Poker is a game of mistakes. When out opponents make mistakes we benefit – making mistakes yourself will lose money over time, whatever the outcome of any single hand. The number of draws available in Omaha hi-low due to the 4 card holdings and split pots make the number of potential mistakes large. Below are some common errors to look out for – and to avoid yourself. The following Omaha tips and advice can improve your game more than you may think.
The most common mistake is drawing to only half – or even worse a quarter - of the pot. There are several ways in which this can happen, usually it involves sharing the low part of the pot with one or more opponents while someone else wins the high side. This is known as being ‘quartered' and will result in every bet you call having a negative return. If you hand does not have potential to ‘scoop' both the high and low sides of the pot then make sure you do not get caught up in a raising war between two opponents.
Drawing to the second best hand is a common and often expensive mistake in Omaha hi-low. This can be corrected by being very selective with the hands you play pre-flop. Drawing to few ‘outs' only to find that the hand you made is 2 nd best is common due to the large number of possible hand combinations. Playing only hands containing aces is a good strategy for beginning Omaha hi-low players. Aces work for both high and low hands and so increase the value of any holding. High-only hands must be played with extreme caution. Only where the flop indicates no low hand is possible can you continue with these holdings.
Giving a free-card, usually by failing to bet a made hand or strong draw on the flop is also a mistake in Omaha hi-low. This can easily result in your hand being counterfeited by a turn card matching your lowest card. It can also result in giving an opponent a draw to a high hand that they would have folded if you had bet – costing you half of the pot at showdown. If you play the best starting hands and charge your opponents to draw out on you then your Omaha hi-low bankroll can only grow.
A final mistake is to play ‘trouble hands' in the early betting rounds. Players often justify this by saying that it was cheap to enter the pot. However hands such as 2-5-6-K or 6-7-8-9 can easily make the 2 nd best hand at showdown. This mistake can often be made worse by the fact that players have the right price to continue drawing after the flop. Each post flop decision can be made correctly here – and you still end up showing down the worst hand. The solution is simple – the most important Omaha hi-low decision is whether or not you enter the pot – so make this decision a good one.
