Reality check - limit Omaha8

Ghazban · #1 09-07-2004, 09:34 AM

Over the past couple months, I've played a fair amount of online limit Omaha8-- up to the 3/6 level. On Sunday, I went to Foxwoods to play it live for the first time. I sat at the 5/10 kill game and, after about 3 hours, was up ~$150 (including tokes and a couple waitress tips). In the next 10 hours, I managed to lose all of that plus the $300 I sat down with due to what looked to me like an extremely cold run of cards. It seems like I kept picking up garbage like K973 and, if I had a decent starting hand, the flops just weren't cooperating.

Anyway, in my online experience, I very rarely walk away a loser from this game and I just want some reassurance that a cold streak like that is not unheard of in this game. The 5/10 table at FW was very loose, with 4 people that must've seen almost every single flop as well as a couple others that were seeing at least half of them-- basically, about the same caliber of play as I see in the 2/4 and 3/6 games online.

In limit holdem, losing 30 big bets is not at all uncommon but I don't think I've ever gone from up 15 to down 30 in a session of Omaha8.... of course, I've only been playing a couple months. I don't mean to sound paranoid, but I just wanted some confirmation that this sort of downswing is not something to worry overmuch about...

Smasharoo · #2 09-07-2004, 10:56 AM

I wouldn't worry too much about it.

One thing to be wary of is the desire to play more marginal stating hands in a B&M because it's just such a slow paced game. This isn't nearly as bad online, for obvious reasons, but having played in the same game at FW I litterally went two hours without playing anything that wasn't in a blind.

Ghazban · #3 09-07-2004, 11:04 AM

Thanks for the reply. I know what you mean about patience. The guy next to me was an excellent post-flop player but played just about any 4 cards and, with the incredible run of luck he was on, the temptation to loosen up was definitely there. I was a little suprised that the game was good-- I've read posts on the B&M forum saying that game is a real rock garden sometimes.

Matt Ruff · #4 09-07-2004, 11:09 AM

[ QUOTE ]
I don't mean to sound paranoid, but I just wanted some confirmation that this sort of downswing is not something to worry overmuch about...

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't think you're paranoid. My experience playing online has been similar to yours. One problem I've noticed is that if I get too far ahead -- say, up 10-20 BB -- I start playing more marginal hands and/or playing hands too aggressively. I could see this happening in a B&M session as well, especially with the slower pace. You've just got to not let yourself get bored if the cards aren't there, and keep in mind how quickly you can burn through your stack if you start chasing bad draws.

-- M. Ruff

phildirt · #5 09-07-2004, 12:16 PM

Been there done that. In B&M the pace is much slower and the table tends to pool together more often, everyone starts playing to many hands. If you were trying to play patiently pick your spots especaily in kill pots, nothing like paying twice the price to play a marginal hand to take away the little patience you've got left. Also 13 hours under the game conditions you described is way to long. Take a break, find another table, play hold'em anthing to get you back into the right frame of mind to play your best game.

Ghazban · #6 09-07-2004, 12:54 PM

I don't think 13 hours is too long. I certainly wasn't feeling tired or bored or anything like that. I did take a couple short breaks (1-2 hands long) but nothing longer than that. There was only one table of 5/10 Omaha8 going and the waiting list was a mile long so I definitely would've been done for the day if I'd left with my chips. There were also very few kill pots in that game as they only give a kill if somebody scoops a pot of $100 or more.