[Silent A]

Greg, I'll start with this hand:

PokerStars Game #12124988783: Tournament #70000006, $300+$20 Omaha Pot Limit
- Level XXVIII (30000/60000) - 2007/09/18 - 06:53:51 (ET)
Table '70000006 98' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: FossilMan (3749034 in chips)
Seat 9: O.Mustang (4472966 in chips)
FossilMan: posts small blind 30000
O.Mustang: posts big blind 60000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FossilMan [8h 2s 7s 5h]
FossilMan: raises 60000 to 120000
O.Mustang: raises 240000 to 360000
FossilMan: calls 240000
*** FLOP *** [Jd Kd 9s]
O.Mustang: checks
FossilMan: checks
*** TURN *** [Jd Kd 9s] [3c]
O.Mustang: checks
FossilMan: checks
*** RIVER *** [Jd Kd 9s 3c] [Tc]
O.Mustang: bets 360000
FossilMan: calls 360000
*** SHOW DOWN ***
O.Mustang: shows [3h 6c Ac Ah] (a pair of Aces)
FossilMan: shows [8h 2s 7s 5h] (a straight, Seven to Jack)
FossilMan collected 1440000 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1440000 | Rake 0
Board [Jd Kd 9s 3c Tc]
Seat 1: FossilMan (button) (small blind) showed [8h 2s 7s 5h] and won (1440000) with a straight, Seven to Jack
Seat 9: O.Mustang (big blind) showed [3h 6c Ac Ah] and lost with a pair of Aces


O.Mustang said, "do they tell u what I have"
FossilMan said, "obv not"
O.Mustang said, "how can u call"
O.Mustang said, "calling with all the way wih rubish"

[ QUOTE ]
Fossilman: At this point I came to realize that he was not just a whiner, but that he seriously just didn’t understand the changing value of hands as you progressed from a full table down to heads-up play. I am pretty certain that any experienced heads-up PLO player would tell me that my call on that river was standard, with the only question being could I raise for value? I’m sure in most cases the answer is no, as there really aren’t any worse hands that I could expect to get a call from there, but folding that river would have been a horrible play by me.

[/ QUOTE ]

Your heads up opponent was clearly an idiot (don't get me started on his chop negotiation). I especially like how he said "calling all the way" after he had checked the flop and turn.

Pre-flop is pretty standard since you're on the button and it's heads up. Especially if you think he's prone to overplay big pairs. OOP and/or multiway would be very different, obviously.

As for the river call (which was 3:1, btw - not the 2:1 you said in your blog), I wouldn't say it's standard since any Q + A,K,J,T,9, or 8 has you beat. And with the exception of QT (which he surely would have bet before now) you really can't eliminate these possibilities. Against this guy however, I think you could be justified, but it's close. My main defense of the call would come from the fact that his pre-flop re-raise indicates a co-ordinated hand, and almost any co-ordinated hand that hit a better straight on the river probably would have hit the flop well enough to justify a bet, at least on the turn.

Raising is undoubtedly spew unless you think he folds anything but the nuts. And again, I wouldn't count on it with this guy.