Poker Strategy Omaha Hi Lo

Omaha High-Low is unique in that it plays great with fixed betting limits, with pot-limit betting or with no-limit betting rules. With each pot getting split between the best high poker hand and qualifying low hand at showdown, the strategy for this game is fascinating too. This article covers key strategy tips for players new to Omaha Hi-Lo. These will stop you making classic beginners mistakes and help you win money at the tables.

First of all, a big error is covered – playing far too many starting hands. This is followed by a section on what starting hands are the best to choose. Next the importance of scooping the pot is discussed, there are two different methods of doing this. Getting ‘quartered’ is a big problem in Omaha Hi-Lo and spotting situations where this can happen will save you a lot of chips. Finally you will find some words of warning about drawing to a low hand when heads-up.

Cut Down On Those Starting Hands

Pot Limit Omaha (PLO) Strategy. Pot Limit Omaha is the second most popular variant of the game today. On the surface it looks and plays a lot like Texas Hold’em, but the differences are significant. There still exists a large knowledge gap so you can create a big edge in Pot Limit Omaha if.

With a low pot and a high pot up for grabs in most hands, many players play too many starting hands in this game. They take everything with the potential to make a high hand, then add in those with low potential on top. This can leave new players with 50% or even more of all hands being played.

It is even more important when you are new to a game to stop the big leaks of chips, and playing too many hands is the biggest leak of all. Instead you should play only the very best high hands and make sure that the low hands you choose have some potential to make good high hands on top.

Suited Babies Are The Best Starting Hands

Hands which contain aces and small cards which match their suits are the real premium hands in this poker game. For example A-A-2-3 with just 2 suits is a monster that can win both the high and low portion of the pot. The worst hands to play contain medium ranked cards which are not coordinated. These can get you in trouble with both the 2nd best low and 2nd best high hand at showdown – an expensive combination.

Two Ways To Scoop The Pot in Omaha

Poker Strategy Omaha Hi Loop

Winning both sides of the pot in Omaha Hi-Lo is key to making a big profit in this game. There are two ways of achieving this. When there is no qualifying low hand (30% of the time), the high poker hand will take then entire pot. Remember to choose only the best high-only Omaha hands, it can be expensive ending up with the 2nd nuts in this game.

The other way to scoop the pot is to hit the low and high hands at the same time. This is where the suited babies come into their own, with the ability to win both sides from opponents who are only going for one. There is nothing better in Omaha Hi-Lo than to find yourself with the nuts for both the high and the low hands at the same time.

How To Avoid Getting Quartered in Omaha Hi / Lo

Oftentimes you will tie for one side of the pot, while another player wins the opposite side. This is most common when 2 players both hold A-2 in their hand and split the low side of the pot. One of those players also hits the high (though this could also go to a 3rd player). Danger signs of this occurring include times when someone wakes up betting when a high card hits, or only ever gives heavy action when they are confident in scooping the pot. I also recommend that you have something in the way of backup with a 3rd low card A-2-4-X for example. This can help you to avoid yet another big danger in Omaha Hi-Lo poker – being counterfeited on the turn or river.

Drawing To Half Of The Pot Heads-Up

My final new player mistake is to pay money to draw to a low hand in a heads-up pot. If you have no chance of winning the high side of the pot (for example with a low straight) and you feel your opponent is ‘going high’, then the current size of the pot should help you decide whether to continue. Blackjack billy booze cruise ringtone.

If the current pot is small, you are putting bets into the pot with the best-case scenario being that you get them back with no profit. This is an obvious losing proposition when you see it written down, however many new players ‘chase the low’ in this way without realizing their error.

When the pot is already large you can profitably call, the overlay of chips already in the middle should be assessed in relation to the number of outs you have to make your low hand before you start calling bets though. https://analyticsomg.netlify.app/us-allowed-online-casino-with-highest-payout.html.

Omaha Hi-Lo is a great game and is available at many US Poker Sites as well as European rooms.

Omaha Hi-Lo Split is a variant of Omaha poker. See the article on “Omaha Rules” for more information.

Omaha Hi-Lo split is sometimes referred to as Omaha Eight-or-Better or FLO8/PLO8/NLO8 (depending on the betting structure). O8 is a split pot game meaning that all players compete for two pots at the same time, a high pot and a low pot. For the most part O8 is played as a pot-limit game like it's counterpart Pot-Limit-Omaha. However it was initially most commonly played with a fixed-limit betting structure. In more recent years it has also appeared and some networks with a no-limit betting structure.

