Farha on Omaha - Anybody read it yet?
 

I saw threads about the book, but no actual opinions on anybody who has read it yet. I didn't think it was even out yet, but my friend says it is.

What level player is the book most useful for? Any opinions in general?

Re: Farha on Omaha - Anybody read it yet?
 

Its out - I have them in stock but have not had time to read it yet.
Mike

Re: Farha on Omaha - Anybody read it yet?
 

I went to the local library (Barnes and Noble) and read about a third of it (Mainly the chapter on Pot limit Omaha). I did this rather than spring $14 on Amazon because I was dubious of its quality after seeing the example pages on Amazon.

Okay the book is broken up into five section. The first, an intro and review of basic omaha play and strategy . The next three go over Limit Omaha, O8, and finaly Pot Limit Omaha. The last chapter is a perfuctory sumation of his basic strategy.

The good. The book is fairly short and to the point. He constantly talks about what would be considered the typical good play versus what he would do. He gives specific exaples of how image can be used at the table to your advantage. Some of his advice goes very contrary to what would be consisdered "good solid omaha", but it obviously seems to work for him. While a lot of the advice relies a lot on his ability to read people at the table, he does give some insight on how he does it. While this part is almost put in as an afterthought, I thought it was interesting. He also talks about how to play against Short stakers

The bad. The book is badly organized. It is obvious it was written mainly by Storms Reback from a couple of interviews he probably had with Farha. Because of this, it feels a bit shallow and lacks some depth.

In general, the book is not horrible, but nothing I think really necessary to have. There are some good insights, but just not enough meat to make it great. Whether it is worth buying can be determined by your reaction to this line in his book, " You should'nt play agressively from early position ... unless your name is Sam Farha.". I laughed and got some entertainment value. If you cringe, then I would'nt get it.

Re: Farha on Omaha - Anybody read it yet?
 

I read about 1/3 of it (not a specific third but random sections) and skimmed the rest. I wasn't very impressed.

Writing style is not good. Has a TJ Cloutier book feel to it.

Not very long and seems to just cover basic stratigy. A third of the book is on the dead game limit omaha high. I don't think I read any advice that was horrific though.

Couple funny things... Sammy mentions that part of his success is good bankroll management. Then he goes on to tell a story about how once he had a huge draw on the flop that would be +EV to get his stack in. However, he decides to fold instead because it was the last hand of the night and he wanted to make sure he had a winning session. He also said that you should 'run it twice' when you are ahead because there are a lot of good cards in the deck for you but should only run it once when you are behind because you need to get lucky to win. (Whatever the hell that means.)

Re: Farha on Omaha - Anybody read it yet?
 

I can't help but to wonder how truthful some of those Big Game players are regarding what they know and what they've studied. I've heard some pretty highly regarded players says some pretty dumb things when talking about things like EV, running it twice, insurance and so on. Some are old timers, but you'd think they'd have picked up that running it twice doesn't really make a difference long run.

I'm not suggesting that these aren't good players anyway, but they've been professionals for a long time and you'd think they'd know these kinds of things.

Re: Farha on Omaha - Anybody read it yet?
 

[ QUOTE ]
He also said that you should 'run it twice' when you are ahead because there are a lot of good cards in the deck for you but should only run it once when you are behind because you need to get lucky to win. (Whatever the hell that means.)

[/ QUOTE ]

Does this sound completely voodoo & "bad conclusion from small sample" to everyone, or am I not getting it?

Re: Farha on Omaha - Anybody read it yet?
 

If it has a TJ Cloutier feel to it, I am staying away.

Re: Farha on Omaha - Anybody read it yet?
 

Not sure if you get it or not but my take is if the odds are in your favour then the more times you run it the better the chance of getting the more likely result. If the odds are against you the less times you run it the less chance for the true odds to come through. However the difference between running it twice or once this might be slim although be interested if someone can demonstrate if his advice is good or bad.

Re: Farha on Omaha - Anybody read it yet?
 

[ QUOTE ]
If it has a TJ Cloutier feel to it, I am staying away.

[/ QUOTE ]
same, was somewhat excited when reading the topic. and one third limit, lol.

