When playing omaha/8, I am always on the lookout for opportunities to bet decent hands on the river to pick up extra bets.It's easy to just bet with the nuts in this game, since the nuts is frequently what it takes to win, but there are some opportunities to win extra bets without the nuts.

Anyways, here's the situation: A very loose, aggressive player (who plays lots of hands, and loves to checkraise) limps in, a loose, passive player calls, and I call on the button with AA8T (nut clubs).Both blinds call.

The flop is 79T with 2 clubs (nice for me).It's checked to the passive player, who bets.I raise, and both of the loose types call.

The turn is an ace.It's checked to me, I bet, and they both call.

The river is a queen.Again, they check.Final board of 79TAQ.I think for a bit and check.I win the pot.

Much as I hate to check the best hand in last position, I thought my play was ok.Please feel free to disagree.My reasoning: The loose aggressive player has been checkraising quite frequently (including on the river), so I wouldn't have expected him to bet out if the queen made him a straight.The passive player could easily have 68 for a flopped straight.He either had that hand or a smaller set, IMO.Yes, he would probably pay me off with a set (giving me a good reason to bet for value), but I thought 68 was also a likely hand.This, plus the aggressive player's tendency to checkraise when he makes a hand, led me to check.

Mark Gregorich