PokerStars Omaha Hi/Lo 4,386 player freeroll report (LONG)

[grandgnu]

CROSS-POSTED IN THE OMAHA HI/LO FORUM

This one is pretty lengthy. I went very deep in this event, but for those who don't wish to read it all, just skip to the bottom for the results.

4,386 players entered the freeroll, with only 27 of them winning an entry into a $1,000 freeroll the next evening (which will pay 1st place about $250)

Starting out, I wasn’t too shocked how terrible the players were. They were playing this game like it was Hold ‘Em, so increasing my starting stack was pretty easy. For the majority of the time, I had a 100% win rate at showdown. This started to drop off once hands were getting checked down to the river, so I was still quite pleased with my performance.

Throughout the majority of the early and middle stages, I maintained an average or above average (although never dominating) chip stack.

About 400 players left and blinds 400/800 and I’m down to about 5K in chips. Catch A/Q/Q/J and limp, someone raises in LP after a few limpers, I call. Flop of A/9/Q with two spades, a bet, I raise, three callers! Turn is a low card blank, another bet, I raise again, again three callers! River is a beautiful Ace and I move up to over 20K in chips!

Blinds 600/1200 and I raise pre-flop with A/3/4/7, hoping to steal. The two blinds decide to defend with junk like A/6/6/J and K/2/3/Q

I flop the nut low DRAW, but the river counterfeits me, giving me two pair and putting a potential flush and straight on board and both my opponents split the pot and I get squat. Down to 13K

I hold A/A/3/4 and there’s a pre-flop raise and a bunch of callers. I don’t feel comfortable with my stack re-raising here, so I just call. Flop the 2nd nut low draw with a board of Q/5/8 rainbow. I check-raise the flop and EVERYONE [censored] calls. Turn is a Queen, I get re-raised when I bet and know I’m up against someone with a Queen. And the 9 on the river brings no relief for a low possibility. 26K in the pot and I reluctantly call the 1200 bet by an opponent who holds K/Q/2/4. * sigh * down to 5K, need another triple up hand.

I hold A/10/5/Q with the Ace suited, and raise to 1600 pre-flop. The SB defends, the BB re-raises, I call reluctantly. Flop of 10/7/3 and the huge SB stack bets and the BB winds up all-in, I make my stand here. Turn a King. The SB bets and I’m all-in. I win high with a 5 on the river and I’m up to about 7K. The huge stack in the SB has gone from 50K to 42K and decides to pussy out and sit-out after the loss. What a bitch, w00t! 273 players remain, I have 7300 chips, blinds are 800/1600 and the avg stack is 24K

I find A/3/9/8 with the Ace suited and call 800. Flop is 2/5/7 with two of my Aces suite, BOO-TIFUL! I bet out. EVERYONE calls. Turn a 6, I bet again. I have the nut low and high, and the nut flush draw, couldn’t get much better. Hopefully the river won’t screw me. The river is a 9, I still bet, another flush has developed, but I don’t care.

Some donk with 6/7/10/10 rivers a weak flush and another player with trip 5’s doesn’t make his boat, I’m up to 13K, was hoping to scoop, but glad I didn’t get counterfeited on the river for my low.

UTG with A/3/4/6 double suited and I call 800. Large stack raises to 1600, I call. Three to the flop of 6/8/10 with two diamonds (I have a weak diamond draw). Bet of 800, I call. Board pairs 6’s on the turn, I lead out and get raised, and call. Boo-tiful 6 on the river, I bet again. Get raised and re-raise. He re-raises with pocket Kings and my hand is good and I’m up to 32K with that scoop. Avg stack is 26K with 249 players remaining. Gotta play some good poker from here on. BIG swings happening now. I’ve been down to 5K twice and tripled or quadrupled it in short-order when the time was right.

The guy who had 50K is down to 15K now, the donks can’t hold onto their money. I’m seeing him limp with 5/6/6/8 now, UTG, hilarious!

Blinds 600/1200 and I hold A/2/6/6 with the Ace suited in LP, I call after a bunch of limpers. Former 50K guy pushes for his last 400 chips. We all call. Flop of 2/9/10 and there’s betting, I go away. Still have 28,500 chips. I watch as a donk who called tons of pre-flop action with 5/5/9/10 and he rivers a boat and check-raises (I’ve got notes on him, he LOVES to check-raise on the river)

A/5/7K with three diamonds in the blind, check to the flop of 3/Q/7 with two diamonds, I bet, turn a 4, I bet. One caller, river a 2, I bet. Get called and scoop, up to 40K in chips now.

