Dumbest Omaha Question Ever

[James Boston]

I don't play Omaha much. I thought I understood the rules of high/low split, but I read something the other day that made me think my knowledge of the rules was completely wrong. I understand you can win the high and the low. For instance, if you have "the wheel" you win the low, and probably the high (if nothing beats a 5 high straight). But, can you play your cards as if they were two seperate hands? EX. You hold K-K-A-2. Boards shows K-K-3-4-6. Assuming nothing beats your hand, can you use the A-2-3-4-6 for the low and the 4 Kings for the high? Or, are you limited to ONLY two cards from your hand and ONLY three from the board?

[tiltboy]

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Or, are you limited to ONLY two cards from your hand and ONLY three from the board?


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Yes and no. /images/graemlins/grin.gif You are limited to two cards for high and two cards for low, but they don't have to be the same two cards. So in your example you would scoop (assuming no one else had A2 or a straight flush). Your low hand would be A2346 and your high hand would be KKKK6.

[stripsqueez]

i've played about 150 hands of 5/10 high/low omaha at paradise (what does the 8 stand for in omaha8 ?) and i had no idea what i was doing - i played most of my hands - in case they were good hands - my considerable intelect has prevailed so far and i am about $40 in front - it has been a lot of fun albeit that i am never too sure at showdown who's won and simply wait to see which way the chips go

if i had say AK92 and the flop was AA347, does that mean my best high hand is AAAK7 and my best low hand A2347 ? - am i eligble for both chunks of money ??

stripsqueez - chook

[tiltboy]

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if i had say AK92 and the flop was AA347, does that mean my best high hand is AAAK7 and my best low hand A2347 ? - am i eligble for both chunks of money ??

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If you change 'flop' to 'board' in the above, then yes.

I have a hard time believing you are serious though.

[stripsqueez]

If you change 'flop' to 'board' in the above, then yes.

I have a hard time believing you are serious though.

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sorry about my terminology i forgot to say "board" - i meant flop in the sense that the term is used where i come from - which is to describe the 5 cards that end up in the middle of the table (i posted about this a while ago under the heading of "nomenclature" if your interested in a futher explanation)

everything i said about my high/low omaha (you didnt explain the 8 thing ??) playing experience is true - why wouldnt it be ?? - we all have to start somewhere - i play lots of mid-high limit hold'em against players who's skills and appreciation of that game are equivalent to my high/low omaha experience

stripsqueez - chook

[tiltboy]

Ok, I'll take you at face value then and answer seriously. The '8 thing' is an 8-or-better qualifier applied to the low part of the hand. This means only cards with values of 8 or smaller including the Ace either from your hole cards or from the board can count toward your low hand.

[crockpot]

how quick do you think the idiots would go broke if they eliminated qualifiers in online high-low games, or at least offered them with no qualifiers? it always occurred to me (being raised in home games) that explaining the qualifier rule was very tedious to the action players and drove them to deal hold 'em (or some crazy gambling game) instead.

i think there would be a better supply of fish at high-low no qualifier. and besides, seeing them play a pair of jacks with a queen kicker would be very funny.

[chaos]

Elimitaing the qualifiers completely changes the strategy of the game. High hands go way down in value since they have almost no scoop potential.

Seven card stud used to be played without a qualifier in casinos. See the chapter in Super System by Sklansky for a discussion of the game. I think the qualifier makes for a better game.

[BNO]

Hi-Lo with no qualifier is probably one of the best games to play against poor players. Someone with basic knowledge of the strategy would constantly find himself locked on the low end with a freeroll to scoop. For this reason, it would never last long because the fish would quickly go broke and leave or move to a different game anyway. The qualifier actually helps them in some ways by reducing the damage from typical mistakes they would make. For example, 2h3h4h against Q-Q-J in Stud-8 can bust out for low and end up with nothing, so a pair of queens scoop it. In no-qualifier, the first hand is practically on a freeroll from 3d street.

Against good players who understand the game, though, no-qualifier is boring as hell unless played with a declare.

[James Boston]

Thanks for clearing that up. If you see me post in the future, I'm not a complete moron I swear.