Omaha Poker Strategy Part 2
Thoughts on Omaha/8 - Part 2
by: Mark Tenner and Lou Krieger©
Runner-runner: Dream Street or Nightmare Alley
Runner-runner is a parlay of sorts that occurs in all flop games whenever a player catches a perfect card on the turn and another on the river to complete his poker hand. Because Omaha/8 hands are based on four starting cards that provide six possible two-card starting combinations, and hands can develop in two directions ¾ high as well as low ¾ runner-runner parlays are a lot more common in Omaha/8 than they are in Texas hold’em. A typical runner-runner hand happens when a player holds two cards of a single suit in his hand. One card of his suit flops, another comes on the turn, and he completes his flush when a final card of his suit is dealt on the river.
Another typical runner-runner situation frequently involves a
straight. Runner-runner to a full house is also possible, though
it’s not as common as catching two perfect cards to make a straight
or a flush. In Omaha/8, the most common runner-runner parlay happens
when one low card flops, another comes on the turn, and the river
card is also a baby that allows someone to back into a low hand.
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Playing for runner-runner can be a very costly, though it’s important to remember that getting lucky by catching two flush cards, for example, when playing to catch one card that makes a low hand is far different than hoping to catch two running cards in your primary direction. It may seem foreign to some of you who do not play Omaha/8 on a regular basis, but you’ll find some Omaha/8 players who call bets and raises with nothing more promising in their hand than a runner-runner parlay that will allow them to win half the pot ¾ if theirs is the best low hand.
Here’s an example. A player raises before the flop with A-2-3-K suited or double suited ¾ a very strong starting hand ¾ but the flop is T-9-3 of different suits. Because our hero raised, and “…was in love with his hand,” he's frustrated when the flop didn't fit his hand, but he decided to play anyway. He checks. Someone bets, and he calls, hoping for a low card in order to draw at the nut low for half the pot.
Although this may seem totally illogical to you, most Omaha/8 players have probably found themselves in similar positions on more than one occasion when they caught a bad flop and said to themselves, “I'll just take one off.” They’re hoping for a low card so they can put two bets into the pot in order to draw for a low card on the river, for half of the pot.
This play is very costly and extremely silly, and most of the time you should shun it. But not always. Here’s one situation where it’s the correct play. If you have a suited ace along with a deuce and another prime card, you can play as long as the flop contains one low prime card (Omaha/8 players refer to a wheel card ¾ any ace, deuce, trey, four, or five ¾ as a “prime” card), one card of your suit, and you hold two prime cards that have not been counterfeited. This kind of hand, although it requires two running cards, still has the potential to scoop the pot. And if the pot odds are appropriate, it actually makes sense to take one off. But remember, before you go chasing runner-runner, you’ll need to make sure you’re holding a suited ace along with a deuce and a third prime card, and the flop contains one prime card, one card of your suit, and two of your prime cards remain uncounterfeited, and … this is crucial … there is the right amount of money or players in the pot. A good rule of thumb is at least five players or ten small bets before the flop.
The perfect runner would be a low prime card that’s suited to your ace and does not counterfeit your hand. Your second choice would be a low card that matches your suited ace. Your third choice would either be a high suited card that matches your ace and doesn't pair the board, or any low card ¾ even if it is a different suit of your ace. If you get lucky you might find yourself either drawing to scoop with the nut flush on the river, drawing to the nut flush and the nut low, drawing to scoop with a wheel and the nut low, or drawing to win half the pot with a nut low.
If you’re contemplating just “…taking one off,” you should have at least four, and preferably five players in the pot with you, along with backdoor draws to the nut flush and nut low. For example, suppose you’re holding Ac-2s-Qc-Qd and the flop is Jd-9c-4h. In this situation you’re looking for a low club or possibly a queen ¾ even though a queen would make a straight a distinct possibility ¾ because you can still scoop if a queen turns and you fill up on the river.
Remember, to play runner-runner hands you need to either scoop or win half of a very large pot in order to make it worthwhile. Hands like these require lots of players, lots of money entering the pot before the flop ¾ or a combination of both. In these situations you are “…taking one off,” because you’re playing good poker, and not out of anger because the flop keeps missing your starting hands.
Regardless of the admittedly rare opportunities to play runner-runner parlays as your primary hand, anytime you’re playing Omaha/8 you’ll frequently wind up in a situation where you’re trying to build one particular hand, but back into a runner-runner parlay in the process. When this happens, it’s important to be aware of how a turn card can recast a long shot into a viable draw. The appeal of runner-runner parlays resides in the fact that they allow one-way hands to morph into hands with scooping possibilities, and when that happens, hands you might have folded on the turn can become big draws that are worth taking a gamble on.
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