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This is the hand that tilted me the most. It was on the NLH table I was playing and it reminded me of why I chose to focus on PLO rather than NLH.
A background of the players: Most of the players at the table played in a standard tight aggressive (TAG) fashion but with some easily recognisable leaks (As expected). There was however one ultra aggressive player who would make 50BB raises preflop into a 4BB pot and all sorts of other weird plays. He didn't really allow players to see many flops so I decided to wait for a premium hand. I picked up AA in the SB, as you can see below.
I did this because I felt that if I had 3-Bet in the SB then he would have just flat called and so would the button. But regardless of whether this was a bad decision, I still got more money in preflop. Looking back at the hand now though I think I could've 6-bet a little big bigger (not that he would've folded anyway)
I decided to check raise all in on the flop because I knew he wouldn't have been able to resist taking a stab at a nice looking pot regardless of what he had. I was hoping he was thinking I had AKs or a similar hand in my range which didn't connect with the flop.
Him on the other hand was looser than my ex-girlfriend and more aggressive than Isildur1. I wouldn't be surprised if he showed up with 27o in that spot.
When his hand was revealed it was... lol wut J4o. I was pretty confident but obviously PS had other plans with my 95%~ hand. Runner, runner straight. Ughhh... I felt pretty sick but in a weird way, I was happy. I knew once in a while the 5% would win. It still tilted me slightly though.
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The next hand, It wasn't a big pot nor was I a massive favourite (~65%) but it was the hand which made me remember why I dislike NLH.
But still... J3o? Seriously? and to hit a Jack on the flop. He obviously lost his stack after that but decided not to reload. I lost my chance to withdraw from the bank of donkeytown.
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I'll move on to some of the PLO hands I played.
The first hand was 3/4 through the session.
The SB decides to pot 3-Bet my initial raise. This to me at this level screamed out AAXX, what the other 2 cards were, I had no idea. I decided to call because I hate folding to 3-bets even if my hand was abit speculative.
I flopped a nice looking wrap and a backdoor flush draw. There wasn't really any point in calling since he was so short stacked at that point after betting pot and making it clear he was pot committed. If he did indeed have naked aces, I would've been about a 60% favourite. I had 20 immediate outs if he did have naked aces, any 7, 8, J, Q or K would have won it for me. Of course there are other runner runner possibilities, 2 pairs, trips, flush etc
If by some chance he did have a hand like KQJTds I would have been in ALOT of trouble and would have had only 4 nut outs (4 7s).
His hand however was a sexy looking AAJQds which was bad news as he had a similar straight draw as me.
According to these odds. We were splitting the pot about 25% of the time and I only had about 28% to win (Backdoor flush, running 6s, any 7 or any Q).
As it was, the turn and the river were in the hands of the poker gods and in the theme of tonight's session, I missed my draws. Nothing I can do about it but concentrate on the other hands.
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The 2nd and last PLO was very interesting after analysing it later. It was practically one of the last hands I played for the session as it made me realise that I wouldn't be able to hit ANY draws no matter what. Its just one of those nights.
While playing PLO and reading strategy books. I've always known that a 4 card wrap was a slight favourite over a set on the flop, add a flush draw and practically its a bad beat if you lose. This next hand however taught me something else.
What it taught me was top set + a flush draw is a favourite against the nut straight on the flop. At the time, I thought I was a slight underdog but I was tilting abit and hadn't flopped anything good in awhile, so I got pretty excited with my hand and what I flopped.
In this case:
Tilt + wrong decision = right decision + bad outcome
Heres the hand:
Two thoughts were going through my head when he raised.
1) I could simply call his raise and try to hit one of my 16 outs or 3 for a chop but I simply don't have the patience to get to the river and fold when I miss everything.
2) I wonder, would he really get all the money in on the flop with the nut straight without a re-draw???? I know I wouldn't, I hate being freerolled.
From this, I concluded he must have at least 2 of my flush outs as well at least one of my chop outs.
As it turns out, the only reason he was confident his hand was best at the flop was because he had the T blockers and with only two Ts left, its much less likely for me to have one for the same straight.
I had 14 outs (1A, 3K, 2Q and 8 Clubs) on the flop and 2 for a chop. On the turn if I didn't make my hand, the number of outs would've gone up to 17 (If it wasn't a 9 or a J).
According to these odds, I was a 60% favourite on the flop with about 6% to chop the pot. Whereas my opponent was only 34% to win.
Eventhough I was only a slight favourite, it still boggles my mind that I was ahead. I know the stuff about the rule of 4 and 2 when it comes to calculating your outs and what percentage of the time you'll hit on the turn or river but still.
I still haven't slept so maybe this is the reason why my mind is retardedly slow in comprehending this concept.
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I'll just leave this following example for your viewing pleasure and if you do decide to play PLO then remember one of the most important things to know:
Sometimes, the best hand isn't always the best hand!
