River Conundrum

[manku]

Playing in a highstakes homegames (50-100-150, spread limit)

Last pot of night, we put extra dough from rake in pot (about $400), and everyone sees free flop.

Game: 5 card Omaha, eight or better.

Flop: 2-6-8, rainbow.

I have: A-3-3-9-10-, suited ace. One of suit on flop.

Checked to me in EP, I bet $50. Get 5 callers! Bear in mind this is a passive game, however I'm fairly certain no one else has A3.

Turn: 6, also putting two diamonds out on board with my nut flush draw.

I bet $100, loose, sorta aggressive player calls, rock raises $100. I am 100 percent certain he has a full house. I just call, as I think I may get quartered. Other player calls. Three handed now.

River: 3. Ugh. BTW, on top of my crappy full house, I also have nut flush, FWIW.

I check, MP checks, rock bets max $150.

Now, my low is busted and I have not backup. Any two cards held by rock (47,26) sink my low. On top of that, the other player is a very tough fold, especially with the pot so large and it being the last pot of the evening. He likes to call people down. If I just call, I'm virtually certain he won't raise. However, if I raise, he may fold realizing that he'll be squeezed and it will cost him in excess of $450 (we have kill bets of $5).

I just called, he hemmed and hawed for a few minutes and reluctanly called. Sure enough, rock had nut full house (88), and MP had A5, for second best low.

I still had a good session, but this one hurt.

Manku

PS, Other option, betting out on busting river, and then if both raise, I fold.

[SevenStuda]

Lots of $ in the pot, seems like an auto-call to anyone with more than 3 active brain-cells...... Oh, it's okay if you like to use this forum to hear yourself cry and whine about tough hands. One suggestion; maybe start up your very own blogging site so that everyone can share with you the fervor that you have for this game. Get real.

-Dimitri

[Buzz]

Manku - Tough one. You don't know if your live ace is good for low or not.

A raise optimizes your chances of winning by increasing the chance of knocking out MP. Thus you can check-raise and make it tougher for MP to play, but how do you know your live ace is good against the rock? You shoot yourself in the foot if you raise, knocking out MP - only to be beaten for both high and low by the rock.

Face it. In a five Omaha-8 a live ace is crap for low.

Five cards allows for a lot of possibilities for rock. A-2-4-6-X or A-2-5-6-X, and a host of other hands where rock could have you beaten both ways are possible.

MP probably doesn't have nut low - but it's not beyond the realm of possibility. MP might not bet, either expecting you also have nut low, or expecting the rock to bet and planning to check-raise. (The check-raise from MP seems a bit remote, but who knows, what with this being the last game of the evening....?)

If MP calls, you're getting about 3.3 to 1 pot odds for half of the pot. If MP folds, you're getting about 2.8 to 1 pot odds. So either way, it's only about 3 to 1. Seems like a huge pot, but it's not like giving up a pot with ten or twenty large bets in it for one large bet.

And if MP, who is yet to act, _raises, it's a nightmare. It really goes against the grain to play weak/tight and fold to the $150, but you're out of position here and that's probably your best move.

Save the $150. I don't think you're a three to one favorite to win $450 here.

Just my opinion.

Buzz

[manku]

1. I'm hardly whining, but if you want to flame away and be sarcastic, be my guest. Why you bother to respond to my post is a mystery to me. Be helpful or ignore my post. Thank you very much.

2. If you play Omaha8, or any hilo game, especially at high limits, you would know that there are situations where you want to raise to get heads up action, and others where a smooth call is in order.

3. This hand could have been played many ways on the river. Obviously, a "auto-call" was wrong. I lost. A checkraise could have pressured the MP out, or just cost me another $300+. We'll never know, but I'd like another opinion.

manku

[tiltboy]

[ QUOTE ]
1. I'm hardly whining, but if you want to flame away and be sarcastic, be my guest. Why you bother to respond to my post is a mystery to me. Be helpful or ignore my post. Thank you very much.

[snip]

manku

[/ QUOTE ]

Don't worry about him. Every other post he writes is so filled with bitterness and sarcasm you would think he is somebody's mother-in-law.