Jaded's Omaha H/L tips

[Jaded]

Been trying to decide whether I really want to post these, given it's about the only place I have a slight advantage over some of you lot, but since there's a HOSE focus game tonight I thought I'd better be nice. 1. Starting hand selection is KEY - don't go for anything that doesn't have a good chance of low pots. I personally started by only playing A2xx, A3xx, and the occassional A4. In particular, if it hasn't got an A - DUMP IT! (the one exception here is 2345, which is extremely strong IF an A comes on the flop.) For early stages of H/L tourneys, A5 is as adventurous as I get, and that's only with REALLY nice cards backing it up. 1 b) Trips/Quads are HORRIBLE. Remember, you can only use 2 cards from your hand so all the counterfeits are doing are stopping you from having a chance of improving. AAA2 and AAA3 are playable, fold ALL other trips and ALL quads straight away. 2. If you're gonna play, play hard - I barely ever call. Admittedly, that's quite similar to my Texas strategy - but in Omaha I find it definitely works. This does mean pots gets REALLY big, so be very careful about your starting hands, and consider whether you want to play on post-flop. If you're not sure, DUMP IT! 3. You have to be aware of ALL possibilites. In Texas, a flop of 2h 5c 6s isn't worrying people. In Omaha, someone playing A34x - which is a fairly decent starting hand - just made the best possible high AND low hands at this stage. 4. Watch out for flops with one low card. If I get something like KT2 flop playing A3JJ, I'm far too tempted to stay in because A3 are the best low cards at the moment. Problem is, I need BOTH of the next two cards to be between 4 and 8, and even then I'm screwed on the low if they pair. This is one I should ditch every time and very rarely do. 5. Beware suited flops, or flops with 2 cards of the same suit, unless you have the A in that suit. If there's a few people in the hand, there's a big chance that someone will have that A. 6. Double-suited starting hands with 2 high cards are the best way to vary your play/semi-bluff. Again, don't like going for it unless there's two low cards - but if you HAVE to play a bit more, or if you're getting short-stacked, go for hands like Ah 8h Kc 9c. You've got straight possiblities with 89, K9, AK, nut flush possiblity for hearts, and second-nut flush for clubs. Not hugely great, but at least there's a chance of you getting something. 7. WATCH the other starting hands. Whenever anyone shows down, check what they had - if they're not playing A's, try and work out what they're doing. A lot of people overrate double suited hands with weak cards, or 2 pairs. If they're playing trips, they may as well be wearing a sign saying FISH!!!! These are more for Omaha H/L tourneys specifically than HOSE/HORSE events, but should help somewhat for the novices. (At least I hope they do!)

[GaF]

Re: Jaded's Omaha H/L tips Cheers Jaded :ok

[3vil3yes]

Re: Jaded's Omaha H/L tips Just a snagg that got me a couple of times with HiLo, be wary of following all-ins on turn or river with a lot of people in the hand. You maybe guaranteed the low pot, but there are so many combinations there to make the nut-low if you don't win the hi pot, sharing the lo pot will leave you out of pocket. As Jaded said, if the client has a efficient way of doing so, study the previous hands, I'd be surprised if there are not people showing signs that they don't know what the hell is going on (i.e. using 3 or 4 hole cards to make hands)...

[Jaded]

Re: Jaded's Omaha H/L tips 3vil3yes just reminded me of something, actually - very good point mate. :ok BIG danger in H/L is that you 'quarter' the pot - miss the high hand and share the low hand. If you've got A2 or A3 for the nut low, but you've missed the high, you need to be careful when there's only one or two other guys in there, as you could end up getting less back than you put in if they have the same nut low but also have a high hand. Obviously, in the rare situations when there's 4+ people shovelling chips in, you're getting back the money you put in even if you DO quarter so can be more aggressive there.

[Jaded]

Re: Jaded's Omaha H/L tips Just bumping this to the top in the hope that it might prove useful tonight to people.

[Jaded]

Re: Jaded's Omaha H/L tips Bumping again for tonight's H/L focus game.