trip on O8 question

[joker1976]

a loose aggressive game, hero on cutoff and mid position player posted blind. EP limp, button call, SB complete. BB raise, everyone call. 12 blind in the pot.

hero holds Qd 3d 2d Js

flop 3s 3c 6s

SB bet(this player plays and bets nearly every hand till river), BB call, EP fold, MP fold, hero call, button call.

Turn Th

SB bet, BB call, hero call, button call

River Ks

Sb bet, bb fold, hero call, button fold

results in white

<font color="white">Sb holds 5s 6d 7s 5c</font>

I need advice on this hand. Did I play ok or horribly?normally I play a very tight game and will throw away trips on flop if there's no other way of winning, but for this hand, the pot is big and no one except the maniac played aggressively, I feel that there's a good chance that my hand is good.

thanks.

[Buzz]

Joker - I agree it's maddening when someone seemingly plays wildly and poorly and beats you.

There are lots of reasons individuals seemingly bet recklessly. Some individuals seem to get a thrill by taking a risk. Some simply enjoy gambling, even though they may realize they don't have much of a chance to win. Some sadistically enjoy making someone else suffer. Some simply do not recognize when they do not have a very good hand and bet thinking they do. Some reason that their best chance to win is to usually bet or raise when it is their turn to act. Some bet from the small blind with any hand they would call with, reasoning that if they’re going to call anyhow they might as well bet themselves and possibly take the pot with their bet. Then they continue betting through the hand, hoping that they will either end up with a good hand or nobody will and their opponents will eventually give up. Some very good Omaha-8 players who play solidly almost all of the time may change gears and occasionally bet in what may seem to be a reckless manner.

Maybe SB is hoping to make a straight flush or fives full and thinks no hand in Omaha-8 is much of an underdog to any other hand anyhow - that winning or losing is just a matter of luck. Whatever. You can't really worry too much about SB's motives for playing and betting the hand. Doesn’t really matter why you have an opponent betting in a seemingly reckless manner. What you need to know is how to cope.

(1) In my humble opinion, the first step in terms of coping with an aggressive and often frivolous better (an “action” player) is deciding where you want to be seated relative to that player.

(2) Second, in general, I think you want to usually raise the frivolous better whenever you have a decent hand. Of course this depends on how your other opponents are behaving and what effect a raise will have on them. But in general, you should start raising the chip burner when you decide to play a hand.

(3) Third, as to decent hands, Qd-3d-2d-Js is certainly stretching starting hand standards from the cut-off seat in a loose, aggressive game. Loose is fine, but aggressive isn’t. There are three players yet to act behind you on the first betting round. In an aggressive game, you should fully expect a raise behind you. Do you really want to play this dog for two bets? You can’t get in trouble after the flop with the hand if you fold it before the flop.

But once you limp for that first bet, you’ll be getting favorable odds to call the raise - and then you’ll probably be getting favorable odds to call a single bet on the second betting round - and then favorable odds to call another single bet on the third betting round - and then you may be wondering what to do on the river.

If the game was passive rather than aggressive, you could get by with seeing the flop for one bet. Then it would be easy to get away from a flop of 3s-3c-6s. You simply wouldn’t have favorable odds to call a single bet on the second betting round.

The key here seems to be to fold Qd-3d-2d-Js before the flop from the cut-off seat in an aggressive game.

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Did I play ok or horribly?

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It wasn't really that bad. You just made that one little lax limp to start and then got trapped.

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... the pot is big and no one except the maniac played aggressively, I feel that there's a good chance that my hand is good.

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Exactly. Once you decide to see the flop with this hand in this game you may be stuck if you just get a little piece of it.

Just my opinion.

Buzz

[maplepig]

thank you buzz. Your advice is always helpful. You are so right about coping with an action player. For this particular hand, I actually posted blind on the cutoff seat because I just joined the game. I have played the action player on another table.