Yet another newb question....

Just wondering about your starting hand selection ... do you like to play a A-3 and if so how much other help do you want to go along with it? Suited? Paired?

Anyway ... just wondering.

Matt

[Baseballer02]

Yes, whether it be limit or pot limit, suited or not. Just be weary of there's a lot of raising going on preflop.

[benwood]

It's common for new players to think in terms of 2 card combinations such as A2 or A3.This is a bad habit to form.Begin right away thinking in terms of all 4 cards.I would much rather have AK43 than A972 myself.

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I would much rather have AK43 than A972 myself.

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I'd prefer A972, slightly

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I would much rather have AK43 than A972 myself.

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I'd prefer A972, slightly

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Just to clarify, you prefer the near-naked A2 because of the low possibility and not due to anything the 79 brings to the hand?

7-9 brings something, in that a flop that allows you to continue will often make a str draw w/ the 7-9. I just think the A2 will be more playable postflop.

[benwood]

I picked these 2 hands out of the air to illustrate that the middle cards are trash & affect hand evaluation enough to possibly make an A3 better than an A2 hand.But this is intended as a very general statement.The A2 hand has to be better if tight players have entered the hand.Also,an experienced player will do better with the A3 hand than a beginner would.Many other factors.Bill Boston's book lists A34Q(couldn't find A34K for some reason)as ranking no,172,showing an ave profit of $11,& winning some part of the pot 31,4%of the time.He shows the A279 as ranking 474,with an ave profit of $7 per hand,& winning some piece of it 26.5% of the time,fwiw.

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7-9 brings something, in that a flop that allows you to continue will often make a str draw w/ the 7-9. I just think the A2 will be more playable postflop.

[/ QUOTE ] Are you insane??? 7/9 brings you nothing! Almost never! The 3/4 brings you 2 more wheel draws, and the King brings you a top straight draw, plus another big kicker with your Ace. If the board flops a Duece you have the worst low draw possible with the A279. If no Duece hits the board and the low comes, then you have a decision, but that's poker isn't it.

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7-9 brings something, in that a flop that allows you to continue will often make a str draw w/ the 7-9. I just think the A2 will be more playable postflop.

[/ QUOTE ] Are you insane??? 7/9 brings you nothing! Almost never! The 3/4 brings you 2 more wheel draws, and the King brings you a top straight draw, plus another big kicker with your Ace.

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Do you really consider the kicker to an ace (kickers in general, really) to be an important aspect of this game? I don't, but then again, I am apparently insane.

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If the board flops a Duece you have the worst low draw possible with the A279.

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Um, no. 7-8 is the worst low draw. A7 beats about a dozen other worse low draws, to point out a technical error in your post.

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If no Duece hits the board and the low comes, then you have a decision, but that's poker isn't it.

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I don't even know what this means. I assume you're saying that when you make a low but don't catch a 7, 9 or draw, then your hand is relatively weak. This is true; however, you do not always need a high hand to go with nut low to drag an entire pot.


A279 and A34K are both fine hands. A34K is a hand that can cause a lot of trouble though, such as a flop of 567. You're looking at a nice hand, but if you get customers in a full ring game, chances are decent you're getting freerolled or worse. The hand really requires a deuce to fall to make the low as powerful as folks seem to want it to be. As a result of that, there are many flops that make this hand enticing to continue with when in fact it is ill-advised to do so. However, in the hands of an experienced player, the hand is very strong, yes.

A279 is a little more clear-cut, and you can feel more confident in pressuring opponents with it IMO. More flops will be strongly bettable. Perhaps A34K has greater showdown value than A279 (I presume simulations will show this; further, I imagine this is where Bill Boston's hand rankings come from--simulations where hands are assumed to be played to showdown always), but getting to the showdown may be more likely w/ A279.

First off, yes Kicker's do play in Omaha, usually heads-up only, but they are valuable in showdowns. 2nd point, of course 7/8 is the worst low possible, but we are talking about holding specific hands. Please follow along, I know game takes some twists and turns. Any 6 or better kicks your *ss here. 3rd - [ QUOTE ]
however, you do not always need a high hand to go with nut low to drag an entire pot.


[/ QUOTE ] Ace high almost never wins for high in Omaha. But when it does, which would you have 9 or King as your "Kicker"? The one thing I will say in your defense in that you are pressumedly referring to this hand as which a Newbie should play. Then yes A279 is much easier for this player to read and play out. But you did not disclaim this when giving your opinion to this player. No offense intended I'm sure.

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however, you do not always need a high hand to go with nut low to drag an entire pot.


[/ QUOTE ] Ace high almost never wins for high in Omaha. But when it does, which would you have 9 or King as your "Kicker"?

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What I was referring to is a naked nut low's ability to push a better high off his hand with aggressive betting. On a 456 board, top set is going to have a hard time calling 3 pot-sized bets, do you see this?

About the kicker issue... I have played around 200k shorthanded PLO8 hands. I assure you, from experience, that kickers virtually never matter. If you truly think this is a mesure by which to evaluate starting hands, even shorthanded, you're in trouble.