Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Lo

I’ve played a little Omaha online before, only for play money except for one real money hand almost a year ago (which I won) and only NL. Never played PL before, which is what makes my decision to play an online PL Omaha hi-lo tournament tonight perhaps a bit unfathomable.

Oddly enough, I took 4th. No one was more surprised than I. I know pretty much nothing about strategy for the game so I winged it, trying to stick to starting hands with pairs, two-suited or with a good low draw (or some combination of the three). I played pretty tight but pounded the pots when I had a hand. I ended up 3rd at the first break an hour in with 45 left out of a starting field of 168. 8th with 17 left at the second break. Made it to the final table in 7th and got sort of stuck there for a while, until I put a shorter stack all in with two pair and made Kings full of 3s. Can’t recall what I caught to end up the chip leader with six left. Unfortunately the short stack doubled through me on two outdraws (flopped a flush one hand and then a few hands later he was drawing for the low and ended up catching a K on the river to make a higer two pair than mine). I was down to about 18,000 in chips with the blinds at 3000/6000. Couldn’t call a bet on the flop in the BB, called the SB with 6d5d5c4c but got no help on the flop, then picked up AsThTd7s on the button and decided to move in with my last 6,045. SB and BB both called, I got no help and the BB caught a Q on the flop to make a higher pair and also took the low and that was it for me.

Considering I literally had never played a hand of the game before, I’m pretty impressed with my finish. Absent a couple of bad beats late in the tourney I think I could have taken down the whole thing.

So now I may find myself becoming an Omaha player. God help me.

And here I thought this was about legalization of marijuana in Omaha.

Congrats! Omaha is fun, much moreso than Hold Em, IMO, and takes a higher skill level, especially in hi-lo.

Huh. I absolutely cannot stand Omaha. The inflexibility of it drives me batty, although I can certainly see the appeal. Congrats! It’s nice to see a post from you on poker that doesn’t involve getting massively sucked out on. :slight_smile:

Yeah, I only got minorly sucked out on. Catching that K on the river to scoop the pot, that was just evil. Although I could have slowed down and saved myself some chips since I figured he was drawing for the low and the 7 on the turn would have made it, but he probably would have bet the turn anyway and I would’ve had to call.

I looked at that last hand again too, and the same player had all of my outs. The board paired 4s and he had a 4 and the other two 10s. I was screwed any way it was sliced.

Still, can’t really complain, although it would’ve been sweet to win it and tell the guy I put out in 2nd place, seconds before the table collapsed, “I never played this game before.”

I definitely think I’ll read up and play some more, although maybe if I learn what I’m doing I might not do as well. I’ve liked Omaha ever since I started dabbling in it a little less than a year ago, although I only like hi-lo.

I was going to ask…
Omaha is hard enough. Why on earth would you start off with hi-lo? Some people just seem to have a knack for it (my ex). Sounds like you’re one of 'em. Yay, you! Bout time you started winning. :wink:

Yeah, I don’t really care for Omaha either. Gee, look I have 3 of a kind, whoops, no I don’t. :smack:

Hey, Maureen: I’ve been meaning to ask you, since this is a poker thread… do you ever play at Garden City? I’ve found it to be a generally easier place to make money than Bay 101.

Hey, Max. I haven’t played there since they changed hands about 5 years back. For one thing, it’s further for me to drive than Bay 101 from the East Bay, and also, it’s just so gloomy (the lighting.) Has it improved? If so, I’m there, since it’s right next to Harry’s. :stuck_out_tongue:

How’s the 10/20 game? Is it still capping pre-flop?

I’m serious. I did too. I have no idea what these people are talking about.

I dunno. I just sort of drifted into it I guess.

Well geez, I didn’t mean to give the impression that I haven’t been winning. I’m up several hundred bucks over the last couple of months playing .25/.50 and .50/$1 NL hold 'em. Which is probably chump change to some of the high rollers who frequent these threads but I’m happy with it.

Pot limit: Meaning that a player may bet or raise any amount up to the amount currently in the pot. For example, if there’s $5 in the pot, the first bettor can bet anything up to $5. Say he bets $3; the next bettor can call or raise anywhere up to $8, the amount now in the pot.

Omaha: a variety of poker in which each player receives four hole cards. Five shared community cards are dealt face up. Players make their best five-card hand using any three community cards and any two of their hole cards. Players must use exactly two hole cards and three community cards to make the hand.

Hi-Lo: Meaning that the best high hand (the traditional pair, two-pair, three of a kind, etc.) takes half the pot. The best low hand consisting of cards 8 or lower regardless of suit takes the other half. 5-4-3-2-A is the best possible low hand (it’s also a straight, but when considered as a low that doesn’t matter). If there is no qualifying low hand, the best high hand takes the whole pot.

