Playable Preflop Omaha Hi/lo Hands

As Omaha8 Poker is known for its loose action packed games, it is a good idea to be selective when opting which hands to play. Having a good idea of what starting hands to play with will give you a positive edge against most players. Especially when playing HORSE poker where you will often be playing against holdem players who only have a rough idea how to play the low hands.

Playing against a full table of eight players will produce several split pots. You will generally be up against strong hands. Get to understand what sort of starting hands will give you the best opportunity for the nut hands. The more players at the table, the more selective you should be with your playable hands.

There are so many variables to Omaha hi/lo. Until you see the flop cards,it is speculation but there are good cards and bad cards to play with.

The Ace is a key card in Omaha8. It counts as both the highest card and the lowest card, it has the most scope for scooping a pot. A scoop is when you win, both the high and low pots. Flushes and straights are common in Omaha games and if you are holding the ace with one of these hands, you have a decent chance of winning the pot.

Mid range hands are ones to avoid. Having hole cards such as 6-7-8-9 may initially look appealing to the eyes, over you plenty of straight run opportunities, the low hand is easily beatable, as is the high.

High Hands can be profitable. Having a high hand such as A-K-Q-J especially if 2 suited can be great but remember you are forfeiting the opportunity to go for the low pot. This is a hand you can possibly play if there are several callers bulking up the pot. When the flop lands low, you are usually best to drop the hand.

Certain situation, such as having the nuts high hand and everyone else is chasing the low hand can bulk up the pot. If you consider, 5 players in the pot, you win the high and the 4 others share the low pot, you can see how this can become very profitable.

Example :

5 players put $100 into the pot = $500

You win high = $250

4 others get a share of the low hand 4/$250 = $62.50 Each

Play these conditions correctly and it could become a very profitable game for you.

Ace with another low card, 5 or less offers you the chance of both the high and low nut hands. Often the flop will pair off one of your cards, canceling out its effectiveness, so often it is a good idea to have 3 low cards to chose from.

An idea hand would be A-2-3-K, this gives you a great opportunity to scoop the pot, especially if you have a possible flush.

Scooping the pot is the objective but as you can see, this is not always a requirement.

 

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