10/10/K/Q double suited, I call the 1200 and then a raise to 2400. Flop of 3/10/J two diamonds (not my suit) Original raiser bets, I re-raise it. Someone in the SB check-raises, it gets capped by the original raiser. Turn a King, I call a bet. River a 2, I have the 2nd nut flush at this point, only have to worry about the Ace. Original raiser bets with the Jack-high (3rd nuts) flush, I call. Find my hand was good the whole way and scoop the pot, up to 65K (avg is 36K with 180 players left)

A/4/7/10 with the Ace suited, I call 2K. Flop of K/5/6 and a 2K bet and a raise to 4K! Yoikes! I fold my wrap straight draw and weak low (there’s a flush draw present that I can’t hit). Board pairs 6’s on the turn, a player with K/6 in his hand has it hold up on the river and scoops, no low possible.

A/3/5/J with three spades (including the Ace) I call 2K, and the raise to 4K. Flop of A/6/Q with two spades, I bet out. Get called, hit the 2 of spades on the turn, bet again. My opponent folds and I scoop the 15K pot and I’m up to 70K. Avg is 45K with 145 players left.

K/K/10/Q (three hearts) and I call 2000. Flop of 4/7/10 checked to me. I check. Turn a 6. There’s betting of 4K and a call, I fold.

2/4/5/7 with blinds at 3,000/6000. I’m in the BB, bunch of limpers, one LP raiser, I call. Flop of 3/4/8 I check. There’s betting, no raising, I call. Turn a Jack. Another round of betting, I call. River a King of hearts, bringing a possible flush on board, a bet, I call. An all-in player shows the nut low and nut flush and scoops, darn. Down to 43K. Avg is 58K now and there are 113 players left. Damn I’ve taken this one deep!

A/2/7/7 in LP, I call 3K. Flop of 4/7/10 and it’s checked to me, I bet. Two callers, turn a beautiful 8, there’s a bet and a call, I call. Argh, river a 2 and I’m counterfeited and call an all-in bet of 1300 chips into the 44K pot. A player with 9/6 has a straight, and another has A/3 and I lose, darn river. L Down to 30K now. 104 players remain.

8/10/K/J in the blind, flop of K/J/6 and I bet. One caller, turn is a 7 and brings a possible flush out. I check. My opponent bets and I fold. Down to 23K, blinds are 3,000/6,000 and there are 98 players left with an avg stack being 67K. Gotta double up AT LEAST.

A/2/8/K and I call the 4K pre-flop bet. Flop of 4/5/7 and a bet, I call. Turn a 6, bringing a 2nd spade, I call another bet. River a 2 of spades, fucks up my low, gives me 2nd nut high. Ugh, this is going to suck, all-in. King-high flush is good and I’m up to 57K.

A/2/2/5 dealt next hand, I call (ace suited). Flop of 2/3/3 and a bet, I call. Turn an 8, a bet, I call. River a 10, I raise the bet. My opponent has A/4/4/8 and we split. Up to 63K with avg stack at 75K and 86 players left.

I hold 5/6/6/8 in the blind for 4K. Flop of 2/3/4 and I bet and get raised and call. Turn a 5, I check. Lots of raising going on. I call. River an 8, no flush or boat possible, I have two of the 6’s and check. Call a bet. Someone has the high and low, another player has the low, so I get quartered but still have 50K.

J/J/7/3 in the blind, flop of J/6/Q and I bet. They fold, I’m up to 61K.

Ugh, 1 minute before blinds hit 6K/12K and I have 61K and I’m going to get stuck with the BB. Luckily it’s dealt before it changes. I get A/J/J/4 (ace suited) and a flop of 3/3/4. I check. Turn a Queen, check again. River an Ace. Check again. An 8K bet by a large chip stack on the button. The SB calls, I opt to fold. Sure enough, the button has 2/5 and scoops. I catch the SB as blinds move up.