Re: Farha on Omaha - Anybody read it yet?
 

[ QUOTE ]
Couple funny things... Sammy mentions that part of his success is good bankroll management. Then he goes on to tell a story about how once he had a huge draw on the flop that would be +EV to get his stack in. However, he decides to fold instead because it was the last hand of the night and he wanted to make sure he had a winning session.

[/ QUOTE ]

I just wanted to say that in the book he said he was a favorite to win the pot, and not that it was +ev. In other words, he folded as a favorite getting odds, and is bragging about it. I mean...

This is the guy that made a 25K (300/600 blinds with a 4x straddle on I believe) coldcall with K7o vs Hellmuth who had to have something good in a multiway pot NOT closing the action. He said "I have a gambling hand" lollolol

Re: Farha on Omaha - Anybody read it yet?
 

[ QUOTE ]
If it has a TJ Cloutier feel to it, I am staying away.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's an awesome feel imo. It's like instead of dictating stuff to a real writer and having them put it together cogently, a semi-literate talks into a tape recorder and then hands it to a secretary. And then there is no editor.

Re: Farha on Omaha - Anybody read it yet?
 

Thanks for the advice. I'm pretty sure I can avoid this one.

I was wondering if there was anything new or insightful in the book that would be worth a purchase.

Re: Farha on Omaha - Anybody read it yet?
 

I am having a hard time reading this book. I can't really describe the problem becuase it is written very simple like a TJ Cloutier book but for some reason reading it is like walking thru mud.

I wish they could title it more honestly like "Reback on Omaha with Sammy Farha signing off to use his snappy picture on the cover so it will sell more copies because nobody knows who the F*&$ Storms Reback is" by Storms Reback and Sammy Farha collecting royalty checks.

Re: Farha on Omaha - Anybody read it yet?
 

Like another player, I went to my local library (this time, Borders) and took a look at the book. I only got to glance through the book because there were a couple of other poker books I was looking at during the same time.

I found the parts I looked at to be entertaining. I am not sure I would spend my own money to buy it, but I would not turn it down if someone bought it for me. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Re: Farha on Omaha - Anybody read it yet?
 

[ QUOTE ]
Not sure if you get it or not but my take is if the odds are in your favour then the more times you run it the better the chance of getting the more likely result. If the odds are against you the less times you run it the less chance for the true odds to come through. However the difference between running it twice or once this might be slim although be interested if someone can demonstrate if his advice is good or bad.

[/ QUOTE ]

There is no difference to your EV, but running it twice does reduce variance. So if you were playing above your head, you might pass up a big bankroll-crippling bet where you were a small favorite, but you might be less likely to pass it up if you could run it twice. The "best" advice is simply to play within your bankroll and then not to worry about it. Running it twice will have no effect in the long run when properly rolled.

Re: Farha on Omaha - Anybody read it yet?
 

I just got done reading the limit Omaha and Pot Limit Omaha section this weekend. As a player who have played Omaha for a little over a year and have read a few books on this game I found the book to be helpful in some regard. There were certainly ideas in the book that I found helpful. Sammy's main idea in Omaha especially in Pot Limit is to push push push. Aggression is the key to the game! He even advocate raising every hand pre-flop if you choose to play. However like many of the reviews so far, the structure of the book could have been better. In the Pot Limit and Limit section, the author broke it down to a before the flop, on the flop and beyone the flop sections. So the structure is not as good as 2+2 books. Overall I feel that the book will be helpful to beginners, provide some extra insight to novice players but will not do much for advance players. I am still holding my breath that 2+2 will come out with a Limit and Pot Limit Omaha Book for advance players in the near future.

Re: Farha on Omaha - Anybody read it yet?
 

I read some of the book today and the bookstore and found the stucture just horrible. The substance seems helpful more so than other Omaha books I assume, but if it was just organized better (Ed Miller could have done wonders) this book would be a great primer. As for the ideas I really liked what I read. It doesn't go into much depth and you really have to reread parts to pull out what's important due to the horrible structure, but there is great stuff in there.

Re: Farha on Omaha - Anybody read it yet?
 

