Small Ball Pot Limit Omaha

I hate variance.

Always have.

And that's why I grind.

Look, I'm a cash game player and to me there is no reason to be flipping coins or even ending up all in pre-flop as a 60/40 favorite. Leave that shit to the tournament guys that don't have clue what they're doing after the flop.

Let me see a flop in position and by the time the turn comes I'm going to have a good idea where I am in the hand and how to proceed.

So, I take the small ball approach to PLO.

Flat call raises in position, even with monsters. Limp in early with hands that stand up to lot of callers. Suited aces and such. I want other people in the hand with suited cards that are worse than my suited aces. Because unless I completely bludgeon them they are probably going to stay with me to the river with crap like Q-J-T or even 9 high flushes.

I like to get into hands cheaply with hands that can make straights, especially if my highest card is suited. I love hands like JT86, T976. I do stay away from straight draws where my highest card is a 5, but I love a low straight draw like 8764. So many times people have something like a suited ace with low cards or are trying to flop a low set with a hand like A433 and I whack them when something like A35x flops.

But, if you really want to lower your variance, wait to see if the turn card pairs the board before putting in the big money. This will mean that you are getting your money with a much higher advantage as there is only one more card to come. Effectively cutting their chance of winning in half.

More later.

-QAsRevenge

Why Do You Play Poker?

For the money?

For the rush?

For the mental challenge?

For fame?

For fun?

Personally, I play for the money and only the money. I would much rather be wealthy and unknown than wealthy and known. Of course, I have been poor and unknown and was still fairly happy, so poor and known would have to be the worst of the lot.

Recently someone won a large pot in the Mega-Millions Lottery and had an attorney claim the prize to keep his/her identity a secret. Brother, I've always said that I would do the exact same thing. I would be here one day, and fishing in the Carribean the next.

"Hey, where did QA go?"

"Don't know, haven't seen him in a while."

Perfect.

Good luck and don't suck,

-QAsRevenge

Patience

One of the truest test of patience in poker is being seated with a player or players that are playing poorly when you are card dead.

For a long time, my lack of patience in this situation was probably my biggest leak.

I believe that every player has a notion of how they're going to play that day. And as you can read in one of my earlier blogs, I actually write down my goals for each session before starting. I'm fairly certain that I never wrote down, "Today, I will spew chips trying to show a donkey who's boss!"

That said, sometimes I would find myself just salivating to get involved with a player that I knew was playing badly, and would end up playing badly myself. Maybe even going on tilt as my frustration mounted over not being able to felt the shmuck.

Fact is, this is a combo-leak. Caused by ego and impatience.

Look, when I go fishing, I want to catch fish! Sure, the water is pretty, the scenery is nice, blah blah blah. But who are we kidding? I want a fish on my line! I want to feel the bite, set the hook, and reel that sucker in! Good times!

But, sometimes the fish aren't biting so you just have to wait.

Yesterday I had position on a player that was pretty much involved in every hand. His stack went up and down as he chased and hit and chased and missed. He over-valued hands and I knew that at some point I was going to be able to stack him off. Problem was, I couldn't hit anything and all I could do was watch as he kept spewing and reloading.

Previously, this would've driven me nuts and I probably would've been reloading myself. But, I waited....and waited....and waited. Picking up just enough small pots to keep my stack right around my buy-in. Finally, after 3 hours I hit the hand I wanted. Then, not only did I stack the donk, but also got another player to come along with his stack! Bonus!

Ahh..Patience...Worth every minute.

Good luck and don't suck,

-QAsRevenge


PS. If the photo at the beginning of this post bothers you, look into www.one.org to see what you can do.