WARNING! WARNING WILL ROBINSON!

The following is a public service message brought to you by the letter G and iamhoff. He mentioned to me in comments that he played some O8 and had a hard time. I think like any Poker game anyone can play. It is easy. A card game. No problem. However there are layers upon layers of playing this game. I have maybe seen past layer one but I by no means know anything except the tiniest bit more than the casual player. So I guess I will spew some faulty strategy and see what happens.

When I first started playing O8 I was L0 Newbie. I played SORTA tight. My basic strategy was any hand that worked well together was a good hand. What is the fault in this style?

What have I learned at level L0.1 so far? I am glad you asked. This jackass game is not a SPLIT game. Whaaat? Sir has finally lost his marbles and thinks this is a HI game, no wonder he never makes any money. HEY HEY HEY! Shut up I am not done yet. If you play O8 as a split game and look for half the pot and think you got away good you are stupid not playing optimally. Think of the game as a scoop game only. The ONLY hands you want to play are ones that WILL scoop pots. If you have a good shot at scooping and the flop kills one side of it you MAY need to re-evaluate what to do.

believe me I laughed at Drizz for playing so tight but when you see it in action it works. When you see what hands the fish usually lose money on and see what hands you end up losing with it ends up making total sense.

So which hands have a good chance of scooping? There are several great books out there and I suggest you go buy one and read it if you want to play O8. Krieger has a good one that I have and Zee's is acknowledged as one of the best books out there. The best hands in Omaha are Ace high flushes with a two and three for a low. Weaker hands that you can also play are hands that have 4 low (under five) or high (10 or greater, aces included).. the high cards you really are looking for a flop with no low draws. With the low cards if you do not have an ace you want to see one on the flop or have your straight draw. Also A3 s00ted hands with two high cards or two low cards are very good.

You always play an A2. Now I have not figured out why this is because even though it gives you the nut low it does not give you an automatic high and you stand a chance of getting quartered. I will need to read up on that.

The other thing in Omaha is STRAIGHTS AND SMALL SETS SUCK AND TOP SETS ONLY SUCK A LITTLE LESS!!!! believe it people. Most small sets are beat by larger sets. The nut set usually needs to make a boat to win. Otherwise the 6 other people in the hand PROBABLY have some sort of flush draw. There is almost never a hand without a flush and any flush usually is made by someone in the pot. If you flop the NUT straight in HE you usually bet it hard. In O8 you need to go slow. Especially at the lower levels. At the higher levels people will know when to fold and you can possibly bet out. However at the lower levels they are all chasing and are bound to catch something. With my NUT straights I always check the flop and re-evaluate on the turn. I MIGHT put a bet in on the turn. It is a totally different story if I have the NUT straight and the NUT low. That kind of hand I can bet because I will usually not lose both of those.

Anyway, alot of this information probably sucks so go buy a book. I know I rambled and probably lost people. So go buy a book. I am still learning. Bottom line: I think if you play really tight, only play hands with high scoop potential, fold alot, and stop overvalueing straights and sets you will do well. I suck at advice so go buy a book. I will however continue to give you faulty advice as I keep learning more in my quest to become a winning player.