Objective

The objective of Omaha Hi/Lo is the same as most other poker variants. In a cash game the objective is to win our opponents chips which can be exchanged for real money after the game is over. In a tournament setting the objective is to be the last player remaining with all of the chips.

Playing a Hand of Omaha Hi-Lo

For the most part the betting structure is exactly the same as other games which involve community card such as regular Omaha, and Texas Hold'em.

Positions are exactly the same as on an Omaha table also, and mandatory blind payments must be placed in the pot before the hand can begin. If any of this is unfamiliar then check out the article on “Omaha Rules” to see a more detailed explanation of how this works.

Preflop - After the blinds have been paid each player receives 4 hole-cards which he does not show to any other player. A street of betting takes place referred to as “pre-flop”. Betting takes place in a clockwise direction starting with Under-The-Gun (UTG) and finishing with the Button (BTN).

Flop - Once all betting is complete, three community cards are placed in the centre of the table which each player may use to help create a 5-card hand along with exactly 2 of their hole-cards. (More on this later.) Another round of betting takes place starting with the Small-Blind (SB) (or whichever remaining position is earliest) and finishing with the BTN (or whichever remaining position is latest).

Turn – One additional card is dealt face up on the table alongside the flop. This is referred to as the “turn” card. Another round of betting takes place.

River – Another card is dealt face up on the table next to the turn card. This is referred to as the “river” card. Another round of betting takes place.

Showdown – The remaining players expose the strength of their hand. Half of the pot goes to player with the strongest hi-card hand. Half of the pot goes to the player with the strongest lo-card hand. If a player has both the strongest hi-card and the strongest lo-card hand he wins (or scoops) the entire pot. This is referred to as “scooping”. It's possible for a player to have the best hi-card hand and then tie for the best lo-card hand. In this case he will win half of the pot with his hi-card hand and half of the lo-card pot for a total of 75% of the pot. His opponent will now receive 25% of the total pot. This is referred to as being “quartered”.

Hand Rankings
It's necessary to split up our hand rankings into two parts here. The hi-card hands and the lo-card hands. The hi-hands are exactly the same as in Omaha-hi and are as follows.

Omaha High-Hands

Royal Flush – T, J, Q, K, A all of the same suit. This is the strongest hand in Omaha-8 and is made somewhat rarely. It will generally be made less frequently than in Omaha-hi due to the different types of starting hands that are generally considered premiums.

Straight Flush – 5 cards in a row, all of the same suit. For example 5,6,7,8,9 of diamonds.

Four-of-a-Kind – 4 cards of the same value. For example QQQQ, or 5555. Usually referred to as “Quads”

Full-House – 3 cards of the same value along with 2 cards of the same value. QQQ44, or KKK99. Often referred to as a “boat”.

Flush – Any 5 cards of the same suit.

Straight – Any 5 cards in ascending order. For example 5,6,7,8,9 but not all of the same suit.

Three-of-a-Kind – Three cards of the same value, for example KKK, or 777. Since all hands are 5 card hands the other two cards are referred to as “kickers”. KKKT7 loses to 777T2 for example. Commonly referred to as “trips” when made with one hole-card and a “set” when made with both hole-cards as in the case of holding a “pocket-pair” such as KK72.

Two-Pair – 2 cards of the same value along with 2 other cards of the same value. For example QQTT9 or JJ447.

One-Pair – 2 cards of the same value. For example TT523, or QQ764.

High-Card – Assuming no player has a made hand then the highest card wins. Assuming both players share the same high card, then the second highest card wins, etc.

Important – Remember that unlike Hold'em, in Omaha we must use exactly 2 of our hole-cards to make a 5 card hand. We don't want to make the mistake of thinking that we have the nut flush when we hold the Ah in our hand and there are 4 hearts on the board. Only a player holding at least 2 hearts would have a flush on this texture.

We don't want to make the opposite mistake either of trying to use more than 2 of our hole cards. If we get dealt QQQQ we do NOT have four of a kind. We have a pair of queens. Being dealt 4 of a kind is actually one of the worst possible starting hands in Omaha. We now know that it is impossible for us to improve by hitting another Q since we have all 4 of them.

Omaha Hi Lo Poker Strategy Eight Or Better

Omaha Low Hands

The low hands are read in a similar way to other lo-card variants. There is some variation in how lo-hands are ready depending on the exact game so here are the rules.

