Starstealer's Tournament Report: $10+1 Limit Omaha Hi/Lo tournament on Pokerstars

When I started this tournament, I was still involved in another tournament - a $10+1 NL HE tournament. It was a small field of 311, so the tournament paid out to 36 players. I expected the money line to be just over 2 hours away from the start, so with a start time of 11:15pm, I knew it was going to be a late night.

In hand #1, I was in early position with A4TQ suited ([As] ) and limped after UTG limped. There were two other limpers and the BB with me. We see the flop 5 handed. The flop is . It checks to me and I bet with my 2nd nut low and draw to the nut flush. Everyone calls except for the UTG player. The turn is the and I bet again. This time however, it is raised and reraised before it comes back to me. I call with my flush draw (and in case the 3 falls on the river) - knowing that I'm up against a straight or two. Its capped behind me and I call that as well. The river, unfortunately is the and I fold to the bets.

In hand #8, I was in MP with 3456 suited ([6s] ) and both players before me limped. I limped as well, and there were 3 others in (the BB was sitting out and folded). The flop is and it checks around to the last player, who bets. There are 2 calls back to me, so I call as well. The turn is the and I check-call another bet as the last player to act. The river pairs the seven and I fold to one bet. As it turns out, I would've won the low side of the pot - which is why I hate folding to that 1 bet on the river. However, I knew I was in a bad spot - so calling along in the first place was just bad. I'm now down to 1170 and a little pissed at the way I've played so far.

In hand #12, I was in the BB with 2347 suited ([7s] ). There were five limpers and the SB who completed. I checked. The flop is and it checks around to the last player, who bets. The SB folds, I call, UTG folds and the rest call. The turn is the and I check fold.

In hand #13, I was in the SB with A33J suited ([Js] ). There are four limpers to me, and I complete; the BB checks. The flop is and I check-fold.

In hand #21, I was in the BB with A7TQ suited ([Qh] ). There are four limpers with me, so I check. The flop is and I check-fold to a raised bet. (I included this hand because it is important to remember to get away from straight boards when you've got 2 pair. My hand wouldn't look too bad in Hold'em - but in Omaha Hi/Lo - this is a classic trap.

In hand #25, I was in MP with A7JJ double suited (hearts to the ace, clubs to the jack). With only one limper to me, I limp in. The SB completes and then the BB raises. Everyone calls to see the flop. The flop is and I fold to a bet from the BB.

In hand #31, I complete the SB after four limpers with A489 suited ([4d] ). The flop is 6-handed and comes with the . I check and it checks around. The turn is the - making my straight but also putting out a flush. I bet out here and got called twice. The river was the and I checked it down (they checked after me). I somehow won with my hand and took the pot. This hand brought me back up to 1355.

In hand #43, with the limits at 100/200, I'm in MP with AA88 suited ([Ad] ). It folds to me and I raise. The cutoff calls, as does the SB. The BB folds. The flop is (I have the nut flush). I bet and am called by the player on my left. The turn is an offsuit ten and I bet again - he calls (he has 35 chips left). The river is the and I bet again - he calls. He takes half of the pot with the rivered low.

In hand #49, the hand before the break, I'm in the SB with A28K double suited (spades to the ace, diamonds to the king). UTG+1 limps and it folds to me. I just call and the BB checks. The flop is and I bet out. BB folds and the limper calls. The turn is the and I bet again - he calls. The river is the and I bet again, and now he comes alive for a raise - which I call. He shows 2356 for the 6-high straight. We split. I finish the first hour with 1302 in my stack.

In hand #50, I have AA48 double suited (diamonds and spades) on the button. There are four limpers to me, so I raise. Both blinds fold, but all four limpers call. The flop is and the 2nd limper leads off with a bet (he's a known action player at this point - in 80% of the hands thus far). Two limpers call to me and I call. The first limper folds. The turn is the and the lead player places a bet again - it is called around. The river is the - making my nut flush and it is bet again. The first limper calls, the next calls allin and I raise (allin) - both other players call. I split both the main pot and the side pot with the 3rd limper (the bettor in each round had JJT7). The low was taken with an A3xx too. I'm up to 2687.

