PLO for the Seoul
While recently in Seoul, South Korea, for the 2012 PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour event, I witnessed a crazy hand of pot-limit Omaha played on one of the cash tables toward the end of the night on Day 1a. The stakes were ₩5,000/10,000/20,000 with a minimum buy-in of ₩1,000,000 (approximately $1,000 USD) with no maximum.
The table was right behind where I was sitting at the media desk when some commotion arose and a player yelled that he was going to raise the pot. I was just making my way back to the tournament tables but couldn't help myself from glancing at the action and seeing ₩855,000 already in the pot and six players holding cards.
The player who announced he was raising the pot slid out another ₩855,000, and the next player tanked for a minute or so. After thinking, that player called. Then, each of the other four players holding cards all called, as well, and created a pot of ₩5,130,000 without even seeing a flop. In case you're wondering, that's 256.5 times the straddle in this game, or 513 big blinds.
The dealer rolled out the K♣9♦5♥ rainbow flop and action was on the first player. He moved all in for ₩2,100,000. The next player called and the third player folded his hand. The fourth player to act — who was the one who potted the action preflop before everyone called — also made the call. The next player behind him called and then the last player reraised all in for approximately ₩4,000,000.
With the first player all in, and the other three remaining players to act all having less than what the last player shoved in for, all players committed their chips and it was time for a five-way all-in situation with well over ₩20,000,000 in the middle.
From there, the cards were tabled and here's what I saw. These hands appear in order of how they action went post-flop.
| Player | Hand |
|---|---|
| Player 1 | A♣Q♣10♦8♥ |
| Player 2 | A♦K♠Q♦10♣ |
| Player 3 | A♠A♥Q♠10♥ |
| Player 4 | 8♦6♦5♠3♠ |
| Player 5 | K♦9♥7♥7♦ |
Preflop, here's how the equity looked for each player.
| Player | Hand | Preflop Equity |
|---|---|---|
| Player 1 | A♣Q♣10♦8♥ | Win 14.49%, Tie 5.04% |
| Player 2 | A♦K♠Q♦10♣ | Win 7.25%, Tie 4.96% |
| Player 3 | A♠A♥Q♠10♥ | Win 23.98%, Tie 4.96% |
| Player 4 | 8♦6♦5♠3♠ | Win 28.40%, Tie 0.08% |
| Player 5 | K♦9♥7♥7♦ | Win 20.83%, Tie 0.00% |
As you can see, because so many of the players were sharing the same cards, Player 4 was actually the one with the most preflop equity in the hand. On the flop, here's how the equity looked.
| Player | Hand | Flop Equity |
|---|---|---|
| Player 1 | A♣Q♣10♦8♥ | Win 7.14%, Tie 19.21% |
| Player 2 | A♦K♠Q♦10♣ | Win 9.85%, Tie 19.21% |
| Player 3 | A♠A♥Q♠10♥ | Win 6.65%, Tie 19.21% |
| Player 4 | 8♦6♦5♠3♠ | Win 19.46%, Tie 0.00% |
| Player 5 | K♦9♥7♥7♦ | Win 37.68%, Tie 0.00% |
As you can see by the numbers, only two of the five players to get all the money in on the flop actually increased equity. Those two players were Player 2 and Player 5. Player 3's equity dropped the most and he now held the least amount of equity on the flop, while Player 4 — the one with the most preflop equity — still had a fair chance.
The turn brought the 2♠ and kept things completely rainbow. It did give Player 4 some extra straight outs, though Player 1 could no longer win the hand.
| Player | Hand | Turn Equity |
|---|---|---|
| Player 1 | A♣Q♣10♦8♥ | Win 0.00%, Tie 14.29% |
| Player 2 | A♦K♠Q♦10♣ | Win 7.14%, Tie 14.29% |
| Player 3 | A♠A♥Q♠10♥ | Win 10.71%, Tie 14.29% |
| Player 4 | 8♦6♦5♠3♠ | Win 28.57%, Tie 0.00% |
| Player 5 | K♦9♥7♥7♦ | Win 39.29%, Tie 0.00% |
Player 5 still had the most equity going to the river and actually increased his chances by a little bit. Player 4 moved back up to just about where he was preflop with over 28.5% equity in the hand. Then, the dealer ran out the 7♣ on the river and the board was complete.
When the river fell, Player 5 jumped from his chair and pointed to his two sevens, yelling about how he had made a set of sevens and won the pot. Unfortunately for him, he was a bit confused as the seven actually gave Player 4 a nine-high straight and won him the pot. Player 4 announced to Player 5 that he had made a straight and a dejected Player 5 fell back into his chair in a slouching position.
Player 4 had called all in on the flop for only a bit less than what Player 5 had shoved for, so he won nearly all of the main pot. Player 5 did get some money back from Player 3 who held the aces in a side pot, but it wasn't nearly what he thought he had won. Players 1, 2 and 3 were all cleaned out on the hand and forced to rebuy.
This was by far one of the craziest hands of poker I've ever seen happen right in front of me. I've put in plenty of hours both online and live, but this one really seems to stand out in my mind as one of the best gems I've ever witnessed.
After a few minutes went by following the hand, Players 3, 4 and 5 all ordered some shots and each a drink. They all seemed extremely relaxed and back to joking about the hand, the game and a few other things in life. The crazy hand that just happened seemed more like a common thing the more I witnessed the interaction of the players at the table, which only led to me to think how great of a game this would be to play in. If only I wasn't working, maybe I would've sat down and took a shot.
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