Monday, August 18, 2008

I've Played a LOT of Hi-Lo Stud...

...but I've never seen this happen. First, though, I have a couple of basic rules for Hi-Lo Stud -
1) Don't play pairs from 99-KK. They can't help you make a low hand and when an opponent catches an Ace it's always hard to tell where you stand in the hand. I will play them if they are hidden, or with a suited connecting card (like QdQhJh), but only if a bunch of folks have limped in to the pot giving me a good price to hit trips or a connected flush card on 4th. I will not play these hands if one of my pair cards is out.
2) Unless your table is filled with very solid players ALWAYS raise rolled-up trips coming in. (Solid players will "know" you have trips and will not pay you off.) It is the best way to get value for your hand and get money in the pot before everyone catches 9's on 4th street and folds. I will sometimes make an exception to this policy with 999-KKK if a bunch of folks are already in the pot with low cards and/or if my case card for quads is already out.
3) Bet your big draws hard. You have to gamble with these kinds of hands, and you can sometimes get late folds and/or force out better hi hands giving you a greater chance to scoop.

Ok, here they are. These hands were back-to-back on the same table.

PokerStars Game #19716645645: 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo Limit ($1/$2) -
Seat 1: tomovermeers ($24.95 in chips)
Seat 2: franknew ($33.85 in chips)
Seat 3: vegasmissy ($12.75 in chips)
Seat 5: oeycsu ($54.20 in chips)
Seat 6: cps4712 ($35.20 in chips)
Seat 7: djelove1 ($38.90 in chips)
Seat 8: friederike_a ($38.95 in chips)
*** 3rd STREET ***
Dealt to tomovermeers [6s]
Dealt to franknew [8c]
Dealt to vegasmissy [Qs]
Dealt to oeycsu [5h]
Dealt to cps4712 [Jd]
Dealt to djelove1 [As Ac Ad] [WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE]
Dealt to friederike_a [3s]
friederike_a: brings in for $0.50
tomovermeers: folds
franknew: folds
vegasmissy: folds
oeycsu: calls $0.50
cps4712: folds
djelove1: raises $0.50 to $1 [ALWAYS]
friederike_a: calls $0.50
oeycsu: calls $0.50
*** 4th STREET ***
Dealt to oeycsu [5h] [4c]
Dealt to djelove1 [As Ac Ad] [4d]
Dealt to friederike_a [3s] [7s]
djelove1: bets $1 [I'M NOT HAPPY THAT THEY BOTH CAUGHT LOW]
friederike_a: calls $1
oeycsu: calls $1
*** 5th STREET ***
Dealt to oeycsu [5h 4c] [9d]
Dealt to djelove1 [As Ac Ad 4d] [3c]
Dealt to friederike_a [3s 7s] [9h]
djelove1: bets $2 [THEY BOTH COMPLETELY MISS]
friederike_a: calls $2
oeycsu: folds
*** 6th STREET ***
Dealt to djelove1 [As Ac Ad 4d 3c] [6d]
Dealt to friederike_a [3s 7s 9h] [2d]
djelove1: bets $2 [SHE COULD VERY EASILY HAVE A MADE LOW BUT I HAVE THE BEST HI HAND AND VERY SOLID LOW REDRAWS]
friederike_a: calls $2
*** RIVER ***
Dealt to djelove1 [As Ac Ad 4d 3c 6d] [8h] [I'M PRETTY PSYCHED TO HAVE MADE A LOW HERE]
djelove1: bets $2
friederike_a: calls $2
*** SHOW DOWN ***
djelove1: shows [As Ac Ad 4d 3c 6d 8h] (HI: three of a kind, Aces; LO: 8,6,4,3,A)
friederike_a: mucks hand
djelove1 collected $9 from pot
Djelove1 collected $8.95 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $18.70 Rake $0.75
Seat 5: oeycsu folded on the 5th Street
Seat 7: djelove1 showed [As Ac Ad 4d 3c 6d 8h] and won ($17.95) with HI: three of a kind, Aces; LO: 8,6,4,3,A
Seat 8: friederike_a mucked [7h 6c 3s 7s 9h 2d 2s]

very next hand...

