A sensible betting strategy can greatly increase your Omaha profit. For instance if on the river you have nut low and one pair, but when another nut low (who has no pair) bets, you raise and knock out a player who has you beat for high. There is a lot to Omaha post-flop play, but it pales in comparison to Hold'em.
Omaha Hi Lo (also known as Omaha 8 or Omaha Eight or Better) is a “split pot” version of the popular Omaha poker game. In this version of the game, there are two winning hands in each round: the high winner and the low winner.
The high hand winner is the player with the highest value winning hand – the same as in the standard version of Omaha. The low hand winner is the player with the best hand featuring five unpaired cards valued 8 or lower. Flushes and straights are ignored in the low hand. If you know the basics of Pot Limit Omaha Hi strategy, you should have no problems getting to grips with Omaha Hi Lo strategy, so here are some tips to get you started.
Be prepared to fold on the flop
An essential Omaha 8 strategy is to recognize when you have a weak hand early on and get out quickly. The game favors the highest value hands so if the flop offers you little, it’s time to fold. Betting on average hands is a flawed Omaha Eight or Better strategy that will quickly end your game.
Forget about bluffing
If you are planning on bringing your Texas Hold’em bluffing skills to the Omaha Hi Lo table, think again. The game is driven by strong hands so when the betting starts, the chances are you are going up against players with high-value combinations. Bluffing in this situation is a sure-fire way to get beat. There are some Omaha Hi Lo strategy advanced situations where bluffing may be useful, but it takes time and experience to understand such nuances of the game. Until you reach that point, bet the hand you have.
Poker Regeln Omaha High Low Level
Don’t commit too early
If you are dealt a strong early hand such as A-A-2-3 double-suited, don’t be tempted to raise early. You will reduce the field while committing a lot of money before you have seen the flop. It’s much better to keep as many players in the game as possible if you have the potential to hit the “nuts”. Some players may raise early if they have a good but not strong hand to try and force other players to fold but this strategy can backfire after the flop.
Remember, the key decision you need make after being dealt with your hole cards is whether to play your hand or not. If you have a premium hand, you should play but avoid raising until after the flop when there is a multi-way pot there to be scooped.
Omaha Hi Lo 8b Strategy
- How To Play Omaha Hi-Lo Split 8-or Better — Clear And Concise Guide – The Rules Of How To Play Omaha Hi-Lo.
- Omaha Hi-Lo Starting Hands Guide — Starting Hands Guide For Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better and PLO8
- PLO8 Poker – Ace-Two Errors & How To Spot Them — Every PLO8 Player Enjoys The Sight Of A2 As Part Of Their Starting Hand, However There Are Times When A2 Errors Can End Up Costing You Chips.
- Omaha Hi-Lo Point Count Systems For Starting Hand Selection — Dr Hutchinson’s Omaha Hi-Lo Point Count System Reviewed – Useful For Online Play??
- High Only Hands In PLO8 Poker – For The 30% Of The Time A Low Is Not Made, An Introduction To Profitable High-Hand Play.
- How To Avoid Being Quartered In O8 Poker – Avoiding Being Quartered In Certain Situations Can Make A Big Difference To Your Bankroll.
- Playing Static Flops In PLO8 – Cardrunners Coach Dan ‘CampFireWest’ Deppen takes us though some advanced strategy ideas.
- Omaha Hi-Lo Probability Math – How Often Will You Make A Low? — How Often Will You Make A Low For Different Starting Hands.
- All-Ins Pre-Flop In No Limit Omaha Hi-Lo — No-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo Strategy Should Include Defense Against The Constant All-In Overbets Pre Flop in NL08.
- Straights In Omaha Hi-Lo, A Closer Look! — Straights, Draws To Straights and When To Play Straights In Omaha Hi-Lo… A Closer Look!
- Omaha Hi-Lo Probability Math – How Often Will You Make A Low? — How Often Will You Make A Low For Different Starting Hands.
- Scooping PLO Hi-Lo Pots – The Why And The How! — Lets take a look at taking the high and low splits of the pot in O8 games.
If ever there was a game created for sheer fun and excitement, it has to be Omaha-Hi-Lo! Haven't had the pleasure of playing this quick-fire poker format? Well, you've certainly not lived in your online poker life. This is the sort of game that has humongous pots and even bigger poker hands.
Jumping straight in and playing is one option. However, getting familiar with both the rules and the strategy will make the game even more enjoyable. You'll be making money with better hands while having an absolute blast! And, at 888poker there are more Omaha-Hi-Lo games than you can shake a stick at.
But, firstly, let's go over a few key strategy points, you'll need to know before getting caught up in this action-packed game.
Omaha-Hi-Lo Strategy – The Main Components
One of the first things you'll need to know about Hi-Lo is that there are two winning hands at showdown: a High Hand and a Low Hand. They get to split the pot 50/50. Not bad! But it gets even better. Make the best Hi and Lo on the river and scoop the lot! 100% of the pot is yours.
