Is your hand playable?

This article examines different starting hands in Omaha Hi Low Poker from the strongest to the weakest and whether or not they should be played

As a general rule in Omaha Hi-Lo you should play less starting hands than in other forms of poker. This is because it is rare to get a hand which can win both the hi and low ends of the pot. The objective with every hand that you play is to win both the high and the low sides of the pot and to avoid being quartet.

Premium Starting Hands
• The best starting hands are known as ‘suited babies’, they contain small suited cards and an ace suited with at least one additional card.
• These hands have the best chance of taking both sides of the pot. With the small card you can make a ‘nut low’ hand and the chance of ace + flush gives you a great chance of winning the high side of the pot.
• If you have two cards of each suit the hand becomes even stronger and the strongest is a pair of aces double suited with 2 small cards.

Very Strong Starting Hands
• Small cards are still favoured and if they include an ace this also raises possibilities.
• An ace hand with 4 small cards is strong as it has both low and low straight potential.
• If your hand contains an ace-2 and one additional small card then it can be played if the cards ‘backup’ the high, e.g. a king suited with one of the small cards can often be a strong hand.

High Only Hands
• 30% of the time the flop will eliminate the chance of a low hand winning so a high only hand is not necessarily a bad thing.
• You should only play these if it is cheap to see the flop and if you are ready to quickly fold if you do not hit a nut hand.
• If you are going to play a high only hand ideally it will be the strongest possible, A-A-K-K or A-A-J-10 double suited.

Non-Ace Hands
• Some hands which don’t contain aces are playable.
• Hands such as 2-3-4-5 or 2-3-4-6 give you both low and straight possibilities.
• If the betting is expensive and an ace hasn’t appeared on the table then be careful as you could be beaten for the low.

Marginal Hands
• A hand with A-2 and 2 medium cards is considered marginal
• There is only a small chance of making a high and you could be quartered when making the nut low.
• If the hand has a backup low card such as A-2-4-9 then it is a bit stronger.
• If you have a suited ace this hand may just about be playable.