One of the facts of life for anyone playing Omaha Hi-low is getting quartered. This refers to sharing half of the pot while your opponent gets the other half – you win just one quarter of the pot. While being quartered usually something to avoid there are times, such as in multi-way pots, where this can have a positive return. Before we look at common situations where quartering is important here is an example;
Your hand: A-2-7-J,
Opponent #1: A-2-8-K,
Opponent #3: Q-Q-4-5.
At the end of the hand the board reads 4-5-6-J-9 with no flushes available. In this situation the highest hand using exactly 2 from each hand and 3 from the board is 2 pair (4's and 5's) and goes to player #3. The lowest hand is A-2-4-5-6, this is split between you and opponent #2 – you each get a quarter of the pot. This means that every $1 you put into the pot will have a return of just 25c – even with some overlay from other players from the early betting rounds this is a negative return.
While it is possible to share the high side of the pot, getting quartered usually involves sharing the low. This concept emphasizes the most important strategy consideration in Omaha Hi-Lo Poker – you must play hands with potential to win both sides of the pot. Winning both sides is known as ‘scooping' and should be your objective with each and every hand played.
Due to opponents tendency to favor low hands you may find yourself in the excellent situation of guaranteeing the high side for yourself while having a chance to share the low side. In these cases you have 3-quartered your opponent. Here is an example:
Your holding J-J-3-4
Opponent A-3-4-K
Board at the turn: J-A-6-8
In this situation you have the current high hand with J-J-J and your opponent has the low with A-3-4-6-8. Here you have ‘freeroll' to splitting the low – any of the remaining 2's could come on the end giving both you and your opponent the low hand of A-2-3-4-6.
Avoiding being quartered usually involves having some sort of ‘back-up' low card in your hand for when the board matches your lowest holding. This means that A-2-J-K is a much weaker holding than A-2-5-K pre flop even though it would seem you have more potential to win the high. The 5 provides some much needed insurance for those times when an Ace or 2 land on the board – remember that your opponents will also be favoring aces.
There are times when it may be obvious to you that you will share the low side of the pot but you should call the last bet anyway. This happens when the pot is large enough by the river to mean that the last bet actually has a positive return. For example if the pot is $40 and you have to call a $5 bet to win a quarter of the pot then the return on this bet is $10.
The best time to avoid being quartered in Pot Limit Omaha hi-low is as early as possible in the hand. This will avoid wasting any bets drawing to only a quarter of the pot. This is especially the case when 2 or more opponents have taken a big interest in the hand and are raising and re-raising. You may end up getting caught in the middle of a ‘raising war' and wish that you had folded earlier.
The key to pot limit Omaha hi-low is to make sure your hand has both high and low potential and not to draw only for the low side if there is any likelihood of sharing the low pot with one or more opponents.
