Tournament Omaha/8

[Cue-Ball 66]

I have had reasonable success playing Omaha/8 in ring games, but my success has been limited in tournaments. I actually feel quite unsure of myself. How should I be playing the tournaments differently? Any advice is welcome, thanks.

[Buzz]

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How should I be playing the tournaments differently?

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Cue Ball - Probably tighter.

You need to make the final table to win, and you need to survive to make the final table.

That written, if you're the smallest stack at the start of the final table you probably won't win the tournament. Thus there are two general ways to play, one emphasizing taking fewer risks, even folding some very playable hands under certain circumstances so as to give getting to the final table top priority and the other emphasizing taking unnecessary risks (but risks that are favorable betting propositions) to increase your stack size.


The difference is in the emphasis.

For example, if you have enough chips to make it to the final table and get dealt
A[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 2[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 3[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 8[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], do you play the hand or fold it? Let's say if you fold it, you'll almost surely make the final table, but if you play it, you'll either make the final table with a bigger stack or you'll bust out on the bubble.

You're always going to play that hand in a ring game, and you'll almost always play the hand in a tournament - but do you want to risk all on that hand when you're on the bubble in a tournament?

That's the decision.

That's one of the differences between tournament strategy and ring game strategy.

Maybe I've made the example too extreme.
Maybe I should make your hand something not quite as good as A238s. Let's say you only have A278s.

A278s is a good enough starting hand that you're still always going to play the hand in a ring game, but you may hate yourself all the way home if you bust out with it and miss making it into the money by one player in a tournament. (On the other hand if you eke your way into the final table and then bust out immediately because your stack is too small, you may hate yourself all the way home for playing like a pussy).

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How should I be playing the tournaments differently?

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Hard to say. Maybe you've just had some bad luck. But there are differences between ring game strategy and tournament strategy. I hope I've captured the essence of one of the key differences.

(I feel like I always can make it to the final table. But to make tournament playing worth while, I have to win or get a share of first place. So I'll be probably be playing at least the first of the two hands noted above. And if I bust out on the bubble, so be it. But whether I would play either of those hands on the bubble or not isn't necessarily how you need to play to have tournament success).

Just my opinion.

Buzz

[DougShrapnel]

Buzz's thoughts are good, as always. The hands he used might be to good to fold even in a bubble situation. Generally Omaha is a drawing game. When the blinds are high and people are playing tighter, it makes it much harder to get good odds on your draw. Another consideration, is that playing short stacked in O8 is not something that you are likely to be use to in ring games. It requires a different strategy that includes fold equity much more so than in a ring game. An ultra tight game with a medium stack will probably serve you best. Not drawing as much as you would in a ring game is important. Scoop hands are worth so much more in a tourney. An extension is that High only hands are worth more as well.

[IHateKeithSmart]

Pretty general and obvious advice, so not sure how helpful it is. I am quite a bit more aggressive in tourneys than in ring games (all fixed limit - online up to 3-6, live up to 10-20). Especially as the blinds escalate, stealing becomes very important. If you wait for premium cards in a tournament, you will lose - simple as that.

If you are interested in tourney play, check out the MTT forum (my usual haunt). I am a bit of an oddball in that I play 99% of my ring games in limit O8 but 90% of my tourneys in nlhe (b/c there aren't many good O8 tourneys).

[Ribbo]

Omaha/8 is a terrible tournament game. Holdem is a great tournament game. My advice would be play holdem for tournaments and omaha/8 for cash games.

[Chamonyx]

To get worthwhile return on your investment, you need to make the final table, so don't worry about going out on the bubble of you have a great hand that can win you a lot of chips. (I would rather get an extra hour at a cash game than waste it muddling through the bubble in a tournament just to get my buy-in back.

I believe the key componenents to successful tournament play in LO8 are patience and controlled aggression:

Early stages: slightly table dependent, but play very tight pre-flop from early position, and always raise in late position with a quality hand - you will get plenty of callers.

Mid stages: Still play tight, but be more ready to raise from early position with quality hands - you will frequently get the blinds to fold, and will often get h/u with one other player playing naked A2 or A3.

Late stages: Small or Large Stack - play with extreme aggression, Mid stack - play like PLO8.

Just my $0.02