In hand #52, I have AA45 suited ([Ah] ) and raise after UTG+1 limps. The button, SB and BB all call - as does the UTG+1 limper. The flop is and the SB leads out with a bet. The BB and the limper call, and I raise. The button reraises and the SB calls (allin). The BB calls and the limper folds. I call. The turn is the and it is checked to the button who puts himself all-in for 220. The BB and I both call. The river pairs the board 9 and puts a flush out. The BB checks and I bet - he raises allin for another 143 and I call. I take the side pot (knocking out the BB), but I lose the other side pot to the straight and the main pot to the flush.

-- I can't believe I mishandled this hand so badly. On the positive side, I was the only one drawing to a low hand after the flop, and I suspected my hand might be good enough. However, with so many people going allin - I should've gotten out I guess. Luckily, given my win of the side pot, I was only down about 500 on the hand - it definitely could've been MUCH worse...

In hand #53, I have A49T double suited (diamonds to the ace, clubs to the nine) in MP. I open-limp and only the button and BB join me. The flop is and I check to the button, who bets. The BB folds and I call. The turn is the and we both check. The river is the and we check again. We split.

In hand #55, I have A38J suited ([Ac] ) UTG. I limp and there are 2 other limpers plus the BB. The flop is and I check-call to a single bet from LHO after everyone else calls. The turn is the and I fold to a bet.

In hand #57, I have A44K suited ([Ad] ) in the SB. UTG and UTG+1 both limp and it folds to me. I complete and the BB checks. The flop is - so I've got the nut straight on a rainbow board. I bet out and UTG+1 is the only caller. The turn is the and he calls again. The river is the and I bet and he calls again. I scoop the pot. He had A28J. This brought me back up to a semi-comfortable 3023 in chips with limits at 150/300.

In hand #58, I have 9TKK suited ([Tc] ) on the button. There were two limpers, so I called as well. The SB and BB both joined in. The flop is and it checks around to me. I bet - everyone folds.

In hand #60, I have A357 double suited (clubs to the ace, diamonds to the seven) and open limp from MP. The cutoff and both blinds join me. The flop is 235 - all spades. I check-fold.

In hand #64, I have A37Q suited ([Ac] ) from UTG. I limp in, as does UTG+1. The SB and BB join us for the flop, which is . I check-fold.

In hand #66, I have A389 suited ([8d] ) in the SB. The BB is a guy I know in real life and while a somewhat decent player, I tend to have a good read on his play. There's a MP limper and I complete. The BB checks and we see the flop : . I bet out and they both call. At this point, I'm virtually certain that the BB doesn't have the straight with me - and I have to suspect a low draw - but knowing him - it isn't always to the nuts. The turn is the and I bet again - both players call again. The river is the - putting out a flush and counterfeiting my 2nd nut low. I check and the BB bets. The other player calls. I decide to make the crying call - and sure enough my friend in the BB did have A44T suited in hearts to the ace. This brought me down to 1873 in chips.

In hand #68, I have A39T suited ([3s] ) in the cutoff. I open limp and the SB and BB both join me. The flop is and I fold when it is bet and raised by the blinds before me.

In hand #71, I have AA8J suited ([Ah] ) from UTG+1 and open raise. Only the SB calls. The flop is and the SB bets out. I raise, he calls. The turn is the and he checks. I bet - he calls. The river is the and I bet again - he calls. I take the whole pot.

-- The river card here is absolutely the worst - putting out a flush and a low - but luckily for me - my opponent had neither.

In hand #73, I have A23Q suited ([Ah] ) in the BB. UTG limps, as does a MP. The cutoff then raises and is called by the button; the SB folds. I call the raise, as do both limpers. The flop is and I check. UTG checks and the MP limper bets out. The cutoff raises and the button folds. Back to me, I call, as does UTG and the MP. The turn is the and now UTG leads out for a bet. However, he gets one call (from the MP) - so I call as well. The river is the - so I've now hit my nut low (with no hope for high with the flush out) and call a last bet from UTG. I take the low, UTG takes the high with the nut flush. I'm now up to 4923.

In hand #77, I have A24Q rainbow and open raise from MP (limits are now 300/600). I get called by the player on my left (cutoff) and the button. The SB folds and the BB calls. The flop is and I lead with a bet after BB checks. The cutoff calls and now the button raises. The BB folds and I call; so does the cutoff. The turn is the and I check. The cutoff checks and the button bets. I call, and the cutoff folds. The river is the and seeing that the button only has 436 left, I bet out (on the off chance he'll fold and I can scoop). He calls. We split. He takes the high with a set of kings. I'm up to 5798.

