More from the Stud 8ob files... And a little Omaha 8 ob

Well, I played a little Omaha 8ob while I was unloading at WalMart in Robert, Louisiana the other night and I booked a solid profit. I played two pot limit games with blinds of $.10/$.25. I bought in for $10 at each table, much less than I usually do. The games where very soft, hardly any raises preflop, so you could play some more speculative hands then normal. I played a lot of the high only starting hands, 9-9-10-J, A-K-10-10, then I normally would. I hit a few of them hard and made some good money. I think playing the two tables simutaneously helped me a lot. I had to pay more attention. I couldn't surf the net or talk on the phone like I normally do. There where a few times when I had the nut high and made a big bet to get my opponents to fold, thereby eliminating the need to split the pot. I don't know, maybe it was just good cards, but I think I played well.

I played some more 7 stud 8ob this week, and I have come to a conclusion. At the levels I play at, the worst hand you can catch is two pair. I have seen more big pots lost with this hand than almost all the others combined. People just can't seem to lay this hand down, and some people will jam the pot! Even when their opponent looks like they are drawing to the low with a flush or a straight to go with it. This isn't hold'em, you can't protect a hand if you are drawing to half the pot. Pairs of eights through kings are especially bad. If you have eights-up, the best low you can make is an eight, and anything larger than eights-up, you can't even make a low! I don't think people pay enough attention to other peoples boards. They just know they have two pair and they are going to make it to a showdown. If I have a low and an inside straight draw against someone with a big pair showing, I am going to jam. I am almost guaranteed to get all my money back, and when I do hit the straight, I get it all. The bottom line is this- pay attention to your opponents boards, and don't get married to your kings-up.

Getting back with another old friend...Stud 8ob

Well, the week has been a little rough once again. Not so many bad beats though, more of a combination of bad starting hands and feeling the need to play some of the better, but still marginal hands. The worst of it came in a $.05-$.10 NL game. I folded hand after hand and after losing about $5.00 I bought myself back to the $20 max. I was dealt 9-4os in the small blind. I almost never call even half a bet with something so bad, but I just felt I should take a flop and see what comes up. Well, it hits me pretty hard with a Q-9-4 with two diamonds. I take the lead and fire out a pot size bet and only get called by one guy, who had $35 sitting in front of him. I think this was my problem here, he had been running hot, and was willing to gamble since he was up. The turn brought another diamond and I fired another pot size bet only to be called again. The river brought a blank and I bet big again. I now had $15 of my $20 in the pot and the big stack called. I didn't think he had the flush because of his flat calling me the entire way. He turns over Q-9os for top two pair and I am devastated. I think the only way I could have avoided this was to fold preflop, like I almost always do. Maybe after the third diamond hit I should have checked, but I wanted to know where I was at. I didn't think he had the flush because he didn't raise. This was a case where he would have called me down if I had the nuts, it just happens that I didn't. I had to shut it down for the night after that one. I just took it too hard. I just blew through about 1/8 of my bankroll at that site and I was on major tilt.

I had to change something. I remembered seeing an ad for Wilson Turbo software in my Cardplayer magazine. They make several computer programs that teach you how to play different types of poker games. They are normally $89.95, but are going for $59.95 right now. That is a pretty good bargain, but I haven't bought any of them yet. Instead I downloaded the demo version of their 7 Stud high/low 8 or better trainer. Stud 8ob is a game played just like regular 7 card stud, but the pot is split between the high hand and the lowest hand. In order to have a low you must have five different cards 8 or lower. If there is no low hand then the high hand takes the entire pot. The beautiful thing in this game is when you win both halves of the pot, also known as a scoop. You can do this several different ways, small straights, flushes with low cards, or even a low with two pair or a pair of aces. Anyway, the demo lets you play through 20 hands to let you get the feel of it. I went through it and noticed that I wasn't playing optimally according to the program. I have made a lot of money and I have lost a lot of money playing stud8ob, and I think I know why. I was being way to aggressive with my one way hands. I guess I was only playing my cards and not paying enough attention to what the other players where showing. I would get four cards to a seven low and I would want to bet the hell out of it. When I looked at the advice the program was giving me it slowed me down a little. The other player had three small cards to a straight showing. Where I was playing for a low, he was playing to scoop.

