I learned to play Omaha Hi-Lo today.

zEric7x

zEric7x

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Omaha was already harder but add in the split and I am more confused. :confused: The idea of wanting a good low and high hand is quite different.

I goofed off and played some hands at the poker stars play chip site. :p
 
BearPlay

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You've got an Omaha Bear here. ;)

Ask your questions. :)
 
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floweryhead

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I love Omaha8. Lots of people have different opinions on how to play it but the main advise I can offer you is that to go for both the low and the high as more often than not you'll get quartered by only winning the low. I've just recently started playing the micro limit cash games of this on pokerstars but have been playing tournaments of it for years and had a few cashes.Theres a few books that deal with the strategy for it including the ever-mentioned SuperSystems. Stick with it as there are never many tables of it at Pokerstars and I'd like to see it become more popular
 
DaBigWo

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Bear

I see guys working just the hi end and not caring for the lo.Have you seen this ?
 
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love that omaha

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Omaha hi lo is really the best game for a cash game grinder imo. I prefer limit but have also played some pot limit online. Start with a low hopefully double suited with a low back up. A2 KQ is not as strong a hand as A23 5 with at least one suit. If you only have one half the pot but you feel you have a lock on that half be careful not to raise out the players who may be hanging in there with a second best type hand. ex. the player to your left has 78910 on a 456 K Q board no flush possible he bets out and you have say A23 Q for nut low...... esp. in limit you should just call esp with 2 or 3 players left to act and get those extra 3 bets in the pot. Pot limit is a little more complex sometimes a player will consistently bet marginal high hands and you may want to raise him out if you have nut low so you don't have to split the pot.....It takes a lot of experience, just try to avoid spots where you pumping up the pot only to get quartered. If you play high only hands hands like AJJ10 double suited AKQ10 with at least one suited possibility are great I don't put any value into hands like 8 9 10 Q you just have to hit too perfect a flop and sometimes still only for half.
 
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scboffspring

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Same for me for Omaha, or actually improved it. But I learned Razz, Stud, Stud Hi-Lo, Triple Draw 2-7 Lowball.

I played for the first time the "Le Verrier's 8-Game" and I'm going deep (we are 71 left out of 3500~, 48 tickets to win)

Really happy about it :D
 
zEric7x

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Bear

I see guys working just the hi end and not caring for the lo.Have you seen this ?

I noticed this as well. People played as if lo hands didn't exist. They would get the whole pot scooped from them sometimes. That means somebody won the lo and hi land.

I also noticed what love that omaha said and that sometimes you can lose even if you win because you only get 25% of the pot.

Thank you floweryhead and love that omaha for your advice.

I checked the two USA rooms I play on and sadly nobody plays this game of poker so I might only get to play with play-chips.

scboffspring I also did a bit of basic research into razz aand 7 stud. Even stranger games to me. :confused:
 
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scboffspring

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Did it ! I'm in the 48 :D

Anyway, for Eric, you should try some freeroll like the Le Verrier's, or other. Some of them are with "untypical" game, like razz/stud, etc.. Best way to learn them, and free :) If you have PokerStars (which is unsure as you apparently are from USA)
 
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I am huge fan of this game, once I was introduced to it, I learned it and do very well in cash games. I wish they had more pl omaha hi lo tournaments out there. I avg about 20 dollar profit when I play on 5 cent 10 cent tables. They give away their money chasing that low.. It sucks when they hit it, but for the most part you can make so much money.. Welcome to the greatest game club!!!
 
TheCol

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Omaha is a fun game but you need to relize that its not like texas holdem. There are a bunch more cards in play compaired to texas holdem. There tend to be alot bigger hands like nut flushes full houses and four of a kinds. The hardest part with Omaha is knowing when you beat. Vary rarely that 2 pair wins in the hand with more than 5 players playing.
I prefer high low omaha. It gives more chance to win with a marginal hand. I think if you can learn omaha and play it well then texas holdem would be a piece of cake.
 
BearPlay

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Bear

I see guys working just the hi end and not caring for the lo.Have you seen this ?

Ya, usually by inexperienced spillover HE players. High-only hands can be speculated, for example if you can see a cheap flop, but otherwise I don't recommend playing high-only, especially for beginners.

The very best hands in O8 are balanced, and at all times, you should be gunning for scooping, or at least winning 3/4 of, the pot.

