my omaha high low tips

[Blink20 0]

I've been playing omaha high low for a while now on pokerstars. I started with just 97 cents in my account I found from a year ago, and was able to buy in the 2/4cent limit since min. buy in was 40 cents. Anyway, while i wasn't working, I grinded it out at the lower limit to see what i could do with that money. I've followed strict bankroll requirements for the games i've entered, and now i'm at $700 in my bankroll tearing up the 10/25cent pot limit and no limit tables, now with a big enough bankroll to play the 25/50cent pot limits (10x the max buy in my rule). Here's what I learned along the way....Starting Hands:A A 2 3 ds (obviously the best, max out preflop, especially lower limits, people will call pot sized bets so get as much money in there)A A x x (preferably somewhat suited, and with an emergency low card, such as 3 or a 4)A K Q J (Any type of all high hand, with suited and connectness are great when you have a high flop, that way you get the whole pot)A 2 3 4 (Any type of low hand, must play cautiously if just pick up nut low to avoid getting quartered, muck on flop if no shot at high and the pot is being jammed, no sense going for a quarter of the pot)I also play any three cards to the wheel, almost any pocket pair with two babies and suited possibilities, two big pairs like K K QQ, but all these hands, you want to see as cheaply as possible, no cold calling raises with these b/c you have only one way potential. Every single session that I've been winning, I've seen the flop 30% of the time with 75% win at showdown. In a tighter game, which sometimes exists at my limit, i see about 21% of flops, and in a very loose game with lots of implied odds in my no limits at night, i can see up to 45% of flops to show lots of profit.Playing the FlopI reccommend playing a very aggressive game in smaller limits because people are limping around and are just calling stations, so you can take advantage of their weakness and really make them pay when you hit, and actually make them fold on the river when no low has hit. (Yes, I bluff in omaha all the time.... for those of you playing at my tables, now i'm sure you'll call me more, but its the truth, it works all the time... pot limit and no limit ofcourse)Sets are meant to be played with extreme caution in Omaha high low. For example, you hold A A Q Q double suited and decided to see a flop. It comes down, A K 3 with no flush draw. Someone moves all in for two times the amount of the pot. Why are you worried? If he's holding 2 3 4 5 then he actually has a higher EE than you do, so it is unprofitable for you to call. Ofcourse, this isn't going to happen. You are going to lead the betting because people like to play really slow and just call in this game. So with sets, I still advise playing strong b/c you're not behind that many hands, but don't play it too hard b/c you are sometimes betting with the worst of it. Throw some feeler bets out on the flop and see what develops on the turn. Ofcourse, if it is a nice beauty of a high card then by all means, fire some more bullets. Just don't get to excited when a low draw is also possible with straight and flush draws, b/c your set doesn't fare to well in that situation.On the flip side, you MUST play your very strong draws very hard and very fast before your opponent with the top set knows you outdrew him. The best way to show profit in the pot limits and no limits are to recognize when you are the favorite with your draw. If you look down at your cards and see A 2 3 4 with the nut club draw, and the flop is K 7 8 with two clubs, you want to be all in against pocket kings. You have the nut flush draw with an insured low draw meaning you cannot get counterfeited. Get all your money in the middle before he sees the club hit the river because you are the favorite. You will show more profit this way and he'll be whining about how the riverstars screwed him over again. Anytime you have a big draw with an insured low draw, I reccommend playing it really fast and hard to force the other low draws to make a bad decision and to force the best high to wrongly pay you off.Speaking of lows, most of the time you do want to play your low really slow. A 2 3 x is a lot different than A 2 xx because you can find yourself throwing your money haphazardly into the pot only to find yourself getting counterfeited on the river. This is why if there's too much action, and if you have no high draw, just your weak A 2 then don't even bother. But sometimes, if you have that A 2 3, its worth a look b/c you may be against someone drawing to a weak A 2 and you are looking to counterfiet his low and take down half the pot even if you don't have a high draw with A 2 3, it is sometimes profitable to chase that nut low if there's not too much action on each street. The same goes for 2 3 vs 2 3 4 with an ace on the flop, its always much