Bluffed by a n00b

When I arrived at the home game last night, it was four-handed, with two of the players just learning the rules and basics of Omaha Hi/Lo. The guy who runs the game had promised new blood, and here it was.

I really like helping new players, so I gave them all the advice I could. I wanted them to at least know the rules and basic strategies before they started gambling.

A few hands into the 5/10 game, I was dealt Jd 9c 8s 4d in the big blind -- an unplayable hand in O8 unless you can simply check your blind, which I did. The flop came down with something like KQ2 with one diamond, giving me a weak straight draw and a backdoor flush draw. The flop checked around.

The turn brought the Td, giving me the second nut straight and a diamond flush draw. I bet out $10, and only one of the new players -- a woman tournament player -- called me. My read was that she had something, but I figured she would call with a wide range and only raise with the nuts.

The river brought a low diamond, maybe a 5, to complete my flush. Naturally, I bet out $10, fully expecting to get called with some two-pair-type hand that I could take down.

But then she raised! I was shocked. She had a big smile on her face as she looked down at her cards, clearly ecstatic over hitting such a monster hand. I knew pretty quickly that my J-high flush was no good. It was so obvious.

Still, I was leaning toward calling just because she was new to the game, and who knows what unpredictable players hold sometimes. Then she opened her mouth.

"I have to show this hand," she said.

My cards hit the muck pretty damn fast. There was no doubt in my mind I was beaten. It wasn't even worth $10 more.

She turned over a hand with TTT6.

"Four of a kind!" she said.

I buried my face in my hands and had to laugh. Of course, since you can only use two of your cards in Omaha, she really had three of a kind. She had made a common mistake of new players who forget that three of one card in your hand is usually worthless.

What's worse, I had been bluffed off the best hand by a player who didn't even know she was bluffing!

I got her back though with a fake bluff of my own. In a 2/5 NL hold 'em round, I bet my one-card flush draw on the turn and caught top pair Kings on the river. I bet $25 into the small pot, and she mucked, saying she had only made a baby flush on the turn.

Good times. I love live poker.