Before the flop, we see Ngo sitting on a pair of fours. That quickly warrants a 180K raise. Good bet, can’t argue with that. I always worry about a small pair, but statistically there’s no question you have to take advantage while you can, try to make a small move to get others out before they catch.

Tran looks at pocket Aces. He looks over quickly and just calls, trying for the obvious trap. I go back and forth on this, but at this point I suppose I would’ve made the same move, actually hoping he caught a small pair on the flop, of course not knowing what he already holds.

Flop is 6, 10, 3, all black but nobody’s angling for a flush here. Ngo checks and Tran puts out his own 180K bet. Ngo calls. Turn is a Jack, same scenario and results. River is a Queen of hearts.

Very quickly here, Ngo moves all-in. Tran just loses it and starts giving himself away, not that it matters at this point – on this hand. But I was quite surprised to see the breakdown of self-control and discipline.

With a 95% chance of losing, Ngo sits stone-faced behind his rather large bluff. Tran is whining that Ngo “got lucky” with the queen, and that he knows Ngo has Ace, King. I never would’ve put Ngo at Ace, King if I were sitting at the table. In fact, despite its success, I found Ngo’s bluff to be rather transparent given the situation.

It doesn’t take long for Tran of PokerStar to fold. Upon the end of the hand, Ngo proceeds to just rub it in his face, saying “good lay down” as he turns up his bluff. This is another move I’d never make. I don’t care if it’s the end of a million-dollar tournament, it just wouldn’t happen. There are a few reasons – concealment, no necessity – but for me no larger than respect. Of course, in the moment things might be different. But that’s just my feeling.

The number one thing I noticed about playing Omaha poker is that the action is a lot more fierce then Texas Holdem poker. In Texas Holdem ring games you’ll see small raises and a few showdowns, but for the most part players only play there best cards which isn’t often. In Omaha poker every player gets four cards which opens up the options for great hands and causes more players to play in more hands. There are a lot of preflop raises which are normally called by most of the table to the flop.

Once the flop hits the board and everyone can see if they hit a draw or hand it helps get some players out of the pot. Usually a player will make a bet on the flop and two to three players will make the call. I also noticed on www.FullTiltPoker.net that a high percentage of hands in Omaha go down to the showdown online. All of these facts are there because most Omaha players are either new poker players or players switching from Texas Holdem.

In Texas Holdem it’s often to see one pair or two pair win a good sized pot, but in Omaha poker there are usually always a straight, flush or full house. This makes the game difficult, because most players will bet there two pair while they have no clue two other players hold monster hands. Monster hands in Texas Holdem aren’t monster in Omaha poker and this is the main thing you need to worry about. If you don’t have a straight, flush or full house then you probably don’t have much of a shot at winning the pot in Omaha and shouldn’t be in pots unless you have something this good.

One of the best strategies to use in Omaha poker while playing on Poker Stars is to play tight and not get involved in making calls to make hands. If the pot is raised preflop then don’t throw away $4-$5 or whatever it happens to be, because over time this starts to add up and can hurt you. Tight poker in Omaha will pay off, and when you do hit a good hand don’t be scared to bet it or make a raise. Players are very loose in Omaha from my experience and it’s important to know that because you can’t be scared of the big betting or you stand no chance.

The action is usually quick and many times a player will go out within the first few hands such as FullTiltPoker pro Gus Hansen a couple weeks ago on International Week. The television show always has a great line-up of players to participate in the game and many poker pros have made several appearances already on the show. Often it’s a friendly match, but once it gets down to the final two it can become quite competitive due to the $120,000 at stake.

This week has six great players including Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Jennifer Harman, Phil Laak, Antonio Esfandiari and Eric Siedel. The players are all still playing on the table after the second day and it’s been pretty friendly and tight poker thus far. Antonio is in the chip lead currently with UltimateBet pro Hellmuth in last place due to being silly and playing way too loosely.

Its fun watching small poker games with big cash prizes on the line between pros. It’d be nice if I could afford the $20,000 buy-in so that I could buy-in to the tournament, but I don’t see that happening. I’ve seen this poker television show more then any other currently on cable and I actually don’t see many other poker programs on my cable. Through my satellite I receive quite a few different programs, but I definitely see this program more then the others.

All of the best internet poker pros have been represented on the show and even some non known players have been making appearances on the show. If you live in Canada and don’t have a satellite then you should check out Sportsnet and find out when your time zone has the Poker After Dark show on. Canadians don’t get as many choices when it comes to TV, but this is one show that poker fans and players will enjoy.

Over the past year there have been some great special events held by the show as well with high stakes buy-ins and such things. The high stakes game was amazing and that leads me to the next show I would like to briefly mention at the bottom of this article. High Stakes Poker is coming back for there fifth season and they have announced a killer line-up of players this season. More and more poker shows have been appearing on the television which leads me to below poker must be receiving good ratings on the television networks or else they wouldn’t be producing new seasons.