Hand 4: Cooperative Raising to Carve up the Fish

$3/$6 Omaha Hi/Lo - a Sunday June
Seat 5 is the button
Total number of players : 9
Seat 2: minisavage ( $80 )
Seat 5: Hero ( $199.25 )
Seat 10: WINTONA ( $34.5 )
Seat 1: FrancescoM ( $145.74 )
Seat 7: M1A1mech ( $130.66 )
Seat 8: dannyboy792 ( $247.5 )
Seat 3: Villain ( $127 )
Seat 9: mothernature ( $118.01 )
Seat 4: MegaFish ( $99 )
M1A1mech posts small blind [$1].
dannyboy792 posts big blind [$3].
MegaFish posts big blind [$3].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Hero [ 5 2 A A ]
mothernature folds.
WINTONA folds.
FrancescoM folds.
minisavage folds.
buttmunch3 has joined the table.
Villain raises [$6].
MegaFish calls [$3].
Hero raises [$9].
M1A1mech folds.
dannyboy792 folds.
Villain raises [$6].
MegaFish calls [$6].
Hero calls [$3].

I have one of the best possible hands, even when its rainbow.  Bill Boston's book ranks AA25 the 26th best hand out of 5,200+ hands, meaning it earns more money than 99.5% of O8 hands.  So I raise pre-flop knowing that both opponents are coming along, and happy about that.  Let's have a look at my equity given their hands: 

Equity Preflop

As Ac 2d 5h    0.447  -- Hero

6c Qd Ah 2h   0.265  -- Villain

Ks 3c 5d 4d    0.287   -- MegaFish

So my raising preflop here instead of calling resulted in each of us putting in another $6 for another $18 in the pot, of which I have 44.7%.  So I essentially made $2.06 in "theoretical dollars" here (18*.447 - 6).

Villain is a bit too loose, and goes a bit too far on the flop, but is fairly aggressive and a decent player.  Megafish is horrible and one of the reasons I was playing here -- he'll play anything and call to the river.  Having the hand capped is ideal for me.

** Dealing Flop ** [ J, 6, 3 ]   pot= $40
Villain bets [$3].
MegaFish calls [$3].
Hero raises [$6].
Villain raises [$6].
MegaFish calls [$6].
Hero raises [$6].
Villain calls [$3].
MegaFish calls [$3].

My read at the time was that Villain's preflop capping and bet out here meant either another AA+wheel card, or A2 plus something.  Since I have AA, it is statistically about 6x more likely that my opponent has A2 instead of AA.  And since I had As,Ac,  I felt fairly sure he A2 suited to hearts.   However, I am favorite over A2s w hearts where the side cards are weak, and can’t be in trouble with 2 opponents so I’m happy to raise, particularly since I have nice counterfeit protection.

Equity on the Flop

As Ac 2d 5h    0.354

6c Qd Ah 2h    0.472

Ks 3c 5d 4d     0.174

A it turns out, Villain had a 6 to pair the board giving him another 5 outs against me (Q's or 6's), so I was up against one of the better hands within the range I put him on.  Still, my equity of 35.4% is higher than 33%, so if I could have seen their cards, I would have wanted to cap it with Villain and trap MegaFish.  So the hand has played out perfectly so far.  Raising allowed Villain and I to get $12 each in here, so my share of that is  $12x3x.354 - $12 = $0.75 in theoretical dollars.  If I had just called, it would have been worth $0.18, so capping in the long run earns me $0.54 cents here against their actual hands.  

However, for my two opponents, it is a different story.  Here, Villain is making a fortune, while MegaFish is bleeding chips.  He is drawing to just half the pot at best, and still may not win.

The other reason to raise here is that how my hand plays vs. a third player.  If I can get MegaFish to fold here, then I capture virtually all the equity he had in the pot:

As Ac  2d  5h    0.498

6c Qd  Ah  2h    0.502

For the fresh money going in, it doesn’t matter much since if he stays since I have 35% of the equity when 3 bets go in and if he folds I have 49% equity on 2 bets going in – same equity.  But it makes a big difference for my share of the dead money already in the pot.

** Dealing Turn ** [ 5 ]     pot=$76
Villain bets [$6].
MegaFish calls [$6].
Hero raises [$12].
Villain calls [$6].
MegaFish calls [$6].

I overplay my hand a bit here.  Its clear no one is folding, and that I am splitting for low.  Even though there are no flushes, the coordinated board and 2 opponents’ means it's too likely for someone to have hit two pair or the straight.  However, there are some advantages to being very aggressive in general, and with the nut low with counterfeit protection and an over pair I can't be in too much trouble when against two opponents. 

Equity on the Turn

As Ac 2d 5h     0.319

6c Qd Ah 2h    0.417

Ks 3c 5d 4d     0.264

However, given my equity of 31.9%, I am only just slightly under 33.3% so my bet (instead of just calling) on the actual hand is only a tiny mistake, costing me $0.25 in theoretical dollars ($6x3 x .319 - $6).

** Dealing River ** [ T ]   pot = $112
Villain checks.
MegaFish bets [$6].
Hero raises [$12].
Villain calls [$12].
MegaFish calls [$6].

At first glance, my raise here looks bad.  MegaFish should have two pair at minimum to make this bet, so I am very likely quartered with Villain and can't expect him to fold.  However, I am going to call at minimum, so making the extra bet here if I am quartered will cost me 6x3 x.25 - 6 =  or $1.50.  However, the pot is now at $118.  If MegaFish had folded his weak two pair here, I would have won the high portion outright, which is worth $59.   So my $1.50 risk only needs to generate a bad fold 1 time in 40 to make it a good play.  And of course there is the small percent of the time that  1) MegaFish is bluffing or 2) my read is off and Villain doesn’t have A2, so I’ll be winning low.  And there are other benefits to being seen as a very aggressive player.

So, what are the lessons?

1) Cooperative raising with another opponent can really hurt the weaker, second best hands.

2) My preflop raise here earned me $2.00 in equity while my later street raises earned me much less.  So raising preflop with good hands can definitely be worth it.  If my raise had folded MegaFish as he should have done, then I would have ended up winning high here to 3/4 my good opponent.  Raising preflop here tied my opponents to the hand to a larger degree.  Which is fine since my hand will win much more than it loses.

3) Aggression on the river doesn't have to work out very often to make it a good play.