Omaha Hi Lo,
Omaha Games
July 6 2008
After the flop falls in a hand of Omaha Hi-Lo, you should immediately look for possible high and low hands. Don’t just look for what hands could be made with your hole cards. Also look for what the best high card possible is, and whether or not a low hand is possible. Even if you can’t make a low hand with your hole cards, you have to know if one is possible at all, because it will tell you whether or not the pot will be split.
Now that you’ve examined the board and figured out how it works with your hand and how other cards might work with it, you must decide if your hand is worth playing any further. Remember, this isn’t Holdem. A pair isn’t going to cut it and straights and flushes are much more common. Even if you’ve got three of a kind, you’ll want to be mindful of any straight draws or flush draws on the board. If you do have a hand or the makings of a hand with a solid draw, you have to be aggressive. Giving out free or cheap cards in Omaha is much worse than doing it in Holdem because it’s much easier for players to get lucky on the turn or river and beat you.
You want to be aggressive, but as usual, don’t be stupid. Do not draw to hands you don’t expect to be the nuts. Basically don’t draw for a straight when there’s a flush on the board. Also, never draw for the low hand. You shouldn’t chase a draw for only half the pot, especially since it’s possible you could get quartered and end up losing money. For the uninitiated, getting quartered is when you and another player have the same low hand and you end up splitting the low half of the pot, giving you only a quarter of the pot which usually is less money than you bet on the hand.
Learn more about
Omaha Hi-Lo Poker in the Bodog Poker Guide.
