Omaha/8 question -- AAxy

So let's say you're in a ten-handed Omaha/8 game. You've played with these guys a while and have the following model:


- About 25% of the pots are raised preflop.

- When the pot is not raised preflop, about six people see the flop.


You're under the gun with AAxy. Previous experience indicates that if you raise under the gun, it'll cut the field down to you and two callers most of the time -- occasionally you and three callers, rarely you and one caller. What would you consider the "borderline" values of x and y with which to raise in this situation? I'm picturing -- what would it be -- five matrices, where x runs down the left, y runs across the top, and the five matrices are


(1) nothing suited


(2) (Ax)Ay <-- one suited ace


(3) (Ax)(Ay) <-- two suited aces


(4) AA(xy)


(5) A(Axy)


Also, are there any hands you'd dump in this position?


Maybe matrix (4) basically boils down to matrix (1) and maybe matrix (5) boils down to matrix (2), but if anyone wants to get into the fine points of raising with AA(K3) when they wouldn't raise with AAK3, I'm all ears.


Anyway, I'm curious to hear what people say.


I've had pretty good success raising with aces and rough-ish hands with a single suited ace, and with aces and double-suited trashola, and am wondering whether I'm doing the right thing or have just been running good. For example, I haven't yet met an (Ax)(Ay) I didn't like. I'm guessing that the raise I threw in the other day with (A9)(A8) was a little fishy. But it seems to me that there are a few ways to protect my real good UTG hands -- either limp-reraise some of the time, or raise with rough hands that play better with small fields, or both. Limp-reraising doesn't seem to be a profitable strategy when only 25% of the pots are raised. So is (A9)(A8) too far to reach, in order to attract a call from that guy holding 7542 the next time I raise with (A2)(A3)?


--JMike

I have an opinion that I suspect is a minority one: you should rarely try to narrow the field without a 2-way hand. With (A9)(A8) you have no low and have no chance unless you flop an A or a flush draw. If so you might as well let everybody in. Your AA alone isn't going to win you high since you cannot realistically get to the river with it.


But ... if you have A2 then your AA DOES have significant high value since you CAN get to the river with it since it rides the tails of your nut low draw. Now your AA DOES want to narrow the field to increase the chances it accidentally wins.


- Louie

in a ten handed game id dump aaxy most times without a deuce or trey under the gun.

Is it safe then to say that in the above conditions, you'd fold AA49 (I'm trying to come up with the worst AA4x hand)? How about (A4)(A5)? Would you play with that? Maybe raise? If either of those, then what about (A4)(A6) or maybe (A5)(A6)? etc.?


--JMike

JMike,


I'm trying to picture your game. If you raise UTG, and get two callers, do they usually both have an A?

Good question. Not everyone who calls two cold has an ace; I'll have to pay closer attention for a couple weeks to give you a better answer.


--JMike