Omaha Hi/Lo Game Tips
Omaha Hi/Lo is a very intense poker game where two hands can win every single hand. Both a high and a low hand can win in this poker game. In order to win the low hand you need to have five cards under eight without having any pairs. Since you have nine cards to make your hand it really isn’t that hard to make a hand. The problem you need to focus on is deciding what made hands you should play down to the end.
A set of aces might look awesome when you’re playing Texas Holdem, but when you’re playing Omaha Hi/Lo you aren’t going to win many hands with a set. Typically the winning high hand will be a straight or better and often the winning hand will be a high flush or better. If you’re facing a big bet you really need to decide how good your hand is and how many hands can beat your hand. If a lot of hands beat your hand then you should most likely just fold and a pick a better spot to play a big pot.
When you’re playing a hand and trying to win the high hand it’s always good to have a shot at winning the low hand. You need to use two cards from your hand minimum to make your high hand and low hand, but the cards you use for each hand can be different if you want. This means that you can potentially win both the high and low hand. It’s always best to have the option of winning the low hand in case you’re going up against a monster high hand that you can’t beat.
If you’re chasing a hand because you feel you have won the low hand you need to be careful in Omaha Hi/Lo. The low hand does receive 50% of the pot if you’re the only winner, but if you tie the low hand then you need to split up the 50% of the pot. A lot of time I’ve seen people chase a low hand and end up only winning 25% of the pot. Winning 25% of the pot is fine when there are 4+ players putting money into the pot, but if there are only two of you in the pot then you’re losing money by winning 25% of the pot.
Always try to have the best low hand when you’re chasing after the low pot so that the worst you can do is tie the pot. If you’re in the pot with one other opponent and you feel they only have a high hand then you can stay in the pot with a marginal low hand so that you can try and pick up the low pot. Omaha Hi/Lo is a game with lots of action and those of you that can stay out of the action and focus on playing solid hands should have no problem winning money. In a cash game you only need one big hand to make your day profitable so you should try playing only your premium starting hands.
