Adventures in Omaha

Today was the first Omaha hi-low split tournament. It’s a game I play a lot and I think I played well.

I got a lot of great starting hands. I’d have A-2-3-x, flop an ace with a low draw, and then miss on the turn and the river. There was six-way action in about every hand, and someone would end up going runner-runner for Broadway. Despite all those great starting hands, I managed to win a grand total of one quarter of one pot.

If you’re spending your time concentrating on hold ‘em, you really might want to take up Omaha hi-lo. As far as I’m concerned, it’s the game that people play the worst – the absolute worst, especially in cash games. Even in the high-limit games here at the Rio, the level of play in Omaha hi-low is strikingly bad.

People will call three bets cold pre-flop with a naked Ace-2. They’re constantly getting quartered. And also, nobody bluffs. And in Omaha and there are some great bluffing opportunities. You can pick up tells in Omaha hi-low that aren’t available in other games. Even experienced players will look from their hole cards to the board, trying to figure out what they have. If you’re attentive, you can see pretty clearly when someone missed.

So as I continue my bad stretch in the tournaments, I’m happy with the cash games. Most nights they run a mix of Omaha hi-lo, triple draw lowball, and Badugi, which I find a lot of fun.