Omaha Poker Blog

I really just cannot comment on Omaha Hi-Lo strategy (8) ATM. I have not played nearly enough of it. I can see the logic in betting the nut low if you can induce a fold though.

As far as pre-flop agression. If you can get it HU with the better hand, then I think you are getting positive EV. I used to run a strategy of re-raising raisers with AAxx double suited in PLO, aiming to make a big pot and then typically pot bet the flop. However you the pot bet only gets called by better hands and then you are in serious poo. So after losing too many TRs that way and not stacking people enough, I’ve gone off that approach.

There is another reason I tend not to get to agressive PF. Unless it is a raise and a re-raise, anyone who will call for a buck, usually calls for $3.5, so you don’t thin the field very much (and arguably the nature of the game says you don’t want to thin the field anyway). Secondly, if someone limped Aces and then has the chance to re-raise, you are suddenly faced with having to pay a very high entry fee for your premium drawing hand….and what’s worse is that you will be playing it against a smaller field where there is zero pot protection and drawing odds go out the window.

So I have chopped and changed heaps with pre flop agression in PLO but I keep coming back to limping is the best policy with all hands.

I am also in two minds about post flop agression. I have lost dozens of TRs re-raising and getting all in with wrap draws only to find that they either don’t hit, or do hit but make a flush. Its a pretty rare day when you get a wrap and nut flush draw but that would be about the only time I could justify huge agression on a drawing hand.

The other scenario I frequently encounter is trips with which you want to charge drawing hands. Best approach here I think is to make the big bet on the turn when there is only 1 card to come. Having said that, I lost $150 in a single hand yesterday when I smooth called top set on the flop and then check raised all-in over 3 players on the turn. One dude still called with a flush draw and hit his 5 to 1 shot with 2 to 1 odds. Technically I won alot of money on the hand and I don’t regret the way I played it. But that sort of calling is just too common. So I am happier to give 1 free or cheep card and then belt the pot on the turn which seems to force much bigger errors than progressively building on flop and turn. Because the pot becomes so large by the turn, compared to the call price, that implied odds can almost justify a legitimate call.

All in all, it is a game which rewards extreme patience with massive pots. Its just vitally important to remember that patience is the first ingredient.

Anyway, as usual for me, this is completely off topic, being only about PLO, but it was particuarly in response to your thoughts about agression.

I just finished 11th a few minutes ago in a Poker Stars Omaha FR (out of 6000+), qualifying me for Saturday’s big 2k. I do better at Omaha than Holdem. I know this will sound conceited, but Omaha requires a bit more analytical skill, and is not ‘as much’ the bluffing game as holdem. Omaha is typically limit (in HORSE), or pot limit. If you’re playing H/L, it adds a whole other dimension to the game. You need to be acutely aware of who might be betting what at ALL times, depending on the cards that come (low draw, low arrival or lack thereof). Some people raise all the time with pocket aces or ace-2 naked (no 3 or 4) (if H/L), usually a move that bites ‘em in the ass.

You might think it’s luck, but it’s really no different than texas holdem with regard to that. You simply must be aware that with 4 cards in the hold, more will be likely to get a str8 or flush or boat should almost ANY opportunity arise. Was in a hand this morning where 3 (!!!) people had flushes. This will never happen in holdem, not with just 3 of a suit on the board. And if your str8 isn’t the nut one (even with no flush or boat possibility), be wary if it’s not the NUT one. And you see people overvaluing all kinds of hands, particularly funny after the river, depending on it. And I’ve also mentioned this before, but people make mistakes when there are trips or 2 pair on the table. Simple as that (without going into detail ), mistakes.

Personally, Omaha is a far more interesting game than holdem, hi or H/L. I agree with KMC - more hands to play (sometimes FEWER though), you just got to learn, and that takes time & effort.

Some newbie tips scrounged up by Phaedrus75:

I have been trying to watch as many David Eistein Videos as time will allow on RPT. He is the site’s Omaha specialist. So far I have watched all the cash game videos and only a couple of tournament videos.

Whilst I still have not played any multi-table tournaments, I do note that David suggests a few things of relevance to this thread. From memory these are:

1. Don’t preflop raise (much if at all).

2. Don’t chase draws unless they are to the nuts

3. Occasionally he will play a Hi only hands but mostly he is playing start cards which allow for a scoop.

4. He says on numerous occasions that patience is even more important in Omaha than hold’em.

Now, for some of my own strategic throughts….

We know that in Holdem Tournaments GCI, Mzone, Inflection Point Play and Structured Hand Analysis govern pre flop play considerably, usually in the form of all in moves when the blinds are high.

However in Holdem, there can be a pretty big difference between pre flop hand strengths. Accordingly, when Harrington runs through his structured hand analysis in HOH V2, to show that pushing 10-8s is positive EV from Red M, much of the positive EV comes from fold equity.

As Raz correctly points out, there is much less difference in pre flop hand strength in Omaha which should mean that you will have less fold equity. Accordingly, shoving and pre flop agression from low M is unlikely to have the same effectiveness (this coming from a guy who has never played a tournament though so I really am only guessing here).

If that is the case that you have less fold equity, then it stands to reason that you need to have more patience.

Or otherwise, the kind of strategy in one of my previous threads called “Is this SNG strategy a Stitch up? would make even more sense in Omaha. That is, when you are short stacked, calling liberally makes alot of sense since you have no fold equity anyway and at least you are calling for a guaranteed big pot.

The above comes from zero experience so I am just putting it out there as a hypothetical which might spark a line of theory from more experienced O8 tournament players.