Omaha Hi-Lo: Tips to Use and Mistakes to Avoid
by Dougie Goguen | Jan 2 2012
Get a jumpstart on the competition with this look at Omaha Hi-Lo!Omaha Hi-Lo is a great way to liven up your game if you've been playing the standard version of the game and while it's easy to find the rules online, we've compiled some tips to help you out, along with common mistakes that you're going to want to avoid. Take the time to review these before you start playing and you'll keep more chips in your stack and out of the hands of your opponents.
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Seven Tips for Successful Omaha Hi-Lo Play:1. In general, you should stick to hands that include A2, A3, or 23 for low value. Of course, a backup low card gives your hand additional value, even if it cuts off the possibility of making a high hand.
2. Speaking of high hands, you should generally only play for high if you've got four cards of 9 and higher in front of you. That said, it's OK to occasionally mix up your play by playing A4 or A5 suited if the other two cards look decent enough to go with.
3. Avoid hands with 7, 8 or 9. Research (and hard-lost money) has shown that it has a negative expected value.
4. If the flop hits your hand well, be aggressive. You're going to want to donate play as much as possible and try to get as much in the pot as you can.
5. You will fold your hand on the flop. It's OK. You're just losing your initial bet. In fact, don't play your hand after the flop if you don't have the potential to make the nuts.
6. While you should avoid bluffing (Omaha is a game where the math kicks in a lot more often than in Texas Hold 'Em,) you should occasionally bluff on the river if there's not a low hand out.
7. Only play the more marginal starting hands in the latest positions possible, especially if several players have called in front of you.
Three Common Mistakes:1. Players jumping in and playing too many starting hands. Omaha Hi-Lo is a game where you have to be patient to really succeed.
2. Calling all the way to the river without having the potential for both a high and a low hand. You'll need both unless you're really holding the nuts in one or the other.
3. Seeing flops with a spread with the four middle cards: 6-7-8-9. You can't make a straight with them, no matter how many times you look at them.
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