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The Omaha Hi/Lo games are really picking up online. At Full Tilt Poker, the high-stakes pros are playing as high as $500/$1,000, and this is creating a lot of interest in the game. Since I really enjoy Omaha Hi/Lo – I won a bracelet in Omaha Hi/Lo in 2002 – I’m happy to see that lower-stakes players are giving the game a shot. If you’re looking to widen your poker horizons and play some Omaha Hi/Lo, this article will help start you out on the right foot.
The single best piece of advice I can give for playing online Omaha Hi/Lo is this: Stay patient. Just about everyone who plays Omaha Hi/Lo plays too many hands, and you can take advantage of the eagerness by waiting for true premium hands.
Many players will throw money into the pot with any hand that contains A-2. If there’s a raise in early position and they see Ac-2s-9d-Qh, they’re tossing in two bets without a thought. That’s a mistake. The problem with this sort of hand is that it doesn’t give you a great chance to scoop – to win both the high and low ends of the pot. At best, you’re going to take half the pot. And with this sort of holding, things could go very badly. You may make your nut low but then end up getting quartered (splitting the low portion of the pot with another player who also has A-2).
So be patient and wait for hands that give you a great chance of taking both halves of the pot. Hands that contain four wheel cards are ideal. As Ah 2c 3h or Ad 2d 3h 5c, for example, gives you the opportunity to make lows that can’t be counterfeited, as well as low straights and nut flushes.
As 2s Kc Qd is also an excellent starting hand. There’s the potential to make the nut low, if the flop comes in that portion of the deck. If the flop comes high, there’s a great chance to make a straight or two high pair.
Once the flop hits the board, you need to analyze your chances of taking either three quarters of the pot or the whole thing. If they’re reasonable, then you should continue with the hand. But if you find yourself looking at the board and thinking, “If I hit a good card on the turn I could take half the pot,” you need to get away from the hand, especially if the pot is being played heads up or three ways.
The point is that drawing to half the pot is a losing strategy, especially when the pot is small. You need to have the discipline to realize that the flop left you in bad shape and that your best move is to fold to any bet. You can be sure the other players in the game with you will be sticking around on any sort of draw, and you’ll make money off them as they throw in bets while hunting for half the pot.
My final piece of advice is that you need to know how to get away from a hand when you’ve been counterfeited. Say you raise with A-Q-J-2 and are called in a couple of spots. If the flop comes 2-8-7, there’s only one thing to do – check-fold. Far too many players stick around hoping things will work out. But you’re much better off being patient and waiting for better opportunities.
Wait for your spots and be patient – that’s the surest way to make money in Omaha Hi/Lo.
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