It’s still a bit gloomy, I guess. But the players seem generally worse than Bay 101, which must be a good thing. I’ve only tried 3/6 myself, so I can’t comment on the 10/20, you high-roller.

Urgh. I played that table exactly twice. Went up and down, eded up about $500 up the first time, got my ass handed to me the second time. You’d think the higher limit games, people would be more likely to throw a few hands away but it’s just as bad as at 3/6. Seriously, it was capping out pre-flop every blasted hand! Incredibly wild game, but you can rake it in with three good pots. I stick to my seven stud game now, not as many maniacs.

Just played my second PLOH8 tourney. Finished 4th again. I think I played pretty solid. One key hand about 90 minutes in I misplayed badly but I was able to recover and make it to the final table and the money in third chip position. What really killed me throughout the tourney was KK. I had it seven times and raised the pot with every time, and ran up against AA four times and an A with an A on the flop three times, twice at the final table. I only won with them once when I caught a K against one of the AA. Which for AA vs KK would be the right win ratio in hold 'em, don’t know if the odds are different in Omaha. There was an overwhelming chip leader at the final table so it would have been hard to win but if one more of them had gone my way late in the tourney I think I could have finished higher.

If I ever figure out how to play this game I could be dangerous.

The wonderful psychotic thing about Omaha hi-lo is, you have to be thinking about two way hands. KK is fine, if you’re playing Omaha hi. But hi-lo, you need more than just the kings to go with it. The guy with the AA is in the best possible position, because he’s got a good shot of locking up both sides of it. If A,duece comes on the flop, he then has you beat hi and low. Now you’re fighting for half the pot, and the guy with a low straight will suck the low and you’re screwed.
TJ Cloutier has a good book on Omaha which discusses good starting hands.

Oh yeah, I know that’s why most of the single As called was for the chance at the low. That and they were defending their blinds. The really damnable thing is that most of the time when I pushed the KK my other two cards were decent lows too. Then there was the hand where I finally picked up the AA and ended up winning the low and losing the high, and the hand where I pushed with AsKsKcX, got called by someone angling for the low, and I ended up with the low and he took the high. It just got a little ridiculous especially at the final table. I’d pick up a pot and jump up to 20,000 one hand and then drop down to 8,000 the next. Swinging like Tarzan. I could have played a little more conservatively and maybe finished a spot higher, and I did lay down some hands that I might have played earlier in the tourney, but I’d rather play to win. If I can pick off a short stack or steal the blinds at 3,000/6,000 or whatever ridiculous level they were at I’m going to.

I think I may be hooked…

Yeah, easy to get sucked in. I love Omaha, but it’s such a wild game, you never know what’s going to happen next. It sure as hell keeps the adrenalin level up.

My first experience w/ Omaha Hi-Lo: I wanted to play a NL Texas Hold Em tourney, but clicked on the wrong game and didn’t notice it. My first sign that I was in trouble was when I was dealt four down cards. Then I looked up and saw what I was playing. I had no clue what to do. Folded my first three hands while I googled Omaha Hi Lo, then sat down and started playing. Finished in 3rd place–in the money! I couldn’t believe it. Probably just lucky, given that I had no clue what I was doing the whole time.

I’ve since figured that Omaha Hi-Lo would be a great poker game for a bot. Unlike other games (especially Texas Hold Em), it’s much more difficult (and counterintuitive) to know whether your hole cards are good, and even more so for the flop. Since you can only use 2 of your 4, stuff like 3 of a kind, four cards of the same suit, etc. are actually worse than a mere pair or two suited cards, since you’ve just lost cards that would help on the flop. And you’ve got to figure out whether you’ve got a chance to pick up the whole pot, or whether you’re just fighting for half of it. All in all, the math seems a lot tougher that Texas Hold Em, and much more computer friendly. Just MHO.

So much for my domination streak. Just busted out in 30th in my 3rd tourney. Went from chip leader to about 5th when I had to call with an unmade low (pot odds were ridiculous and I had a shot at the nut low straight too) that never made. Got nothing worthwhile until I pick up X72A in the BB. Flop comes K72 which gives me two pair but counterfeits my low bad. I bet it out, called, turn is a 4, I semi-bluff bet the pot, call, river is a 6 so I have two pair and a 7 low and 48 chips which I bet, call of course and he flips up K54A for Kings up and a 6 low and scoops the pot.

Head over to the hold 'em NL tables to win back my entry fee. Sit in, get dealt my first hand and immediately think “where are my other two cards?”