Draws and missed draws

I played live poker last night (Saturday) at the Gold Strike. There was a list for the Omaha-8 game, so I played some $4/8 Limit while waiting.

There was a married couple at the table. At some point, one of them volunteered, "This is only our second time to play poker." This hand bore that out: Mr. Newbie limped in, Ms Newbie limped as did two more players. The flop was A-2-2. Mr. Newbie bet, and one player called. The turn was a brick and Mr. Newbie bet and the other player raised. Mr. Newbie just called. The river card was another brick, so Mr. Newbie checked. The other player bet, and Mr. Newbie again just called. The other player turned over J-2 for trip deuces. Mr. Newbie turned over A-A!

We had trouble keeping a straight face, but one of the players pointed out to him that it's okay to raise with A-A that turns into a boat. This was a missed draw.

There was a hot young blond at the table. She was wearing one of those push-up bra things. About every five minutes, she would rearrange her blouse to try and cover things up. I couldn't help wondering: Are you trying to show the stuff or not? Please, either way is fine, but make up your mind. Just sayin'. Was this a missed draw or one that completed? You decide.

Finally, I got called to the Omaha Hi/Lo table. It was a typical loose game. Because there was a kill, some of the pots got pretty big. Unfortunately, I kept having hands with good draws that bricked out -- not the formula for success. I'm still learning how to play, but I do know that Omaha is a game of draws, but you have to hit once in a while.

I was getting short stacked, when I picked up: ♦A ♦K ♣2 ♣5. Because it was a kill pot, the bet was $6 to me, and I was happy to call. The guy behind me raised to $12 and five of us saw the flop. The ♦J ♦10 ♥2 were dealt. The 2 was bad; I needed a 3 or 4, but I still had the nut flush draw and a gut-shot straight draw. Also, another 2 might work out.

The turn was a brick and somebody bet $12, and I called, putting me all in. The river was another brick. This was a missed draw.

I had played probably an hour, and not won a pot. I could have reloaded, but decided to give it up for the night. Sometimes, it's not happening.

When I arrived home, I had an e-mail from Wolynski. She sent a comment (thank you!) about one of my photos in the Elvis series. No, not about one I took, but rather one that I didn't take. This was a draw that came in.

Incidentally, if you like great photos, give her blog, Vegas Images, a look.

Today (Sunday) I went to a baseball game. Guess what? I took my camera, and I'll try to get some photos posted by Tuesday.



The jury is out: We'll see if the photos are a missed draw or a draw that came home.