Well, I'm doing well at Omaha hi lo.
I've been stepping into $.01 / $.02 PL Omaha Hi Lo ring games in my spare time. I just want to broaden my horizons.
Of the last 6 times I have gone into one of these rooms, I have left the room up 4 times! I'm very happy.
I think tonight I'm going to find a $5 PL Omaha Hi Lo tournament. I don't expect to take 1st, but I'm going to give it a go in a higher stakes setting.
Here are some points for those who haven't explored the Omaha hi lo world.
When you play any hi lo game, you want multiple players. In holdem you are looking to narrow the field and it is very often said that you only want 1 opponent. In hi lo, you cannot survive with only 1 player in most situations. If there is a lo and a hi hand, and you win one of them, you will only take half the pot. If there are only 2 people playing this pot, and you can only take 1/2, you will take out of the pot exactly what you put in. In the same situation, with 3 people in the pot, you can take half which will be all of what you put in, plus half what the 3rd player put in. You will be up. But watch out, if you split the lo or high pot (it's very common to split the lo pot) you will walk away with 1/4 or the pot, when you put in 1/2 or 1/3 of the money.
I've read some experts say that if you are playing hi lo anything, it will never be profitable to win half the pot. A good starting hand will have a good high hand possibility. A great starting hand will have both.
In Omaha you can only use 2 hole cards and 3 community cards. No more, no less. For this reason, if you are delt 4 of a kind, you should fold it pre-flop. This is really tough to do, but you cannot hope to trip your 4s when you already have all 4 of them. You cannot make a flush when you have 4 different suits, and you cannot make a straight when all your cards have the same rank. You should also consider throwing away 4 to a flush. There are only 9 other card of your suit in the deck and the odds that your suit will come up have diminished.
On the opposite side, you should play 4 cards to a straight. Or if your cards are double suited. Example :9h: :th: :jc: :qc: With this hand you have the possibility of a lot of straights. You can get a K or 8 and any 2 cards in your hand to make a straight, this gives you 12 different straight possibilites. You can also catch 3 :heart:s or 3 :club:s to catch a flush. But both of these only talk about the hi hand. Don't forget about that lo hand also.
I know this was long winded. But hopefully it helped soeone who is interested in picking up this holdem variation. (or is holdem an Omaha variation?)
