I play omaha 8 at pokerstars and full tilt poker. I like to play 8-9 handed games at limits ranging from 5-10 to 15-30. Partypoker was the best for these games, but I can't play there because I'm a US user. I'm looking for other sites that have consistent games at these limits and allow US users. Bodog, UB, and absolute poker do not have consistent games. Any suggestions?

Originally Posted by gder03

You really play 15-30?
Mind sharing your tips?

I'm probably a notch above a break-even player, so my tips may not be that great, but on the other hand, I don't follow this advice nearly as much as I should. If I did, I'd probably do a lot better.

Remember in limit poker, any time you don't make a losing call on the river, you have saved a bet. Saving bets is just as valuable as winning a bet. Your winning hands will come. The name of the game is to avoid making losing calls, the more you can do this, the more you will make.

Hi-Lo is an action game. Many players limp into pots with a variety of weak hands and call down with 2nd, 3rd, and even worse nut drawing hands (hi & lo). So the best approach is to be very patient and play only really strong hands.

#1 Rule - play disciplined. Most players that play this game find excuses to play hands. You should be finding excuses not to play hands.

Avoid playing any hands without an ace.
-----Avoid hands like 2345 in earlier position and definitely do not play it in late position when there are a lot of limpers in the hand or the pot has been raised. You are looking for an ace to flop and when there are a lot of limpers or a raised pot, the aces are likely in people's hands and not in the deck. The other big problem with this hand is that when an ace does not flop, many people still draw to a low hand that is likely to be a loser.
------KQJT also fits in this category, BUT this is a hand you would want to limp in with on the button when there are a lot of callers in front of you. A lot of callers usually means the low cards are all out and there is nothing by high cards in the deck. There's a good chance the flop will be a big one. If it's not, it's easy to release your hand.

Avoid bad draws. You get four cards in this game. There are plenty of times when you will have 15, 16, 17 outs. Why draw when you only have 3 or 4 outs? It just doesn't make any sense to put money in the pot for a gut-shot when there are 2 flush cards on the board. You will get much better opportunties, just be patient. Play only when you have more than one way to win the hand - a straight draw with 2nd nut lo draw; 2nd nut flush draw with nut lo draw; open end straight draw with nut flush draw; etc.
---- don't draw to 2nd, 3rd, etc nut flush draws when there are already 3 low cards on the board. First, you may be drawing dead. Second, you're only drawing to half the pot.
----- don't draw for a straight when there are 2 flush cards on the board. Because you get 4 cards, flushes are very common. If you have an open ended straight draw, you should count your outs as 6 instead of 8. You don't want to draw to a 6 outer.
------ dont' draw for hands that are not the nuts (hi or lo). Most of the time you wont' hit your draw and if you do, you can't even bet it b/c you still may be beat. Why draw to a hand that you can't bet out on if you hit?
----- don't draw to a flush with a pair on the board. This is one of the worst plays you can make in this game. If a pair hits, just let your hand go.

Don't overplay your a3xx. If you are in early position and you are not suited, you should actually let this hand go. It's like having AQ when somebody has AK. It just costs you a lot of money in the long run. If you have something like a34x or a35x unsuited, I'd go ahead and limp in, but proceed with caution after the flop.

Avoid playing raised pots with weak lows and no nut flush draws. Ex. You're on the button and the pot is raised from early position with 2 callers in between. You have A45x with no flush draw. Fold it. A2 beats you, A3 beats you, even 23 beats your low. These kinds of hands cost you a lot of money b/c players generally won't fold their A4 on a flop like K-5-7. They keep drawing to very slim chances to win.

Don't call in frustation. If your hand gets busted on the river, just fold. You will save tons of bets by laying your hand down when a bad river card hits. Let's say you have KKA2 double suited. Say the board comes 3-4-8 and you have the nut flush draw too. Turn is a 9. River is a 2. You miss your flush and somebody who has been checking and calling all the sudden leads out and bets. You have to fold. It sucks when you get a huge flop like that, but if you don't hit, you don't hit. You have no low hand and only a pair of kings. They probably have A5, but even if they don't and are trying to "bluff" you, they could have something like 2-3 for two pair and still scoop the pot from you. Same thing is you have something like A347 and the board comes 2-4-6-K-3. Don't call when you are going to get scooped.

There's tons more, but that's all I have for now. There are a couple of good books out there you can grab if you want some more info. Most people don't really understand how weak some of the starting hands in this game really are. A678 suited for example. Weak. If you make a straight, somebody will have a low and you only get half the pot.

You will do well if you follow 2 rules: 1) Learn what range of starting hands you can play in certain situations and stick to it. 2) Release your hand if you miss the flop or you low hands get counterfeited - don't chase runner runner draws when you may get scooped or only win half the pot.

Good stuff blaze. Tkx