Chasing the low or the high only is usually a costly mistake.


I also noticed what love that omaha said and that sometimes you can lose even if you win because you only get 25% of the pot.


I checked the two USA rooms I play on and sadly nobody plays this game of poker so I might only get to play with play-chips.


Quartering happens a lot to beginning O8 players who play this game like HE or who read a few tips and think they've mastered the game.

O8 is a complex game and to play it well, you have to understand the mechanics which separate this game drastically from HE.

A few quick ones would be:

Don't raise the nut low (in most cases). Doing so, especially when you don't have a Hi balance in your hand, is setting yourself up for being quartered. In a full ring table, almost always, someone else is holding that A2.

O8 is a game of the nuts. You should be holding the nuts, or a very strong draw to the nuts, when betting/calling/raising.

Stop preflop raising. It really is ok, and preferred, to limp in. O8 is a POSTFLOP game, not a PREFLOP game.

There are no monster hands in O8. There is no equivalent to the AA in HE. Most hand equities in O8 are very close to one another.

A made hand on the flop means very little in O8. This game changes on a dime, almost always on the turn, and very often on the river.

Pocket pairs mean little, unless combined with something else in your hand to balance them. Most HE players overvalue PP and get stacked for it.

The best starting hands in O8 are AA23 ds and AKA2 ds.

Middle cards are your worst nightmare.

Stop playing so many hands. You should be folding more often. The liability with 4 hole cards, instead of 2, is that it is easy to mentally talk yourself into thinking that a mediocre hand is a good one.

Your best hands always have a backup plan to something else.

Position is crucial in O8, even more so than in HE.

There are a lot of other quick tips I can offer, but if you have specific questions, go ahead.

As far as places to play, are you talking about cash or tournaments? I'm not a cash player, but you can find O8 tournaments many times a day at ACR or BCP, as well as Carbon and Bovada.

Wish you the best.

Bear
 
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10058765

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Ya, usually by inexperienced spillover HE players. High-only hands can be speculated, for example if you can see a cheap flop, but otherwise I don't recommend playing high-only, especially for beginners.

The very best hands in O8 are balanced, and at all times, you should be gunning for scooping, or at least winning 3/4 of, the pot.

Chasing the low or the high only is usually a costly mistake.





Quartering happens a lot to beginning O8 players who play this game like HE or who read a few tips and think they've mastered the game.

O8 is a complex game and to play it well, you have to understand the mechanics which separate this game drastically from HE.

A few quick ones would be:

Don't raise the nut low (in most cases). Doing so, especially when you don't have a Hi balance in your hand, is setting yourself up for being quartered. In a full ring table, almost always, someone else is holding that A2.

O8 is a game of the nuts. You should be holding the nuts, or a very strong draw to the nuts, when betting/calling/raising.

Stop preflop raising. It really is ok, and preferred, to limp in. O8 is a POSTFLOP game, not a PREFLOP game.

There are no monster hands in O8. There is no equivalent to the AA in HE. Most hand equities in O8 are very close to one another.

A made hand on the flop means very little in O8. This game changes on a dime, almost always on the turn, and very often on the river.

Pocket pairs mean little, unless combined with something else in your hand to balance them. Most HE players overvalue PP and get stacked for it.

The best starting hands in O8 are AA23 ds and AKA2 ds.

Middle cards are your worst nightmare.

Stop playing so many hands. You should be folding more often. The liability with 4 hole cards, instead of 2, is that it is easy to mentally talk yourself into thinking that a mediocre hand is a good one.

Your best hands always have a backup plan to something else.

Position is crucial in O8, even more so than in HE.

There are a lot of other quick tips I can offer, but if you have specific questions, go ahead.

As far as places to play, are you talking about cash or tournaments? I'm not a cash player, but you can find O8 tournaments many times a day at ACR or BCP, as well as Carbon and Bovada.

Wish you the best.

Bear
very very good information for beginning O8 players Bear.
Although I played O8 some times before, I do consider myself a beginner and I think what you wrote here are pretty good guidelines to start with.

One thing I like to add.....make notes on other players.
We should do that in general, but esp in O8 it's very valuable because players tend to make many more mistakes compared to holdem.
Make accurate notes and a lot of players become easy targets.

Oh and if you have the possibility to watch games at stars, try to find some regs and closely watch them play.
Could be very helpful.
 
martymart48

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Razz fixe limit mtt can be fun.I win 4 small mtt 50 players on full tilt.
Play other game can be good and fun.12345.
 
