Don't Know Much About OHL…

by Jim Woods

In his classic song "Wonderful World," Sam Cooke begins:

"Don't know much about history
Don't know much biology"

Well, I'm the first to admit that I haven't come close to mastering Omaha hi-low. I have picked up a thing or two in the hands I've played, however. Some were painful lessons and others were slack-jawed observations of other players' blunders. You know...the kind that provoke comments in the online chat box like "LMAO! You play THAT garbage?"

First things first, there is a distinct advantage to playing only starters that have good two-way possibilities, such as A2KQ, A23Q, AA34, etc..., especially where at least one ace is suited with another card. I know there are poker books that tell you to take a chance with hands like KKQJ and KQJT. In a low-limit game, you may treat yourself to one of these occasionally, but in the long run they'll cause you (and your bankroll) more pain than they're worth. If you see the flop with a one-way hand, you must have the discipline to throw it away, unless you flop a monster.

Here's an example. You limp with K K Q T and three, or four, other players see the K 5 4 flop with you. "WOOOOHOOOO!" the creative side of your brain screams, "TOP SET!" You raise and are mildly surprised to get re-raised by one opponent AND have two others cold-call. Before you cap, think. At least two opponents, and perhaps all three, are probably trying for the low half of the pot that you cannot win. You have no clubs, which increases the odds that one or more opponents have flush draws. There are 24 low cards that will not pair the board, and if any one of them falls on the turn or river, you can be almost positive that you are getting half of the pot or nothing. You need the board to pair AND not have that give someone else quads (admittedly a slim chance, but far from unheard-of). What you'd like to see on the turn is a high club that pairs the board, but that's impossible. The odds are that a club will put your trips into second place or worse, so a cap is the wrong move.

If that convinces you that a set, even top set, is quite vulnerable, think of what that means for two pairs on the flop. For that reason, small to medium pairs in your hand are of little value preflop unless they are deuces or treys AND you also have an ace. A starting hand like 5578, for example, is a dog, and TT65 is a dog with no collar that badly needs a bath.

Recently I had A Q 7 2s in a pot-limit game. Four of us saw the flop for a small bet and it was a gorgeous A 8 6. Everyone checked to me, including an opponent (let's call her "Loosey") with 8 7 6 3, and I bet the pot. Loosey overvalued her two pairs and called. The turn was the Q, Loosey checked to me, and again I bet the pot. After a longer pause this time, she called. I'm sure that you, unlike Loosey, realize that she was drawing dead for high. An 8 or 6 would've cost her dearly, since her full house would have lost to my Q's full. She wasn't even considering the low, but a miracle 2 on the river gave her one-quarter of the massive pot. She had three outs and hit, but she still lost half of every dollar she put in the pot. Her big mistake was seeing the flop in the first place.

Big flush possibilities in your starters are more valuable than connectors, especially a suited ace. However, you don't want more than two cards of one suit in your hand. For example, A T 8 4 and A K 7 5 are worth very little preflop. Even if you flop a flush, having three or four cards of that suit reduce the odds that someone else will have a slightly smaller flush and will have feel compelled to pay you off. (By the way, that's why I prefer to have my ace suited with a card other than the king. If I make the nut flush, I want a crying call or three from whoever has the K-high flush.)

This may seem strange, but I'm not as crazy about AAxx hands in OHL as the people who love to raise or cap preflop with them. Sure, you CAN make the top boat with them, but if you have two aces the odds of an ace hitting the board are less than 1 in 4, IF no one else has an ace. If one opponent has an ace (and how surprising would it be for an opponent who called your preflop raise to have an ace?), your odds of making a set of aces by the river drop to about 13%. In my opinion, the real value of AA starters is when you also have two babies, so you have a good shot at the only nut low hand.

A final caution: Unless you are in a very low limit game, or you're allergic to cash, avoid the temptation to overbet a flopped straight, even the top straight. I have seen many players lose large amounts of money raising, re-raising, or capping the flop and/or turn with the nut straight, only to lose on the river when the board pairs or the third card of one suit falls. Omaha is a river game, and many players (good and bad) will take chances and call heavy bets in the hope of a "Miracle on 5th Street." Even if it was a rainbow flop, the turn will almost match the suit of one of the flop cards, making a flush possible. Also, half of all flopped straights will contain at least two low cards. If you flopped the top straight but there are two low cards on board, you could face a raise or re-raise on the turn from someone with the nut, non-counterfeitable low (for example, a player holding A23x and a 4567 or 9876 board). It's bad enough to fear losing the high on the river, without also knowing that you have no chance at the low half.

This article was published at an earlier date on PokerPages.com and is being rerun due to popular demand.

About the Author:
Jim Woods is a middle-aged attorney (but please don't hold that against him) that loves fishing and poker. He has an undergraduate degree... that comes in handy in poker, less so in poker. His one favorite poker fantasy? Using Cling Eastwood's famous line on Phil Hellmuth while having him dominated in a hand: "I know what you're thinking... But what you gotta as yourself is: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well... do ya, punk?