Getting Ahead at Omaha Hi Lo Poker
Getting ahead in Omaha Hi Lo is not difficult because, in spite of the popularity of the game, not many people play it that well. There is very little strategy to learn in Omaha Hi Lo Poker because the game is more odds-focused than Texas Hold´em and the cards that players are dealt will determine what their betting action should be.
Omaha Hi Lo Strategy The same basic strategies used in most forms of poker are the ones you should use while playing Omaha Hi Lo. The Omaha Hi Lo specific strategies that you need to combine with common poker tactics are covered in the sections below. Omaha Hi Lo 8b Strategy Omaha Hi Lo (also known as Omaha 8 or Omaha Eight or Better) is a “split pot” version of the popular Omaha poker game. In this version of the game, there are two winning hands in each round: the high winner and the low winner. Omaha Poker Strategy – The Main Components Firstly, in Omaha poker each player gets 4 starting cards. If you think that makes for a game with bigger swings, you've hit the nail on the head. This fact also means that the average winning hand in Omaha is much stronger than in Hold'em.
As with every other form of poker, Omaha Hi Lo strategy takes third place behind understanding the betting actions of the other players on the table in relation to the position in the betting action that a player is in (you can read more about being the last player to act on our ‘Blinds, Dealing and Betting’ page).
Identifying that an opponent makes a certain size raise when they have a particularly strong hand – or limps into a pot when they have a speculative hand – will give a player in ‘position’ an edge on that opponent when it comes to make a betting decision.
The DO of Omaha Hi Lo Poker
The ‘DO’ of Omaha Hi Lo poker is ‘D’ for Discipline and ‘O’ for Outs. Profitable Omaha Hi Lo poker is a very boring game, as players should only get involved in pots that they have a very strong likelihood of winning. Whereas in Texas Hold´em poker players can justifiably limp into a hand with suited connectors and small pairs, that sort of speculative hand in Omaha Hi Lo will cost players a lot of money!
Being aware of the number of outs a hand has is also essential. If a player knows that his or her hand has 22 outs after the flop, and there are 45 ‘unseen’ cards which could be dealt on the Turn or River, he or she has an almost even money chance of improving their hand. The decision to continue in the hand or not can then be made depending on how much money that player has to pay to remain in the hand in relation to their chances of winning it (also known as ‘pot odds’).
Playing only the strongest hands and acting on them with the knowledge of how likely they are to be successful is not ‘sexy poker’ or very much fun, but it is the only way to consistently win money playing Omaha Hi Lo.
The Dont of Omaha Hi Lo Poker
The big ‘don´t’ of Omaha Hi Lo poker is don´t get sucked into to playing badly on a loose table just because everybody else is. There are times when it is appropriate to bet on a hand which does not have a good chance of winning (see our page on ‘Winning Omaha Hi Lo Secrets’) or when it is established that the next players to act are likely to fold under pressure.
However, as we mentioned at the top of this page, Omaha Hi Lo Poker is a game that not a lot of players play well. By getting too involved in a loose game of Omaha Hi Lo (which is admittedly more fun) players are likely to enjoy fewer winning sessions and even see the standard of their game deteriorate to a point where they are relying on luck, rather than skill and Omaha Hi Lo strategy, to win pots.
The final piece of advice on this strategy and tactics page is don´t go crazy with A2xx. A2 on its own is no better than a viable starting hand (more about this on our page about ‘Omaha Hi Lo Starting Hands’) and the ‘xx’ cards in A2xx should have some chance of winning the hand by themselves before a player commits themselves to a pot.
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Pot limit Omaha hi lo, also called Omaha eight or better or PLO8, has been growing in popularity over the last several years. If you are able to master the complex game of Omaha hi-lo you can make a great deal of money. The influx of relatively inexperienced eager to try something other than holdem has created a burgeoning O8 economy.
Unfortunately there are a few obstacles to overcome. The game is a more complex than no-limit holdem. There is also less information available in terms of dedicated strategy content, articles, and videos.
That being said, the following information is a great place to get started. Check out our Omaha hi-lo tips and then get to a table and practice.
Top 5 Omaha hi-lo Tips
1. Your Cards Matter More
Unlike holdem, where you can play position and abuse the tendencies of weaker opponents, in Omaha you will frequently need cards to win. That isn’t to say that you can’t find good spots to take pots away from someone. You can. But because there are 36 cards handed out preflop in a full-ring game of Omaha hi-lo, someone is going to have a very strong hand most of the time.
Look for strong hands with potential to win both the high and low sides of the pot, or very strong potential to win one side of the pot. Use the following guidelines to rank your starting hands, adding value for suited and double suited hands (at least king high suited).
Very strong hands include: AA23, AA2x, AA3x, A234, A23x
Strong high only hands include: AAKK, AAKQ, AAJT, Any double paired hand 9s or higher
Playable hands include: A2xx, A3xx, A-baby and a pair, 23 and a pair
2. Bluff Less Often, Pick Your Spots
Bluffing in Omaha hi-lo should be done with consideration for the situation and the opponent, and in general bluffing should happen less often than in no-limit holdem.
Times when bluffing makes sense: Very scary turn or river, the low misses, paired board on the river, ace on the river.
Essentially you must ask yourself, what is my opponent’s likely holding, and would it make sense for me to be holding a hand that beats him. For instance, if your opponent was representing the nuts on the turn, and you were drawing to a solid low with A23x, and the river pairs the board, you can try to represent a full house.
3. Play for the Nuts
Because so many cards are distributed pre-flop, there is a strong likelihood that one of the players at the table will have the best possible hand by the river. For this reason, the 2nd best possible hand, or second-nuts is a dangerous hand to show up with.
If you have the second best high and the second best low hand in a 3-way pot and the other two players are raising and re-raising, there is a good chance you’re going to lose your stack.
Be careful of king-high flushes, A-3 and A-4 low, weak full-houses.
Ideally you should play for the nuts to at least one side of the pot, and hope to hit a reasonable hand on the other side of the pot. A made high hand with a low draw is a powerful hand and a made low hand with a flush or straight draw is a powerful hand.
4. Educate Yourself
There is less information available for studious Omaha hi-lo players, but there is still plenty of good information available to players who look for it. Cardrunners and other poker training sites like it have Omaha hi-lo content in the form of strategy articles and video content. Additionally there are dozens of helpful players on the twoplustwo forums who are knowledgeable about the game of Omaha hi-lo and eager to help up and coming players.
5. Practice
More important than anything else is practice. Put yourself in tricky situations, use your brain and reasoning skills to try to determine the best course of action, and then learn from your sessions as best you can. Practice makes perfect.
This is even more important with an ‘unsolved’ game like Omaha hi-lo. The more you play the more you will figure out what play style suits you, which moves work and which ones don’t. Check out a quality poker site like Pokerstars with plenty of Omaha action; sit down at the O8 tables, and play!
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Omaha Hi Lo Poker Strategy Book
Strategy For Omaha Hi Lo Poker