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pokeropie · Royal Flush Joined: 04 Jan 2006 Posts: 677 Location: Ohio

Everything i have read about hi/low says to play the low hand.
Wouldnt it be right to play high? playing low usually get only 1/2 of pot or ends in a split for 1/4. Also you must have 3 cards on board under 8 Its seems a lot of pots are for high only.Could someone please explain this thinking to me.

Zophar · Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 1:59 pm Post subject:

When playing for low, it also gives you the opportunity to win the high end too, or scoop. When playing for high only, you have no opportunity at lthe low if there is one. Thus, less likely to scoop.

There are many playable high only hands in O8, however there are many more high and low hands that are playable to win the pot. Hands like A10s23 play very well both ways. With the top pr/straight/flush combo of A10s and the A23 combo for low.

Hands like A234, A235, or ABBB(B=baby) don't play as well for the high, but will generally pick up any qualifying low.

Some situations arise where you have a boardlock for low and are freewheeling the high. Say you have A2d45s and the board is 3h5c10d8d, you have no high hand at the moment, but are locked low. The draw however is monster. Any A 2 or 4 gives you the wheel and a non paired diamond gives you the nut flush. Matched up against a hand like Ac Jd 10h 10c this is what the odds on the turn are:

scoop HIwin HIlos HItie LOwin LOlos LOtie EV
5s 4s Ad 2d 16 16 24 0 40 0 0 0.700
Ac Tc Jd Th 0 24 16 0 0 0 0 0.300

The set is only a 3/2 favorite to win 1/2 of the pot. Obviously not a good proposition and a big reason why high only hands are less favored.

Big Stan 7676 · Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2007 6:04 am Post subject:

Your right in my opinion. Play the high first, I always have. The high wins the whole pot a little less than 50% of the time and has to win 1/2 the pot all the time. To me it's simply return on investment. Your other relevent point is low splits, very well put. The splits further reduce return on investment and can even result in a "made hand" having a net loss on a 3 way pot for example. You certainly love to make the wheel and scoop high and low. But those are the exceptions. Further watch for the high splits on made straights and don't over bet into multi-player pots. Wraps are a favorite of Omaha players and straight splits are not uncommon at full tables. This can have the same negative result on return on investment as the low split.
I have always looked at a low as a bonus, not the core goal in Omaha Hi/lo. Generally outside the blinds I need 3 of the following to chase the low; A 2 3 4 and preferably A 2 included in the holding. Good luck on the felt.

st1nker · Straight Joined: 07 Jan 2008 Posts: 103

Just starting to get away from playing Texas Hold'Em all the time and experimenting a bit with the other games.

One thing I've noticed rather quickly is that when you are plaing in anticipation of getting a great Low Hand in Omaha (as well as Razz and 7-card stud HL) is that you can find yourself with 4 cards out of 5 needed for a great hand, but at that point are essentially on a draw (like having 4 diamonds, or perhaps 5678 and need that last card to complete a hand).

You might have (for example) A39K in your hand and 24Q on the flop, but have playable low hand at all if you don't hit the right card on the turn or river. Yeah, you get the 5 and you have the winning low (or perhaps a tie) hand, but might also get another 3 then a king on the table.

funnydude34 · High Card Joined: 07 Feb 2008 Posts: 6

I think I read somewhere that about 60% percent of the time, a low hand will show up, as in there are at least 3 cards on the board 8 or under. I think a big reason to play low hands, for instance, say you know you have the best low hand possible, you can raise with more confidence because in the end, you'll at least get part of the pot, and you may be able to push out other players and take the whole pot. With some luck, you can possibly scoop the pot and win it all as well.

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