Omaha 8 hi/low -- WTF?!

I placed 16th out of like 100 knowing NOTHING about what I was doing -- this game was invented by the owners of Aspirin, as it gives you a headache -- you get 4 cards, you HAVE to use 2, but then there is HIGH & LOW and they can be a different 2 cards...!? Whomever invented this games MUST have been on crack...serious crack....

Omaha/8 - n. A variation of poker characterized by long stretches of boredom, punctuated with short burts of cliff diving.

Mr. Grob and Just Curious - I understand how you both must feel because I can get bored doing something. When an activity bores me, there isn't much anyone can say that will convince me the activity is not boring.


However, Omaha-8 is not boring to me. Perhaps that is because I may be looking at the game differently than you are. I have what one might call "appreciation" for the game of Omaha-8. In a similar way, I have "appreciation" for some sports but not other sports, and for some music but not for other music.


Even when I am not actively involved in a hand I usually watch how my opponents play against each other and try to figure out what cards each of them holds. After all, I’m going to be playing against these people on the next hand and I want to know how they play. Watching how my opponents play and anticipating how I might play against them may not exactly be exciting, but neither is it boring.


When I’m in a hand myself, I am basically testing my knowledge of how my opponents play. It's satisfying when I have my opponents figured out and when I make a move that works. I suppose satisfaction is my goal. (Of course scooping a huge pot is both satisfying and exciting).


If your mind stays active and intent on the game, even when you are not personally involved in a hand, I think you have appreciation for the game - and in that case the game is interesting to you.


But I don’t know how you get there if you’re not there already.


Just my opinion.


Buzz

Hey Buzz, Omaha/8 is my primary game and I still stand by my definition (actually I paraphrased/stole it from something I read on Steve Badger's web site). You are correct that boredom is relative and there are many things that could be properly occupying one's mind while playing. I make player notes, fiddle with Pokerstat, etc. while playing but even at the pace of online play, O/8 just seems to move at a pace similar to turtles through molasses.


I just wanted to clarify that I wasn't putting the game down, just giving my nutshell perception of it.

Omaha online does have the advantage of speed over B&M games. This is true of all games, of course, but it is more pronounced online.


I find it suprising that it is is even dealt in card rooms, especially O8, as the split is time consuming as well. The cardroom can't be making much money on it and the dealers must hate it for tokes are slow coming, especially in split again as in a split pot where two players have made nothing they likely will not tip.

Hi Just Curious - Actually, I thought your definition was clever.


Although I recognize that there are more hands dealt per hour in Texas hold ‘em, and therefore THE obviously must be faster paced, O-8 *seems* faster paced to me.


Perhaps I somehow find more to think about when playing Omaha-8. I don’t know if, playing on-line, I would find more to think about or not. Maybe not being able to watch the facial expressions and body language of the players, even though more hands might be dealt per hour, would make the game less absorbing for me. Maybe if I was responding to a computer monitor my own Omaha-8 sessions would also be "characterized by long stretches of boredom."


Or maybe the difference between your perception of Omaha-8 and mine has nothing to do with watching a computer monitor. I don’t believe Badger was thinking in terms of a computer monitor when he compared playing Omaha-8 to watching paint dry.


Maybe the difference in perception has to do with the reason for playing the game. Perhaps both you and Badger are playing primarily to make money. I'm not. I simply want to achieve excellence. (Go figure!)


At any rate, I have never found playing Omaha-8 boring and tried to explain why in my previous post. Maybe my “appreciation for the game” notion was totally off-base. (I was thinking vaguely of a music appreciation class my first wife took when I came up the Omaha appreciation idea. She came away from the class with a fascination for Mozart’s stuff).


Buzz

Fraubump - "I find it suprising that it is is even dealt in card rooms, especially O8, as the split is time consuming as well."


I like the split because the dealer gives you your portion in neat stacks.


"The cardroom can't be making much money on it"


They would make more money on slot machines.


"and the dealers must hate it for tokes are slow coming, especially in split again as in a split pot where two players have made nothing they likely will not tip."


That's not the half of it. There is more bickering between players and griping at Omaha-8 dealers than in any other poker game. I don't know why this is so, but it seems to be universal.


In spite of all the above, the big Los Angeles poker rooms often have several Omaha-8 tables operating.


Buzz

I think the poker room mgmt. understands the slower pace of the game. Their counter? 4-8 w/a 1/2 kill or 3/6 w/a full kill.


Since they usually cut 10% up to 30$ (and in some places 40$ I'm told), getting 9-12$ in dead almost guarantees a full drop on the kill hands.


As far as the dealers go, yes they get a lot of flack, but they get toked well after a scoop in most cases.


I played 40 hours of O-8 @ 3-6 w/a 1/2 kill 2 weeks back and saw 2 chopped hands total. The kill button was out about 40% of the time. Maybe 1 hand in 20 got less than the full drop for the house.


Lastly, I think the smaller bankroll requirements of O-8 attract a lot of older/retired players and people with less $$ in general to form the backbone of a game. I can play 4-8 w/a 1/2 kill forever on 200$ - try it in 4-8 or 6-12 Hold'Em sometime.


They carve up the tourists slowly whereas a Hold'Em game is a Cuisinart.


I think Hold'Em makes more money per hour, but I think O-8 adds to the net income of a poker room overall. It's a good 2nd or 3rd game for the room to spread.