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Lesson: 80
Heads-Up vs Multi-Way Hands in Omaha Hi/Lo
Andy Bloch
Oct 3, 2006
Earlier this year, I cashed in the $2,000 Omaha Hi/Lo event at
the World Series of Poker. I enjoyed the tournament; it was great
to spend some time playing a game other than hold 'em. One thing
that surprised me about the tournament, however, was that the
quality of play was quite poor. Some players didn't even know
the very basics, like starting hand values. I was amazed that
so many people would put $2,000 into a tournament where they
didn't understand even the most rudimentary elements of the game's
strategy.
For this article, I want to discuss how the quality of your Omaha
Hi/Lo hand relates to the number of people in a pot. If you're
playing a multi-way pot, you need a very strong hand going one
way or the other. The nuts or a draw to the nuts is preferable.
Absent that, in multi-way pots, you want to have strong draws in
both directions.
In heads-up play, however, you can continue with far weaker hands
if your opponent is going to need to play all four of his cards
in order to scoop the pot. An example should clarify what I mean.
Let's say you have 2-3-4-7 in the big blind and call a late-position
raise. The flop comes K-Q-7 and you both check. The turn, a 3,
gives you two pair and a low draw. You check again and your opponent
bets. You'd absolutely want to call. Your two pair may very well
be good and, if it's not, there's a chance your low draw will get
there. Should the river bring an 8, you'd definitely want to call
a bet and showdown the hand.
In this situation, in order to scoop the pot, your opponent would
need to have something like a better two pair and A-2 or A-4. All
four of his cards would need to be involved in the hand. This is
unlikely enough that you should call his bet.
If you had the same hand, but were playing a four-way pot, you
probably wouldn't want to call any bets. Say you make your same
two-pair and low draw on the turn but, this time, after you check
there's a bet and two calls. It's likely that you're not going
to get either part of the pot as someone probably has a stronger
high while someone else holds a better low draw.
This is only one important aspect of Omaha Hi/Lo. If you spend
some time polishing your game, you can make some good money in
cash games and get great value in tournaments since so many players
are just starting to learn the game.
What's more, you might also find that you enjoy taking a break
from hold 'em once in awhile.
Andy Bloch
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