The last few nights I've found myself at my computer around 9:30pm, when PartyPoker has a $5+$1 Omaha hi/lo tournament. I'd say about 90% of tournaments on the site are "Hold 'em" of some sort (as that's the popular game), so I enjoy being able to play in a low limit but still large tournament for my preferred poker game. Monday I placed 54th out of 470 or so players, with 50 places paying. Always tough going out that close to the bubble. I played again Tuesday, this time placing 60th out of 500, with 60 places paying. Not a big win, but a good showing and a small return on my money.
Yesterday I tried again. I signed up for the tournament then realized I'd promised someone some of my time offline, and raced to unregister. It was too late, but I figured I wouldn't be gone more than a half hour, so I set it to "post blind and fold", meaning it'd keep me in, but not delay the other players. I got done early and came back to find I hadn't even been hit with a blind yet, so I sat down to play. Started a little loose, and lost a couple hands before I won one, which is normal for me.
I tightened up and started winning, keeping a bit above average most of the way toward the bubble (50 places paid out of 450 entries), pretty sure I'd make it when we were down to 150 or so players, with my stack around 5k to the tournament average of 2500 and blinds at 50-100. Lost a big hand at 70 players, but knew I could keep in if I just didn't call anything without the nuts on the hands I was already blinded in for.
For those of you who don't play tournaments online, play really slows down as you approach the bubble, as no one wants to do something stupid and miss out on getting their money back. You're still looking to bolster your stack, but sometimes it's safer to just sit tight until you know you'll be making some money. The last 10 people eliminated took about 25 hands (giving everyone the blind at least twice) - it's even slower in Omaha hi/lo than in hold 'em because of split pots. Once you get past that bubble, play speeds up dramatically, as people start playing loosely again (50 players down to 40 players took fewer than 10 hands).
At the bubble I was just above average, but soon lost some hands and was just hanging on, happy with where ever I'd go out. But as I played my strong hands, I kept winning at least half the pot, never getting above average again but keeping myself from being forced all-in on the blinds. The tables kept breaking up, and I found myself in the top 30, then top 20, and literally amazed when we were down to two tables and I still could survive the 500/1000 blinds without too much problem. I knew I'd have to make a stand, but I got the cards when I needed to, and hung on to make my first final table in a large tournament.
I should set the stage - by this point it's about 1:30 AM, and I'd been playing for almost 4 hours. I'm tired, but excited - payouts are tiered for 40-50th, 30-40th, etc. until the final table, where they start to really increase. 50th place made $12, and even up to 11th-20th only made $19 or so. But 10th brought in $22, then $35 for 9th, up to several hundred for first and second place. Every time someone went out, I made another $10-$20 bucks, not bad for a $5 buy-in.
At 7 people left, things got interesting. Two stacks were safe, well over 100K. two others hovered around 80k, I had 35K, and two more had about 10k. They were suffering the full wrath of the blinds every time they went around, but as is the nature of a split pot game, they were surviving pretty well. One finally went out and bam, I'm bringing home at least $90. Very quickly another went out and my minimum is up to $135. Starting out I was happy just to place in the money, and once I had, I was expecting to go out pretty quickly up until the final 14 or so, when I was pretty sure I'd make it to the top 10 if I played tight. Now I'm the short stack but in the final 5 out of 450.
Unfortunately, I'm a very short stack. I took a couple losses, and my 30k isn't much with 6000/12000 blinds. One other guy had about the same size stack, and raised to 24000 with me in the big blind, holding 2d-3d-3s-jh. Not a great hand, but a good shot at low, a suited connecter, and a small pair. I raised him all in. I had 3k more than he did, but he took the pot with a two pair better than my two pair, no low, so I was looking at a 3k stack in the 6k small blind. It was all rags to me, and I went out in 5th place and got that $135, 20+ times my investment. Hard to go wrong with that.
Picture it: Pechanga, yesterday. I'd just won a big hand, and got moved to a new table when ours got broken down. I'm in the #1 seat, and the first hand I get is A-A. The button's at the #5 position, and the guy in the #8 seat raises to 1000. #9 folds, #10 goes all in with about 1200. I raise all-in with 4300 to get people out of the way, and #2 and #3 fold. #4 calls my all in (he has less), #5, #6 and #7 fold. #8 (who had raised to 1000 to start) asks for a chip count, and calls me (he's got more than I have). We turnover:
#1 (me, 4200, all-in): A-A
#4: (2000, all-in): 10s-Js
#8: (4200, has me covered): 6-6
#10: (1200, all-in): Ad-8d
I'm looking good at this point, with the 6s my only really issue. The dealer does some math and lays out the stacks. Unfortunately, the flop wasn't so kind:
7s-8c-9d
Now, all of a sudden, I'm losing to #4, #10 has a pair, and #8 has a straight draw. The turn is a 9c. I have #8 and #10 bested at this point, and I resolve that I'll lose to #4, but still get enough back that it won't be a big deal. I even had a chance to do more: an A or 9 on the river would give me a full boat, and I'd beat all three players. The river, however, had other plans, and was the 5d. That gave #8 a straight as well, and since he had me covered, I was out. People at the table honestly felt sorry for me, with such a bad beat.
What'd I learn? That even the correct play bites you in the ass sometimes. If I had only called, at least these three other players would have been in, maybe more (thus decreasing my chances). A-A is a great starting hand, nothing more, and the more players you're facing, the bigger your chance of getting outdrawn. I was probably near chip average with the 4300 at that point, maybe a little low, but with A-A, I had a great chance to take out a couple players and increase my stack. Alas, the cards didn't fall that way. I'd probably play it the same way every time.