What would you do? Poker hand of the Week.

[kattboots]

The other player has been fairly loose"ish" and he was last to act (button). Two players before him had flat called the BB.

Does this info make a difference to your decision?

blue

It could make me sway toward calling. I am now thinking that with 2 flat calls ahead of him he might be trying to steal the pot with a so-so hand and you are holding a lot of possible outs for high and low. And if I understand right in Hi/Lo you would split the pot with the opposite hand... so, if his hand does turn out to be good enough to take the high hand you could well get the low with your cards. But, all your chips... hmmmmmmm, but then again it is a freeroll. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

katt

[blueday]

All will be revealed later, just in case anyone else decides to reply....sigh.

Thanks Katt.

blue

[Rosebud]

Omaha Hi-Lo is one of my fav. games and from what I saw of your hand and the description of the play so far I'd call!

[kattboots]

Well then, I can see the two of you need to be teaching this one how to play Omaha Hi/Lo PDQ and ASAP! Step one will be finding out how to play this hand. Just waitin' here...

katt

[Rosebud]

Katt.I do like this game.I won one of my accolades winning first place on a freeroll playing at FeltStars.

[kattboots]

Katt.I do like this game.I won one of my accolades winning first place on a freeroll playing at FeltStars.

Accolades? Accolades!? Accolades! Then girl tell me why you would call on blue's hand below! I sit here at your knee awaiting your teaching! Not to worry though, I am sitting here already waiting for blue's revelation on how the hand played out and the why and wherefore of it all!

katt

[blueday]

Thank you ladies for your replies.  Much appreciated (as always).

This is what I did:

I folded and boy was it a big mistake.

My reasons for folding:

There are 13 hearts and I have 3 of them.  To make a decent flush, there are 10 left in the pack and I would be hoping for 3 of them to hit the table including the ace.  Regarding the low hand, anyone with an Ace, two or three would be ahead of me.  A pair of 4s is a very low hand in Omaha.

Here is the end result but I still think I made the right decision (you can see my cards because I'm pointing to myself and it shows the folded hand):



What a corker of a hand that would have been however, I would have only won half the pot because there was a low hand.

blue

[kattboots]

Son of a BISCUIT!  No one could have planned for that outcome blue... SMH... Those are the hands that just tease ya and make ya crazy... shoulda, coulda, woulda... 

But I have learned something too! I did not think of the part where you were holding 3 hearts, leaving 10 in the deck the way you explained it. I thought of you holding 2 cards toward the flush and the King being high enough to beat anything but the Ace if the 3 hearts did show up but your way did not occur to me! 

katt

[blueday]

Thanks Katt.

I think the poorest call was Luda20010 (on the left) with his pocket 8s and 47 towards the low hand.  He didn't stand a chance unless of course he hit a couple of 8s on the flop.  

I do recall saying some time ago that I didn't think Omaha was as hard as Holdem but I think I was wrong.  I think Omaha is actually a lot harder than holdem particularly the Omaha Hi/Low.  There are just so many things to consider.

blue

[kattboots]

Thank you blue... I see what you mean about Luda20010's hand... although I do think you meant his 37 toward the low hand (had me wondering if Omaha had extra cards there for a moment )... 

He was missing some of your possible outs with the hearts and the flop would have had to be very kind to him, much as it would have been to you if you had stayed in the hand. So, you made a good move and he made a bad one. At least that part should perk you up a bit even after missing out on the quad 4's.

As far as Omaha being harder, I have to agree with you and yes especially the Hi/Lo. You have to consider the 4 cards each player might be holding, not just 2 and the possible ways to win are doubled with going Hi or Lo and the betting is very different as far as I can tell. I am reasonably comfortable taking a seat at a Hold 'em table, but only approach Omaha with the greatest of trepidation.

katt

[blueday]

Yes, you are right Katt, I did mean 3 7.  duh!

I do actually like the game and the more I play it, the more I like it.  Find some freerolls if you can for the all important practice - or I'll try and find some although they are very rare on USA sites.

blue

[kattboots]

You are right about there not being many Omaha freerolls, but I have seen some. And you know I always appreciate when you find good freerolls for US players and post them!

One question.... Ha, that is funny, me with only "one" question...  At any rate, I digress. This time I only have one and that is, do you think that it would be best for me to first practice on just regular Omaha before tackling Hi/Lo? Or are they 2 different animals to tame? Oh dang, that was two questions...

katt

[blueday]

In my mind, they are two very different animals because you are not just hunting the good hands, you are indeed hunting those low hands but obviously, not in both types of games. 

I think the best learning ground is going to be Omaha without the Hi/Lo and pot limit, if you can get it.

In my personal opinion (and I really mean "my" opinion, not some other websites opinion)  the order of Hard to Easy in Omaha is as follows:

Hard  Omaha Pot Limit
          Omaha NL
          Omaha Hi /Lo Pot Limit
Easy  Omaha Hi /Lo NL

If there are any Omaha experts reading this, please correct me if I am wrong in my thoughts.

I put them in that order because that's the order that I "feel" when I play Omaha (which isn't that often).

Let me know your thoughts Katt.

blue

[kattboots]

Ok blue, slight confusion here... you say IYO the following is the order of Hard to Easy:

Hard  Omaha Pot Limit
          Omaha NL
          Omaha Hi /Lo Pot Limit
Easy  Omaha Hi /Lo NL

But, you also say you think "the best learning ground is going to be Omaha without the Hi/Lo and pot limit" which I see as the 2nd hardest game.

Is it that although that is a difficult game, it is still the one with the least variables to worry about? Also, Pot Limit vs No Limit in this or in Hold'em is a bit of a mystery to me. I stick with NL 99% of the time... saving these other options to learn one step at a time. Ain't even gonna talk about RAZZ and HORSE and STUD yet!

katt

[blueday]

@ Razz and HORSE (I'll come back to that)

Yes - I think, because you are now a seasoned holdem player, you should be able to cope with the 2nd hardest of Omaha NL.  It is probably the biggest learning curve for Omaha and whilst 2nd hardest, will also see you in good stead for the others i.e. Omaha Hi/Lo and Omaha Pot Limit.

As for Razz and HORSE - I've only played a couple of HORSE games, which was good fun and I did place in the money on the first game but only because I had no clue as to what I was doing with the Razz.  I've never played just a Razz game and I don't think I ever will.

blue