question on low hands, please!

[bodie]

Last night I ran into a situation I realize I don't exactly understand (and lost money on it as well!).

If final board reads:

2 3 4 5 Q (all unsuited)

and my hand is:

A 6 Q K

With four cards on the board that are low, isn't my Ace a "live" Ace?
Another hand won the low with:

A 2 X X

I don't understand why his 2 wasn't counterfeited -? If it's because there were four lows on the board, then why didn't my hand also win the low? Is it because my 6 was too much of a stretch to fit into the straight with my Ace? (With the "four low card" situation, I don't quite understand.
Is that also why the 6 that I had would not count as a low if all the other lows were already on the board? Because of the four low card rule?

Help!

[Grump]

You have to play two from your hand, so the two you would pick are A 6, for a 6432A. Your opponent -- or anyone with an ace and any card from 2-5, has a 5432A. An A2 could be counterfeited if there were three to a low, i.e., 245, but once there are four to a wheel, a person can have one card counterfeited and still have the nut if he has the missing card and another card to the wheel.

BTW, I can't think of any situation where I would want to be in there on your hand. PLO8 is a game of playing tight before the flop, and if you are going to go for the high end of the pot, you need at a minimum all four cards to be 9 or higher, and even then not all the hands are worth playing. Your hand is a non-factor for low, and not good enough to go for high, so you need to tighten up preflop.

[bodie]

Thanks for the info, Grump.
I was only in there on that hand because I was the big blind and it was low limit. When the low cards showed up, I stayed in, and then got confused.
Now I understand, thanks to your explanation. Thanks again.

[Beavis68]

A-6 is basically worthless for a low, you can never make a nut low, A26 A36 arent bad though.

You should pick Helllmuths Play Poker Like the Pro's - it explains this very well.

[AKQJ10]

[ QUOTE ]
You should pick Helllmuths Play Poker Like the Pro's - it explains this very well.

[/ QUOTE ]

The O8 chapter isn't bad, but it's only a chapter.

I found Tenner & Krieger to be the best beginning O8 book i've found so far. I know Zee's book is highly thought of but i didn't find it to have much beginner material, although the 21 concepts or whatever they're called were interesting.

However, evaluating solely based on the explanation of how to make a 5-card low, i don't doubt that Hellmuth is the best on that one point.