Northern Exposure Part II:
An Omaha Experience
In the Heart of Gold Country

BY: Ashley Adams
Contact at: (Asha34@aol.com)
Author of Winning 7-Card Stud

I'm not a big fan of limit Omaha8. Sure, it's an interesting game. But I find it tough to sit back and just wait for the highest premium hands that I like to play. You know these hands. They're the ones all the books tell you you're supposed to play in this game - hands with A2, preferably suited, and with a Premium Pair. I am disciplined to play the comparatively few hands that I'm told I should play. But I find it boring. At least with Pot Limit or even No Limit Omaha8 I can play more hands since my implied odds before the flop are so high. If I do hit a long shot draw it will pay off handsomely. That's not necessary so in limit.

But I had to play. Yes, I know that one of the cardinal rules of poker is that you NEVER have to play. But I HAD to play. I had just driven 12 hours after flying across the country from Boston to Fairbanks. I was in Dawson City, Yukon Territories for only 14 hours. They had one casino. I had come here to play poker by god, and no one and no circumstance was going to deny me. So what if limit Omaha8 is not one of my best games. I'm at Diamond Tooth Gertie's Casino and I will not be denied my poker, no matter what the game.

And so, violating one of my own rules about playing poker - I sat down.

The game had an interesting structure. It was $5/10 Omaha8 - but with a $2.50 small blind and a $5.00 blind. They had two denominations of chips: $5 and $2.50. That's right, a $2.50 chip. Who would have thunk it.

This had a wonderfully inflationary impact on the toke. All of the players toked $2.50 a pot. And with split pots, many of these generous players toked $2.50 EACH. The dealer made out unbelievably well - often earning $5.00 a hand. With roughly 25 hands an hour the dealers make, in tokes alone, over $100 every hour. I don't think there's a better dealing gig anywhere in the world.

The game was great - filled with locals who had nothing else to do with their money in this small town supported by summer tourism - and with a few tourists dropping in to have some fun for a few hours. There were two players who were OK and one player who was clearly the best player in the game. It was his seat that I took when I sat down at 10:00 PM. It was very bright daylight at that time - and the sun hadn't set when I left at 1:00 AM.

I had one hand of note. I was dealt Ah2hKsKd. Even with my limited knowledge of Omaha8, I knew this to be a high quality hand. I was in early position and raised the Big blind to $10.00 I got six callers including both the small and big blind. So after the flop I was in mid position - two in front of me and four behind me. Only two people folded at this nine person table.

The flop was Ks7h6h. I had picked up the perfect flop - top trips, the nut flush draw and the nut low draw. It was checked to me and I bet $5.00. I got four callers, one after me and the two in front of me. The turn was the 3d, making the board Ks7h6h3d, giving me the nut low. The first player bet $10; the second player raised to $20. I thought briefly about what they might have. I figured one of them probably had 4-5 but I really didn't know. I figured that I had the best draws for high (Kings Full and the nut flush) with the best high if no one had the straight and the best low so I raised to $30. The player after me folded. The first player capped it and the second player called.

The final card was the 4c, making the board Ks7h6h3d4c. No flush and no full house for me, Still, only one hand would beat me for high - an A5. And I was locked for at least a piece of low. The first player bet $10, the second player raised, I suspected then that one of them might well have my hand counterfeited with the perfect A2 so I just called. The first player re-raised as did the second player, capping the betting, and I called along. We turned over our hands.

Both of them had A-2, tying my low. And one of them had a 5, hitting on the river a six high straight which turned out to be the nut high. So I took one sixth of the pot. This was the strangest Omaha8 hand I'd ever played-though admittedly my sample size was pretty small. I don't think I did anything wrong - though I think my opponents sure did. The only thing they did right, it seems, is win.

I played very tightly thereafter, winning one pot I think when I flopped a full house and everyone folded to my bet. Even so, I managed to lose only $40 or so for the three hours I played - a fine result given the hands I was dealt I concluded at the time. I left at 1:00 AM, walking outside into broad daylight. I finished up with a Chinese dinner, shared with a player whom I had met on line and who drove up to meet me at the game (and snagged me a wonderfully inexpensive room at the nearby luxury hotel).

It turned out to be a great trip - made richer my an unforgettable Omaha8 hand. I suspect, however, that if I were to switch to this game full time that I'd have similar experiences eventually - everything except the $2.50 chips and the 1:00AM sunshine.

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