Hey Steemians!
Yesterday, I shared some basic information on the rules and basic strategy for playing Omaha Hi Lo. This Sunday at 4PM CST on LuckSacks.com, you can play in my 5SBD freeroll tournament. Today, I'd like to run you through a basic face-up hand to help anyone who is interested in learning more about Omaha Hi Lo gain a better understanding of the game and how to win.
Let's quickly walk through a hand with analysis on each aspect of the hand below.
The Hands
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In Omaha, each player receives four cards. Here are the four hands I dealt at random for the example. In Omaha Hi Lo, you want a good mix of high and low cards so you have a greater chance at winning the hi and/or lo pot, if a lo hand qualifies (meaning the board shows three or more cards 8 or lower).
A27K: This is a very playable hand in hi low since this hand includes the two highest (AK) and two lowest (A2) cards. This is not a great hand by any means, but it's worth seeing a flop with. Having three of one suit is not favorable since you can only use two cards towards a potential flush, but having an ace as a part of that suit means you will have the highest flush draw.
246Q: Hands with three low cards in Omaha Hi Lo can be very sneaky hands to play if you can see a flop without calling large raises. Most people would consider this to be an extremely weak hand, but with three "lo" cards, a flop like A27 or A38 would take many good starting hands out of contention for a lo hand and put you in a great position for not only the lo hand, but for a straight, which could also win the hi pot.
89QK: Two sets of connectors (connectors = 8,9 & Q,K) and one suit (QK of diamonds) is an excellent starting hand in normal Omaha. Although you have no possibility of winning the hi hand with 89QK, if the flop comes with two or three hi cards, you would be in a great position to scoop the entire pot. Don't ignore hands like this, just be aware of players who already have a lo hand trying to push your hand out of the pot.
2557: This is actually my least favorite hand of the four. Although you have a pocket pair, unless you hit a five on the flop or the flop comes A34, there are few situations where this hand would be worth playing to the river.
Now let's see the flop.
Here's The Flop
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A27K: A lot of opportunities for this hand have no appeared on the flop, but this is actually not a very strong hand at this point. The A coming on the flop is not good for your lo hand because it takes away the opportunity to use the A you hold as part of the lo hand. Your lo hand is now A2378. It may look good, but even a hand with 64 in it now beats your lo hand (8642A is lower than 8732A in hi lo). The flush draw looks good and you do have a pair of aces, but a pair of aces is not that strong in Omaha since each player has four cards to use.
246Q: Well hello there! This hand has luckily walked into the nut lo -- the best possible lo hand with the 2 and 4 wrapping around the A3. As for a hi hand, this hand will still need some help, but the having the low basically locked up at this point in the hand is fantastic.
89QK: This hand should now be folded immediately. There is not much reason to carry on here because of the lo hand already being eligible here, and because this hand only has a pair of 8's.
2557: With a flush draw and a decent lo hand, I'd love to see a free turn card with a hand like this. It's not strong, but it's still in the mix for a lo hand and possibly the hi hand.
Here Comes The Turn
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A27K: This turn is a nightmare for this hand. Now a straight is possible, which outside of a spade on the river, kills this hand's chances of winning the hi pot. My opinion is that this hand can no fold to any bet.
246Q: BINGO! This is a dream scenario. This hand now has the lo and hi nuts (nuts = best hand possible). It's time to bet out flush draws hard!
89QK: We already folded this hand.
2557: Just as we were ready to fold, we now have a set. This situation costs A LOT of poker players A LOT of money. It's hard to fold a set, and if a board pair shows up on the river, this becomes a full house. Without the best lo and hi hand here, it's going to be painful, but to a big bet, a player with this hand should fold.
The River
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A27K: For the lo hand, this card is actually good for this hand. The river gives this hand the second best low after 2,4 (which makes a straight and the best lo hand). This could make it worth calling a small bet, but with the next player already having a straight, this is likely to not be the case -- he/she is certainly going to bet here.
246Q: The river card is not good because now any 7,9 or 4,7 gives another player a higher straight. But with the best lo hand and a solid hi hand, this is a good place to put out a strong bet.
89QK: Folded.
2557: Now with the second best lo, this hand is even tougher to fold, but it should be folded based on the likely betting pattern of the player with 246Q.
Final Thoughts
Omaha Hi Lo is a very fun game with a lot of thinking involved. The best way to learn is to play, so...
Join Us Sunday at 4PM CST on 2/11
Please come and join us. Visit lucksacks.com to register as a new player (35+ reputation and introduceyourself post required). If already a member of the Steemit Poker League, just stop by and register the day of for the tournament. Good luck and I hope to play against you Sunday!
Excellent! I'm Playing.
Sweet! Thanks for joining and good luck! The payout structure will give a lot of players a little SBD on the site, so hoping we get a lot of people to come out and play.