You really have to pay attention to the other players in this game, so much more than in hold'em. Stud80b is supposed to be a low variance game, meaning that you won't have huge ups and downs in you winnings and losings. For some reason that wasn't true for me and I think this is why.

A few days later, I went back to the $.25-$.50 stud8ob tables at Ultimate Bet for the first time in ages. I had not played any stud in a while because it is what depleted my bankroll the first time I was at UB. I played a very tight, solid game. I was not as aggressive as I usually am with my draws though, and it payed off. About a half hour later I got up from the table with an extra $5. Not much, but that isn't what I am going for right now. I want to learn, I want to be able to step up to $1-$2 and $3-$6 and know I can hold my own. Mike Sexton, the host of the WPT, made his living for years playing stud8ob. Granted he was playing $60-$120 and $80-$160, but maybe one day I can sit down at a $20-$40 table on the net and grind out about $50 per hour. That wouldn't be to bad, would it?

This should also help with my H.O.R.S.E. game, even though every time I play I am reminded of how much I dislike limit hold'em and those drawing out donkeys, but that's for my next post.

My screen name 

The cards even out.... And a very DUMB play

Well, it has been a rough couple of days at Ultimate Bet. I have dropped back down into the $140 range through a combination of bad beats and dumb plays. Now my top two pair are running into the sets, and my aces are cracked by ace-ten suited. Oh well, that's poker. I just wish I would stop paying these people off when I know I am beat. It all evens out in the end, I just need to lose less with my hands when I am beat, and milk my winners for everything I can.

I would like to talk about a hand I played a few days ago. I was dealt pocket aces in early position, and I raised to $.40. Everyone folded to the big blind who flat calls. The flop comes 7-8-jack with two diamonds. The big blind leads out with a pot sized bet, and I raise him back $1 to see where I am at. He comes over the top for another $1 and I put on the brakes and just flat call. I am not sure what he has but 9-10 for the straight is a big possibility. The turn is ugly, the king of diamonds, and the big blind bets $1. Hmmm, is he trying to get paid off, or is he afraid of the flush? I don't know, but this board is looking really bad for my aces. I decide to flat call and see what happens on the river. A six rolls off and then my opponent makes a very DUMB play. He bets $.10 into a pot of nearly $8.00! I think about it for a second, we each have over half our stacks in the pot, and he makes a minimum bet? I consider calling but I am afraid that my aces have been cracked by a small straight or a set, but I am pretty sure that my opponent doesn't like his hand much either. I move all in for my last $4 and change. My opponent folds his hand, and I take down a nice size pot.

What the hell was this guy thinking? I raised preflop, raised on the flop and called him down all the way to the river. Did he think a $.10 bet would scare me? Was he trying to make another $.10 on the end? It just didn't add up, I read him as being weak and I forced him to fold his hand. That $.10 cost him a chance at $8.00. Why would you even make this bet? It just tells your opponent that you are scared. Even a check would be better here. I might have just checked it behind him thinking he was setting me up for a check-raise. I read in one of the many poker magazines that when you make a bet, it needs to have a purpose. You need to consider what you are trying to do with that bet. Are you trying to get more money in the pot, trying to protect a made hand, or do you want you opponent to fold? This bet was none of these. You can't just make a dumb bet like this, a good player will see right through you and punish you for it. Where my aces good? I don't know, but I knew that my opponent didn't have the nuts either. I took a chance and made a bet with a purpose - I have a hand, if you want to see it, it will cost you the rest of your chips- and my opponent did what I wanted him to. Just think before you make a bet, what will my opponent think of this bet, and how do I make him do what I want?