Omaha High limit starting hand questions

[flytrap]

I'm fairly new to Omaha High limit, and play in a wild, loose game where 50% of the players play 90% of the hands. I think I'm playing too loose by playing 3 big cards with a suited off card, or big pairs like kings and queens with trash side cards. Which starting hands can be profitably played? Any advice would be much appreciated.

[Iceman]

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I'm fairly new to Omaha High limit, and play in a wild, loose game where 50% of the players play 90% of the hands. I think I'm playing too loose by playing 3 big cards with a suited off card, or big pairs like kings and queens with trash side cards. Which starting hands can be profitably played? Any advice would be much appreciated.

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High pairs and high straight runs (four unpaired cards nine and higher), in either case preferably with a suited ace, are the key hands in loose limit Omaha high. Three big cards and a trash card is only playable when it includes a suited ace. KQJ2 is MUCH weaker than KQJT. AA, KK, and QQ with nothing else are playable, but they're not very strong, so don't go overboard preflop with them. Medium-sized hands like 8765 double suited or A987 double suited are sometimes profitable in pot-limit, but in limit they're trash.

[Rolf Slotboom]

In general, you would want four somewhat coordinated cards with a big pair, a suited ace or so. As Iceman said, indeed the small / medium rundowns can be very dangerous in limit Omaha high, even though an A987 double-suited is a fairly good hand, IMO - especially in games that are loose and passive. (Quite a few limit Omaha games fit this description.) What you DON'T want is hands that have a lot of second-best potential. For instance, hands like KJ86 double-suited might easily cost you a lot of money, because you hit something on almost every flop, but you are often drawing for the second nuts - or even worse. In case you're interested, on my site there are still two articles available that discuss some limit Omaha high starting hands. You might find them very useful.

Rolf Slotboom
www.acespeaks.cjb.net (http://www.acespeaks.cjb.net)