650 Miles from Texas to Omaha

[redsamurai]

Open questions for Omaha 8 or better players...

Background:
Last Friday I strolled into my local cardroom late and the Texas games were full up and there was a considerable board. Bob, our wonderful floorman, suggested I play in the 6-12 Omaha8b with a 10-20 kill. Since I had been running bad the last few sessions in Texas I decided to give it a shot. Now, the only Omaha8b I've played was nickel-dime-quarter at our home game so I tightened up and left up a little and happy. With some of the winnings I purchased Ray Zee's book on Omaha8b, skimmed it, and headed back for more Omaha8b last night. Other than one horrid heads-up Sklansky type 5 mistake that cost me a few hundred things went well and I left with more than I started.

Questions:
1) Both games I played in were a mix of Old Man Rocks and middle aged loose semi-aggressive types. This is very different from the Texas games. Is this common?
2) Based on Question 1, this game did not seem to be very difficult to beat. Do you find Omaha8b to provide better returns than similar stakes for Texas?
3) If you have read Ray Zee's book on Omaha8b what is your take?
4) What other Omaha8b books would you recommend?
5) Any general advice for making the drive from Texas to Omaha?

Many thanks in advance.

[Phat Mack]

1) Both games I played in were a mix of Old Man Rocks and middle aged loose semi-aggressive types. This is very different from the Texas games. Is this common?

You'll find all types in these games. Some of the OMR's play well but most don't. They'll lose a little, but not a lot.

2) Based on Question 1, this game did not seem to be very difficult to beat. Do you find Omaha8b to provide better returns than similar stakes for Texas?

It depends entirely on game selection. O8 can play at half the speed of HE. Also, when you don't catch cards, it can go on forever. In a loose O8 game with a lot of Gamb00lers, I think the hourly rate can be the same. The learning curve on this game can be fairly steep. Fish don't play ridiculous lows for long. You need a game with a steady influx of new money.

3) If you have read Ray Zee's book on Omaha8b what is your take?

It's the best there is. Read it and re-read it every couple of months or so.

4) What other Omaha8b books would you recommend?
5) Any general advice for making the drive from Texas to Omaha?

Not much else in the way of books, but search this forum's archives for posts by Buzz and other excellent players who post here.

[crockpot]

i think that a loose omaha game is easier to beat 'playing by rote' than a loose hold 'em game, for two reasons. first, you make the nuts more often in this game and thus can push your hand with confidence against the players who will call you down with little hope. second, it is much easier to separate bad starting hands from good, and things like position and pre-flop raises do not mean nearly as much. this mean you can basically use the same pre-flop strategy in most situations.

i definitely think that bob ciaffone's omaha book would be worth the price. his section on o/8 is short but good, and there is a lot of useful advice for making the transition from hold 'em to omaha.

then again, what do i know? i just managed to lose $30 on a 2/4 hand trying to clear a truepoker bonus when a guy with J997 called two bets preflop and three bets on the flop to draw to his gutshot for half the pot on an A58 two-suited board. sigh...

[chaos]

1. I don't think this game sounds typical. Your typical low limit game has lots of calling with little raising preflop. As you move up to higher stakes The field usually gets narrowed to only two or three players preflop and there usually is a preflop raise and often a reraise. At the lower stakes it is not uncommon to get 5 to 7 players to see the flop with the pot getting raised less than half the time.

2. The loose-passive, typical low limit game I described is not very difficult to beat. I find it more profitable per hour than Hold 'Em, even taking into account the fewer hands/hr played.

3. Ray Zee's book is the best.

4. Bob Caiffone, Shane Smith, and Bill Boston also have books with some useful information.

5. The low limit game is much more straight forward. Stick to you game plan. Do not think up fancy plays. Have patience.

[TruePoker CEO]

Dear Crock,

It was likely a case where the guy thought he had a double gut shot draw. If he had missed, or worse yet hit the 10, you'd have been singing a different tune.

How many bets did you collect from similar misses before this guy got lucky ?

Truepoker CEO

[crockpot]

i'm certainly not going to blame your servers for this, but it sure felt like zero.

oh well. any chance you'll be upgrading your server to allow play at multiple tables? i'll be sure to come back to truepoker soon if you do.