Live Poker, Online Poker, Home Poker (5 of... 4?)

So, I never finished up my home game recap where we played some Texas Holdem games as well as some Omaha poker. I ended up down a bit. But back to the previous post. I was in the middle of a hand with Ray.

I held 24 and was stuck a little bit. He popped it preflop and I called from the small (?) blind. Flop was queen high. I checked he bet out. I raised it after he asked if the cash in front of me also played. Only hand that scared me was AQ and considering the earlier hand I thought I might even get him to lay that down as the two other cards on the board made sense for the blind. Ray shoved, and I smiled and folded.

He turned over KQ. I told him I had 4 deuce off suit. He and Sam didn’t believe me, so I bet them that I would turn that over to recapture a piece of my bluff. They took the bet. I cashed everybody out and was short when it was my turn.

Sam, Ray, and Lee all tipped me for the beers and chips I purchased, but only Ray and Sam were left when I discovered I was short. We counted out one chip stack and found I overpaid one player a small amount but that didn’t explain most of what we were short. Ray threw some more money my way and I didn’t have to eat too much of a loss with the tips, but lesson learned if I host the next game I’m going to recount everybody’s chips.

I trust everybody that played, but I guess trusting somebody and trusting their counting skills are two different things as it’s easy to make a mistake. Still, it was a good night and I’m looking forward to the next one, realizing I’m already progressing as a PLO player. The scary thing is how boring hold’em feels when switching back from PLO (especially Hi-Lo and all its permutations).

No wonder people get hooked on that game. No hand is ever really dead, and the opposition could be betting anything. I’ve heard time and again how a successful strategy in PLO Hi-Lo cash games was just to play the low. You hit the high enough to scoop but halves of the pot you are almost foolish to just go after the hi.

Guess, I’d be better off asking a PLO expert like Poker Immersion’s Brian Lusk if there is some value in chasing the high hands too especially if everybody is sticking to the lows. Right. Isn’t that half the pot being unscooped most times, and when a low doesn’t manifest, the entire pot?

Yeah, you know what they say about being stupid, if you keep your mouth shut nobody will know it. You start talking everybody will. Good advice for people at the poker table. It’s so easy to place a person’s ability just on the garbage he talks. I guess writing a blog, unless I’m leveling the reader, is just as dangerous or on some levels embarrassing even.

I think I’ll keep my PLO ruminations to myself for here on out. I’m confident enough to talk about Hold’em but not about the other games. Lord knows I’m apparently a terrible 5 card draw player if I can use 12 hands as a reliable metric. That’s got to be statistically relevant right?

Okay, I think in the next few posts, like in real life I’ll take a break from poker, so more poker thoughts in a week or so.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Crapped on the Head and Kicked in the teeth part 2

Corona Virus Tips

Thank You!