New/old site

I haven't played UltimateBet in 7 months, but given the fact that PokerStars has turned the doom switch to the ON position, I figured it was time for a change.

I played in a PLO8 $20+2 FT and 3x PLO8 $20+1 HU SNGs. I finished 5th in the FT, but won all 3 HU games for a profit of $35. Not bad for an hour+ of my time. The FT game was slow. The blinds didn't rise as fast as at PS, and I ended up pushing too hard too soon, though A357 in the SB running into AA4K in the BB 5 handed is a little bit of a cooler.

The HU games were jokes. I almost won the first game on the 1st hand. I flopped a set of 2s with a flush draw, with the board showing 2cTdJd (I had 2d6d2?5?). The betting, with me leading, was b(pot)/r(pot)/rr(pot)/c. Turn was a 7 I believe, I bet pot, he called. Kd on the river and I bet all-in, and he mucked after a long pause. I totally expected him to call with nut flush. He could have had a higher set, but I doubt it since he didn't move all-in on the turn. My guess was two pair after he mucked.

I find it interesting that I play PLO8 with no fear of my opponents hitting the nuts on various streets. It's interesting because with the extra 2 hole cards compared to hold'em, you've think your opponent would get there more often. I'm sure they do, but I'm getting to the point where I know when they do. Almost all flop calls mean something in PLO8, and all turn calls practically define my opponents hands, at least in tournament settings.

When I play hold'em with my friends, we still have players who will call down with any over cards, and a variety of shitty draws (like chasing runner-runner flushes on purpose), which makes it very difficult to know where you're at. Extracting value from top-pair weak kicker, or middle pair is almost impossible. You either get a fold or a massive re-raise. I guess I'm just bitter that I haven't been placing in our mini tourneys and looking for an excuse... I do wonder though if I played enough NLHE tourneys, if I'd ever get to the same point of confidence I have in PLO8.