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I've got two books on it Tenner/Krieger's Winning Omaha 8 poker and Shane Smith's Omaha High-Low. I've no idea how good these books are but they've helped me get my head around a lot of things I was doing wrong when I started. I'll re-read the Supersystem bit at some point... and I think I've got a Ray Zee book about High Low poker somewhere. Any of these may be of use to you for Omaha 8
 
zEric7x

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The best starting hands in O8 are AA23 ds and AKA2 ds.

What other hands are good to play because that is one thing that confuses me. I can tell what the best cards are preflop but I have no idea of what OK hands are. Hands worth just calling postion.
 
BearPlay

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As for limping, as I said above, I would prefer that as a beginner that you limp in (instead of raise) with the hands that you do play, until you get a feel for when pre-flop raising is warranted. Too many players auto-raise pre-flop with A2 or any pocket pair. Not only are these huge tells, but as I said above, very often the pp mean little in O8, and the A2 is easily going to quarter you. Most raises should be done *AFTER* the flop.

That said, I would rarely play a marginal hand, especially a one-way (for example, A388), in O8. Mediocre hands often lead to chip spewing and they will get you into trouble in later streets, because you'll talk yourself into thinking that you have a good hand, when in fact you do not. On a good day, I might play a "marginal" hand, but only if I were HU.

If you are asking about "good" or "playable" starting hands in O8, then, besides the ones listed above (AA23 ds and AKA2 ds), there are these to consider:

The strongest starting hands are balanced, preferably double-suited, with a good chance of scooping the pot, such as:
:ah4: :2c4: :qc4: :qh4:
:ad4: :2s4: :ks4: :kd4:

Suited aces, with backups to the low counterfeit, with nut flush and straight draws:
:as4: :2s4: :3c4: :4d4:


Good starting hands:
:ah4: :kd4: :qh4: :jd4: (nice wrap, but high-only, be careful)

:2s4: :3s4: :4d4: :5d4:
:ah4: :2h4: :3s4: :3c4:
:as4: :2h4: :js4: :jc4:
etc.

Marginal hands, to avoid in most cases:
:jc4: :jd4: :10s4: :10h4:
:2s4: :3d4: :qd4: :kh4: (unless an A hits, your low is no good)
:6h4: :6d4: :9c4: :9s4:
:4d4: :4c4: :4s4: :ah4:
:2d4: :2h4: :jh4: :kc4:

Remember, the best hands in O8, pre-flop and post-flop, are balanced, that hit the nuts post-flop or a very strong draw to the nuts.

If you don't hold an A in your hand, strongly consider folding pre-.
 
pcgnome

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Here's a few examples of the best low starting hands...
A-A-2-3 double suited
A-A-2_3 with one suit
A-A-2-3 with no suit
A-A-2-4
A-A-2-5
A-2-3-4
A-2-3-5
Any A-2-2-X hand is pretty rare to find , but it is playable because there will be less chance that your deuce will be counterfeited
Opening with the 2nd best low A-3 hand is pretty standard. Any A-2 is fine, but it is good to have at least one other wheel card in case the deuce is counterfeited. 2-3 hands can be profitable in multi-way pots when you get an ace after the flop. You usually don't want to chase a low hand if you need runner-runner lows post-flop.

High hands- Any 4 9+ or Broadway cards are good. Any ace that is suited is playable. Winning hands will have at least one ace most of the time. You usually don't want to play with only 3 Broadway cards. Having a nut high hand with no low is gold.
PLO8 takes a lot more mental focus than HE, since you have to carefully consider what the other guy might be holding. What is probable is very likely possible, so if you don't have a nut hand after the river you usually need to let it go.
I hope this helps a bit.

__
 
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carloskmargo

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I really like the HORSE and especially omaha eight or better since it is a very fine game where you have to always be aware of to get a result in both formats (HIGH, LOW) is a very different game to what we have always been used as is the texas holdem (NL)
 
Mordecoke

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I would def. take Bear plays advice.
Also another thing that helped me with HI/Low to begin with was watching youtube tournaments with commentary.
The commentators actually give you advice as if you were in the hand and it makes it that much more easier if you're a visual learner.
 
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Try and avoid hands with a 9 in them, worse card in the deck for omaha HL
 
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