Omaha Hi Rebuy tourney this week - some questions

[Peter Harris]

Hi there,
I am new to Omaha Hi, having played some 8, but i'm mostly a HE guy. I will be playing a wee rebuy tourney this week for no more than $20 (ooooooh), against people who will have *no* idea how to play Omaha. So, i want to make sure i maximise my edge against them.

I predict there will be a LOT of preflop limping, which will increase implied odds for hands like [3 /images/graemlins/heart.gif 3 /images/graemlins/diamond.gif T /images/graemlins/spade.gif 8 /images/graemlins/spade.gif] in MP/LP that i may consider tossing in a normal game. Does this make sense?

Another hand i'd muck (knowing little about PLO) normally would be doublesuited one gappers like [T /images/graemlins/club.gif 8 /images/graemlins/diamond.gif 6 /images/graemlins/club.gif 4 /images/graemlins/diamond.gif] - are these playable against loose-passive preflop players?

Most will bet pots or check afterwards too, so it should be straightforward. My biggest fear will be playing too tight in the first hour rebuy stage where i could be opening up and looking to hit big and build a stack.

I have a "system" (crap but more than other players have /images/graemlins/smile.gif) which i'll use to feel my way around, but thanks to O8 i have a bit of nouse around omaha hi.

Any comments on the above "loosening up" and implied odds, or ideas on how to maximise my edge would be great. Apologies for being vague, but hell, it's my first time playing Hi.

Regards,
Pete Harris

[Spellmen]

I would never play something like 33T8. You are begging to be killed by a bigger set, and the only other things going for it are a bad flush draw and making a straight that can't improve much

[TheSalche]

seems to me you should play standard omaha hi hands here and try to maximize value when you hit ... preflop limping with make any straight wrap a nice hand to take a cheap flop with ... if you find that your big preflop raises are failing to get people out, just raise a bit to build a pot with a nice hand like two suited aces, or a broadwayish straight wrap

[Peter Harris]

thanks for the replies; I was wondering about the potential benefits of loosening up PF, but it looks like sticking to pot building with sooted aces are they way to play. I'll let you know how it goes.

Thanks again!
Pete H.

[DarthIgnurnt]

[ QUOTE ]
thanks for the replies; I was wondering about the potential benefits of loosening up PF, but it looks like sticking to pot building with sooted aces are they way to play. I'll let you know how it goes.

Thanks again!
Pete H.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not at all ... if the preflop action is a lot of limpers, and the players are bad, by all means loosen up preflop.

Don't, however, play garbage (and 33T8 is garbage). Play hands that work together and can make the nuts and/or give you redraws.

Play hands you can get away from if the flop doesn't hit you in the face ... King high flushes and under-full houses can still lose to crappy players.

[Peter Harris]

Thanks for the response.

[ QUOTE ]
Play hands that work together

[/ QUOTE ]

I understand this concept in Omaha8 - like [A /images/graemlins/club.gif A /images/graemlins/heart.gif 2 /images/graemlins/heart.gif 3 /images/graemlins/club.gif] works both hi and low. But in Omaha Hi, how do things "work together"? Is this like having [A /images/graemlins/heart.gif J /images/graemlins/spade.gif T /images/graemlins/spade.gif T /images/graemlins/diamond.gif] where you can make big sets, straights, flushes etc? Or is that way too good, can i play [A /images/graemlins/spade.gif J /images/graemlins/spade.gif 8 /images/graemlins/diamond.gif 8 /images/graemlins/club.gif]?

Just a bit more background before tonight would hopefully give me the edge.

