[ohnonotthat]

Any structure will work if enough people agree that it works.

P-L stud is played in both Europe and Austrailia; I've never seen N-L stud or N-L holdem (aside from the games at Absolute) but 20 years ago I'd never seen any type of Omaha.

Tradition dies hard - nowhere moreso than poker.

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As to the claim that omaha and stud feature starting hands that are run extremely close in value - true for omaha, not true for stud. (We also need to define "close"; it's true that matchups where the better hand is more than a 60/40 favorite are virtually non-existent in omaha but if I can repeatedly get my chips in the middle with a 60-40 or even a 55-45 edge I like my chances for winding up with all the chips).

A higher pair wins ~ 2/3 of the time vs lower pair in stud if the lower pair's kicker is lower in rank than the higher pair and ~ 2/5 of the time with an overcard kicker.

A 3-flush is a huge dog to a pair unless the 3-flush has 3 o/c's to the pair or 2 o/c's with straight potential. (And who is going to call a big bet with a small pair).

In holdem, when one player pushes allin and is called you frequently see pair vs. 2 overcard confrontations - hardly a David-Goliath type battle.

If there does exist a well thought out reason for the dearth of P-L (or the non-existence of N-L) stud it might have to do with the HUGE edge the expert has over the "beginner" (see: nitwit).

I have a friend who used to find (and participate in) alot of P-L stud while overseas back in the 70's. This person is wont to neither lie nor embelish so my inclination is to take as gospel his claim that in 100+ sessions he never booked a loser.

The expert's edge in N-L or P-L is big in all forms of poker but perhaps nowhere as much as in stud. (N-L hi-draw also crucifies the weak player, especially when all the chips go in before the draw. Coincidentally, limit hi-draw is also unforgiving to weaker players; I wonder if that has anything to do with why you never see either anymore. [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img] )