.

The flop comes: Ks 3h 2d. Around 9600 is in the pot.

The small blind checks and the big bets 8000.

I don't have any reads on big, altough he made a similar bet in early position on a 992 flop when I had reraised preflop. That time I folded as did the other tree players who was in that pot. I have read him as a medium strong omaha player who bluffs every now and then.

I had a fairly good read on the small blind, and it was obvious that he had missed the flop.

For those who have had the time to read all this, what
do you think I should do?

[Rolf Slotboom]

Hi ShipDaCheese,

With your hand, I probably would have gone for the limp / reraise only if I would be able to get more than, say, 35% of my stack in. In this case, you can get only 20% in, and your opponents KNOW you've got aces. So, I think flatcalling again might have been better, or if you do reraise then at least make it the maximum. (This would have been 2600 total, if I'm not mistaken. Also, if my calculation is correct, the pot size on the flop should be 2400*3 + 100*2 for 7400 total - is this right, or did I miss something?)

Anyway, when the flop comes K32 rainbow and your opponent bets about the max into you, he MIGHT have three kings, and is simply trying to win the pot there and then, thinking the pot is big enough and not wanting a fight. But it seems just as likely that he is in there with something like KQJT or KQ98, or even 7654 or 6543, and is trying to make you lay down your aces, knowing that if he checks he gets good enough odds (or almost good enough odds) to call anyway. Or, to put it differently, thinking he would have to call anyway, he decides to bet, because of the outside chance that you might decide to lay down your aces.

Which brings me to the answer: Of course you should call, no ifs and buts here. Any GOOD player would check his three kings here, knowing that in this situation, with this flop and just enough money for one pot-sized bet, you will bet your aces here close to 100% of the time. So, it is much more likely that he is putting pressure on you with a marginal hand (because he KNOWS you are probably not thrilled by the flop either) than he is to be betting 3-kings, and thus laying down the hand would be a terrible mistake IMO.

Hope this helps - and I'm curious about his actual hand, your decision, and the outcome of course.

Rolf Slotboom
www.acespeaks.cjb.net (http://www.acespeaks.cjb.net)

[ShipDaCheese]

First of all I would like to thank you for the excellent reply.

Regarding the size of the pot after the flop, you are right.
I typed wrong regarding the size of my reraise preflop. I reraised the pot = 2600. The pot after the flop must have been 8000 then.

After some thinking I moved all-in on the flop. Like you said, I had to play that flop no matter what. I kind of trapped myself with my limp reraise /images/graemlins/smirk.gif

Turn came 7s, river Qc. Big blind showed Kd 3d Jh Js and won
the showdown with the flopped two pairs. That was by the way a hand I didn't put him on...

As you wrote, I suppose my biggest mistake was that my reraise wasn't big enough. I would have been better off just calling the small blinds raise. I was hoping to isolate the small blind with my reraise since he was steaming. However, I ended up beeing the pot committed guy who couldn't fold... /images/graemlins/frown.gif

A compleately different matter is the BB's call preflop. I think that Kd 3d Jh Js is such a weak holding that even calling the small blinds raise is a mistake.

Finally, keep up your good work on your articles Ace! I read every single one I can lay my hands on /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Rolf Slotboom]

Well, if he was betting with two pairs then your call was correct - after all, with these stacks sizes you did get about 2-to-1 for your money. And yes, I agree he should have folded before the flop even against the first raise, not just because his hand was relatively weak but especially because of his position: sandwiched between the preflop raiser and the entire field behind him still to act. This would have been a horrible position for him also, and especially, if everybody would have simply flatcalled this initial raise.

[ QUOTE ]
Finally, keep up your good work on your articles Ace! I read every single one I can lay my hands on

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks, but if you can hold your own in games this big, then I'm sure you don't need much of my advice. /images/graemlins/smirk.gif

Rolf Slotboom
www.acespeaks.cjb.net (http://www.acespeaks.cjb.net)

[cero_z]

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[turnipmonster]

rolf,
post more often here!

--turnipmonster