WPBT H.O.R.S.E Recap

Somehow I finished in 26th out of 93. That’s somewhere in the top third, and not too bad considering how little I know about most of the games. I didn’t take very many notes this time, and I don’t think FullTilt offers hand history yet, so I’m probably going to be missing a bunch of details, but here goes:

Round 1. Holdem.

This is the only game that I know how to play. Things start of badly for me however when I limp from the small blind on the second hand with AJs. The flop is rags, and I check. The guy on the button min bets, and I call thinking that his min bet means he has nothing either, and he’s trying to see where he is in the hand. Same thing on the turn, and the river where I still call despite not improving. I think there are two pair on the board, and I figure if he made a full house he would have be more, so maybe my ace gives me the best kicker. Oh wait. This is limit poker. He was min betting because that was all he could do. Oh, and he had quad sixes. Oops.

I played the rest of this round like crap making a whole bunch of probably fishy plays, leading me to decide that I really suck at limit poker.

Round 2. Omaha Hi/Lo.

I really meant to do some research to figure out what makes a decent Omaha starting hand, but I forgot. I’m completely overwhelmed by the number of hand combinations that I can use, but I end up backing into more than my fair share of winning hands. In one of the early hands I was on a good low draw, and a straight draw going into the river. The river was a jack and paired the board. As it helped neither of my draws, I hit the check/fold checkbox, and waited for the next hand. Fortunately for me everyone else checked, and I ended up winning the hand with trip jacks. Good thing I was paying attention huh? So this is how all the fish on Party manage to keep their bankroll. They just close their eyes, push buttons, and cash in. I ended up winning a number of hands here, although I can’t claim that it was in any way related to skill.

Round 3. Razz.

I confess. I cheated. I actually practiced some Razz this weekend and I read –EV’s guide. So I had at least some idea how to play this game, which puts me at an unfair advantage against probably half the field. People were way tighter here than the play money tables though. Completing the bet was usually enough to take the pot. I think I took one big sized pot with a six high. Other than that, I don’t recall any noteworthy hands.

Round 4. Stud.

As if I wasn’t going to have enough trouble playing stud, playing razz just beforehand is bad news. I might not have even noticed the switch except people were complaining about how all of the sudden they were getting dealt low cards. The only thing I know about seven card stud is that I have no business playing it.

Round 5. Stud Hi/Lo.

First hand in I had a full house kings full of tens. I was called down to the river with exposed kings. I’m not sure why he was calling, unless he was chasing the low and the river screwed him. Other than that I tried to stay out of it since I didn’t have a real good feel for what makes a smart play.

Round 6. Holdem.

Should I be concerned that I lost a lot chips in the first holdem round, then went into top few places in the games I don’t understand only to lose them in the next holdem round?

1st Break. I’m in 11th place with 3195 in chips

Round 7 Omaha Hi/Lo.

I flopped trips twice in a row, but no one called my bets, so nothing much came of it. I lost a bunch. I think Omaha is too much for my feeble little brain to handle.

Round 8 Razz.

I’m started to fall in the standings now. No interesting hands.

Round 9 Stud.

I have rolled up 5’s but no one called. Should have slow played, but I don’t really know how aggressive you should be in that situations. I think best case they have to put me on a pair of fives, or hidden pair. I’m surprised I scared everyone away.

Round 10 Stud Hi/Lo.

The antes are starting to kill me. I’m not getting many playable hands, not that I know what a playable hand really looks like.

The worst thing about limit tournaments is that you can’t go all in very easily. At this point I accept my fate that I’m not going to be placing in the money, and I try to get all my chips in with a pair of queens. I finally get all in on fifth street with my pair of queens and a flush draw. I miss my flush, and the queens get beaten, but I win the low and I’m still alive.

Round 11 Holdem.

Once again my craptacular holdem play costs me. I try to defend a blind with Kx and flop a pair of kings. An ace comes on the river. I slow down but it’s too late, as he had AK, and had me dominated the whole way.

Round 12 Omaha Hi/Lo.

Is it a bad thing when I am hoping for the razz round? I don’t have enough chips to survive any Omaha hands so I pick one and go all in. My two pair get bested by a higher two pair. Booooo-urns. I'm out in 26th place.


All in all it was fun, and I’m glad in only cost me $5. If we do this again I’m defiantly going to have to learn how to play.