#157: “Eureka!”

This word ‘Eureka’ is famously attributed to the ancient Greek scholar Archimedes after he stepped into a full bath and noticed that the water level rose. In an instant, he understood that the volume of water displaced must be equal to the volume of the part of his body he had submerged. Thus, he had discovered the solution for the measurement of the volume of irregular objects, a previously intractable problem. It is said that Archimedes was so happy and eager to share his discovery that he leapt out of his bathtub and ran through the streets of Syracuse naked.

Last Friday night, I had my own Eureka moment. I kept my clothes on but I did celebrate my first morsel of success in Bulgaria by taking a break from No Limit Hold ‘Em and playing the €400 Eureka PLO Event. 30 runners made for a #12K prize-pool and, from what I could ascertain in the early going, the standard wasn’t too bad. I made life difficult for myself by being a little too speculative in the first couple of levels, a tactic that cost me over half my stack. Forced to knuckle down, I readjusted, tightened my opening ranges and, despite having the worst seat at the table (with the very competent big stack of Eftychios Georgiou to my immediate left), I got myself back to the average with half the field remaining. He was winning all the small pots against me but when I did have the goods, I induced bluffs and extracted the maximum to keep myself in the 15-20 big blind zone.

Tournament PLO is as much about stack management as it is about the cards. I turned down many viable spots on account of my stack size and position, a position which didn’t improve come final table time as I was once again seated to the immediate right of the big stack. Content to ladder, I picked my spots well and navigated my way through the bubble. Georgiou had 65% of the chips with 4 players left and he understood the leverage that gave him versus myself and the other two, all of us paralysed on awkward 12-15bb stacks. He pummeled us with pot-bet opens, happy to call it off in a game where his any four would likely have 40% equity.

I finally took a stand with AAKJ (LOL!) and pot-opened my button, Georgiou flatted and gave up when I jammed a J93 rainbow flop. A few moments later, Tomas Lothman re-shipped KJJx and held versus Georgiou’s random 4. He was now comfortably in 2nd place and could sit back and allow myself and Kristian Dobrin to lock heads with Georgiou or each other. Instead, he chose the aggressive route and believing that his new stack had fold equity versus the leader, he made a move the very next hand with 101087, running into Georgiou’s KKxx which held. Georgiou potted the next two hands and took the blinds. I potted my button for 40% of my 9bb stack, Georgiou folded and Dobrin defended, playing 10bbs. I held QQK9 and hated the AJJ rainbow flop. He checked and I took a moment before checking back. The turn came a 2. Again, he checked and I checked again. The river came a 6 and Dobrin fired a half pot bet, most of my remaining stack. I only had a bluff-catcher but barring him rivering a boat, I didn’t know what hands would take his line. I called and he showed 7765. I showed the winner and he was crippled. The next hand, Georgiou raised, Dobrin committed and I called. Georgiou won the hand and we were heads-up.

Georgiou put a deal on the table. I turned it down and he offered more. I didn’t think I had an edge against him so I made a counter-offer that was only slightly better for me than an ICM-chop. As he mulled it over, I said ‘C’mon, take it and we play on for the title”. “No way”, he said, “The title is mine”. “Why would the title be yours when you haven’t won it yet?, I asked. He got out of his seat and started waving his arms around. “I will do your deal but only if I get the trophy”. I looked at the ugly PokerStars trophy, a gaudy effigy to an anal sex toy. “Well I didn’t want that awful trophy but seeing as you want it so bad, now I really want it so I can put it in the bin in front of you”. He was visibly steamed. “Fine, we play on!”

My strategy worked perfectly. Steamed up tilty Georgiou was nowhere near as good as calm, composed Georgiou and thanks to a number of horrible plays by him, I had overcome his 3.5-1 chiplead to be level within 5 hands. With 30 bbs, he limped and I checked back 5559. The flop came 467 rainbow and I donked 6K into 10k. He snap-raised it to 20K. Hmmm, I thought… it’s unlikely that he has 85 given my holding so I reckon he’s bluffing or semi-bluffing a draw. I called. The turn came an Ace (still rainbow). I considered the stack-sizes and opted to donklead again 18K into 50K. He looked at me and bumped it to 55K, I shipped and he snap-folded angrily. I showed the bluff.

Two hands later, he min-raised his button, I called with A892 (one suit), the flop came AK2, he c-bet, I set him in and he called with AK107. He held and we were essentially level again. Two hands later, with the blinds at 3000/6000, he raised his button and I potted it to 52K with KK62. He called and I shoved a J82 flop. He called with 9977, needing any 9, 7, 10 or running hearts. The turn was a 10 and he was the winner. I was bitterly disappointed at the time, feeling like a victory would have been one of my better poker accomplishments but in hindsight I’m very satisfied and pleased with how I played. Pot Limit Omaha provided a much needed break from the norm and a much needed tick in the win column on an otherwise barren Bulgarian adventure.