Taking away odds....

I realize that this is an omaha hand but I think the rambling is general and applies to all games.

So, after taking a pretty rough beat last night that didn't turn out to be as bad as I though it was since I won the low with an 8-low I got to thinking about pot odds and how to play them.

Setup:
Omaha Hi/Lo NL
Dealt :2c: :8c: :2s: :qs: on the SB hoping to limit the field.
I know its not that great of a starting hand but we were 4 handed at that point.

I raise to 3x after one limper
BB calls, Limper calls
Flop :as: :3s: :5d:
I check, BB bets 1/2 pot, limper calls, I call getting ~4:1 on my money.
Turn :ks:
I check, BB bets ~1/4 pot, Limper folds, I raise all-in ~1.75x pot
BB calls.

Here I am thinking he picked up the wheel or a good low against my nut flush, until he turns over 33KJ. I look at his hand and don't realize what the hell is going on (i.e. that I've already won the low).

And the river is the :ah:
pairing the board and filling in his boat.

I don't realize I won the low until he's stacking up my chips...

On to the comments:

I know that the point of calculating the pot odds are to bet to make the player calling make a mistake. With that as the objective, do you bet to completely destroy the odds forcing them to make a monstrous mistake or just make them unattractive forcing a smaller mistake? In this case, the BB will push all of his chip in whenever he has a draw with a decent sized pot on the line reguardless of pot odds. So I figured I might as well get him all in when I have an 80+% chance of winning the high and possibly push him off of a mediocre low with a big bet.

What I have concluded is that if your opponent is weak/maniacal and will make the huge mistake, let him. Even though the bad beats blow chunks because they are big. If you puss out and don't continually lay horrible odd for the guys who calls despite them with draws because of a big beat or two the math will not work out and you will end up behind (in profit, not pot wins) despite playing correctly.

For example if this same hand came up again and I only layed 4:1 odds instead of the ~3:2 odds I had last time. My opponent would still make a mistake calling but the two hands which had the same financial potential would be much less profitable because when he didn't hit his boat he would fold and not pay me off on the river.

If your player is a strong and calculating one like long-time FTR members. Forcing a larger number of small mistakes is the only way to beat them. Lay the odds just on the wrong side of the line, make them enticing, but not so much that the implied odds make the call correct. Against good opponents, the correct play is the opposite, let them make slightly wrong mistakes, and make them pay for it after the river falls if they will.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, if you lay horrible odds for a good player they will fold and you will be out that extra money that the slight mistake on their part would gve you over the long run.

So the important part is to lay the correct type of bad pot odds consistently based on the type of player. A few beats here and there may make you want to cut back and lay the odds you would for a strong player incorrectly for a weak player but don't let yourself. I can see this as a smaller form of tilt which can be just as damaging to your profits.

Sorry if this is obvious to you guys or written elswhere but writing it helped me work it out and understand it better. Comments, rebuttals ?

- sed

good post.