better to pick up an insured low draw. Another hand you can play with decent action on the flop is a hand like A 2 4 when the flop is 3 5 x because you have picked up an insured low draw and a draw to the wheel, you can even bet aggressive in this spot with A 2 4 6 b/c you pick up that extra top end of the straight draw to allow you to quarter someone if you do land that wheel. The key point is to always look for ways your hand will improve, chasing a weak low is unprofitable, but being aggressive with a strong low draw and a shot at the scoop is the way to play the game.As in all games, position is key in Omaha. I can't count the number of times I've been on the button with some type of draw with everyone checking the flop to me. I guarentee I will bet no matter what, especially if there are two babies on board. When the low doesn't hit the turn, I'll bet it again. And if that low doesn't come on the river, and they are still checking, I've built up a good pot and you can bet i'm firing another bullet on the river if they all check to me. Ofcourse, sometimes you have to feel whether your opponents are trapping you, sometimes you can sense the hesitation of how long it takes them to click check as to whether they picked up a hand, well... i can't describe that. Anyway, bluffing when there's no low possible is always a good play if you sense your opponents are weak. Also keep in mind you can't check to the river and then bluff because its not believable. You are setting the stage from the flop onward that you have power and they better respect you, so then that river comes, you've bet every street and you're going to again. DO NOT BLUFF when the low hits the river b/c standard play is for a check call from low and I can guarentee someone was chasing a low. This play only makes sense when a low is not possible and it works most of the time. Keep in mind they will call you sometimes, but you only need it to work a certain % of the time to be profitable. Now, if they start calling you all the time, you have to take note of this and switch gears to only betting the nuts, but bet the nuts the same formation you bet your bluffs, and you'll get paid off more. You just have to feel how your opponents perceive you and their response to your bets. Most of the time you can keep being aggressive without them caring, because most omaha high low players perceive this just a game of the nuts and throw their hand away on a weak board. I strongly suggest picking up the pots they don't want.Another good play is being heads up and having position on your opponent with the nut low. I mean heads up in that everyone else folded. Say you flop nut low and he bets into you. Ofcourse you are going to play it, but don't make yourself so obvious. Say there is a flush draw out there, take a second, and maybe play it like you're playing the flush draw, so put in a little raise or just call... i don't know how you play flush draws. I raise with virtually every draw, according that i get the right price from the flop ofcourse. Anyway, if the turn pairs the board or makes the flush and he bets weakly into you, some opponents will bet strong on the flop, but then decrease their bet on the turn, exploit this tendency by raising them strongly even if you just have the nut low. You want that board to pair or the flush to hit, and now you're going to represent it and make him make a bad call. Be careful, as with every bluff, he may be holding the nut low and the nut high so you have to know he's not quartering you. After a while of playing with your opponents, you should get a feel for how they bet their hands anyway.If bluffing doesn't suit you well, then don't do it. At the low limts there is plenty of action to just sit around and play the nuts. That's what I did most of the time building my bankroll up from 97cents because ofcourse I didn't have much room to screw around. I suggest first just playing a lot of hours playing premium hands and getting a feel for how people bet different hands. Play your weak lows slow or not at all, your sets with extreme caution more like you are drawing to a boat (22 on K Q 2 is virtually worthless, someone will hit a higher boat then you, K K on K J 3 is worht taking a look to see the board pair, if you have the right odds, you know how many outs you have to a boat, and how much is in the pot, that's simple math) and play your strong draws and strong lows with lots of money. If you have nut low and nut high, and you know someone has just nut low, bet the max on the river and make him pay for playign so weak, you'll get 3/4 of the pot, always a plus.That's about all the tips I have. Just don't use this against me if you see me at a table b/c I'll feel bad for giving away free information, but I like to learn the game and I've learned invaluable lessons from other people, so that's just a piece of my mind, take it for what its worth.

