I sat down to start a session and when I started to look at the 6 max No limit holdem tables I had zero desire to start playing.  Playing holdem ALL the time can get a bit tiresome and boring when you play it all day everyday.  I've always enjoyed playing all forms of poker and have a pretty good grasp of all the games.  Obviously holdem is my best game but I've also became a decent omaha player over the years.  I should emphasize on the word decent because I'm no where near being a good player, but I can hold my own and can beat up on the fish pretty good.  So to give my mind a break from holdem I've played every different game the last little while.  Pot limit omaha, Omaha hi/lo and even limit horse.  Horse is a compilation of all the games where it rotates every 10 hands (Holdem/Omaha 8 or better/Razz/Stud/Stud 8 or better).  I did pretty decent at Horse and booked a pretty good win playing heads up.  It was actually funny because I was playing 6 max and I kept hammering on this one guy.  Eventually in the chat he challenged me to playing heads up at higher stakes.  I really had no business playing this guy heads up, but fuck him, I wasn't about to back down.  We played for like 10 minutes and I ran like absolute God and continued to crush him until he quit me and wrote "Ok, you win, can't beat you, GG".  I felt pretty good about that, especially because this guy was probably a better Horse player then me but kept getting coolered.  After losing a bunch of it back playing 6 max against a bunch of regulars I shouldn't of been playing against, I played Pot Limit Omaha, both heads up and 6 max.   Omaha can be such a sick ridiculous game, the variance is just insane.  Its one of those games when you're winning, you feel like you're unstoppable and ready to take on the world.  I'm serious.. when you're running good at Omaha, you just win every friggin hand.  I was playing one guy heads-up when I was running good, and smashed him for like 10 buy-ins.  Every time we got it all in I just knew I was going to win.  Mind you I was playing low stakes, but still, you can make some good cash.  I also found that there is a huge amount of fish who play this game.  Its kinda different in holdem in this aspect.  The fish in Omaha are seriously mentally challenged, I'm not even joking.. Sometimes I'll be playing a fish and I start to think to myself that a) He's probably drunk or stoned  b) He has no idea the rules or concept of the game .. or c) Some dad left his computer on and his 8 year old son jumped on and started clicking buttons.  But on the opposite end of that, the good players at Omaha are usually REALLY good.  I've seen some absolutely awesome Omaha players out there who kill the game.  I actually ran into one the other day who smacked me around for a little while till I decided to quit.  But aside from him I've ran really hot and won some good coin.

I played holdem today and will be for the next little while.  I got my omaha fix playing a shit load of hands.. so I'll be back to my regular grind of beating NL Holdem 6 max.  I played a short little session today while the puppy was sleeping and got into some interesting hands.  I'll post them below.  (Remember I'm "Hero" in the replayer)




This hand was pretty interesting. I raise with 10,10 and get a favorable flop. I C bet and get a QUICK call. A quick call usually is weak or some type of draw. When I bet the turn and he quickly called me again I was pretty certain this guy had either a pair and a flush draw or a bare flush draw. The river is probably the best card in the deck for me, not just because I fill up, but it brings the flush to. Against a good player I would probably make a small value bet hoping to get called even though the board is paired. But this guy seemed like a huge donk to me, and I was hoping there is no way he'll fold if he made the flush so I OVER shove for like 2x pot. The second I went all in, he SNAP called.. almost so fast I was scared I ran into quads. But when the chips are shipped to me and I look at the hand history and see what he had, I just couldn't stop smiling. Not because I won the hand, but because I just found a ridiculous fish and it reassures me that there will always be money to be made playing poker.



I like this hand because of my turn check. During the hand I was very close to betting the turn till I re-evaluated the hand and knew a check would be best. This guy was a pretty solid tag (tight aggressive) and knew he was capable of check/calling a big hand on the flop looking to check raise me on the turn. My hand is pretty strong at this point and I don't want to get blown off it by a check/raise. I figure I can extract value on the river if I make my flush or make an easy fold if I miss. The flush comes and I actually got more value then I thought, not thinking this guy would bet/call with just one pair.


I think I'm heading to Guelph this weekend to spend some time with my mom while my dad is in Italy, so not sure if I'll be playing any cards.. . But if I do I'll be sure to post.
 
Jay