In hand #84, I have A35Q suited ([Ad] ) in MP. My RHO limps in, I call and my LHO calls as well. The SB completes and the BB checks. The flop is and it checks to me, I check and the player after me checks. The turn is the and now the BB comes out with a bet, I call and the SB calls as well. The river is an unfortunate , however, both players check. I check as well. I take the high half of the pot. Low is taken with A7xx.

In hand #88, I call a raise from the BB with A45T suited, but fold to a raised bet on a high flop ([Qh] )

In hand #92, I'm in MP with A48K suited ([Ah] ) and open-limp. The button calls and the BB checks. The flop is and I bet when the BB checks. Only the button calls. The turn is the and I check-fold.

In hand #100, I have A38K suited ([Ah] ) in MP and call 2 bets from an UTG raise. I'm the only caller. The flop is and I call another bet. The turn is the and now I fold.

In hand #104, I have A355 suited ([3h] ) in the BB. Only the cutoff calls and the flop is . I check-call his bet. The turn is the and I check-raise him here (hoping he'll fold fearing the flush), but he reraises me all-in and I call. The river is the and we split (he had a set of queens - man I WISH I had the flush...).

We hit the 2nd break after hand #110. I'm at 2998 with the limits about to increase to 600/1200.

In hand #112, I have 48KK in the BB. It is folded to the SB (12.5k) who raises. I like this situation with just my kings, so I reraise - and he calls. The flop is . He checks, I bet, he calls. The turn is the and I finish myself off with a bet (fully knowing that I'm in deep shit here). He calls. He shows A26T - and I can't even hit my king to save me. In fact - I could only hit one of the two fours to stay alive. The river is the ! and I take the pot. I'm up to 5996.

In hand #114, I have A338 suited ([3h] ) and raise from the button as the first player in. Only the BB calls. The flop is . He checks, I bet - he folds. I'm up to 7196.

In hand #119, I have A445 suited ([Ad] ) and raise from UTG - everyone folds. I'm up to 8096.

In hand #121, I have AA79 suited ([7c] ) in the SB. The cutoff open raises (10304) and I reraise. He calls. The flop is and I bet out. He calls. The turn is and I bet again - he calls. The river is the he calls my bet. He has AKJ2 and I take the pot. I'm up to 12896.

In hand #122, I have 234Q suited ([3s] ) on the button. The player from the previous hand limps, I limp and the BB checks. The flop is and it checks around. The turn is the and the BB bets (allin), I fold.

In hand #124, I have A35J suited ([Ad] ) in MP and open-raise. Everyone folds.

In hand #129, I have A45K suited ([Ah] ) in the SB. UTG calls (allin for less than the bet), UTG+1 limps, and the cutoff limps. I call and now the BB comes in with a raise all-in (another 426). Everyone calls this raise. The flop is and it checks around. The turn is the and it checks around again. The river is the and I fold to a bet.

In hand #130, I have A234 suited ([Ad] ) on the button and open raise. Only the BB calls (and he's all-in). He has 799J and I hit the nut low with aces on the flop to knock him out. I'm back up to 11815.

In hand #139, I have A29K suited ([2h] ) in the cutoff. UTG limps in and I raise. The BB calls (all-in), as does the limper. The flop is . He checks, I bet, he calls. The turn is the and he pushes all-in - I call. He has trip kings, I have my boat. He can only tie if an ace hits the river and the other allin player is drawing completely dead to a flush. I scoop the pot and now I'm up to 15917.

In hand #148, everyone folded to me in the BB - so I was still up at 15317. Limits increase to 1200/2400 next hand.

In hand #152, I have A234 suited ([As] ) in MP and open-raise. I get one caller - the cutoff. The flop is , I bet, he calls. The turn is the , I bet - he calls. The river is the , again - I bet - he fold. I take the 13.8k pot... I'm up to 22517.

In hand #154, I have A35Q suited ([Ac] ) UTG and limp in. Everyone folds to the BB, who checks. The flop is and he check-folds to my bet.

