Tips for High-Low Customers

 Tips for High-Lows

Omaha Hi-Lo Eight or Better may be confusing. It's easy to forget even the hi-lo part of Omaha Hi-Lo Eight or Better. Instead of the 169 starting combos in Holdem poker, there are over 16,000. You don't have to worry, these ten tips can help you avoid trouble.

Ace-Deuce

You can survive in Omaha Hi-Lo if your hands contain only an Ace and a Deuce. The highest-rated combinations are those that have these two cards. Ace-Deuce and two randomly chosen cards are more lucrative in a full game than a pair or Aces and two random card pairs. In loose games, you can almost always play an Ace Deuce before the flop. Bad Ace-Ace hands can be just as profitable as Aces-Deuce.

The Better the Help,

The closer your cards are connected, the higher your chances of winning. Your opponents also have many cards. All of your cards may be necessary to survive the river.

Don't Bluff

Omaha Hi-Lo refers to Omaha Hi-Lo as a hand value game. These values are usually the nuts. It's difficult to fold someone with the nuts. A very good non-nut hand is impossible to wager on because the guy calling you may have the nuts and be afraid of being quartered. You can't allow your opponents to call you when you have nuts, and you can save your bluffs in No Limit Holdem.

Don't Fear Being Quartered

Do not be afraid to get quartered when there are more players than you. If you are getting a quarter in a pot and you put in a quarter, you will break even. If there are more than four, you can raise the money and re-raise. It is very unlikely that you will get sixth'ed. You'll likely make a little profit even though you only get a fourth of what the pot is worth.

You have to be prepared for anything.

Ace-Deuce-3 is much more valuable than a dry Ace-3. Fake cards (having your card duplicated at board) can often ruin your hand. If the flop shows 874 and you hold the A2, you will have the nut low at 8742A. Your best low is 8742A if you have an Ace or Deuce. Someone else can make seven. In this example, if you were called down by a player with A3 second nuts, your nut low would be 7432A. Fake cards are not uncommon. You have a 24% chance that your counterfeit item will be counterfeited every time you flip the nut.

You need backup in case of an emergency

Similar to the low, it's possible that your flopped nuts may be in the 114th spot by the river. Omaha Hi-Lo is a game where you must have the nuts that allow for redraws to survive. You will be in serious trouble if you have the flop at 7s 8sTc but you are holding the 9JQA and no spades. Third place is if you have a low draw, flush draw, or a few hands against you. You can also be in third place if you see a lot of action after the flop. This is because someone else may have the same nut but has redraws. In this case, you are between a 2 and 3 to 1 dog. You flopped the nuts!

Avoid Big Pots.

If you don't have at least the nuts in one direction and a very solid hand in the other, it is a bad idea to play large pots heads-up. A multiway pot can be a pain, but getting quartered in one head up is dangerous. Particularly if you live in a room with a high rake. It's possible to split the pot without losing any money.

Protect Your Hand

This is not for play of live poker. It is possible for half of the players to hold their hands apart from their bodies in order to inspect their cards as they go along. This basically allows everyone to see their cards. It's difficult enough to win at poker if no one can see your hand. It will be difficult to make money if someone can see your hand.

Don't Play Omaha High Hands

PLO players often play in High-Low games and try to win with hands that are percentage losers. Omaha Hi: A hand like 89TJ double-suited in Omaha Hi is a fantastic hand and almost a coin-flip with hands of AA. Because it draws high, and has no chance of the low, Omaha High-Low considers it a bad hand.

You should not be a high-handed person.

Heads up confrontations are where high-only hands are almost always at disadvantage to those with two or more low cards. They don’t even need to be good low card players. You can try to win a game with all pots raked at 50 per cent without a cap if this is difficult for you. You're putting your life at risk when you play high hands. High hands, despite their name, have their place. For a detailed rating system on Omaha High Low Poker's high hands to play, see Cappelletti’s How to Win at Omaha High Low Poker. But even the best high hand players have very little return on investment. It is possible to drop them completely from your starting range, and not lose much value. Even if they aren't playing correctly, it will make a huge difference in your return. Playing Aces in Omaha High