Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Jammin' it preflop in Omaha8
So this is my first post on any poker strategy. Below are my thoughts regarding raising/reraising preflop in limit Omaha8. This may be a bunch of crap and I invite your comments. I didn't read this anywhere. This is my own pile of horse manure.
General Philosophy: I think there are probably an equal number of compelling reasons to raise preflop in limit Omaha 8 as there are in limit Hold'Em, but I think most players fail to recogonize these - probably because the difference between strong and mediocre hands is much smaller in LO8 as compared to Holdem. Basically, I use the same approach in LO8 that most people use in Hold'Em. I like to raise to thin the field and raise for value. Raising helps define your hand and set up plays on the later streets. Using a simple, "never raise" philosophy is, in my opinion, a weak play. Even if you are playing a version of no-foldem LO8, your raises for value are profitable and if your raise gets only 2 people (out of 6) to fold that would have limped had you not raised, you've improved your chance to win 33%...pretty cool!
First let me describe 3 types of hands. The first type of hand, called 'monsters' are the most premium of hands - hands that have excellent 2 way potential (i.e., As Ks Kh 2h or As 2s Ah 3h). The second type of hand is a low only hand. This hand has very little potential to win the high portion of the pot but excellent potential to win the low 1/2 of the pot (i.e., Ax 2x 3x 8x). The third type of hand is a "high only" hand. This hand has excellent potential to win the high 1/2 of the pot or to scoop a high only pot (i.e., 10s Js Qh Kh).
To recap, there are 3 types of hands; monsters, low only, and high only.
Monsters: I ordinarilly like to raise in any postion with monsters. If I'm first into the pot, raising makes it 2 bets cold to any callers. This pressure tends to limit the field and improve my chances of winning. If I get callers, I figure to be a favorite - which is a good outcome as well. If I get reraised, great-this puts even more pressure on weak hands and weak players. A reraise from the next player to act is usually because they need the protection of isolation. Raising with monsters has meta-game impacts as people might learn to respect your raises.... Or, maybe not.
Low only: I ordinarilly like to call with low only holdings from all positions. I'd like to see about 8 people to the flop when I hold A2. With large fields, I figure to be taking 1/2 the pot from players that are making marginal bets/calls post flop with bottom 2 pair, 2nd nut low, etc... This is a very profitable situation. Even if I end up getting quartered, I can still make a little or break even when the field is large preflop. The story here,.....call and encourage others to do the same.
The exception is that I like to raise with marginal low only hands when I'm first into the pot and have some reasonable chance of folding some hands behind me. For example, I will raise with Ax 4x 5x 8x as the first person into a pot in hopes of thinninig the field and folding holdings like 2x 3x X X, or Ax 3x X X , or even hands like 4x 5x 6x 9x. This also gives me some deception as I will raise with both monsters or marginal low only hands.
High Only: I love to play high only hands. These hands have excellent potential to scoop high only pots (which happen about a third of the time). To make this hand profitable though, the pot should to be multi-way preflop (3 or 4 players ideally) without a raise; therefore, I like to limp in from late postion with high only hands. When the flop come highish (2 high cards), you'll sometimes get some extra dead money contributed to the pot from people with low only hands hoping to hit running low cards for a chance to win 1/2 the pot. This is an excellent situation for a high only hand and a highish board. Limping with this type of hand also adds some deception as I also limp with low only holdings. The key here is to let it go when you miss. You must be disciplined here. For example you hold 9x 10x Jx Qx, and the flop comes 7s 8s 8h. With the flop 2 suited, callers could be chasing the nut flush with some low holdings. This limits your outs. When a straight card 6 comes, your calls will be crying calls hoping for 1/2 the pot. You've got to let these hands go. You missed. You are calling with high only hands for their potential to scoop. When the flop comes lowish, you've missed and must give up pretty quickly. In addition, a high only hand with a dangler is trash - throw it away immediately (i.e., Ks Qs Jx 5x)
So there you have it. Now you know how I play and can take my money.
General Philosophy: I think there are probably an equal number of compelling reasons to raise preflop in limit Omaha 8 as there are in limit Hold'Em, but I think most players fail to recogonize these - probably because the difference between strong and mediocre hands is much smaller in LO8 as compared to Holdem. Basically, I use the same approach in LO8 that most people use in Hold'Em. I like to raise to thin the field and raise for value. Raising helps define your hand and set up plays on the later streets. Using a simple, "never raise" philosophy is, in my opinion, a weak play. Even if you are playing a version of no-foldem LO8, your raises for value are profitable and if your raise gets only 2 people (out of 6) to fold that would have limped had you not raised, you've improved your chance to win 33%...pretty cool!
First let me describe 3 types of hands. The first type of hand, called 'monsters' are the most premium of hands - hands that have excellent 2 way potential (i.e., As Ks Kh 2h or As 2s Ah 3h). The second type of hand is a low only hand. This hand has very little potential to win the high portion of the pot but excellent potential to win the low 1/2 of the pot (i.e., Ax 2x 3x 8x). The third type of hand is a "high only" hand. This hand has excellent potential to win the high 1/2 of the pot or to scoop a high only pot (i.e., 10s Js Qh Kh).
To recap, there are 3 types of hands; monsters, low only, and high only.
Monsters: I ordinarilly like to raise in any postion with monsters. If I'm first into the pot, raising makes it 2 bets cold to any callers. This pressure tends to limit the field and improve my chances of winning. If I get callers, I figure to be a favorite - which is a good outcome as well. If I get reraised, great-this puts even more pressure on weak hands and weak players. A reraise from the next player to act is usually because they need the protection of isolation. Raising with monsters has meta-game impacts as people might learn to respect your raises.... Or, maybe not.
Low only: I ordinarilly like to call with low only holdings from all positions. I'd like to see about 8 people to the flop when I hold A2. With large fields, I figure to be taking 1/2 the pot from players that are making marginal bets/calls post flop with bottom 2 pair, 2nd nut low, etc... This is a very profitable situation. Even if I end up getting quartered, I can still make a little or break even when the field is large preflop. The story here,.....call and encourage others to do the same.
The exception is that I like to raise with marginal low only hands when I'm first into the pot and have some reasonable chance of folding some hands behind me. For example, I will raise with Ax 4x 5x 8x as the first person into a pot in hopes of thinninig the field and folding holdings like 2x 3x X X, or Ax 3x X X , or even hands like 4x 5x 6x 9x. This also gives me some deception as I will raise with both monsters or marginal low only hands.
High Only: I love to play high only hands. These hands have excellent potential to scoop high only pots (which happen about a third of the time). To make this hand profitable though, the pot should to be multi-way preflop (3 or 4 players ideally) without a raise; therefore, I like to limp in from late postion with high only hands. When the flop come highish (2 high cards), you'll sometimes get some extra dead money contributed to the pot from people with low only hands hoping to hit running low cards for a chance to win 1/2 the pot. This is an excellent situation for a high only hand and a highish board. Limping with this type of hand also adds some deception as I also limp with low only holdings. The key here is to let it go when you miss. You must be disciplined here. For example you hold 9x 10x Jx Qx, and the flop comes 7s 8s 8h. With the flop 2 suited, callers could be chasing the nut flush with some low holdings. This limits your outs. When a straight card 6 comes, your calls will be crying calls hoping for 1/2 the pot. You've got to let these hands go. You missed. You are calling with high only hands for their potential to scoop. When the flop comes lowish, you've missed and must give up pretty quickly. In addition, a high only hand with a dangler is trash - throw it away immediately (i.e., Ks Qs Jx 5x)
So there you have it. Now you know how I play and can take my money.
