Wednesday, July 22, 2009

How sick is this?

How's this for losing two hands in a row, to runner runner!

I'm playing Heads-Up Pot-Limit-Omaha, and we're at about the 3rd level.
I've got a 1600 - 1400 chip lead, when this happens.

I flop the flush, and pot bet - he calls (no raise, with a bigger flush, or anything like that). Turn makes him a straght, with the 5. Again, I pot bet, he just smooth calls. River, another 5. I bet half the pot and he doubles the bet. I call, he turns over a full house. I know he was calling to hit an 8, a 6 or a 7, but to lose to a runner-runner pair is just a nightmare.

I've done about 600 chips, so the stacks are at 1800 - 1200. The very next hand (no exaggeration, I mean the very next hand), this happens.

We both check the flop, and I make my flush on the turn. So I bet half the pot, and he just flat calls. The river pairs the board (again), so I bet half the pot again. I get instantly re-raised.
My first thought is that he's bluffing and trying to get me off a small flush (which is essentially what I have), I mean, for Pete's sake, I can't have expected him to runner me again.

So, I call. Insane - he turns over another full house. Seriously, what are the odds that I would lose two hands in a row, where I made my flush, both to runner-runner turn and river paired boards.

That hand cost me half my stack, so I'm down to 600, versus 2400. No matter what hand I played I got out-drawn until I eventually got all my chips in (last 300) with top pair and a flush draw, and he sucked out with runner-runner to make a straight.

Recently I played a series of about 20 PLO heads-up on PKR and won 15 of them. So I know what I am doing and consider myself a pretty good heads-up PLO player. Over the last two days I have played 4 HU PLO games on Absolute, and lost all of them.

There's variance, and then there's variance. I won't be playing HU PLO on Absolute any more; unless I can learn to get it in with the worst hand and hope for the best.

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