The high-low split pot version of Omaha is a fun and exciting game, which we will refer to as Omaha/8. It is typically played as a fixed-limit game, but the pot-limit variety (known by the abbreviation PLO/8) is also popular, particularly online. The format, betting structure, and requirement to use two cards from your initial four hole cards, in conjunction with three cards from the board, is all the same as Omaha high but coupled with the addition of the best high and best low hands splitting the pot. cheat poker
In our lesson on how to play Omaha we outlined that one major difference between Omaha and hold’em was the number of potential hands vying for the pot. In Omaha/8 that number remains constant as each hand still has six possibilities but now some of them are vying for the low end and others for the high. What this translates to is an action packed game with numerous bets and raises and large pots.
Omaha/8 Showdown Rules
Omaha/8 is a split pot game, which means that unless someone scoops the pot it will be split. There are two ways to scoop the entire pot. The first is to have both the best high and low hands. The other way is to possess the best high hand when no hand qualifies for the low.
The High Hand
The high hand in Omaha/8 is the identical to a winning hand in Omaha high. If there is no qualified low hand then the best high hand will win the pot.
Qualifying Low Hand
The rules for a qualifying low hand are as follows:
Players may use any five cards in their hand for the low
A low hand is five unpaired cards, no higher than an eight
Aces are low for the low hand (and high for the high hand)
Flushes and straights do not negatively impact the low hand
Ranking Low Hands
Low hands in Omaha/8 are ranked ‘top down’, from the highest card in the hand. For example ah2s5d6c7s is lower than as2d5c7h8s. This is an example of a “7 low” versus an “8 low”. marked cards
If the highest card is equal in rank then the next highest card is used to determined the lowest hand. This means that ah2s4c5h7s is lower than ah2s5d6c7s because the second highest card among the five is lower. If the second highest card was the same then it would go to the third, fourth, and fifth card respectively. If players share the same low cards then the low half of the pot is split.
The best possible low hand in Omaha/8 is A-2-3-4-5, known as a ‘wheel’. Remember that low hands that are straights and flushes do not disqualify it from being low but, in fact, make it a two way hand and a candidate to scoop. While a Royal flush and a five high straight, called a wheel, would represent the best high and best low hands, the hand you really want at the showdown is a five high straight flush to scoop the pot with the best high and low hands.
Monday, December 16, 2013
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Cash Games or Tournament Poker
Sure, we’ve all been seduced by the glamour, fame and money we see every week in the no-limit hold’em tournaments we see on TV. Championship bracelets, screen time and piles of cash can turn anyone’s head. Even though we may see many familiar faces at these final tables, we’re not seeing the many times that those players have finished out of the money, on the bubble or just short of the TV table.
In an earlier piece (‘To Cash or Not to Cash‘), I examined the role that variance plays in the career of a successful tournament player. But what does that tournament player do when he just misses the bright lights of the TV table? Some may drown their sorrows at the bar while others may slink back to their hotels and ask themselves what went wrong. The best ones, the ones that truly make their living at the game, go to the cash game tables. marked cards
On interesting fact that many newcomers to the game may not know is that, before the big tournament boom and the “Moneymaker Effect”, the purpose of poker tournaments was not to offer big events and huge paydays to the everyday player. Instead, the main idea behind poker tournaments was to bring in players for the cash games. In fact, many of the “founding fathers” of the game like Doyle Brunson, Mike Caro and Amarillo Slim Preston did not participate in some of the early World Series of Poker tournaments. Although they know that they could win bracelet after bracelet at will against the smaller fields at that time, they instead feasted on the carcasses of the defeated players who would wander into the cash games.
In the past, most casino hold’em cash games used a limit betting structure. Now, with the explosion in popularity of no-limit hold’em tournaments, players who can’t wait until the next tourney to get their fix can now satisfy their cravings in no-limit cash games. These games have become so prevalent that many card rooms are cutting back or abandoning their traditional $3/$6 or $4/$8 limit games in favor of the more popular (and more lucrative) $1/$2 and $2/$5 no-limit games. No-limit cash games have become so popular that poker author and former WSOP Main Event Champion Dan Harrington has created companion volumes to his famous Harrington on Hold’em tournament strategy guides. His two-book set is called Harrington on Cash Games: How to Win at No-Limit Hold’em Money Games. Many more books, videos and other instructional materials will soon hit the shelves that will focus on the peculiar beast of no-limit hold’em cash games. card cheating
Before you jump into these games, even if you are an experienced no-limit hold’em tournament player, you should be aware of some of the subtle differences between tournament and cash-game environments.
Short Stack vs. Deep Stack
When players start a typical freezeout tournament, each one sits down with an equal number of chips. When you take your seat at a no-limit cash game table, you will see a wide range of stack sizes. Also, when you buy into a tournament, you buy in for a set amount. At a cash game table, you can choose to buy in for any amount between the minimum allowed (typically thirty to fifty times the big blind) and some fraction of the largest stack in play. You get to choose if you would rather start out playing as a short stack and push all-in early in the hand with your best cards, or use more deep-stack techniques such as semi-bluffing and bluff check-raising.
In an earlier piece (‘To Cash or Not to Cash‘), I examined the role that variance plays in the career of a successful tournament player. But what does that tournament player do when he just misses the bright lights of the TV table? Some may drown their sorrows at the bar while others may slink back to their hotels and ask themselves what went wrong. The best ones, the ones that truly make their living at the game, go to the cash game tables. marked cards
On interesting fact that many newcomers to the game may not know is that, before the big tournament boom and the “Moneymaker Effect”, the purpose of poker tournaments was not to offer big events and huge paydays to the everyday player. Instead, the main idea behind poker tournaments was to bring in players for the cash games. In fact, many of the “founding fathers” of the game like Doyle Brunson, Mike Caro and Amarillo Slim Preston did not participate in some of the early World Series of Poker tournaments. Although they know that they could win bracelet after bracelet at will against the smaller fields at that time, they instead feasted on the carcasses of the defeated players who would wander into the cash games.
In the past, most casino hold’em cash games used a limit betting structure. Now, with the explosion in popularity of no-limit hold’em tournaments, players who can’t wait until the next tourney to get their fix can now satisfy their cravings in no-limit cash games. These games have become so prevalent that many card rooms are cutting back or abandoning their traditional $3/$6 or $4/$8 limit games in favor of the more popular (and more lucrative) $1/$2 and $2/$5 no-limit games. No-limit cash games have become so popular that poker author and former WSOP Main Event Champion Dan Harrington has created companion volumes to his famous Harrington on Hold’em tournament strategy guides. His two-book set is called Harrington on Cash Games: How to Win at No-Limit Hold’em Money Games. Many more books, videos and other instructional materials will soon hit the shelves that will focus on the peculiar beast of no-limit hold’em cash games. card cheating
Before you jump into these games, even if you are an experienced no-limit hold’em tournament player, you should be aware of some of the subtle differences between tournament and cash-game environments.
Short Stack vs. Deep Stack
When players start a typical freezeout tournament, each one sits down with an equal number of chips. When you take your seat at a no-limit cash game table, you will see a wide range of stack sizes. Also, when you buy into a tournament, you buy in for a set amount. At a cash game table, you can choose to buy in for any amount between the minimum allowed (typically thirty to fifty times the big blind) and some fraction of the largest stack in play. You get to choose if you would rather start out playing as a short stack and push all-in early in the hand with your best cards, or use more deep-stack techniques such as semi-bluffing and bluff check-raising.
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