Table of Contents
|
| Foreword by Mason Malmuth | v |
| A Quick Note | vii |
High-Low-Split Poker Seven-Card Stud Eight-or-Better For Advanced | |
| Players | 1 |
| Introduction | 3 |
| Using This Book | 7 |
| Why Play Stud Eight-or-Better? | 9 |
| Part One: Third Street | 11 |
| Introduction | 12 |
| Starting Hands | 13 |
| Three of a Kind Wired | 24 |
| Disguising Your Hand | 25 |
| T Ante Stealing | 26 |
| Getting Reraised on a Semi-Steal | 28 |
| When an Ace Raises | 30 |
| When the Bring-In Raises | 31 |
| Afterthought | 32 |
| Part Two: The Later Streets | 33 |
| Introduction | 34 |
| General Strategy | 35 |
| How Far Do You Go? | 42 |
| Fourth Street | 43 |
| Check-Raising on Fourth and Fifth Streets | 48 |
| Fifth Street | 50 |
| Sixth Street | 55 |
| Seventh Street | 56 |
| Afterthought | 60 |
| Part Three: Miscellaneous Topics | 61 |
| Introduction | 62 |
| Position | 63 |
| Playing the High Hands | 64 |
| Bluffing | 66 |
| Slow-Playing | 68 |
| Knowing Your Opponents | 70 |
| Raising Aggressively | 73 |
| The Toughest Decision of All | 74 |
| Staying to the End | 75 |
| Pairing the Door Card | 76 |
| Keeping Track of the Cards | 79 |
| Scare Cards | 80 |
| An Expert Play | 81 |
| Another Good Play | 82 |
| Quick Notes | 83 |
| Afterthought | 87 |
| Part Four: The Game Itself | 89 |
| Introduction | 90 |
| Playing in Tight Games | 91 |
| Playing in Loose Games | 93 |
| Playing Short-Handed | 95 |
| Big Games Versus Small Games | 96 |
| Running the Game | 98 |
| Afterthought | 102 |
| Part Five: Other Skills | 103 |
| Introduction | 104 |
| Reading Hands | 105 |
| Psychology | 110 |
| Afterthought | 115 |
| Part Six: Questions and Answers | 117 |
| Introduction | 118 |
| Questions and Answers | 119 |
| Afterthought | 170 |
| Conclusion | 171 |
High-Low-Split Poker Omaha Eight-or-Better For Advanced Players | 173 |
| Introduction | 175 |
| Using This Book | 177 |
| Why Play Omaha Eight-or-Better | 179 |
| Part One: Basic Strategy | 181 |
| Introduction | 182 |
| General Concepts | 183 |
| More Specific Ideas | 186 |
| Afterthought | 199 |
| Part Two: Advanced Strategy | 201 |
| Introduction | 202 |
| General Concepts | 203 |
| Position | 205 |
| Low Hands | 206 |
| High Hands | 208 |
| Your Starting Hand | 213 |
| Starting With Big Pairs | 215 |
| When You Are First In | 217 |
| How To Play Your Hand | 219 |
| Play on the Flop | 221 |
| When You Have the Best Hand | 223 |
| Afterthought | 225 |
| Part Three: Additional Advanced Concepts | 227 |
| Introduction | 228 |
| Automatic Play | 229 |
| High Versus Low in Three-Handed Pots | 230 |
| Loose Games | 232 |
| Multiway Versus Short-Handed Play | 235 |
| Scare Cards | 240 |
| Getting Counterfeited | 243 |
| Getting Quartered | 245 |
| Playing Against Steamers | 247 |
| Playing Against Tight, Solid Players | 249 |
| Your Playing Style | 253 |
| Fluctuations | 255 |
| Pot-Limit Omaha Eight-or-Better | 256 |
| Afterthought | 258 |
| Part Four: Other Skills | 259 |
| Introduction | 260 |
| Reading Hands | 261 |
| Psychology | 266 |
| Afterthought | 271 |
| Part Five: Questions and Answers | 273 |
| Introduction | 274 |
| Questions and Answers | 275 |
| Afterthought | 323 |
| Conclusion | 325 |
| Glossary | 327 |
Read an Excerpt
General Concepts
When playing in the lower limits, which I've defined as $10-$20 and below, there are two kinds of games. The first type is a game in which people are playing too loosely, especially after the flop; the second is a game where the players generally know what they are doing. In the first type of game, where people play too loosely, the main error is that many players draw to hands ù especially low hands ù that are not the nuts. If you find yourself in a game like this, your primary edge comes from the fact that you won't be drawing to less than the nuts. That is, after the flop, you should draw only to the nuts.
In games where people play approximately correctly, you must play not only correctly on the flop but also very tightly before the flop. Notice that there are two different strategies. In a really good game, the primary strategy is to play correctly and tightly on the flop. In a game that is not so good, you still have an edge as long as you play fewer hands before the flop than your opponents. When playing low-limit Omaha eight-or-better, if you are simply the tightest player both before the flop and on the flop, you have
significant edge. However, if the game is fairly good, you will cost yourself a lot of profit if you play too tightly before the flop. For example, an ace-deuce in a loose game is almost always profitable, even if your other cards are nothing special. This is because if the flop gives you a low or a draw to a low, other players with ace-trey or deuce-trey will draw to the second and third nuts.
But if the game is reasonably tough, your ace-deuce loses most of its profitability, since other players won't be drawing to the second and third nuts as often. And when the low does come, you may have to split the low half, plus there will be fewer people to collect from. (Even so, an ace-deuce is usually still worth playing.)
Because Omaha eight-or-better has the same structure as Texas hold'em, and because even reasonably good players tend to find reasons to play certain hands, if you just play tight before the flop, you will beat even the toughest games. (This should change as more people study this text.) But remember, in the looser games, you will cost yourself some profit.
There is a lot more play to this game than there appears to be. For example, if someone bets, you might need to raise to squeeze another player off a low draw when you also have a low draw. Even though it doesn't seem that you can knock out an ace-deuce draw, sometimes it doesn't pay for an opponent to draw after the flop. Consequently, if he plays well, he just might throw away his hand. (This works against only a few very good players.)
Even before the flop, you sometimes must make plays like reraising to knock out players behind you so that you are last to act. It is very advantageous to have the last position. It also is often good to be first to act. Problems can occur when you are in the middle.
The idea is to play hands that can develop into two-way hands, where you can either scoop or three-quarter an opponent. For example, suppose you have
As 2c 6d 7d
You may wish to raise, because you don't want someone holding a hand like
6h 7c 8d 9s
to also play in a multiway pot.
Notice that this player can make a higher straight than you can make, plus you can get quartered by tying for the low with some other player. Again, there is a lot more to this game than just playing technically correct.
The hands that tend to do well are those containing ace-deuce and ace-deuce-trey. Having a suited card with the ace is also beneficial. In a lot of spots, four high cards do well, because if this hand wins, there probably will not be a low.
Three big cards that include an ace, plus a deuce or a trey, are also good hands. But if the other low card with the ace is not a deuce or a trey, you should throw the hand away.
For example,
Ah 5c Kh Js
almost always should be discarded. This hand might become playable only if your opponents are playing very poorly and you can see the flop for one bet, or if you are in a very late position and no one has raised. Also, note that when two low cards hit the board, all high hands go way down in value. Assuming that you win the high, you are now likely to split the pot if another low card comes.
loading...