Limit O8 Starting Hand Reqs

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TheWall

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So I have been playing O8 for a while now with some success, but I'm not sure if I am playing too few or two many different varieties of hands preflop. I'm currently playing .25/.50 if anyone is experienced with that level.
 
c9h13no3

c9h13no3

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You're probably playing too many. Play hands that have multiple ways to make the nuts.
 
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TheWall

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I've been doing that, I'll tighten up all the same. Does anyone know of an article that addresses this?
 
Makwa

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^^^^^
Yes was going to post that myself, I hate people asking what starters are and this is a great start (Hutchison and Caro).

I also hate people posting O and O8 hands they lost, that they should not have been into in the first place. No idea of starters or the potential (flopability) of those...
 
Makwa

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Whoops Sorry

U r talkin O8, not O, so similar system is quoted here from same source:

BTW THIS IS THE NUTS :tee: :cool: :eek: ;) :D:D:D:D

HUTCHISON POINT COUNT SYSTEM FOR OMAHA HIGH-LOW POKER
The following is slightly modified from an article of mine that appeared in the December, 1997 issue of the Canadian Poker Monthly. I want to acknowledge with appreciation the contributions of Nolan Dalla, Dave Scharf, and others to this effort to quantify starting hands in Omaha Hi-Lo Poker (Eight or Better).
ASSUMPTIONS: A ten-handed game at the lower levels with a mix of good and poor players.


OBJECTIVE: To identify those hands that have at least a 50% above chance expectation of winning. That is, while any random hand should win about 10% of the pots in a ten-handed game, the hands identified as "playable" by this system have at least a 15% probability of winning.


METHOD: In any split pot game the best hands are those that have a chance to win both high and low. Most of the hands without this potential should be discarded. However, there are a few hands that are profitable even though they have no potential to win low.


The first step in evaluating your hand is to see if it is one of these HIGH-ONLY hands. To qualify, all four of your cards must be Ten or above AND include (1) two pair, or (2) a pair and two suited cards, or (3) two double suits. Eliminate any high hand containing three of the same rank. If your hand does not qualify as a HIGH hand, then...

The next step is to see if your hand can be played as a LOW or TWO-WAY hand. This determination is made by adding the number of points obtained in these four simple steps:

FIRST, look at your two lowest cards and award points as follows:
A-2 equals 20 pts. A-3 equals 17 pts. A-4 equals 13 pts. A-5 equals 10 pts. 2-3 equals 15 pts. 2-4 equals 12 pts. 3-4 equals 11 pts. 4-5 equals 8 pts. Anything else = no pts.
SECOND, look at your two remaining cards ("kickers") and award points:
3 equals 9 pts. 4 equals 6 pts. 5 equals 4 pts.
Jack, Queen, or King equals 2 pts. 6 or Ten equals 1 pt.
Do not award any "kicker" pts. for a card that duplicates a card used in step one and if the kicker is paired it is counted only once under this step.
THIRD, if you have any pairs, add points as follows:
Aces equal 8 pts. Kings equal 6 pts. Queens equal 5 pts. Jacks equal 2 pts. Tens equal one pt Fours equal one pt Threes equal one pt Deuces equal 3 pts. Deduct half of the points awarded under this step if you have trips.
FOURTH, if you hold two suited cards and the highest of them is an
Ace, add 4 pts. King, add 3 pts. Queen or Jack, add 2 pts. 8, 9, or Ten, one pt.
Deduct half of the points awarded under this step if your hand contains three cards of the same suit and award no points if all of the cards are of the same suit.
EACH HAND WILL EARN A TOTAL FROM 0 TO 45 POINTS. PLAY THOSE HANDS WITH 20 POINTS OR MORE AND CONSIDER RAISING WITH 30 POINTS OR MORE.

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EXAMPLES FOR CLARIFICATION
You are dealt AS, 3S, 5H, KD. Since not all four cards are above Ten, the hand is evaluated as a low or two-way hand by following the four steps outlined above. Step one awards 17 pts. for the A-3, step two grants six pts. for the 5 and K "kickers," step three does not apply, and step four gives four pts. for the two suited cards (spades) headed by the Ace. The total equals 27 pts. making this a playable hand.

You are dealt AS, AC, 2S,3C. The hand does not qualify for high. Step one awards 20 pts. for the A-2, step two gives nine pts. for the 3 "kicker," step three grants eight pts. for the pair of Aces, and step four means that each double-suited combination headed by an Ace is worth four pts. each or a total of eight pts. for the two combinations. The grand total for this hand is 45 points. Incidentally, this is the most powerful hand in high-low Omaha.

You are dealt AS, TS, AC, QD. This hand qualifies for high because it satisfies the condition that 1) all four cards are Ten or above, and 2) two of the cards are paired and two are of the same suit.

