I haven't hit the green felt in a while, partly due to a lack of funds but also due to time constraints from time to time. Thursday changed that.
The PQ has been killing it lately playing video poker. For example, last weekend we went to play. I started out poorly and in an effort to actually have a positive day, I decide to give up on the video poker and play the real thing. I head to the poker room and there is a list for Omaha that is 7 players long. The week before I had been 5th on the list with 2 tables open and left the room an hour later still 3rd on the list so I knew I'd be waiting an hour or two. I decided that was enough of that. So I bounced around the Hard Rock for awhile and at least didn't spend any more money.
When I met up with the PQ again she was not doing well either. She was done with as much as she was going to spend so I split my remaining funds with her and once we were done with those, we were done. 5 minutes later, we weren't done. I look over and she has AAAA2 on her screen for a sweet $500. Back in black in 5 minutes. The gal to her right had been chatting with her while they both played and she was very happy. The PQ went to cash out her ticket and I turned to her neighbor and said "Watch, when she starts hitting on this game, it gets wild" Even I wasn't prepared for what came next.
In the next half hour I watched as she pulled quad Kings after dumping her original hand and drawing all 5 cards, quad 4s, and finally a royal flush as well. I wouldn't have believed it if I wasn't sitting next to her. We walked out of there flush which was a very good thing as there was a deposit to pay for our daughter's new apartment among other things. On the way home we made a stop and picked up the PS3 we had planned on getting at Christmastime. So it was a very good weekend last weekend.
We went back to the scene of the crime Thursday night. We played a little before heading to dinner but neither of us hit anything. After a good dinner I decided to go back to the poker room while the PQ went to play some different poker machines. This time I was able to get a seat immediately on a 3-6 Omaha hi/lo table with a full kill. I dumped every hand preflop until I finally get some decent cards. This turned into the nut low hand plus the second high flush which was good enough for the high hand. I split the low with another guy so I got 3/4 of the pot which never sucks.
The night proceeded right along this way. I stayed pretty selective on the hands I played but many of the times I did play I ended up with at least a portion of the pot and a few times I scooped nice pots. The previous times I had played I had been almost this selective but my results never backed it up. This time, I was the guy getting the card I needed to win the hand or getting the great flop that held up. Two examples, I'm holding KKJ10 and the flop is K32 of spades. I got no spades but call the post flop bet with top set. A 9 on the turn is no help and I debate calling the turn but the money in the pot is pretty good and I've got 10 outs. The river is the 2 of clubs which completes my full house. Even better the original bettor leads out and is called by another guy. The both dump to my raise and I scoop a nice one. Another hand I'm in the big blind with 8543. I might not have played it if not in the blind but it wasn't raised so I'm in preflop. Flop is 976 rainbow. I checked not realizing at first that I had a straight on the flop. One guy bets at it and is called by 3 others to me. I call wondering if I'm up against 10-8 for a better straight. Turn is another 7 and I unhappily call the turn bet. River is another 9 which is checked around. My straight is best hand, two people had trips but no full house and since no low hit I scooped that pot as well. As I said, the cards hit me pretty well. When I cashed out I had run my original $100 up to $370. Not a bad night on the felt if I do say so myself.
I joined up with the PQ but her luck had not turned this time. We played a bit more on the video poker. Still no luck for her but I managed to pop 4 aces for a $200 score making my night just a little bit better. All in all, no complaints here.
So I've been thinking, when I hit Vegas this summer, where do I go to play Omaha like this? I'm not sure I want to play too much NL holdem, and I do want to play a few tourneys but I need to see if any poker rooms are spreading limit Omaha 8 around town as I really prefer playing that to NL holdem. Anyway, I hope everyone else is having some success as well. If not I recommend you get your own PQ.
