Omaha Poker Tip
"Dealer, Leave the Bets in Front of the Players!"
By Greg Mascio of Bluff Magazine
It's a familiar refrain at the Omaha/8 table, often heard when
the betting is capped on the turn in a multi-way pot. In theory,
this request is about saving time -- it's easier to divide the chips
at the end of the
hand when they're not in one monster pile at the center of the table.
But the subtext is clear. "Give us the river already!"
It's often a pot just like this that makes the difference, ultimately,
between winner and loser, genius and live one. And playing
these hands correctly goes a long way toward determining one's success
in this sometimes volatile game.
Other than catching gin on the river, however, how does one go
about
getting out as cheaply as possible when beat, and maximizing profit
when holding the nuts?
The first and most important thing, especially in O/8, is knowing
where
you're at on every street. Many players will simply not throw a
hand away even when they're sure they're beat in a big pot. They
call it down just to find out what they were right about four bets
ago.
A typical hand where you can get into trouble is flopping two pair
with
a hand like A-3-6-K. The flop comes A-3-J with a flush draw you
don't
hold. You're first to act and fire a bet into the pot. It then gets
raised, called, called and three-bet by the time it gets back to
you.
You very well could be drawing extremely thin at this point. If
an Ace
comes, it's likely you hold the second-best full house. If you catch
a
King on the turn, your two pair might be beat by the 10-Q-K wrap
who called all those bets on the flop. If a 6 comes, you're still
likelybeat by Aces and Jacks, and all the made lows and flush draws
are freerolling on you.
Still, most unseasoned players call in this spot nearly 100 percent
of
the time. Why? One reason is because average-to-below-average players
rarely ever make a bet and subsequently fold on the same street.
I almost never see this. To be a winning player, especially in O/8,
you have to be able to lay down your losers.
On the other hand, say that same A-3-J flop comes down and you
hold
A-2-4-5 with the nut flush draw. Yes, you have a monster. You're
first
to act and bet, and again it gets raised and three bet. This time
you cap
it. The turn comes a deuce. Now it's time to make extra bets.
With all the action that came behind you on the flop, you can be
almost
certain someone will bet if you check. You check, which puts the
thought
into the other player's mind that you may have been counterfeited,
or at
best are holding a set. After a bet and a few calls, you are now
in
position to make that check raise -- and you might not even lose
some of the people drawing dead! Excuse No. 1 why a losing player
calls when drawing dead? "The pot is too big."
If you had bet out on the turn when the deuce hit after capping
it on
the flop, any above-average player would most likely put you on
your
hand and you wouldn't get any action. That same player might still
call
your check-raise, perhaps hoping to fill up on the end, but at least
he would have to pay to get there.
There are a lot of large multi-way pots in O/8. It's easy to be
tempted
by the amount of money in the center of the table. But in O/8, as
in most
forms of poker, a hand that is usually strong heads-up or three
handed,
simply doesn't carry the same weight in a multi-way pot against
multiple
draws. And in O/8, you might have to fend off five or six players,
each
holding four cards in their hand; it's tough to make two pair
on the flop hold up in that case.
Omaha-Eight-or-Better is all about holding the nuts or at least
drawing
to it. It's one reason why A-2 with two blanks -- like, say, 8-10
-- is
such a dangerous hand. It gets played pre-flop almost every time,
yet it
rarely gets more than half the pot, and costs too much when the
low
doesn't get there.
Hands that work together for both high and low, like A-2-Q-K or
A-2-4-K
(I'll take mine double suited, thanks), are key. "Nut-Nut"
is a beautiful
thing, especially at the end of a monster pot where the dealer has
to do
nothing with all those chips in front of everybody but push them
to you.
Greg is an accomplished high limit Omaha High/Low eight or better
player. He can be found playing at the Commerce Casino or Online
at FullTiltPoker.com
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