Another week, another British bracelet at the World Series of Poker. And then there were five. This time, it's Steve Jelinek from Birmingham who has taken gold, in the $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Lo tournament. This result is notable for three reasons.
One, Jelinek finished sixth in this same tournament at last year's Series. Anyone can get lucky, but consistency is the true measure of a poker player.
Two, it scuppered Phil Hellmuth's hopes of an incredible 12th bracelet for himself. The great champion went into the last 15 with big chips, but finished seventh.
Three, it sets a new world record. No nation apart from America, the host, has ever taken five bracelets at the World Series before. As we say in poker, UK FTW! (Oh, Google it. It basically means "Hurray".)
Does this record inspire you to take a patriotic stab at Omaha Hi-Lo? The rules are like Holdem, except each player receives four cards and must use two from their hand and three from the table. The pot is split between the highest and lowest hands, but the low hand must include five cards lower than a nine. If nobody has an "eight or better" low hand (no pairs), the high hand wins everything.
The best advice I can give you is to play with cards that might win you both pots. You want an ace in your hand (which is both high and low) with a couple of other low cards and a pair or nut flush draw. There are many other skills, but the main thing is to try to win both pots.
On Sunday night, I played the weekly $215 Omaha Hi-Lo on PokerStars and finished 16th, when 15 won money. On the bubble again. I'm breaking my own records here.
