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Tomy_Lee · Posted: Thu May 03, 2007 10:02 am Post subject: Starting low stakes strategy

Hi. Can you tell me what is the best way to play low stakes on Omaha hi/lo?
I consider myself TAG player with a little bit of experiance at hi/lo games.

So what is the best strategy on these limits? Playing A2 only? Playing any A with low cards? What about high pocket pairs? I would like to hear a lot of advices from player with more knowledge of the game.
I am sick of hold`em, and maybe because I am European I like Omaha more than Holdem Smile

muktuk2 · Flush Joined: 09 Dec 2006 Posts: 127 Location: belgium

hey tomy_lee, where are you from in europe? Nice to read that you'd like to give omaha 8 a shot! At the lower stakes it is important to play tight. A lot of people don't really know what they are doing and will be chasing second nuts all the time.
In multiway pots you only go for or chase the nuts. Your starting hand selection should be real tight (A2 or A3 with another baby card for help -the ace preferably suited-, high suited cards like 10QKA, low straight cards like 2345,...)
You wanna stay away from middle straight cards (6789 for example), big pairs (even AA) with nothing going for them (like AA95 unsuited) or any hand that would develop into second nut hands (K543 suited). You can offcourse play these kinds of hands in position in a shorthanded pot with little to no raise, but I'd recommand staying away from them in early position.

Your goal is to scoop, to win both sides of the pot. This is where your profit will be. There are a lot of raising wars in the low stakes games, so if on any street you find yourself counterfitted, get out of the pot if you don't have back up (unless you are given pot odds that beg you to call Smile

). Aim for nut flushes or straights to go along with your nut low, cuz like I said: a lot of people call down second nut flushes and straights.
Big cards do well when the flop lays no low draw. If you win with a big straight, chances are you're scooping because of the absence of a low on the board.
Beware of the board getting paired, especially in multiway pots. Your flush may very well (actually: most of the time in multiway) be beaten by a full house or better.
Some hands play better multiway, some better shorthanded. Use preflop raises and position to maneuvre people out of the pot or to keep people in.
But never, NEVER forget to have fun Wink

gl

Spigwish · Posted: Thu May 03, 2007 12:52 pm Post subject:

A lot of new OHL players tend to overvalue any hand containing A2. I agree with muktuk, that what you are looking for is a hand that has the ability to win both Hi and Lo. For example, I drool whenever I get dealt AhAcKh2c. This hand is just ripe with opportunity.

Placing too much faith in A2 without other cards that fit in, you leave yourself in the position of facing quartering (or worse). I'd rather lose a hand outright than be quartered.

A hand containing A3 or 23 is also playable, as on the occasions when an ace hits the board, any player with A2 has just been counterfeited. As in hold'em, position is important, and remember that with so many more cards being dealt out, rarely will anything worse than a straight take the pot. When the board pairs, it is almost certain that someone has just hit a full house. Lastly, I never personally play a hand if I get dealt trips.

dumwaldo · Posted: Thu May 03, 2007 4:27 pm Post subject:

Lots of people say to play tight but not so many seem to even know what tight is.

You get dealt 4 cards in Omaha, that is the equivalent of 6 starting hands in holdem since there are 6 different 2 card combinations. To play a hand you should have at least 3 decent 2 card starting hands. Those hands should be something that can lead to a very strong hand and can afford you as many outs as possible.

Pocket pairs can be tremendously powerful in Hold Em but in Omaha they are much less favorable. To be perfectly blunt they are more often than not hurting you more than helping you so don't over value those pocket pairs in Omaha. When I am playing Omaha, I would much rather see suited connectors or even suited one gappers than pocket pairs.

These concepts are basically just Omaha concepts, not specialized for hi low games. This is how I play both variations of Omaha with the only difference being that lower cards can have more value in evaluating starting hands.

For instance...

Ac,2c,3s,Kh is a hand I would play in a hi low game but I would fold preflop in a high only game.

I can easily find more than 3 starting hands for hi low.
A,2
A,3
2,3
A,K
For a high only game the A,2 is decent for the flush value and the A,K is decent for the broadway straight potential but the other 2 starting hands are useless without a low split pot.

On the subject of low pots that is something else you need to be cautious of. Chasing low only hands is the #1 way to lose money in O8. If there are 3 other players besides yourself in the pot then playing just the low is not that bad but if it is only 3 players proceed very cautiously because you will lose money if you get quartered on the pot.

Remember, not only do you have more cards and more options but so does everybody else.

good luck,
dumwaldo

Tomy_Lee · Posted: Fri May 04, 2007 8:40 am Post subject:

Very nice replies by all of you. Thanks a lot, guys.
I`ll try to use these tips whenever I play.

I`ll probably start by playing 0.10/0.25 PL CAP games, but I hope I will eventually be able to play higher games..
Considering tournaments in Omaha hi/lo, I am not that much interested as in cash game.

Thanx once again.

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