Regards,
Pete Harris

[Spellmen]

The AJ88 is a respectable hand. When "work together" is used lets take a look at that 33T8. The pair or 3s cannot help making a straight with the T8 and will often make a losing underfull, while the T8 can never flop a big draw and cannot be played for flush only. Change that hand to something like 8 /images/graemlins/spade.gif9 /images/graemlins/spade.gif9 /images/graemlins/diamond.gifT /images/graemlins/diamond.gif and you now have a very good hand that works together. The pair of 9s is obviously better because it will usually flop middle set and has the ability to flop top. You can also flop a good draw on a board that looks something like 2/images/graemlins/club.gif6 /images/graemlins/heart.gif7 /images/graemlins/spade.gif

[dogsballs]

[ QUOTE ]

I predict there will be a LOT of preflop limping, which will increase implied odds for hands like [3 /images/graemlins/heart.gif 3 /images/graemlins/diamond.gif T /images/graemlins/spade.gif 8 /images/graemlins/spade.gif] in MP/LP that i may consider tossing in a normal game. Does this make sense?

Another hand i'd muck (knowing little about PLO) normally would be doublesuited one gappers like [T /images/graemlins/club.gif 8 /images/graemlins/diamond.gif 6 /images/graemlins/club.gif 4 /images/graemlins/diamond.gif] - are these playable against loose-passive preflop players?

[/ QUOTE ]


1st hand is crap, as mentioned. You'd just be playing the same as your opps then. I'd play the 2nd in a loose game, with some straighht possibilities.

If you made the 1st hand something like 558T, I might stretch to include that for a loose limping game.

Here's what I might include as minimum in your game (I wouldnt worry about preflop position too much when it's loose passive - just get to the flop and have a looksie):

558T
3478
3356
69JK
8TQK
A478 (suited A)
A8JK
any pair 77 and up
smaller pairs with a wee bit of help (as above)

...stuff like that. I'd throw in some suited K's which have other possibilities, like K479 (suited K), though this is speculative it has some straight possibilities and teh suitedness could work for you; gotta be able to dodge the crummy spots on the flop with something as junky as this tho.

Those are about the min - play all the good stuff as well and bump the pot preflop with them of course.


EDIT: A good way to think about it as you play is to look at the hand you're dealt and imagine what kind of flops you need to make it into a strong hand worth playing for any decent bet. Your 1st hand doesn't have many (small sets are worthless with lots of opponents and T8s is a longshot). Something like your 2nd hand, T864ds, can hit 57x, 79x, 35x, 9Jx, and if you hit two pair, you can backdoor straights and/or flushes. (small flushes multiway are best for occasional backdoor escape hatches; flopping a four flush isn't likely to be good for your stack with a bunch of opps).

2nd EDIT: If it turns out people start raising often preflop, you want to tighten up and stick to the more conventional very coordinated hands and think about position a bit more (dump the junkier and smaller stuff in EP)

[dogsballs]

Oh, don't forget the decent 3-legger hands, where one card is basically useless. As long as you play ok postflop, you should be able to squeeze some value out (and not be seen as too tight a nit)

eg
456K
689K
3789
38TJ
389Q
39TK
39TA

again, these are bare minimums for the kind of game you're expecting.

[Peter Harris]

thanks a lot for the very useful replies, I'm sure they will stand me in good stead in the future, as i have no doubt i'll end up in future omaha tourneys.

I busted out in 19th out of 57, which i'd consider fair, there were probably 10 people there who knew the game better than me /images/graemlins/smile.gif

I busted with [A /images/graemlins/club.gif 7 /images/graemlins/club.gif 6 /images/graemlins/heart.gif 6 /images/graemlins/diamond.gif] when i was all in preflop with 3.5BB left (2 orbits with squat on 20min levels is cruel to your stack). I was called by [A /images/graemlins/spade.gif Q /images/graemlins/club.gif Q /images/graemlins/diamond.gif 7 /images/graemlins/diamond.gif] and the flop was 333 meaning i was dead to a 6 which never came.

Thanks again for your help!

Regards,
Pete Harris

[dogsballs]

I hope u went all-in in very late posn with that, and vs a BB that was very likely to fold...it's not a great all-in hand.

Just about any crappy hand with an ace and 2 other cards bigger than 7 would be a favourite, never mind a real hand. A jumble of big/biggish cards is the best kind of late tournament push hand preflop when your small stacked and will probably be HU if u get called.

When I'm desperate in a tourney, I don't worry about suits or coordination as much as just looking for any 3 big card (9 and up) and just go with that. Pray his two pair is smaller than urs at teh end.