Dealt A/Q/6/8 (ace suited) so I call. Flop is 3/4/J and I check-fold to a bet by a stack with 200K chips. He shows 2/4/4/5

A/A/K/Q and I raise to 12K. Flop is 3/4/9 and there’s a bet, I go away. L (had been called by K/3/3/8 with the King suited, he wound up rivering a flush as well) Down to 40K and 63 players remain, avg stack is now 104K. I have some doubling up to do.



A/2/4/10 with the Ace suited in LP, folded to me, I raise and the BB calls and defends (he’s down to 20K). Flop of 3/J/J and he comes out swinging and I fold. Down to 27K.

Dealt A/A/10/9 with one ace suited, I raise. Three callers, flop of 8/9/K with two clubs. Checked to me. I bet 6K and commit myself to the pot. Everyone calls, turn is a Jack of clubs. Flush and straights possible, I’m down to 9600 chips, I check when it’s checked to me. River a Queen of clubs, no one has bet, I’ve got a straight and check it down, praying. My hand is good and I win a 72K pot and get up to 81K.

Dealt A/2/5/10 in EP and call the 6K. Flop of 3/4/Q with two hearts (I have the flush draw to the 10 of hearts, plus the nut low draw with protection, an EP bettor and I call) Turn a Jack and another bet, I call. River a 7, I raise my opponents bet. He has 3/3/J/Q and we split. Up to 95K now. 58 players remain with the Avg stack at 115K roughly. Largest is about 340K, yoikes!


I’m up to 98K when the betting moves to 8K/16K and I snag the button with A/3/10/K (king suited). I call. Flop of 4/7/7. Checked around, I take the free card and pray for a 2. A 5 hits, I have the 2nd nut low, there’s a bet. I call. Board pairs 5 on the river, I call another bet. The SB had A/2, but I have a pair of 7’s with a higher kicker and split, up to 106K.

Dealt 4/5/6/10 in the blind and check. Flop of 2/8/Q and it’s checked around, a 9 on the turn, check again. River a 2. A player moves in for his last 12K and I fold. Fold my 3/8/9/10 in the SB the next hand. Down to 55 players, top 27 make it to the freeroll tomorrow night. Ugh, this is more time-consuming than it’s worth, but it feels good to be playing so well and going this deep.


Dealt 2/3/3/5 double suited and call the 8K. Flop of 8/Q/9 and checked around. Turn a 2. A 16K bet and I go away.

A/K/Q/2 with the Ace suited in the SB. I raise into the BB. Flop of 3/5/7 and I bet. He calls, turn a 9, I bet again. He calls, river an Ace. I check. L He checks and has 3/4/6/8 and scoops. Down to 54K. 46 players remain with the avg stack at 143K.

42 players remain with blinds at 12K/24K and the SB/BB begin at 6K/12K. I’m down to about 54K with the BB about to hit. A player is eliminated and it skips me, so I only have 6K investeda nd find 3/5/J/10. I opt to fold and take the button, since the BB has over 200K.

Down to 36 players, there’s just enough players short-stacked that I might squeek into the top 27, but I’d really prefer to double up or better to give myself the best shot to make it. I’m starting to slow down play on my table in the hopes that other stacks go out first.

Now down to 34 players, I’m the smallest stack at my table, and two of the other tables have small stacks that are larger than me, only one table has them smaller. Ugh, I need a hand and soon, or I may be taking a bubble finish here. Now at 32 players, five more to go, but only two other players have smaller stacks than myself, although there are some others that are close. I still need a good double or triple up here, a scoop on a big pot would be great, give me some breathing room. Blinds about to go up AGAIN.

Now 30 players and I’m UTG with the blinds going up in another minute when it will hit me. Ugh.

I have 20K invested (and 21K left) and get dealt Q/8/4/Q with the 8/4 suited. Folded to the SB who makes the obvious raise to try and get me all-in and eliminate me. I decide to make my stand and pray my pair holds up. He has K/3/5/10 and spikes a king on the flop of A/K/6/ The 4/7 are no help and I’m gone in 30th place, 3 spots out of the prize to tomorrows freeroll. I felt I was pot-committed at that point, and he was on a steal and my pocket Queens might hold up for me, but alas, they did not, and his low proved better than mine. Almost 5 hours of play for naught, except knowing that I played well and went extremely deep in such a large tournament.

[KingMedicine]

jiminy