Flushes and straights do not count against our hand. The nut lo-hand is therefore A,2,3,4,5. Remember that we must use exactly two of our hole-cards for the lo-hand also. These don't have to be the same 2-cards that we use for the hi-hand however. So if we hold AQJK, and the board is 2,3,4,5,Q we do not have the nut-low and we do not have a straight for a decent hi-hand. We actually have pair of Queens and no low-hand.
Aces are always lowunlike in other variants such as 2-7 triple draw. If we struggle to read lo-hands, we simply should think of them as a number. For example it's a common beginners mistake to assume that A,2,3,4,7 is a better hand than 2,3,4,5,6. If we read them backwards as numbers – I.e 74,321 and 65,432 it should be pretty easy to see that the second hand is lower and therefore stronger. We can refer to the first hand as a 7-low and the second hand as a 6-low. The nuts, A,2,3,4,5 is referred to as the “nut low”.
Suits are not relevant to the strength of our hand unlike other variants such as Stud. Equivalent hi-hands will chop the high pot regardless of the suits contained.
Low hands must “qualify”. In order for a low hand to “qualify” it needs to contain 5 cards below an 8. Remember that only two of these can be from our hole-cards. This means that it is impossible for anyone to have a qualifying low hand if there are not at least 3 cards below an 8 on the board. In such situations Omaha-hi/lo plays like the regular Omaha-hi. There is no low pot awarded and the best hi-hand scoops the entire pot.

Betting Structure

While initially Omaha-8 was primarily played with a fixed-limit betting structure, PLO8 has rapidly become more popular and is the most common format of the game played. In recent years NLO8 tables have begun to spring up on certain networks.

Omaha Poker Strategy High Low

For information on how the pot-limit betting structure works and how to calculate a pot-sized raise, see the “Omaha Rules Article”

Why Play Omaha-8?

Omaha-8 is hugely challenging, even when it comes to simple things like understanding the strength of our hand. This can be complicated enough in the Omaha-hi variant when we have a wrap and flush-draws going on at the same. Now imagine this situation but we are also at the same time calculating what our current low-hand is or our percentage chance we will hit our low-draw. Initially we may even feel that playing a single-table of this variant takes our full focus and concentration.
Due to the challenging nature of Omaha-8 games, the competition is relatively soft. Very few players understand good strategy – and many do not even understand fully how to read the strength of their hand. Some are even surprised that they have chopped the pot with someone since they thought they were playing Omaha-hi.
Omaha-8 is a lot lower variance than hold'em or Omaha. This is to do with the split-pot nature of the game. In the majority of showdown situations we are not going to be losing the entire pot. We will often end up splitting or quartering the pot. This means that going on prolonged downswings is less likely assuming that we have a winning strategy. As a result we can get away with lighter bankroll requirements and play higher stakes. Low variance, soft-games, a fun challenge. What more could we want!

Omaha-8 Pointers

Play to Scoop! - The number one beginner mistake in this game is that players are aiming to win only one of the two pots. They'll typically decide each round whether they are trying to make a hi-card hand or a lo-card hand. This is not going to be a winning strategy in the long run. Our objective is to scoop both pots as much as possible.
Starting Hands – Some of the hands that are decent starting hands in Omaha-hi are actually not decent starting hands in Omaha-8. Firstly we are looking to play hands that contain an Ace and a Two in most cases, to maximise our chances of making the nut-low. Something like As2sAd3d would be an excellent starting hand. Notice how we have nut-flush potential in 2 suits and also excellent nut-low potential.
Avoid Mid-Rundowns – Rundowns are excellent starting hands in Omaha-hi. For example 6s7s8d9d. These are horrible hands in Omaha-8. In many cases to make a decent straight with this hand it means that there is likely to be a qualifying low available. So we can basically never win the entire pot. Even though such a hand can qualify for a low-hand it's rarely going to be the best low-hand since it will usually be an Seven-Six-low.
Counterfeiting – It's useful to be aware of this concept since we can get into trouble if not. Let's say we hold A2 and the board texture is 8,7,5. We have the absolute best nut-low. A,2,5,7,8. However let's the say the turn card comes a 2. We have now been counterfeited. Why is this? Our absolute hand-strength has not changed, but our relative hand-strength has changed. If opponent has A3 he now has A,2,3,5,7 for Seven-low which will beat our A,2,5,7,8 for Eight-low. Holding A23x on the 8,7,5 board gives us counterfeit protection, because if that 2 falls we still hold the nut-low.

I hope you enjoy learning to play Omaha Hi/Lo! Please leave any questions or comments below, I'd love to hear from you!