[Blink20 0]

K K 3 4 double suited on the button (otb is why its playable)I obviously raise b/c that's my style, especially in best position. I'm playing 10/25cent pot limit, virtually everyone limped in ofcourse, so i make it 75 cents to go.Flop is :A 9 Q with two heartss.Checked to me so I put in the obligatory 50 cent bet with my backdoor second nut low draw. I know everyone is calling, I'm just looking to set up my bluff b/c so many calling stations and weak calls. Turn is: 8 (not a heart: important of course)So I bet 75 cents, gotta make it a little more than the previous bet but i'm not risking too much on nothing here.River is:J (not a heart) BInGO... I'm holding two kings in my hand, I was looking for a perfect card like this because for one, its not a baby, low can't call, for two, i'm holding two of the kings.They all check to me, and now the pot has 8 bucks in it. I know for sure I'm betting, so ofcourse I fire out 5 bucks and they all fold. If they call, even better, that means they won't trust me later when i'm holding the double nut and bet double the size of the pot :-)

[MrConceit 0]

I play some O high, but not H/L. My first experience or two with H/L irritated me so I haven't gone back. Heh. But I plan to eventually.So I wanted to say THANKS. This all looks like great info. It was well written and obviously well thought out. I'll probably bookmark this thread and reread it after I've read the H/L section of SS2 or when I'm gonna try some low limit H/L.Thanks.

[Blink20 0]

NO Problem... I love the game, its great. I spent a million hours playing the low limits and move up slowly. I can get in like 1000 hands in 5 hours haha, b/c i play 5 tables, so anytime I think of something new to add, I will.By the way, you better post your thoughts on Supersystem 2 and what you find useful in your game., because i'm certainly still learning.

[jaffa_cake 0]

Yep I'm going to be printing this page to have next to my comp when i'm playing. Cheers for the great info - feel free to keep more coming (especially anything interesting from SS2, which I hope to get soon). jaffa

[jayistheman 0]

good post... thanks alot

[Blink20 0]

Another really important concept in pot limit games is simply building the pot. You can only bet what is in the pot on the river, and nothing is worse than having an extremely small pot on the river, and people willing to pay you off.As everyone knows, people are going to chase at the low limits. It doesn't take a big bet on the flop to build the pot. Just simply put out the small bet, five people call that and you have a pot building up for you to take down on the river. This is also true preflop. Say you have A 2 4 x on the button and 7 people limp in. It is to your advantage to throw in a little raise because you have a strong hand and you have the best position. Most of the times, people play by the rule that they have to check to the raiser on the flop, so if you pick up no low draw on the f lop, you can check. Or, if you do pick up a good low draw with some backdoor high or anything, that's a key time to put in another pot building bet, just a nice small bet from being in position and having an insured low draw. This is also an opportune time to try to lead a bluff to the river, if you didn't pick up a low draw (2 highs on flop), throw out your little bet, and follow it through, and if everyone is weak on river then go ahead and throw out a good amount. Usually in 10/25 cent, if i'm building the pot, it'll reach about $6 on the river (b/c i'm not throwing crazy bets on flop and turn, just little ones that people will call), then go ahead and throw down like 4 bucks to steal the pot. Nice thing is if people catch on, next time you're going to actually hit your nut low with a decent high and they will be paying you off. :-)Build the pot...

[bsabres81 0]

A lot of good advice, except that AAxx is not always playable. It is always playable if you can play it HU, but when several have limped, most likely all the aces are out and you won't flop a set. A decent argument can be made for AAxxds, as you have many more high outs. If you have AA and a 2 or 3, it is obviously playable. I generally play AA and any wheel card, if at least one ace is suited. A hand like AAQ7 is almost never playable.Everyone should remember his advice about only playing the nuts (or very close to it) in Omaha 8 at low limits. Because so many players like to see flops at these levels, someone is bound to make the nut or 2nd nut hi, and the nut low. You can rarely bluff at low limits anyways, and especially in Omaha 8, when there will be numerous draws.

[Blink20 0]

I definitly agree that A A xx is not always playable.If its like A A 10 6 all offsuit, you don't want to get too involved. This is definitly NOT a raising hand.I do however think you should put in the max raises with hands like A A w x with w being a wheel card, especially if it is single or double suited.As far as playing only the nuts, that is true most of the time, virtually all the time if you are just calling. But, theres special situations i think you need to pick up on playing small limits in pot and no limit where you can bluff the river (as long as its believable) with no low possible out there. Always just playing the nuts will make your play too predictable, which you can get by with at the low limits because so much dead money is being thrown around anyway.