Event 5 - Omaha/seven-card stud high-low eight-or-better

First, let me correct something I recall writing about yesterday's tournament.  In the big hand I keep telling myself I should have won, where I played JJ all in pre-flop against TT and A2h only to see 2 deuces hit the board, I wrote that I had 17,000 in chips when I should have had 24,000 because the guy with the A2h got lucky and beat me out of 12,000 in chips (plus I didn't get to take his 12,000).  I realized, only adding salt to the wound, that the real number is 36,000 because the A2h also took 12,000 of the TT's chips, which I would have taken had I won the pot, as of course I should have.  Now, putting the past in the rear view mirror and then tearing that off of the car ceiling and throwing it out the window, on to today . . .

Today's tournament starts at 5pm and it's a mix of two games -  Omaha/seven-card stud high-low eight-or-better.  

As a reminder to those who don't play these varietals, Omaha is played just like Texas Hold'em except each player has four cards instead of two and must use two from his/her hand and three from the board to make the best hand possible AND the worst hand possible, called the "low" hand (players may use different cards for each hand).  There is also a "qualification" requirement for the low hand; in order to even have a low hand, you must have five cards (no pairs) eight or lower (aces count low here).  So, for example, if the Omaha board is 267TQ, then the person with the A3 has the best low hand playing the A3 along with the 267 from the board.  However, if the board is a little different, 227TQ, then no one can even have a low hand; there is no way to use three cards from the board in constructing a hand of five cards 8 or lower!  In that case, the high hand wins the entire pot.

Seven Card stud is a much more familiar game.  Players get two face down and one face up card and bet.  They then get three more face up cards, one at a time, with betting after each card.  They then get a final face down card, resulting in four face up and three face down cards.  From these seven cards, players construct their best hand and again a low hand, but again they must qualify to have a low hand.  There is unfortunately no way for me to really write about these hands with any clarity because there are as many as two dozen cards showing face up on the table by the end of the hand.