Compared to other omaha books around is it worth getting? Whats the best out there?

Re: Farha on Omaha - Anybody read it yet?
 

There is no "best" PLO book out there. Try searching every other PLO book thread. Only 3 books are mentioned and none of them are highly recommended by PLO regulars.

Re: Farha on Omaha - Anybody read it yet?
 

I would honestly read it myself when I'm ready to start down the Omaha path, but I'm not there yet. Your best bet is probably to just read an introductory book like this and watch some CR vids.

EDIT: Holy crap! A guy in the CR members contribution forum just started and PLO low limit video series today. Check it out!

Re: Farha on Omaha - Anybody read it yet?
 

In my opinion, Bob Caiffone's book is a good place to start, after that you can read Farha's book which will give you more ideas on different Omaha plays. Then you can try to read Secrets of Professional Pot Limit Hold'em by Rolf Slotboom which I consider the best Omaha High book in the market. This book has some excellent examples and also a quiz at the end of the book.

Re: Farha on Omaha - Anybody read it yet?
 

I flipped through it at my local Barnes & Noble.

I don't know anything about Omaha except that it's an evil game invented by witches.

I read the bit about him intentionally folding a +EV hand so he could be ahead for the night and how this was "good money management".

At this point, I started getting flashbacks of reading John Patrick's books on Craps or whatever.

Did.
Not.
Want.

Re: Farha on Omaha - Anybody read it yet?
 

[ QUOTE ]
There is no "best" PLO book out there. Try searching every other PLO book thread. Only 3 books are mentioned and none of them are highly recommended by PLO regulars.

[/ QUOTE ]

I haven't seen any mention of Lyle Berman's PLO chapter in SS2. Any reviews on his info?
Mike

Re: Farha on Omaha - Anybody read it yet?
 

FWIW running it once, twice or hundred times makes no difference EV wise.
I can show you the calculations, but only if someones interested in it.
When Farha really says that he only runs it twice when he's a underdog than his math skills suck, and it's probably more superstitions.

Re: Farha on Omaha - Anybody read it yet?
 

^^ good point

Re: Farha on Omaha - Anybody read it yet?
 

I read through Farha on Omaha at Borders. Here's my review:

I was very disappointed by Farha on Omaha. The book is rather short and covers three games: Limit Omaha, Limit Omaha/8, Pot Limit Omaha and Omaha tournaments. The tournament sections are barely worth reading. The Full Tilt Poker: Tournament Strategy Edition covers Omaha tournaments 100 times better than Farha's book. The Limit Omaha section takes up about a third of the book and it's useless since nobody plays Limit Omaha. The Omaha/8 sections and Pot Limit Omaha sections contain mostly basic strategy such as drawing to the nuts, dangers of bottom and middle set and not playing for half the pot in O8 games. Good for beginners, but already standard knowledge for most players. There are occasional nuggets of information that are pretty useful for an intermediate player (short-handed PLO play, playing against short stack players), but not enough to get an intermediate player to buy the book.

However, book is not for pure newbie players (Omaha should never be the first game a beginner learns). The rules are barely explained for a total newbie to pick up and understand. It'll confuse the hell out of them. This book is good for a player who is already fairly experienced in another game and wants to make the transition to playing Omaha. They will pick up the techniques in this book much faster and use them more wisely. Those people are the only ones who should consider purchasing this book. There's just enough information to make them a winning player in soft, low-limit games.

I really wish this book went into more depth about PLO and O8. When a book is less than 200 pages long and spends only 60 pages or so about the two games combined, you know that there's way too much information missing. PLO is a very complex game and really requires a full book's worth of information to properly explain how to play winning PLO (at least 150 pages, possibly 200+). It lacks the advanced strategies that can make somebody a winner at middle and high limit games. Ed Miller's O8 section in High Low Split Poker for Advanced Players is far better than Farha's O8 section in his book and Secrets of Professional Pot Limit Omaha is the best (and only) book for advanced PLO strategy.

Re: Farha on Omaha - Anybody read it yet?
 

