The trouble with Omaha

If you've played enough Omaha, you realize that the title of this post is an inside joke. The joke, of course, is that there could ever be only one trouble with Omaha :-) Omaha is every poker trouble you can possibly imagine, and all those you can't imagine in addition. If I were forced at gunpoint to choose a single trouble associated with Omaha, I'd have to pick Omaha itself. To use the immortal words of Walter White from "Breaking Bad" in a poker context: Omaha is the danger.

Unfortunately, there's no way to avoid Omaha when you play mixed games. If I were smart, I'd fold every Omaha hand at the earliest possible opportunity, and only ever be out the antes and blinds. Of course, I'm not that smart :-) Last night, I hit the felt when I missed the forest for the trees on an Omaha hand. When playing Omaha, I'm always so concerned about losing to a higher hand type that I sometimes fail to account for hands of the same type as mine which can beat me. That's what happened in this case. I flopped a wheel (a five high straight), bet it big, and kept betting in subsequent betting rounds when the community cards failed to support a flush or a full house. Of course, I was beaten by a better straight. God, how I hate Omaha :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands place winnings

MTT   8-Game   4500   500       6    61    21     4310
MTT   8-Game   4500   500       6    78    33        0

delta: $-5,690
MTT 8-game balance: $168,630
balance: $8,922,255