You are dealt AS, TS, KD, QD. This hand qualifies for high because 1) all four cards are Ten or above, and 2) it contains two double suits.


NOTES
A very high correlation (but not a one-to-one correspondence) exists between a hand's point count and its winning percentage. Thus, a hand that earns 25 pts. is quite likely to have a higher win percentage than a hand with 24 pts.and it is almost certain to have a higher percentage than a hand with 23 or fewer pts.

It should be noted that initial card selection, while crucial to success, is not the only skill necessary to maximize Omaha profits. These other skills, however, do not lend themselves to easy quantification and are beyond the scope of this simple mathematical approach. Recall, too, the basic assumption that this system is being used at the lower limits. I hope that these limitations will not detract from the main purpose of this approach which is to provide a simple aid to the beginner.

This system has been devised by Edward Hutchison who invites your comments and opinions.

PLEASE NOTE: Paul Merkt has devised software which automatically calculates the point totals based upon this system. You can check it out by clicking on www.PokerWeapon.com







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Click here to see a similar system for Hold 'Em
Click here to see a similar system for Hold' Em High-Low
Click here to visit the Home Page of Edward Hutchison

Starting Hands

In Omaha Hi/Lo, it is important to hold a strong starting hand. Players need to have a hand that is capable of scooping the entire pot. This means hands that work great in Omaha hi (such as AKQJ or JT98) lose a lot of value in Hi/Lo due to their inability to make a low.
In general, the tightest player at any Omaha Hi/Lo table is likely to be a winning player. Starting hand selection is so critical that demonstrating patience is perhaps the single most important skill to have. Hands that may seem tempting to play (such as A49T) should be folded due to their propensity for making a non-nut low.
The best starting hand in Omaha Hi/Lo is AA23 double-suited. Other very playable hands include (but are not limited to): A234, AAxx, A2xx, A345, A36K, 2345, KQ23. Most winning Omaha Hi/Lo players are very careful about the number of A3xx hands they play. This hand is not nearly as good as it looks, and can often lead to several lost bets after making the second-nut low.
It is important to note the importance of the ace in Omaha Hi/Lo. An ace works as the best card on both ends of the pot. It is the key card in making a nut low, and is also a very important card to have in the high side of the pot for its value as a kicker. Some very famous poker players (Scotty Nguyen for example) have a theory that no Omaha Hi/Lo hand is playable unless it has an ace. Obviously this strategy is a little extreme. But for new players, it may be wise to develop a habit of folding most hands that do not contain an ace.
Position is just as important in Omaha Hi/Lo as it is in Texas hold'em. This means that borderline hands (such as JJ24) should only be played in late position in an un-raised pot.
Flop Tips

Most of the time, it is a poor decision for a player to draw to a low after the flop unless they already have the best four to a low. For example, after a flop of A5K, one should not draw for the low unless they are holding 23xx in the pocket. A lot of the profit in playing Omaha Hi/Lo comes from winning chips off of weak players who draw to non-nut lows. Drawing to a low that isn't the nut-low is almost a guaranteed way to lose in Omaha Hi/Lo.
Another common losing mistake in Omaha Hi/Lo is drawing to a running low. For example, most players holding A2xx enter the pot expecting to make the nut-low. However, if the flop comes 8KQ, these players are now reliant on completing a running low-draw just to win half of the pot. These players should fold to a bet. It is a bad move to purposefully draw to two cards for a low.
 
kmixer

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So much good advice here already but I will throw mine in as well.

An Ace is key in this game. For the most part you want to take the "don't leave home without one" approach. Any A2 is worth seeing for one bet. Any suited A with a 3 should also see the flop for cheap as possible.

Suited Ace with two prime cards or two cards 10 and over should be played. From late position these hands should be raised if there are no raises in front of you already.

Hands where all four cards are 40 points (10 and above) Can be played and should be raised from LP if there are more than three limpers.

I think this is obvious but worth mentioning that if you have a hand with 3 of a kind unless it is AAA2 this has to be thrown away unless you are BB and no raises to you. You might be able to justify other hands that have this structure but you are best to avoid the temptation.

Hands with 9s should be folded unless they contain something from above and even then play them carefully since one of your four cards becomes useless if it is a 9. This is one of the hardest things to grasp. I still have a hard time releasing these hands.

Do not chase low only and only continue with low only if there is backup to your made low. You also want at least 4 peopel in such a hand that will see it to the end. That way you won;t get 1/4d as often. But try not to chase the low even if it is the nut low.

After the flop you should release any hand that can not win both ways. The game is about flushes. If you flop a nut straight and there are two suits on the board (and you have no draw for that suit) you need to tread carefully and you need to consider folding to a bet and certainly to a bet and a raise. If you have no low you are gone from hands like this. If the board pairs same deal even if you are on a flush draw or have the flush already unless it is the nut flush you will want to play this carefully and if the other player says they have the boat believe them.
 
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