[ QUOTE ]
I read through Farha on Omaha at Borders. Here's my review:

I was very disappointed by Farha on Omaha. The book is rather short and covers three games: Limit Omaha, Limit Omaha/8, Pot Limit Omaha and Omaha tournaments. The tournament sections are barely worth reading. The Full Tilt Poker: Tournament Strategy Edition covers Omaha tournaments 100 times better than Farha's book. The Limit Omaha section takes up about a third of the book and it's useless since nobody plays Limit Omaha. The Omaha/8 sections and Pot Limit Omaha sections contain mostly basic strategy such as drawing to the nuts, dangers of bottom and middle set and not playing for half the pot in O8 games. Good for beginners, but already standard knowledge for most players. There are occasional nuggets of information that are pretty useful for an intermediate player (short-handed PLO play, playing against short stack players), but not enough to get an intermediate player to buy the book.

However, book is not for pure newbie players (Omaha should never be the first game a beginner learns). The rules are barely explained for a total newbie to pick up and understand. It'll confuse the hell out of them. This book is good for a player who is already fairly experienced in another game and wants to make the transition to playing Omaha. They will pick up the techniques in this book much faster and use them more wisely. Those people are the only ones who should consider purchasing this book. There's just enough information to make them a winning player in soft, low-limit games.

I really wish this book went into more depth about PLO and O8. When a book is less than 200 pages long and spends only 60 pages or so about the two games combined, you know that there's way too much information missing. PLO is a very complex game and really requires a full book's worth of information to properly explain how to play winning PLO (at least 150 pages, possibly 200+). It lacks the advanced strategies that can make somebody a winner at middle and high limit games. Ray Zee's O8 section in High Low Split Poker for Advanced Players is far better than Farha's O8 section in his book and Secrets of Professional Pot Limit Omaha is the best (and only) book for advanced PLO strategy.

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Sorry, but I had to fyp.

Re: Farha on Omaha - Anybody read it yet?
 

I read SS2 PLO at Borders too since I didn't want to shelve out 60AUD for 40 pages (already got SS1). Now I only started playing PLO (jumped straight into 200PLO) about 2 months ago and learnt pretty quickly. I read this book hoping that it'd have some cool insights but I can truly say that I learnt nothing from it. If you play for about 1 hour you quickly realise what Lyle says: that you need to be careful without the nuts, about chasing draws on paired flops etc.

The only thing I do remember reading and taking a mental note of was (paraphrased):

'Check behind the nut flush sometimes on turn when you make it so you'll get paid off on the river'.

I remember this because I didn't really agree with it but I guess it's something you can add to your arsenal for sure (you'd prob work that out too anyway).

Re: Farha on Omaha - Anybody read it yet?
 

didn't really get much out of the book

Re: Farha on Omaha - Anybody read it yet?
 

I just read poker books for entertainment mostly, since I never play for money (I might kill someone if I lost more than $1.50) and I haven't read Ed Miller's book, but I've read many other Omaha books/sections like Hellmuth's, parts of Cloutier's(Champ. Omaha-I like the guy and I like his books as well), SS2, Full-Tilt, and Thursday Night Poker.

On Friday, I went to the store and read through the Omaha parts from Mastering Hold'em and Omaha(Caro/Cappalletti) and didn't have any desire to take it home. However, when I sat down to read Farha's(I like him as well) book I found it a much more enjoyable read.

I didn't really learn anything new (yet), and was also disappointed there wasn't more strategy (weak tournament content). Still, I loved reading every one of the 30 or so pages that I read. I was interested to find out how he played Omaha and I could also easily picture Sammy's big grin as I was reading his words(even without my LSD). I liked how he bragged about not looking at his cards and then when the guy told him to, he still just faked it and cleaned the guy out. He was playing the player. Nothing new, but it's Farha, so I enjoyed every word, and won't mind paying $15 for it next week. He often jumps from Omaha to Texas Hold'em stories which I found a bit confusing, but that's just because I was rushing through it. All the more reason to buy it and just take my time. [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

Re: Farha on Omaha - Anybody read it yet?
 

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I don't know anything about Omaha except that it's an evil game invented by witches.

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I lol'ed [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]