Passive-Aggressive Quackers

I got the new PT3 beta version up and running--finally--on my computer. The cool thing is it's fast enough to keep up with the Rush tables in real time. Said another way, HUD is working now for me at the Rush games, which means I can actually adjust my play based on the tendencies of the opp. Very cool... and about time, too.

The other cool thing is that this beta version supports Omaha. I read on the PokerTracker web site that once the beta version is replaced with an official version, I will have to pay to upgrade to keep using the Omaha feature working. That's fine with me, as I've found PT3 and Omaha to be a really nice match. At the Omaha Rush tables, you see the same players over and over, so 'Tracker can actually be meaningful in real time. It also helped after playing to look at my stats and see where I'm losing or winning.....

....which brings me to the results, below. I played 500 hands of Omaha Rush Sunday afternoon (two 250-hand sessions of two-tabling). I really focused on getting away from non-nut and non-nut-draw hands. If the board paired, I ran for the hills with my flush and straights (and draws). I also gave up with bottom set when I got resistance. Oh, and I was incredibly passive preflop. I know, I know... this isn't the way to play perfect poker, but it did allow me to see cheap flops AND get off hands cheap, too, both pre- or post-flop. If I hit a flop, however, I rammed and jammed as hard as I could.
My Omaha numbers during this 500 hands are a very weird (for me): 15/3.5, which swims, quacks, and smells like a weak-tight duck. In Hold'em, this strategy would never fly, but at the cheap Omaha Rush tables, it seems (so far) to work fairly well. Get in cheap, see a flop, and (a) bail if you don't hit; and (b) ram if you do. No middle ground at all. Just keep the raising to post-flop, even with AAxx hands.

Now, it obviously helped that I hit quads a couple of times (quack quack), but it helped far more that I dumped marginal hands whenever I got resistance. One of the secrets to making a profit at Hold'em poker is to minimize losses as much as it is to maximize wins. The same is true of Omaha. Top two pair and I was getting re-potted? Buh-bye. A made, non-nut straight in a three way pot getting RR'd? So-long suckers. A made flush on a paired board and heavy action? Adios Amigos.

Sounds simple, right? Yeah, right! I think I'm slowing learning how to play this silly game, but I'm under no illusions that I've actually got it mastered yet. It's a tough game-- in some ways tougher than Hold'em. I made money yesterday, but I understand that may have been a fluke. Dunno. In any case, we'll see if I can keep any amount of winning to continue. I'm well aware that twenty-eight big bets per hundred ain't even close to sustainable, no matter how passive-aggressive of a poker playing duck I may be....

All-in for now...
-Bug