The main betting format for Omaha-Hi-Lo is Pot Limit, but you will also find a lot of Fixed Limit games. Ultimately, the choice is yours when it comes to which one you should play. Pot Limit games play a lot like No Limit when you compare pot sizes. Whereas the Fixed Limit games restrict the amount of your stack you can get into the pot to a maximum of 4 times the Big Blind, on each street.
In Omaha MTTs, using Omaha Hi-Low tournament strategy can really help you go deep and make more final tables. It's a case of balancing solid starting hands with good knowledge of how low hands work.
Now, let's get into the mechanics of Omaha-Hi-Lo game strategy, starting with pre-flop hand selection.
Starting Hands
Because there are two winning pots in this format, you should pick starting hands that can scoop both. In fact, one of the main strategy rules of split-pot games is, “Go for the low and back into the high”. A hand like A-A-2-X double-suited gives you the chance at the nut-low and the nut flush (high hand) draws.
Take a look at this Top Ten list of Best Starting Hands:
- A-A-2-3 DS
- A-A-2-4 DS
- A-A-2-3 Suited
- A-A-2-5 DS
- A-A-2-4 Suited
- A-A-3-4 DS
- A-A-2-3 Non-suited
- A-A-2-2 DS
- A-A-3-5 DS
- A-A-2-6 DS
Now many Hi-Lo gurus will fall in love with any A-2-X-X, but not all A-2 hands are created equal. For example, look at the hand A-2-Q-Q double-suited and compare that to A-2-J-8 non-suited. The A-2 with the Queen kickers just beats the J-8 hand into submission. It's not even a fair fight!
So even though the low is an important part of this poker genre, it only makes up 50% of the winning hand. You should look for hands that contain cards that can help in making a winning high hand, too.
Hands that have suited aces, big pairs, or other high cards that can help you make nut flushes or straights, are perfect.
Low Hands
Now going for the Lo and having the best Lo are two entirely different animals in Omaha. It's common to see players calling massive river bets with a Low Hand that is solidly beat.
Have a look at the following board and starting hands. See if you can determine which Low wins:
Player 1's Low reads 7s-6s-4d-2d-Ac: They have used the 7s, 6s and 2d from the board along with the Ac and 4d from their hand make their best possible Low.
Player 2's Low reads 7s-6s-3d-2s-Ah: They have used the 7s, 6s and Ah from the board along with the 2s and 3d from their hand make their best possible Low.
A great way to calculate lows is from top to bottom, with the Ace being the bottom card. So, in this example, even though both players have the A-2, from the top down Player 2's 3d beats Player 1's 4d. And so, Player 2 has the better hand.
Now you can easily see why being able to calculate the best possible Low is so important. It's easy to get beat by just one card. If you find yourself in a situation where your Lo could be beat, folding or just calling (a small bet) is a good option.
In the above scenario, if Player 2 felt they had the best Low Hand, they would likely build a big pot. Where would this leave you? Up the creek without a paddle and sinking fast!
However, once you get more familiar with making and reading Lows, you'll start to know when you have the best of it. If an opponent that you suspect has a Low is just calling, go for it. More than likely they don't have your Low beat and are trying to get to showdown without losing any more chips.
Counterfeit Lows & Backup Cards
While A-2-X-X is a super-strong starting hand, having something like A-2-3-X is even better. Why? Because now you also have a good backup card. What's a backup card, you might ask? Well, these are cards that will “back up” your draw, if one of your Low cards falls on the board.
Remember that in Omaha, players must use 3 cards from the board to form a hand. Therefore, if they happen to have an A-3-4-X hand, the 2 will fill the gap between the A and the 3 quite nicely. And, unless your X-card is a 4 your Low would be beat!
This is why staying aware of what low cards can counterfeit (match one of your low cards making it useless) is so important. And, don't forget those backup cards, if you really want to make certain your Low comes out on top.
Limp! Limp! Limp!
Omaha is a game of draws – big draws. It's not uncommon to see more than one Low or multiple flush hands in the same suit on the river. And, with players drawing to lots of different highs and lows, there's bound to be a lot of action in this game.
So, getting your chips all-in pre-flop isn't a great idea. In fact, being able to see a flop for cheap is a good thing. If you hit the board hard with nut high and low draws, bang it! Get as many of your chips into the middle as possible. In a Pot Limit game, this isn't that hard to do.
Just make sure that, when you do make your draw, it has a good chance of holding up.
Yes, Position Matters in Omaha!
As with other poker games, in Omaha Hi-Lo position is very important. You should restrict playing early position to premium starting hands – like the ones on the Top Ten list. This will help you conserve chips and avoid having to play your draws out of position.
Playing drawing hands when you're closer to the button just makes more sense. You get to control the pot and your opponents. If a player tries to check-raise you, you can check behind. If they lead out, you can raise and build a big pot for yourself.
Keep in mind that Hi-Lo can be a volatile game because of all the drawing hands and starting hand combinations. So get maximum value for your big draws, by playing more hands in position and minimise weaker ones, by folding more out of position. It's as simple as that!