How does Omaha/8 compare to 7 Card/8?

[Scorpius]

I've not played any 7 Card/8. Can anyone offer insight on how it stacks up to Omaha/8? Is it an easier game to master? Does Omaha/8 experience pay off in 7 Card/8? What is your experience going back and forth between the two games? Any input would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Beavis68]

Very different games with some of the same skills required.

[B Mando]

You almost never get quartered in stud8...YES!

[slavic]

It's quite a bit different. First you need to keep up with dead cards, second you know which way your opponent is going, so if you lock the low early versus 2 or 3 highs it's real easy to get in extra bets. It is however a little more difficult to scoop with a two way hand, they just don't happen as often.

On the river it is often tough to tell what you need to do because unlike Omaha you do not see your opponents river card. As a counterpoint you don't always need to draw to the nuts and your 8543A will win.

The largest pot I've played in poker happend in a stud 8 game.

I had an 876543A vs an 875432A my straight wasn't showing and her wheel looked like it may be missing the 54. Many many bets went in, and the dealer didn't bother to stack as we went. It took longer to chop it than to play the hand.

[IronDragon1]

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You almost never get quartered in stud8...YES!

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I almost thought this was impossible till I was quartered holding a wheel.

[Tom Bayes]

I think both are great games. IMO, the level of competition at the low limits online ($2/$4 or under or small buy-in tourneys) is weaker in Omaha/8 than in Stud/8. There are more O/8 players than Stud/8 players and I think there is a higher percentage of fish in Omaha. Since Omaha is a flop game like holdem, a lot of people with holdem experience try to play O/8 using half-assed ideas from holdem. These players will vastly overvalue hands like top two pair or bottom set or non-nut straights/flushes that are usually winners in holdem but usually losers in Omaha/8. Holdem players usually are weak at low games and chase terrible lows. You can also get some players with a pot-limit omaha high background. Mediocre PLO players make really bad Omaha/8 players-they will play middle cards that are just death in split-pot games and also don't understand the low portion of the game at all.

While bad Stud/8 players are out there, I find fewer really hopeless players in that game. I'm biased since I prefer Omaha to stud, but I'd recommend Omaha/8 over Stud/8 if you are choosing one. There's more games out there, more bad players, and the game is pretty easy to play. O/8 seems complicated at first, but there are fewer difficult decisions to make in Omaha/8 than in holdem or stud.

[Beavis68]

Like Tom said, the omaha8b tourneys on stars are just terrible, actually had a guy VPIP with 3666 and bet the turn and the river with with 3aces on the board. Guys limping with KJ74 and stuff, but I think these guys go broke much slower in O8b than is 7S8b.

As mentioned, you don't need to nut peddle in 7S8b as much, you can read your opponents up cards and get an idea of what they are drawing too, the math is totally different in stud too since you have some many betting rounds.

It is much more rare to get 1/4rd and you will probably never get 1/6thd.

I can't figure ring 7S8b out, I don't know if I have ever had a winning session.

I do pretty well at O8b.