Wild Kingdom: Hands 161—176

Just four of the original 65 players remain in an online PLO8 Bounty tournament. I’m the chip leader as player 21, but even I only have 17BB. We’ve been in the money since we got to the final table, but I’ve also picked up several bounties. It’s going to be an action-packed batch of hands!

HAND 161 4000/8000 69J Q T
PLAYER POSITION CARDS CHIPS START PRE-FLOP POST-FLOP PRE-TURN POST-TURN PRE-RIVER RIVER
27 UTG A3J2 33.5K 30/37 52/38 49/20 37 0
7 D 8954 41.9K 23/8
41 SB 882K 114.8K 24/2
21 BB 68A9 134.7K 33/2 48/11 51/1 63 100

UTG has a suited ace and a great low draw, with 41% of the pre-flop equity. He pots to 28K. I have 8K in the pot already, UTG only has 5.5K behind, so I repot (88K), and he’s all-in. The board isn’t kind to him, cutting off escape avenues on each street. I take another bounty with sixes and nines, and player 27 goes out in 4th.

HAND 162 4000/8000 65T 4 5
PLAYER POSITION CARDS CHIPS START PRE-FLOP POST-FLOP PRE-TURN POST-TURN PRE-RIVER RIVER
7 BB 679J 41.9K 30/15 39/34 32/13 33/31 0/0
41 D 75Q8 110.8K 21/36
21 SB KK83 172.3K 49/12 61/18 68/49 67/69 100/100

I’ve got the other two players outchipped, but I’ve still got only a little over 20BB. I open to 24K with double-suited kings. BB goes all-in with a run-down and I call. The flop looks good for him, he has a variety of outs to a straight that don’t complete my club flush, but the turn and river just tease, leaving him empty. I collect the bounty and player 7 is out in 3rd.

HAND 163 4000/8000
PLAYER POSITION CARDS CHIPS START PRE-FLOP POST-FLOP PRE-TURN POST-TURN PRE-RIVER RIVER
41 BB 94J5 110.8K 44/40
21 D K6JQ 214.2K 56/0

I’ve got nearly twice what BB has in chips. I min-raise to 16K and BB folds.

HAND 164 4000/8000
PLAYER POSITION CARDS CHIPS START PRE-FLOP POST-FLOP PRE-TURN POST-TURN PRE-RIVER RIVER
41 D JT93 102.8K 49/0
21 BB 8K97 222.2K 52/40

D folds.

HAND 165 4000/8000
PLAYER POSITION CARDS CHIPS START PRE-FLOP POST-FLOP PRE-TURN POST-TURN PRE-RIVER RIVER
41 BB K625 98.8K 50/37
21 D 6Q74 226.2K 51/18

I fold my button.

HAND 166 4000/8000 8K7
PLAYER POSITION CARDS CHIPS START PRE-FLOP POST-FLOP PRE-TURN POST-TURN PRE-RIVER RIVER
41 D A9T6 102.8K 60/21 70/25
21 BB 3J47 222.2K 43/37 31/49

I call D’s min-raise with a double-suited hand. He’s got a wrap around the lower cards on the flop and pots 32K. I fold.

HAND 167 4000/8000 AK9
PLAYER POSITION CARDS CHIPS START PRE-FLOP POST-FLOP PRE-TURN POST-TURN PRE-RIVER RIVER
41 BB 24J2 118.8K 40/33 12/18
21 D TKA8 206.2K 60/16 88/0

I raise to 24K from the button and BB calls with deuces. I pot 48K with flopped top two pair and he folds.

HAND 168 4000/8000
PLAYER POSITION CARDS CHIPS START PRE-FLOP POST-FLOP PRE-TURN POST-TURN PRE-RIVER RIVER
41 D K44A 94.8K 30/18
21 BB AAJ3 230.2K 71/31

He doesn’t even try.

HAND 169 4000/8000 2T6
PLAYER POSITION CARDS CHIPS START PRE-FLOP POST-FLOP PRE-TURN POST-TURN PRE-RIVER RIVER
41 BB 9QQ3 90.8K 66/0
21 D 9583 234.2K 36/56

I limp in from the button and BB checks his queens. He folds to a bet on the flop of 16K.

HAND 170 5000/10000 622
PLAYER POSITION CARDS CHIPS START PRE-FLOP POST-FLOP PRE-TURN POST-TURN PRE-RIVER RIVER
41 D 78QQ 82.8K 61/4 83/10
21 BB 867A 242.2K 46/55 20/72

Blinds are up again. D limps in and I check. He min-bets with two pair and a flush draw, I fold.

HAND 171 5000/10000
PLAYER POSITION CARDS CHIPS START PRE-FLOP POST-FLOP PRE-TURN POST-TURN PRE-RIVER RIVER
41 BB 25A5 92.8K 49/47
21 D 94T5 232.2K 52/7

I fold the button.

