Heads up Omaha 8

I have been playing a few Omaha 8 tournies lately and have enormous difficulty playing heads up. I have tried waiting for good hands but obviously that doesn't work as they are pretty few and far between.


Most of the time i have found that the money all goes in preflop, and then they deal cards and push the pot to someone, or they chop it and give you back your chips. Other than the allin preflop with anything looking remotely playable (huge blinds) there seems to be little skill involved.

Pete - For every hundred Omaha-8 hands in a full game, high scoops roughly 40, and the other 60 are split between high and low.


When you're at a full table, with nine other players, your share of the winning hands per 100 deals, is 4 scoops, 6 high ends of splits, and 6 low ends of splits, 16 winning hands in all per 100 dealt. You can't do much about that, at least in a loose game, except try to maximize your winnings when you have a winning hand and minimize your losses when you have a losing hand. If you played as though you could see all the cards in the deck and only played those hands where you knew you would have a winner, regardless of your opponents actions, you shouldn't be averaging more than 16 hands per hundred, or 1.6 hands per round of the table.


However, when you play head to head, that changes in two ways: (1) made lows are less likely, and (2) instead of the 16 hands per hundred you should be getting a share of when you are playing at a full table, when you are playing heads-up you should be getting at least a share of 70-75 hands per hundred. The first change is relatively minor compared to the second.


The first change comes about because even though there may be three unpaired low cards on the board (This still occurs about 60% of the time.), you or your opponent may not be able to make a low hand. I don't know what that amounts to, and the exact number isn't important, but let's say when you are playing heads-up someone can make low about 40% to 50% of the time, something like that. Thus low takes a share of only 40% or 50% instead of 60% of the hands played to the showdown.


Thus for every 100 hands dealt when you are playing heads-up, you should scoop 25-30 hands, lose 25-30 hands and get half of 50-40 hands. In other words, you should be getting at least part of 70% or 75% of the hands you play, instead of the 16% you should get at a full table.


Hands that would be garbage at a full table may be powerful, heads-up. Since you don't generally have odds for straight and flush draws when playing heads-up, suited aces go way down in value. Two high pair will often scoop, so high cards go way up in value. A-A-X-X or K-K-X-X are much more powerful.


Sure, you'd like coordinated cards, but that ain't gonna happen much and you need to get your share 70% to 75% of the time. In addition, IMHO, coordinated hands like 2-3-4-5 and 6-7-8-9 have a poor chance to win for high anyhow. You don't hit a straight or a flush with the board any more often heads-up than you do in a full game, and you don't have enough opponents contributing to make it worth while when you do. With the low and middle card hands shown above, you don't EVER make two pair with a big pair on top - and you don't ever even make one big pair.


I like hands like A-K-Q-2 very much, heads-up. I like A-K-Q-6 almost as much. Even K-Q-6-2, an unplayable hand in a full game, looks good, heads-up. Other unplayable full game hands, like T-9-8-7, hands without aces and kings, are still unplayable, heads-up. J-T-9-8 may be even worse than T-9-8-7, because you have no chance at low. Hands where you usually have a draw for a straight after the flop like Q-J-T-9, a generally marginally playable hand in a full game also go down in value because two pair aces or kings over beat two pair queens or jacks over.


On most hands you want to make a higher two pair, or even just a higher pair, than your opponent.


I think you want to play extremely aggressively, heads-up. I think you should either be raising or folding, with not much limping, when it is your turn. Tend to bet some hands that would be marginal hands in a full game and tend to dump others.


You shouldn't necessarily give up a hand when straights or flushes become possible and you don't have the straight or flush. Heads-up your opponent will tend to not have two cards necessary to complete a possible flush or straight. This offers a bluffing opportunity. It's important to know your opponent in these situations. Of course you or your opponent may get stung here when one of you makes a straight or flush and the other is playing two pair.


When the blinds become so large that anyone at the table doesn't have enough chips for a full bet on each betting round, the play may become very much like no-limit hold 'em. Blind stealing is very important. At some point the game may seem like a total crap shoot, with very little skill involved, and the finalists in a live tournament often agree to a settlement. If there is no settlement, the game will be quickly finished anyway. At least that is my experience. I'm unfamiliar with on-line tournaments. I suspect you can't afford to sit around and wait for a good hand on-line either.


These are just some thoughts off the top of my head. Hope they help you. Also, this is just my opinion, based on my own experiences. I've read short-handed posts (here and/or on r.g.p.) that would seem to disagree with some of my suggestions. I'm not an expert, just someone trying to learn, like you.


Buzz

Thanks Buzz another great post.


A full bet on each round would be a dream come true however. The blinds in these tournaments are exactly the same as those in paradise tournies, where the total chips in play is 8,000 and the heads up blinds are usually up to 500/1,000. With the big blind usually representing at least 25% of your stack, I think total crap shoot starts to come into play, as folding preflop is giving the game away with anything but total crap like 666T.

This is one of best pieces I've seen on the subject. It looks like you've been playing a lot of heads up.


I think your comment on JT98 being worse than T987 is right on the mark. If a flop comes that dinks a normal low hand (e.g. T6A), the 87 can back into the low half. And if you wind up with a high that can beat a pair of A's, you might end up with a non-nut scooper.


Another great post.