Xaston was nice enough to stake me in a $200 PLO tourney on paradise because there was a huge overlay and he thought i would do well. I outlasted him but ended up finishing 220 or so out of 520 when my AcAQcT failed to win against T984 on a Tc9c8s flop where i was the favorite. I got short and lost with JT97ss to AAxx a few hands later.

Here's a key hand of the tourney. Opponent has been decently aggressive but not overly. Would seem to cb on the flop if he hit.

Paradise Poker
Pot Limit Omaha Tournament
Blinds: t25/t50
10 players


Stack sizes:
UTG: t2220
UTG+1: t5630
UTG+2: t6165
MP1: t2250
MP2: t1580
MP3: t1045
CO: t1300
Button: t6325
SB: t2310
Hero: t4755

Pre-flop: (10 players) Hero is BB with

2 folds, UTG+2 raises to t175, MP1 folds, MP2 calls t175 (pot was t250), 4 folds, Hero calls t125 (pot was t425).

Flop: (t550, 3 players)
Hero checks, UTG+2 checks, MP2 checks.

Turn: (t550, 3 players)
Hero bets t550, UTG+2 calls t550 (pot was t1100), MP2 folds.

River: (t1650, 2 players)
Hero checks, UTG+2 bets t1650, Hero ????

Ok, i figured there was no point of betting the river but is he trying to buy the pot from me or not. His bet was quick but not instant. What do you do and why?

You won't be crippled if you call and lose, but this early on, I'd probably wait for a better hand than 2 pair on a straight/flush board... If you're prepared to call a PSB on the river, wouldn't it be better to lead out with 800 or so? If he comes over the top, you can safely fold, and if he doesn't, you get to the showdown for half-price.

i wasn't worried about the spades as if he had a spade draw, i think he would have had a cb on the flop so i was worried about a QJ backed in straight. If i bet out, he folds hands like AA, a missed straight draw, missed hearts, ect, and calls/raises with the spade flush or possibly QJ. So he folds the hands i beat and calls or raises with hands i don't beat.

By checking, i still lose to the same hands but I get him to bluff his missed ones too. True i may lose more if i call a pot sized bet if he had QJ and I could have blocked him for less, but the times he bluffs makes up for it. So the question is, is he bluffing?

whoa, what would pushing do besides maybe getting QJ to fold? If he decided to take the free card on the flop with a flush draw, I'm asking to get knocked out if i raise. This is a call or fold situation.

i think you should have thought about this before you bet the turn. there are not a lot of cards that you really want to see on the river (basically just your four outs to the boat and ).

since you're oop, i think there are two lines you can take. you can check and hope it gets checked down or there's a small bet. the other option is to do what you did and call any bet on the river if you don't fill up. if you're not willing to call the river bet, i don't think you should put money in the pot on the turn.

fwiw, i would consider betting this flop if i thought i the bet would take it down (really depends on table texture and reads).

I actually spent the entire trip home thinking about this one hand. The key piece of information we're missing here is how villian got his big stack -

* If he got it primarily by pushing people out of pots when scare cards hit, I call.

* If he got it primarily by showing down winning hands, I fold.

Given that Brian called this a key hand of the tournament, I doubt he folded. Instead, he put on his trusty Sheriff's badge and faced down Black Bart on a scary board. Black Bart flipped over a busted heart flush draw, and Sheriff Brian saved the day once again.