Aussie Millions - Jan 2009 - Day 6 - HORSE and Hall of Fame

I play in the HORSE tournament today which is a real laugh. There are 98 runners and not many fish (apart from me). The games are limit hold em, Omaha hi/lo, Razz, Stud, and Stud Hi-Lo. I am completely clueless with Razz (stud low) so it is good to get some tuition.

I have Mick "the loon" Hoon on my table and he is a constant source of banter. I manage to scrape along and am a bit unlucky in the stud, twice having four to flush after 5 cards and not improving either time.

However I get a few lucky breaks in the omaha high/low. I make a full house having limped with a high only hand from the small blind and with no low coming I scoop a big pot. A bit later a similar incident. I have a distinctly average hand of 344J on the button and I call after 3 limps. Flop comes 479 with two hearts. There is a bet and 2 calls when it comes to me. I am getting quite low on chips and since I am last to act I know I can't get raised. No-one seems to interested in this pot and this is the last small bet (it is limit) so I call too. Turn is the case 4 so I have quads. It is checked round to me and I am such shock I don't bet - think i am in hold 'em mode and don't want to scare them off. What an idiot. If I bet they probably all have to call. The river is a T which means there is no low so there is only one bet made - however he calls my raise and so I get a nice load of chips.

The structure of the tournament is a bit rubbish - which favours me and I take the opportunity to play all-in with good starting cards a few times to get me to the finally 3 tables of 8.

At dinner all the remaining players are invited to the Australian Poker Hall of Fame party which is on the roof terrace bar/club Breezes in the Crown Towers hotel. We have some posh canapes and champagne and then there is a presentation to the inaugural hall of famers including Joe Hachem, Mel Judah, Tony G.  Unfortunately several of us have to return to the tournament, and I don't know why I bother. I have 10,000 chips and am on the BB of 2000 in omaha. I have to fold that blind and my SB as well and then we hit Razz. I get the bring-in 3 times out of the next 4 hands for 800 chips each so when I am bring-in again with K23 I decide to go all-in against a single raiser. Unfortunately it is Mel Judah showing a 5 up and when we flip them over he has 23 to go with it. The dealer takes the piss by dealing me about 5 face cards in a row and I exit in 20th place. Not bad for an amateur though.

I play a single table satellite and get dealt AA 5 (yes five) times. This is pretty ridiculous since we were probably only dealt 50 hands. Naturally I did win and only think wistfully it would have been nice to save it for Sunday...