Blogger Skill Series 1/22/08 LO8 w/Knockouts

Limit Omaha Hi/Lo, absolutely my favorite game, I was so happy when I found out that this was the game of the night. And for just $13, its a cheap way to get in a bunch of hands. So I sat down with a Dr. Pepper in one hand and my cell phone in the other waiting for a cell call from a certain someone. Now we turn to the notes I've got from last night. I have a hard time remembering hands and times without making some notes.

Starting table had AlCantHang, PirateLawyer, riggstad, ck31, DonkeyPuncher, and whoever else, those were just the names written down. Won a little here and there really no big hands that whole first hour. I remember the conversation was fun, but the hands sucked. 2345o on an A2 flop is always nice but it missed and that was the worst loss of that first half hour.

I won a nice sized pot with nut nut A34x on a board of K6925, the flop was checked which was very helpful. The very next hand I got AQ6x, another checked flop 3TJ, and a 4 brought me a small reason to call one bet on the turn. The river was a bingo offsuit King, it got three-bet and I took it down against a set and finished the first hour with 4630 and in 4th of 48 (everyone still left in). One other note, my team Drake won their 16th game in a row and moved to 17-1 with a win versus Creighton, a nice little boost to my attitude.

Second hour was where it went downhill. I lost a big pot early on with A3TJ on a 45JT board, when there were three allins. Two of them had A2 and the other one iced it showing A22x. To make it worse the turn was a 3, screwing up my two pair (which was good at the time) and giving them the wheel. At one point down to 600, I went on a big rush, knocking out ck31 on a lucky hand flopping two pair with Q3xx against his AAK3, and rivering a Q to boat up. I finished the 2nd hour at 5600, a little about average, with one bounty.

The power of the new Mountain Dew took over and I went on a sick run, winning 8 hands in 10 minutes and climbing to 20k. The big hand involved AlCantHang going allin, swimmom calling, and one other person going allin with a little raise. At that point I rolled the dice with QJd89s, flopped Queens and Jacks, and it held up as no low showed up and I KOed three people.

We arrived at the final table in 2 hours and 37 minutes, with me at 20k and in 4th at the table. I got very few cards before the break but won enough little pots to finish the third hour at 26k, in 2nd of 6, and with enough bounties to make me already even on the night.

The first note I have after that is "pvanharibo is running everyone over", killed everyone and we got it down to 3 people with Rake Feeder and I nearly tied in chips and pvanharibo had a huge lead. From there the notes are pretty fuzzy, but I got quartered one too many times and ran out of steam, busted in 3rd place in my first appearance in the Skill Series for $72 + 15 in bounties for $87.

I played really well, got a lot of really good cards, and am pretty happy with my showing. I'm starting to feel like Omaha Hi/Lo, especially the limit variety, is definitely my best game. Tonight however, its the Mookie and the Dookie, and I'll be livin the High Life drinking those tall blondes. Everyone have a good night.

January 20, 2008

So things are looking up in 2008, including last Monday's victory in a limit Omaha Hi/Lo tournament at the local B&M. I've got my car back and more mobility to go to the casino whenever I want. With that in mind, I know that I need to keep a discipline about me to make sure I'm not going to the casino to fuck around. I'm there to make money, to work, and I need to keep my eye on that.

I've identified that the tournaments are more +EV for me right now, especially that Omaha Hi/Lo tournament. In 4 appearances, I've gotten two wins, a second, and a 4th. In the Omaha tournament, you start with 1500 chips with 25/25 blinds and 25/50 limits and the option to rebuy any time your stack is less than 1500. It was so wild Monday that I called EVERY unraised hand pre-flop, which is just the way I like it. My strength comes in knowing the numbers (especially in O8 where they're more complicated) and making an appropriate play. I went on a huge run and tripled my stack the first hour and went on to win.

I've come to the realization that to be successful at this, four things need to happen:

1) Set a time for finishing but be flexible if the game is good or if I'm chasing my losses.
2) Be aware that bad beats are going to happen, and be able to adjust or even leave if need be.
3) Stay away from -EV situations, whether it be in the poker room or the whole casino.
4) Practice good bankroll management.

All four things are things I've had an immense amount of trouble with while playing poker both online and live and they all tie into each other. If I've taken a bad beat, a lot of times I'll play much longer than I should be or even been dumb enough to try and win it back playing tilted blackjack.

I'll finish with my list of goals which are very lofty, but if I keep my wits about me, I feel like I can at least approach them or even fulfill them.

1) Win a tournament with a buy-in of more than $100 or a first prize of $2000.
2) Consistently run over the 1/2 NL Hold'em game.
3) Make a run at player of the year in terms of tournaments won at the local casino.
4) Play in and cash in a WSOP event.
5) Always come away with the feeling that I played as good as I could that day even if I came away with a loss.

-Jim