While playing in the middle stages of a pot-limit Omaha high-low tournament, I was in the small blind and picked up a 2-4-6-8 ("who do we appreciate"), the 2
4 6
8. With six players calling, it was clear to call the extra $25 (half a bet). Coincidentally, in my Sept. 13 column, I had stated that calling a half-bet blind in a well-attended pot was quite clear with a deuce and a 4, and that having a 6 made it even better.
The flop was an unimpressive J-7-3 rainbow (all different suits). I certainly would fold if there was any sizable bet. Roughly 45 percent of the time, there would be an A-2 lurking, and about 70 percent of the time, there would be either an A-2 or an A-4. I checked, the player on my left bet $75, and three other players called around to me. Since there was a fair amount of money already in the pot, I called, hoping for an ace that would give me the nut low, or a 5 for the gutshot straight.
The turn card was the very impressive 5, which gave me the current nut high, and also happened to give me an open-end straight-flush draw (the 7 on the flop was a heart). The 5 also gave me the third-nut low (behind A-2 and A-4), which could be very significant if no A-2 hands were present.
Although a low straight is very fragile (it can easily lose on a last card that pairs the board or makes a flush or a higher straight), in pot-limit it is often right to go for it and bet the pot with the nut straight. It is clearly correct to bet the pot if it takes most of your chips, since you do not have to fear a big bet if a scary card appears on the river. And, finally, in this particular situation, it was certainly right to move, since my bet might pressure out an A-4 or another 4-2, which would give me the low if there were no A-2 hands.
So, I bet the $700-plus pot, which took slightly more than half of my remaining chips. If no one had an A-2, I could win the whole pot right now.
But, I got not one, but two callers. Probably, one or both of them had an A-2 – or perhaps there was another 6-4, and I would get quartered. The second caller thought a bit, as if he was perhaps considering a raise.
The river card was the 10
. If someone held a 9-8, that would make a jack-high straight, which would beat my 7-high straight. So, there I was in first position with the second-best high and the third-best low.
What would you do if you were there in my seat with about $600 in chips in front of you and a $2,900 pot on the table? Note that betting your $600 would probably not fold an A-4 or 4-2 player (after having just called your $700-plus bet).
Nevertheless, this is actually a very clear bet-it-all "Doomsday Bet" situation. In pot-limit high-low, it was "correct" to bet my remaining $600, because if I checked and someone bet, I would certainly have to call on pot value, since it was not that likely that a 9-8 was out, and the bettor might well be pushing a nut low (and marginal high).
Certainly, if someone did hold a 9-8, he would make a big bet (more than my remaining chips). Thus, if someone had the 9-8, I was "doomed" anyway, so I might as well bet just in case I still had a winner.
Yep. They both had to call with their A-2 hands, so I won half of this big pot and nearly doubled my chip holdings.
There is often a considerable amount of skill in judging when you are likely to be on the right side of things, and then playing to maximize your winnings. All too frequently in Omaha high-low, we find ourselves on the wrong side – helplessly getting quartered with our A-2 hands.