OMAHA H/L..when to go for High or low?

I've been playing a considerable amount of omaha HL at UB, with pretty good success, but i'm actually still new to the game. I've seen other players raise with high only hands, such as AAKQ, and 'scooper' hands, like A236 double suit. We all know the virtues of the wheel draws, but what's the general frequency that a hand will win high with no low?


I've also heard that it's easier generally to go for low always, and others have said to usualy go for high, but always have a low save in case my flush loses to quads on the river....i should probably buy one of the books here on omaha, but any comments or "rules of thumb" are appreciated!


O.I.F. (omaha is fun)


Blather p u n k

Some generalizations that may help:


1. There will be no low about 40% of the time


2. High-only hands NEED 4 related cards, ie, K-Q-Q-7 is unplayable


3. High-only hands are often worth a raise, because you want to get the low-draws' money in the pot before the flop. If the flop comes all big you lose all the low draws. If the flop comes with one baby, you want the low draws to see a nice big pot in front of them and consider drawing at a backdoor low.


4. Counterfeit protection is more important than you think. A-2-8-K is almost twice as likely as A-2-9-K to make a low.


5. Read everything Steve Badger has to say about the game. Start with his website, I think its playwinningpoker.com.


Craig H.

thanks craig


I'm beginning to enjoy the complexities of O/HL. I used to think it wasn't a deep game;;


Blather

Clarification on this comment please:


"Counterfeit protection is more important than you think. A-2-8-K is almost twice as likely as A-2-9-K to make a low." I assume you mean any low as opposed to a winning low. Or did you mean a winning low? (In case this isn't clear, are you saying A-2-8-K is almost twice as likely to make a winning low as A-2-9-K?)


High-Low Split Poker, Seven Card Stud and Omaha Eight or Better for Advanced Players by Ray Zee is a very good book. Although the title says it's for advanced players, there are a lot of fundamental principles covered, especially in the beginning of the section on Omaha Hi/Lo. Just that one chapter is worth the price of the book.