I’m a big fan of HORSE. I normally hate limit games, but I love a good game of HORSE. Not too many forums run HORSE games, but when I hear about one, I’m there if at all possible. Well tonight was one of those nights.
One of the private forums had a game going on Absolute Poker, so I decided to give it a go. It was a small $3.30 buyin with no rebuys/addons. There were 31 entries. The top 9 got paid, with 1st place getting $39.90. Not a bad return on your investment.
I played a pretty decent game. I got sucked out on pretty bad early on, but managed to keep my cool and build my stack back up. After the second break I was hovering around 3rd place for quite a while. The cards began to turn to ice. Thank goodness I had a decent stack to hold me over a few blinds. There was probably a good 45 mins where the hands were just awful and that is bad in HORSE since there are so many different games. You know the old story, high card in Razz, low cards in Stud, yada, yada, yada.
It finally got down to the final table and yes, I made it. There were a couple low stacks, so it wasn’t long until they were knocked out. Before I knew it, we were down to the last 5 and there I was sitting in 5th place. I had to do something or else I would be eaten alive.
It was Stud H/L and I was dealt 463. One person had a 2A showing and the other had a 57. I figured I was good to go for the low, so I limped in. Next card was 7. One player bet and with him catching a 10, I figured I was good for the low, so I called. Next card for me was a 5. Boom - I hit the straight. He caught a 5 as well. I figured at best I won the high with the straight but was still possible I had the low as well. He bet out and I called. Last card was face down, but knew my straight had to still be good. He bet, I called. I won the high with the straight and the low with 34567. Sweeeeeeeeeet! That put me back up to 3nd place, but also crippled one of the players.
Back to the crappy cards…..down to 4th place with still 5 left. The low stack keeps getting lucky and hanging in there.
Finally the low stack is allin on my big blind. It is holdem and I have Jh8h. I hit a pair of Jacks on the river, which is good enough to beat his AK and I take him out, as well as beat the other player that called the allin. That also moved me up to 2rd place with 4 players left.
Blinds are now up to 1000/2000 and I am in 2nd with 9600. I am dealt 44QQ in Omaha. I raise and guy calls. Flop is 9sKc6d. I bet out 2K and he calls, so I put him on a K. A 3d on the turn. I check and he checks. River is a 7d. I bet 2K and he raises, so I call with my Jack high flush. He turns over a King high flush. This cripples me big time.
I am left with 1600 chips and in the SB for 500. I push with practically nothing. Sure enough, I am out in 4th place. For 4th place I got $13.70. Still a good ROI, so I won’t complain too much.
It was a great game with many great players. It is a tough crowd to be able to make even the final table. I’m happy with the results. I never saw that higher flush coming. When you down to that few, who would?
Tags: absolute poker, H.O.R.S.E., Online Poker
