Imagine entering into a mutli-table poker tournament, playing a game that you have been working on for several months now (ie. putting in the time at the tables, reading as many forum posts as possible, etc.)

Now, after playing in this tournament for a few hours now, playing what you consider to be flawless poker, you find yourself at the final table, down to four players. This particular multi-table tournament only plays the top 3.

Now, while you are the current short-stack, there is still a bit of room for you to play your game, as opposed to it being a crap-fest due to the size of the blinds.

Then the following hand occurs:

Stage #233979861 Tourney ID 50459 Omaha Multi Normal Tournament Pot Limit $400 - 2005-11-09 14:47:31 (ET)
Table: 2 (Real Money) Seat #1 is the dealer
Seat 1 - JACKACELOVE3 ($10895 in chips)
Seat 2 - ROCKETWAD ($6850 in chips)
Seat 3 - TRACI917 ($8355 in chips)
Seat 5 - SPEEDIEJOHN ($21400 in chips)
ROCKETWAD - Posts small blind $400
TRACI917 - Posts big blind $800
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to ROCKETWAD [Kc As Ad 9h]
SPEEDIEJOHN - Folds
JACKACELOVE3 - Folds
ROCKETWAD - Raises $2000 to $2400
TRACI917 - Raises $6400 to $7200
ROCKETWAD - All-In $4450
TRACI917 - returned ($350) : not called
*** FLOP *** [10s 7c 9s]
*** TURN *** [10s 7c 9s] [Js]
*** RIVER *** [10s 7c 9s Js] [7d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
ROCKETWAD - Shows [Kc As Ad 9h] (Two Pairs, aces and sevens)
TRACI917 - Shows [Qs 6s Qh 9d] (Flush, queen high)
TRACI917 Collects $13700 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total Pot($13700)
Board [10s 7c 9s Js 7d]
Seat 1: JACKACELOVE3 (dealer) Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 2: ROCKETWAD (small blind) HI:lost with Two Pairs, aces and sevens [Kc As Ad 9h - P:As,P:Ad,B:7d,B:7c,B:Js]
Seat 3: TRACI917 (big blind) won Total ($13700) HI:($13700) with Flush, queen high [Qs 6s Qh 9d - P:Qs,B:Js,B:10s,B:9s,P:6s]
Seat 5: SPEEDIEJOHN Folded on the POCKET CARDS

According to cardplayer's calculator:

I was a 64.13% favorite to win pre-flop.
After the flop, I was a 41.22% favorite to win. What the?
After the turn, I was a 0% favorite to win. Wowzers.
After the river, who cares, I lost on the turn.

So, I was a little upset, to say the least. Not in finishing on the bubble (yet again - for seemingly the 100th time) mind you, but rather in losing with that particular hand. Now, I realize that I have a rainbow hand, but I still firmly believe that I played it correctly, raising pre-flop, and then calling the all-in.

Was I correct to play it in this manner? :?

I am no Omaha expert. However, it seems to me that with AA and only three additional players your choices are limited. While it would have been better to have at least one of your aces suited (especially in spades)what are you to do. The only other option is to push all-in pre flop and hope you get called (because you will be ahead), but this worked out fine.

You got the chips in with the best hand and that is all you can do. Let's face it, Omaha is a drawing game and any hand can be beat. You certainly were not going to fold to his all-in because you weren't suited, not at that point in the tourney.

FYI - Its PLO, so I put in the maximum amount I could pre-flop. 8)

I think that's the only way to play it. AAxx is a favorite (often a slight favorite) over any other hand. So you get your money in as at worst a 55/45 favorite, nothing else you can do.