PLO8 tourney hand...did I lose for the wrong reasons?
 

Apologies in advance for the vagueness to come...I don't have a HH and can't get one. If you're interested in the question without the background, skip to [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] .

This was in a 20+2 MTT on Pokerroom, blinds 75-150. I'm in the BB, with a little over 1000 left after putting in my 150. 24ish players remaining, 10 get paid. I'd been around the middle of the pack for a while, but made some unfortunately choices and was scraping the bottom.

No raise pre-flop, so far so good since I have a hand I don't really want to have to play for more than the blind. KQxx, with the xx pretty junky. Not more than one low card, I don't think.

Flop comes A [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] J [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] T [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] Woo hoo, nut straight for me. But with two spades on the board, I'm vulnerable, so I bet the pot (600). Everybody folds around to the SB (who has 4-5k), who calls. 5 [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] on the turn, I put in my last almost-500 and of course he calls.

He shows a jumble of crap with two, maybe three spades (KTx) and possibly only one low card. (It was over quickly, so I didn't get to look at his hand for long.) The 5 [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] of course comes on the river and I'm done.

[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]
So, these things happen, that's poker, on to the next. But did he make the right play? On the flop he had a flush draw and possibly a draw to the same straight I already had made (if he did indeed have a T with is K, a Q would give us both the A-high straight). His lo potential was mediocre at best, and there was only one low card on the flop.

So even if he puts me on two pair or a set rather than a made straight, he's calling 2:1 with a hand that's going to lose if he doesn't catch a Q (which he doesn't necessarily know is a chop) or a spade. Unless I'm bluffing with absolutely nothing, he needs a spade to win.

Is it right for him to take this chance to eliminate me even though his hand is a potential loser? (Assuming that's what he was doing, and not just chasing spades.)

If he hits, I'm done, mission accomplished.

If he folds on the flop, I win 1200 and have just under 1700. Welcome, but still in the bottom few.

If he misses, he doubles me up to about 2200, a much more significant boost in the standings. He could afford to lose 1100, but 2200 makes me a tougher target for him or someone else next time.

So was it a reasonable play trying to bust me, or a risk he probably shouldn't have taken?

Re: PLO8 tourney hand...did I lose for the wrong reasons?
 

Yes, he made the right play. A bigger stack has the opportunity to take you out. Has a draw heads up to both a flush and a straight with runner runner the only way a low comes up.

Yep, I call there too.

Dave

Re: PLO8 tourney hand...did I lose for the wrong reasons?
 

Both played it correctly. Check out Harrington on Holdem Vol. 2. Great info on endgame play.

Re: PLO8 tourney hand...did I lose for the wrong reasons?
 

OK, thanks. Of course, we don't know if that's actually what he was thinking, but we'll give him credit anyway. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] (I've seen people get really attached to bizarre hands in these things.)

I seem to have chosen price over reliability for my HOH2 vendor, and I'm still waiting for it to arrive.

Re: PLO8 tourney hand...did I lose for the wrong reasons?
 

I hate straights on the flop, even without a flush draw.

Given your chip position, I might have been tempted to try to see the turn cheaply, so that if no spade or pair came, I could then pot it and people would not have the correct odds to draw to a flush - unless of course they were dawing to a low then as well. Otherwise I can wait for a better hand and/or better position to get my money in.