In hand #155, I have A235 suited ([2h] ) in the BB. MP limps, MP2 raises and it folds to me. I call - so does MP. The flop is and I check-fold to a bet from the PFR.

In hand #156, I have 488Q suited ([4d] ) in the SB. It folds around to the button, who limps. I decide to complete and the BB checks. The flop is - giving me bottom set. I bet out and only the button calls. He's a short stack - so I'm intending on getting him all-in on the turn regardless of the card - but I'd rather not see a low card come off. The turn is the and he calls when I push him in. The river is the - putting out straights and flushes - but I still manage the high side with my low set. He takes the low with the 2nd nut low (35).

In hand #157, the limits have increased to 2k/4k and it is folded to me on the button. I raise with ATJQ suited and both blinds fold.

In hand #160, I'm in MP with 24QK suited ([2s] ) and limp in. Only the blinds join me. The flop is and I bet when both blinds check. Only the BB calls. The turn is the and I bet again - he calls. The river is the and now he comes out betting into me. I call. He takes the low (runner-runner) and I take the high.

In hand #161, I'm UTG+1 with A3QK suited ([3h] ) and limp in. It folds to the SB, who raises. The BB calls the raise, as do I. The flop is . The SB bets and the BB raises. I fold.

In hand #162, I'm UTG with A3TJ suited ([Ad] ) and limp in. It folds around to the BB, who checks. He's only got 5773 after posting his blind - I've got 18k after making the call. The flop is and I bet - he calls. The turn is the - giving me top two pair. He pushes all-in - I call. He has 347Q. The river is a deuce - and with his newly made straight - he takes the pot.

In hand #163, I'm in the BB with 457Q and check when only the SB calls (same player as last hand). The flop is and he bets. I call with my open-ended straight. The turn is another 5 and he checks. I bet - he folds. I'm back up to 16744.

In hand #169, I have A37J suited ([7d] ) in the BB. The cutoff open raises (23600) and the button calls (31686). I call as well. The flop is and I check-fold

In hand #170, the limits increase to 3k/6k and I have A27Q suited ([7c] ) and it folds to the button (10546) - who raises. I call and the BB folds. The flop is and I bet into him - he raises all-in - I call. He shows . I manage to hit a 5 on the turn to take the low half of the pot.

In hand #172, I'm in the cutoff and open raise with A39Q suited - everyone behind me folds. I'm at 17744.

In hand #180, I have A29Q suited ([2d] ) and open raise from MP. Only the BB calls (50k). The flop is and I bet - he calls. The turn is another 8 and he bets into me - I call all-in with just my low draw and flush draw and straight draw. I eke out a 3 on the river and take the low half. He had trip 8s for the high.

In hand #184, I have 6247 and am in the BB for 3k. I have 46QQ suited ([6s] ). There are 3 limpers plus the SB in. I check and see the flop of TT8 and I bet. Only 1 player calls. The turn is a 7 and I push the rest of my chips - he calls. He has and hits an ace on the river to scoop. I finished 15th place.

Nice report. I'm surprised you got so far considering your rocky start and then your lucky river suckout.

A couple questions,

Hand 129, you had the second nut low and folded to the river bet after it getting checked the entire way. I'm new to the game but were you that certain you were losing or at best 1/4 the pot?

Hand 139, you meant that he had trip 9's, not k's right or that would give him the nut boat.

Also, all your chips seem to disappear at the end. You win half the chips in 180 so you had at least as much as you started with but then you are short stacked all of a sudden. Did you get blinded out some or miss a hand?

Yes - I was getting blinded out big time - after hand 170 the blinds were 1500/3000 with limits at 3k/6k. So it may seem abrupt, but realize I'm also playing with 6-8 players at this point because there are so few people left.

Yes - 139, I misspoke - he had trip nines and could only improve to tie.

Okay - 129. Here's my take on it. I have the second nut low with no hope at high and a 1600 bet coming into me. The pot before the bet is 5542 with 2 all-in players. I'm playing for at most half of that - so 2771+800 = 3571. 3571:1600 is slightly better than 2:1. If I get quartered at all - then I'm in bad shape and of course, a nut low from one or both of the all-in players is not that unlikely.

Now, if I had ANY high equity, even as little as a set, I would probably make the call. But otherwise, I don't like my odds.