My 1st Interesting O8B Hand (I think)

[ad617]

Comments on all streets welcome and invited:

Full Tilt Poker Game \ $2/$4 - Limit Omaha Hi/Lo - 19:15:09 ET - 2006/04/11

SB posts the small blind of $1
BB posts the big blind of $2
Hero is the button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [3h 9d 8d Ah]
UTG calls $2
UTG+1 folds
UTG+2 folds
MP folds
CO raises to $4
Hero calls $4
SB folds
BB calls $2
UTG calls $2
*** FLOP *** [7c Jc 6h]
BB checks
UTG bets $2
CO raises to $4
Hero calls $4
BB folds
UTG raises to $6
CO calls $2
Hero calls $2
*** TURN *** [7c Jc 6h] [2d]
UTG bets $4
CO raises to $8
Hero raises to $12
UTG calls $8
CO calls $4
*** RIVER *** [7c Jc 6h 2d] [6d]
UTG checks
CO checks
Hero checks

My two main questions are: is my fourth street raise ludicrous? And, should I have bet the river?

Thanks.

--AD

[Nemmy]

I don't believe that you made too big of a bet. You had the nut low and were basically freerolling at this point. Try and get in as many bets as possible in order to ensure yourself more money. If a 10 or 5 hits, you're most likely going to scoop the pot. However, you should have put in a bet on fifth street. It may be tough to recognize when you have the nut low, but it'll come with practice and experience.

[OmahaShooter]

You had the nut low on the river, however a counterfitable low, so the raise may have not of been the best play. You may also be getting quartered so you could possibly only be getting 1/4 of the money you throw in the pot back. I'd freeroll with the nutlow just calling bets, hoping for that Ten to make my straight so I could scoop the pot.

My guess though is that you got quartered and at the most got half the pot.

[ad617]

That was my thinking--It seemed about right to try and make a value raise with the nut low on 4th--but when I got both players coming with me the fear of getting quatered froze me up.

And, of course, I split the pot.

--AD

[greatwhite]

Since they both checked to you this is an easy river bet in my oppinion.

[Buzz]

[ QUOTE ]
My two main questions are: is my fourth street raise ludicrous? And, should I have bet the river?

[/ QUOTE ]AD -
(1) Your raise on the third betting round was fine.
Whether or not to raise always seems to depend on what your particular opponents will do. On th turn here it looks as though they will both call - and you do have the double nuts.

(2) Yes, you should have bet on the fourth betting round.
Checking is simply too meek.

Buzz

[mmbt0ne]

I'm usually folding this hand preflop to a raise.

Is that a mistake?

[Drizztdj]

I'm folding pre-flop.

[OmahaShooter]

This is very much so a marginal hand, I might limp to see this hand, but I probably won't play this hand from early position unless I know the table is ultra passive and they like to call/check the preflop betting.

[Buzz]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm usually folding this hand preflop to a raise.
Is that a mistake?

[/ QUOTE ]mmbt0ne - I don’t know if it’s a mistake or not. I think it depends on how much of the picture you view and what the whole picture is. From the standpoint of this particular hand, it doesn’t seem unreasonable to fold to the pre-flop raise. However, if you are allowing yourself to generally be intimidated by pre-flop raises, perhaps you are making a mistake.

Why is CO raising? What is CO raising with? (rhetorical)

What hands will you play to a pre-flop raise from CO when you are on the button? (not rhetorical)

Do you handle raises from anyone sitting in the cut off seat the same as anyone else, or does what you do depend (amongst other things) on who CO is? (not rhetorical, but a question for you to answer for yourself, not for me).

How to handle pre-flop raises seems a complex issue. There’s more involved than just this one hand.

Opponents often use tactics that are more appropriate for Texas hold ‘em than Omaha-8. For example, usually raising when entering the action, is a tactic that seems more appropriate to some THE games than a typical casino limit-O8 ring game.

But even if raising before the flop is not as wise a move in a typical limit-O8 ring game as it is in THE, if we fold a decent hand when somebody makes such a move, we may be making a mistake that may actually validate our opponent’s ploy, changing the pre-flop raise from what would have been a mistake if we called into what becomes an excellent play when we are induced to fold.

The hand itself, A-3-8-9-double-suited, is not a premium hand. Some consider it too flawed to voluntarily play from any position, even the button, even for one bet. Even though suited together, an eight and nine are not generally good cards to have in a starting hand. But the other two cards, the suited ace-trey combination is a very nice two-card combination, one of the best in the deck.

Altogether then, with two unfavorable cards and two favorable cards, A389d turns out to be a rather mediocre starting hand. However, I would play it for a single bet from the button (and maybe from any position, depending).

But do I want to play it for a double bet before the flop, even from the button? Certainly not.

Does that mean I’ll fold it to the double bet? Not necessarily. (Depends mostly on how I think CO is playing).

Buzz