PokerStars Game #19716664317: 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo Limit ($1/$2)
Seat 1: tomovermeers ($24.85 in chips)
Seat 2: franknew ($33.75 in chips)
Seat 3: vegasmissy ($12.65 in chips)
Seat 5: oeycsu ($52.10 in chips)
Seat 6: cps4712 ($35.10 in chips)
Seat 7: djelove1 ($48.75 in chips)
Seat 8: friederike_a ($30.85 in chips)
*** 3rd STREET ***
Dealt to tomovermeers [Kh]
Dealt to franknew [As]
Dealt to vegasmissy [Kc]
Dealt to oeycsu [Ks]
Dealt to cps4712 [Th]
Dealt to djelove1 [Qd Qs Qh] [I'VE NEVER SEEN THIS HAPPEN BEFORE]
Dealt to friederike_a [Ac]
cps4712: brings in for $0.50
djelove1: raises $0.50 to $1 [WHILE PRAYING THAT SOMEONE HAS ACES OR A LOW DRAW]
friederike_a: calls $1
tomovermeers: folds
franknew: raises $1 to $2 [THIS RAISE MAKES MY DAY]
vegasmissy: folds
oeycsu: folds
cps4712: folds
djelove1: raises $1 to $3 [OBV]
friederike_a: calls $2
franknew: calls $1
*** 4th STREET ***
Dealt to franknew [As] [Td]
Dealt to djelove1 [Qd Qs Qh] [5s]
Dealt to friederike_a [Ac] [9c]
franknew: checks
djelove1: bets $1
friederike_a: calls $1 [MAYBE SHE HAS A FLUSH DRAW]
franknew: calls $1
*** 5th STREET ***
Dealt to franknew [As Td] [Kd]
Dealt to djelove1 [Qd Qs Qh 5s] [8d]
Dealt to friederike_a [Ac 9c] [Ts]
franknew: checks
djelove1: bets $2
friederike_a: raises $2 to $4 [NOW I THINK SHE HAS SLOW-PLAYED ACES]
franknew: folds [WHICH IS FINE WITH ME]
djelove1: raises $2 to $6 [I CAN'T BE BEHIND]
frederike_a: calls $2
*** 6th STREET ***
Dealt to djelove1 [Qd Qs Qh 5s 8d] [6s]
Dealt to friederike_a [Ac 9c Ts] [5d]
friederike_a: bets $2 [THIS IS LIKE AN XMAS GIFT - I STILL CAN'T BE BEHIND]
djelove1: raises $2 to $4
friederike_a: calls $2
*** RIVER ***
Dealt to djelove1 [Qd Qs Qh 5s 8d 6s] [4d]
friederike_a: checks
djelove1: bets $2 [I KNOW I'M NOT BEAT - IF SHE HAD BET INTO ME I CAN'T RAISE]
friederike_a: calls $2
*** SHOW DOWN ***
djelove1: shows [Qd Qs Qh 5s 8d 6s 4d] (HI: three of a kind, Queens)
friederike_a: mucks hand
djelove1 collected $36.20 from pot
No low hand qualified
franknew said, "wow"
*** SUMMARY ***Total pot $37.20 Rake $1
Seat 1: tomovermeers folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 2: franknew folded on the 5th Street
Seat 3: vegasmissy folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 5: oeycsu folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 6: cps4712 folded on the 3rd Street
Seat 7: djelove1 showed [Qd Qs Qh 5s 8d 6s 4d] and won ($36.20) with HI: three of a kind, Queens
Seat 8: friederike_a mucked [Tc Ah Ac 9c Ts 5d 6d]

As I had suspected friederike_a did indeed raise Aces Up on 5th. Since a 10 and an Ace were both gone I knew she had two outs and was thankful she didn't hit them.

Two other hands of note today. In the first one, I played KcQcJc behind several limpers, caught the 9c on 4th, blanked 5th, caught 5c on 6th, and got paid off by an obvious straight (he had something like J-10-8-7 showing). The interesting part of that hand was that I was in 1st position and the button caught the 10c on 4th street, meaning if he had folded pre-4th I would have made a straight flush on 5th. In the other hand, I called with 4 low cards on 4th and made an 8-low on 5th, so I started raising, and I got my lone remaining opponent to fold when I bet 7th st with only a pair of deuces for hi. Now 9 times out of 10 I will make a (rake-saving) check behind on the river in this spot, because 9 times out of 10 my opponent has been calling with a big pair or two and isn't going to fold getting 9:1 (or 4.5:1 if they don't have low and "know" I have low), but in this spot I knew my opponent was a total fish and was confident she could fold a lot of crappy hi hands on the river.

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