To say that my table was filled with a bunch of lunatics would be an understatement. At least four of the ten players had no clue how to play Omaha Hi/Lo. A few others fit the mold of people I call "habitual A2 raisers." Three other players were compelled to play in any raised pot. To these folks, it seemed as though something went off in their minds "oh, it's a raised pot, there's more money for me to win...I need to play this hand." It didn't seem to matter how bad their cards were nor how badly their cards played together -- they seemed compelled to play in every raised pot. So basically, I faced a table where every pot was 5 or 6-way, whether it was raised or not. This was NOT what I expected out of a $1500 event, but that's definitely what I got.

Level-1:
The very first hand started badly for me. The Lunatic in Seat-9 (LIS9) decides to raise under-the-gun with something like KT95 suited -- even with three of the suited cards in his own hand (having his own outs). I've got A224 on the button, so I call. The action goes check-call all the way to the turn. On the river, a third low card and third flush card comes, and Clueless Girl In Seat-8 (CGIS8) decides to bet her dry A2 nut low. LIS9 who raised UTG with KT95 raises with his king-high flush, and the both of us call to get me quartered on the very first hand.

Seat-10 was home to one of the stupidest lunatics at the table (LIS10 - Lunatic In Seat-10). LIS10 decided he was going to try to outplay everybody at the table -- as that seemed to be his only winning strategy. If the flop came paired or flush drawn, he would bet and raise on every paired board. If he was 3 or 4-bet in return, he would always fold: Due to nothing more than his own stupidity, LIS10 got down to 1000 chips.

In Level-1, I didn't get much traction at all. I was up to 3700 chips, but due to the lunatic factor at my table, bad beats were coming quite often, and I ended the round with 2900 chips.

Level-2:
Level-2 didn't go much better. In one hand, LIS10 raised, and I re-raised with AA27 single-suited. By now, I'm not surprised that all of the guys compelled to play in raised pots, came in after me, cold-calling 3-bets with who-knows-what types of cards.

The flop: T47 rainbow.
CGIS8 (Clueless Girl In Seat-8) bet the flop. LIS10 (the guy who wanted to outplay everybody at the table) raised; and by now I had that guy figured out, so I 3-bet the flop. Amazingly, nobody folds -- we're still 5-handed.

The turn: T478 two clubs.
CGIS8 checks, and LIS10 bets, then I immediately two-bet him again. Once again, nobody folds.

The river: T4786 club flush possible.
CGIS8 immediately bets, and once again, LIS10 raises. I know my aces are dead, but at least I've got the AA2 nut low. Of course CGIS8 3-bets, and three of us call (one player folded at the river). The girl of course has the nut flush. Ironically, CGIS8 had absolutely no low draw possible -- she had all high cards. SCGIS8 managed to stay in the flop with a bare pair of 10's, even though the action was 3-bet when it came back to her. Of course her play was rewarded with the runner-runner flush. As you might expect, LIS10 had a bare A2 and was simply trying to represent a much larger hand. After I saw that his horrible plays got us both quartered, I snapped at him and said "thanks for getting us quartered -- brilliant play."

In spite of this hand, I still managed to end the round with 2975 chips -- basically break even after two rounds of play.

Level-3:
Once again, I lost two big pots to CGIS8. In one hand, I was holding AKQJ double suited. The turn pairs jacks on the board, and we began raising each other. The river was a blank for me, I wanted to see any paint cards, but it was a low blank instead. What did CGIS8 have? J268 -- a real beauty of a hand.

I finished this round with less than 2000 chips.

Level-4:
This is where I started fighting my way back. I managed to scoop some very nice pots, and built my chip stack up quite a bit. As I would have predicted, the bad players at the table began busting one-by-one. That is, all except LIS10. Remember, this guy was down to 1000 chips and was a textbook player -- how not to play Omaha Hi/Lo. Well after Level-1, and for the remainder of my tournament, he turned into an ace magnet. I think he was dealt A2XX at least twenty times during the next four hours -- while I didn't see twenty aces in my hand during the entire tournament (pocket aces included). LIS10's hands became so absurd, he would three-bet with any ace in his hand, no matter how badly the remainder of his cards played together. As grotesque as it could be, he hit absolutely every flop. There were only two people at the table he seemed to fear, and I was one of them (poker professional/TV Actor Chad Brown was the other).

I ended this round with approximately 4500 chips.

Level-5:
Level-5 was another pretty good round for me. It seemed like I was winning big pots, and losing small pots. I managed to end the round with about 6000 chips -- which is clearly above the tournament average (which is exactly where I wanted to be).

Level-6:
In level-6, everything started well, but then unraveled very fast. I accumulated more chips, and was up to 7500. Out of 693 players, there were 430 remaining, and my 7500 chips represented 1.5 times the tournament average.

Things started going down hill when I lost a small pot to Chad Brown. I flopped two pair, and Chad flopped a nut low and baby flush draw (in fact, a straight flush draw). Since Chad was first to act, I simply called all of his bets, and lost to his baby flush and nut low at the river against my two pair. I lost 1000 chips in that hand.

A few hands later, I lost with a straight to a higher straight. This was a difficult hand to figure out if the guy really had the nut straight because I had to of his outs in my hand (two cards needed for the straight). So when I made a straight on the turn, I could never be sure if mine was better than his hand. I lost at least 1000 chips on that hand.

A few hands later, I raised with a very nice AK34 double suited, and was called in multiple places (as was always the case at our table). Of course LIS10 was in this hand, and he out flopped me with two pair. I still had a very nice 34 emergency low, and an over card (in case he really did flop two pair with AJ and wasn't just trying to outplay me). The turn killed my backup low draw and gave me two pair -- now I'm committed to calling two pair to the river, but I don't like it. Sure enough, LIS10 had a top two pair and another guy made some type of low, and I lost another 2000 chips.

A few hands after that, I was in the SB with A234 double suited, and the action was already raised by the time it came to me. Instead of 3-betting (which many players would do in this situation), I preferred to see a flop. The flop was two high cards and one low card, so I had to abandon the hand. I lost another 800 chips on that hand. Now I'm left with only 1125 chips.

The very next hand I have A238 suited and the action is folded to me on the button. I raise, and the SB immediately 3-bets; so I re-raise to put myself all-in. He turns over A279, and I turn over A238. We're both suited, but in different suits. The flop comes all-high cards, but pair's his 9, and I would now need runner-runner just to have a chance. No such luck came on the turn or river, and my day was done -- out after 6 hours of play.

Conclusions:
Playing at this table was similar to playing in the $5 online Omaha tournaments. The players at my table were absolutely horrible. Seat-10 started out by trying to outplay everybody, but then tightened up and turned into an ace-magnet for the next 4 straight hours. By the time I busted, he must have had nearly 20,000 chips; and he was definitely in the top-5 chip leaders. I only wish my day had gone better -- but that just wasn't in the cards for this tournament. I'll be back in a few weeks to play in the $2000 Omaha Hi/Lo event. Let's just hope that tournament goes a little better than this one did.