AAxx Loathes Me!

I've had AAxx over 200 times in PLO and PL/NL/L08 and it has been a net looser for me, even after this recent hand. Frustrating for sure, given that my preflop equity is usually around 60% when I get it heads up.

What tends to happen in PLO is you either win a smallish pot or lose a pretty big one (if you don't respect raises) because you get out-flopped by 2 pair or better. Unimproved AAxx is not a hand you want to risk a big stack with postflop, especially on a coordinated board.

In PLO8, the same thing tends to happen unless you have flush and low draws to go with the hand. Even if you hit a set your hand is often still very vulnerable to flush, straight and low draws, especially in multi-way pots. Here is one example of this in a limit game:

PokerStars Game #7054479213: Omaha Hi/Lo Limit ($2/$4) - 2006/11/16 - 21:54:16 (ET)
Table 'Delvaux' 10-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 1: asspony ($51.50 in chips)
Seat 2: THE PISTOL ($143.50 in chips)
Seat 3: bohunk46 ($61 in chips)
Seat 4: WAYNEP ($67.50 in chips)
Seat 5: Greek34 ($60 in chips)
Seat 6: WhiteDwarf ($65 in chips)
Seat 7: DoYouChop ($66.50 in chips)
Seat 8: onepercent ($53 in chips)
Seat 9: tafossi007 ($99 in chips)
Seat 10: No_Limpin1 ($70 in chips)
tafossi007: posts small blind $1
No_Limpin1: posts big blind $2
DoYouChop: posts big blind $2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to No_Limpin1 [Ad Ah 6s 3d]
asspony: folds
THE PISTOL: calls $2
bohunk46: calls $2
WAYNEP: folds
Greek34: folds
WhiteDwarf: folds
DoYouChop: checks
onepercent: folds
tafossi007: calls $1
No_Limpin1: raises $2 to $4
THE PISTOL: raises $2 to $6
bohunk46: folds
DoYouChop: calls $4
tafossi007: calls $4
No_Limpin1: raises $2 to $8
Betting is capped
THE PISTOL: calls $2
DoYouChop: calls $2
tafossi007: calls $2
*** FLOP *** [8s Ks Ac]
tafossi007: checks
No_Limpin1: bets $2
THE PISTOL: raises $2 to $4
DoYouChop: calls $4
tafossi007: calls $4
No_Limpin1: calls $2
*** TURN *** [8s Ks Ac] [Tc]
tafossi007: checks
No_Limpin1: bets $4
THE PISTOL: calls $4
DoYouChop: raises $4 to $8
tafossi007: calls $8
No_Limpin1: calls $4
THE PISTOL: raises $4 to $12
DoYouChop: raises $4 to $16
Betting is capped
tafossi007: calls $8
No_Limpin1: calls $8
THE PISTOL: calls $4
*** RIVER *** [8s Ks Ac Tc] [5s]
tafossi007: checks
No_Limpin1: checks
THE PISTOL: bets $4
DoYouChop: raises $4 to $8
tafossi007: calls $8
No_Limpin1 said, "fuc me"
No_Limpin1: folds
THE PISTOL: raises $4 to $12
DoYouChop: raises $4 to $16
Betting is capped
tafossi007: calls $8
THE PISTOL: calls $4
*** SHOW DOWN ***
DoYouChop: shows [8c 2h 8d 3h] (HI: three of a kind, Eights; LO: 8,5,3,2,A)
tafossi007: shows [9s 7s Kd Jd] (HI: a flush, King high)
THE PISTOL: shows [6d As 2c 3s] (HI: a flush, Ace high; LO: 8,5,3,2,A)
THE PISTOL collected $79.50 from pot
THE PISTOL collected $40 from pot
DoYouChop collected $39.50 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $162 | Rake $3
Board [8s Ks Ac Tc 5s]
Seat 1: asspony folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: THE PISTOL showed [6d As 2c 3s] and won ($119.50) with HI: a flush, Ace high; LO: 8,5,3,2,A
Seat 3: bohunk46 folded before Flop
Seat 4: WAYNEP folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: Greek34 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: WhiteDwarf folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: DoYouChop showed [8c 2h 8d 3h] and won ($39.50) with HI: three of a kind, Eights; LO: 8,5,3,2,A
Seat 8: onepercent (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: tafossi007 (small blind) showed [9s 7s Kd Jd] and lost with HI: a flush, King high
Seat 10: No_Limpin1 (big blind) folded on the River

I should have gone ahead and capped the flop on the above hand, but when I'm running bad I tend to fear the suckout and lose some of my aggression as a result. Not good, although my pussiness actually saved me some money on the hand.

In general, I'm still jamming the hell out of AAxx in PLO and PL/NLO8, but it's good to mix it up from time to time. I'll limp re-raise with it in EP sometimes to keep my opponents off balance and guessing. Here is a good example of when to do it IMO. If everbody folds I pick up a nice pot, otherwise, I have an equity advantage which is just fine too.

Hopefully I'll start running better with AAxx over the next 10,000 hands.