HAND 172 5000/10000 8QJ
PLAYER POSITION CARDS CHIPS START PRE-FLOP POST-FLOP PRE-TURN POST-TURN PRE-RIVER RIVER
41 D A257 97.8K 47/50 46/24
21 BB 6J2K 227.2K 53/6 54/1

This is where I start to lose control of the game. I had more than twice D’s stack, but that doesn’t mean a lot in PLO8. I wanted to go for the kill here and went with the double-suited hand. I’m not as far behind as all that pre-flop, and call a pot vet to 30K. I’m marginally ahead for the high half on the flop, with middle pair, but I don’t have the flush draw and no good low, so I fold to a c-bet of 60K.

HAND 173 5000/10000 K87 9 9
PLAYER POSITION CARDS CHIPS START PRE-FLOP POST-FLOP PRE-TURN POST-TURN PRE-RIVER RIVER
41 BB T273 127.8K 36/24 80/14 90/8 100
21 D T3A3 197.2K 64/31 20/56 10/38 0

I start this hand with 64% overall equity. Suited ace, low pair, second-nut low draw against essentially nothing. I open to 30K and get called. The flop isn’t so good for me, a ten makes two pair for BB. I need an ace or the case three for the high pot, or another low card. Nothing comes, however, and BB’s seven is all he needs for the win.

HAND 174 5000/10000
PLAYER POSITION CARDS CHIPS START PRE-FLOP POST-FLOP PRE-TURN POST-TURN PRE-RIVER RIVER
41 D 2429 255.6K 45/32
21 BB Q475 69.4K 56/20

Now I’m the one who’s massively outchipped. D raises to 30K and I fold.

HAND 175 5000/10000 2K3 7 T
PLAYER POSITION CARDS CHIPS START PRE-FLOP POST-FLOP PRE-TURN POST-TURN PRE-RIVER RIVER
41 BB 3962 265.6K 41/34 43/1 10/0 0/0
21 D 47AK 59.4K 59/22 57/73 90/100 100/100

I open to 30K and BB calls. Both of us start with good low draws, but his gets counterfeit on the flop. BB bets 30K with two pair, I have almost that many chips left and call with the straight draw, nut low draw, and top pair. On the turn, I have 95% equity, and the river doubles me up with a scoop.

HAND 176 5000/10000 6QJ 7 A
PLAYER POSITION CARDS CHIPS START PRE-FLOP POST-FLOP PRE-TURN POST-TURN PRE-RIVER RIVER
41 D 243J 206.2K 40/44 66/25 87/25 100/100
21 BB K256 118.8K 60/11 34/1 13/0 0/0

D calls and I pot to 30K, which he calls. I want to go in for another double-up, and I’ve got a decent low draw, but I don’t know his is even better. The turn isn’t good for me, although I pick up bottom pair, but I commit, and bet 60K, D calls with middle pair. I shove the last bit in on the turn with just 13% equity, D calls, and he scoops the hand for the tournament win.

Summary

I was involved in this tournament for the majority of its run, going from 30/60 in Level 3 to 5K/10K (Level 25) in just 176 hands, an average of about 8 hands per 10-minute level, a little slower than a NLHE tournament, but not as much of a difference as in a live PLO8 game, where dealing plus split and side pot distribution can make for slower play even with skilled Omaha dealers.

I saw 65 showdowns at my table(s)—37% of the hands played—with 37 lows made (57% of showdowns). I was involved in nearly two-thirds of the showdowns myself (41 overall), winning highs in 25 (61% of showdowns) and lows in 9 (22%), with 5 scoops. I also won 17 hands without showdowns (nearly 10% of the hands I was dealt).

I put money into the pot in more than half of the hands I was dealt, even before play got short-handed. In fact, my VPIP didn’t stay below 60% until nearly hand 100. In part that was because I was short-stacked, but even after I took the chip lead with just a few players left, my VPIP was lower than it had been in the early stages of the game.

Before hand 75 I didn’t make a single pre-flop raise. In the last 100 hands, though, my PFR was 18%, nearly one in five hands.

Two attributes were most prominent in the hands that won chips either through getting other players to fold by raising or in showdowns. A suited ace combination featured in 65 of the hands that won without showdown or for the high hand (37%). 62 of those types of hands (which overlap to some extent) had three or more low-qualified cards (including aces).

27 of the hands that won low pots at showdown had suited aces (73%). The same number had three or four low cards (rather than just two). Only 18 of the low pot winners had A2 combos.

44 high or winning hands (25% of all hands) had pairs of tens or better, with 28 having pairs under ten (at least one winning had had both). 26 included three or more Broadway cards.

What conclusions can we draw from this? Well, the sample size is small, so drastic conclusions shouldn’t be made from this data, but the gross disparity in winning hands with suited aces—for both low and high pots—is something I plan to explore further. And I suspect that players may overvalue their nut low draws (A2) and high pairs.

If you’ve enjoyed the series, let me know. It’s going to be the last of its kind from me for a while, as my coverage of the WSOP starts in just about two weeks!

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