Omaha 8

Mr. Flibble

Most low limit Omaha 8/b tables contain players who've filtered in from Hold 'Em. Either they're getting a little bored and want a change of scenery so to speak, or they've lost money at Hold'Em and want to gamble ("hey, you get 4 hole cards in Omaha so it's basically just gambling!" is one of many great comments you may hear the fish say). The great thing about low limit Omaha 8/b is once you have the basics down it's incredibly easy to win at it because the other player's play is generally absolutely awful, even more so than at the same levels of Hold 'Em.

Would anyone agree that low level Omaha 8 can be very easily beat? I have moderate success grinding .50/1 NLH and am contemplating changing to Omaha 8 games if they are truely easier to beat at the same levels. I have been playing holdem alot for about 2 years now so maybe learing a new game from scrach isn't the best idea.

Has anyone made the change for the same reason and stuck with it as they are making more money there?

Lafortezza

I think that if you can get very good at O/8 then there's alot of money to be made their with a reduced amount of variance (compared to PLO and NL HE at least).

If you read the 2+2 O/8 forums you can see how detailed and complicated some of the hand analysis can be. Alot more mathematical than PLO.

Plus I don't think it has the gamble factor of PLO, so really why would you ever choose it

RoundTower

you should try to become proficient in at least one other game, for a variety of reasons:
- your favourite game may not always be available
- if you get bored or are running bad it may help to switch to a different game
- it will help you understand poker better and have a good effect on all your games.

If you mostly play online, limit O/8 is probably the best game to learn next, there seem to be more games available than in anything else other than hold'em. If instead you play mostly live in Ireland you should take up PLO instead.

I wouldn't take the quote in your post too seriously as a reason to switch games. People play terrible at all kinds of poker games.

TrueDub

I hate to use my 100th post to ask a (potentially) dumb question, but could some kind soul clarify the difference between PLO and Omaha 8? Is it simply betting (limit?) or is there more subtle differences?

jtsuited

TrueDub wrote:

I hate to use my 100th post to ask a (potentially) dumb question, but could some kind soul clarify the difference between PLO and Omaha 8? Is it simply betting (limit?) or is there more subtle differences?

omaha 8 is omaha hi-lo

DapperGent

In PLO you're only looking to make a high hand (it's also know as Omaha High) where as in Omaha 8 you're looking to make both a high hand and a low hand. The pot is split between the best high and best low hands at the end of the hand. For a low hand to qualify it has to be 8 high or less.

So on a board of Ah Kd Ts 9h 7c there is no low hand and the entire pot will be taken by someone holding the best high hand (Jx Qx).

On a board like Ah 6s 6c 5s Kd the pot is split between whoever has the best high hand (quads or a house or trips or whatever) and whoever has the best low hand (nut low in this case is 2x 3x but 7x8x would also qualify as a low albeit a terrible and vulnerable one) so you're looking a preflop starting hands that have a good chance of making both a high and a low so you can scoop the whole pot or quarter someone (take the whole of one pot and half of the other). AA23ds is a complete monster whereas KKTT isn't the mae west etc.

ianmc38

I've played quite a lot of O8 at 0.50/1. The players there are mostly trying to learn a new game. 3-tabling is extremely profitable even when playing like a total rock.

TrueDub

Thank you - I understand now.

I play a lot of PLO online, as I've a reasonable grasp of the maths and strategy. I've tried Hi/Lo, mostly in low buy-in tournies, but struggle to turn my mind to checking the low hands as well as the high. I'm going to persevere, simply to have another game to play.

5starpool

Omaha 8 hurts my tiny brain. If I was the type to read strategy books I would play this, but NLHE and PLO are enough for me for now.

Good luck with this Mr Flibble and update us if you think this is true. It might be a motivator for me to do a bit of research on this.

Edit: I know it may be an equivalant option, but it still doesn't say Atari Jaguar so I didn't vote

shoutman

I've started playing Pl Omaha H/l at the micro .5/.10 levels trying to build up a bit of a br.

It is absolutely ridiculous how bad the players are most of them dont even know how to play. And as the varience is a lot lower then NL hold 'em I am easily tripling my buy in ($10) most times I play, and a session for me is at most 90/120 minutes.

I'm not sure what the levels are like at higher limits, but for us studenty types looking to build a cheap br.

Mr. Flibble

I think I'll give it a shot. Be back with the results in a few months if I haven't had to pawn the laptop.