Picking up a new game - Stud or Omaha
 

Currently, I'm exclusively a NLHE player. I'd like to add a new non-holdem game, because (1) I think adding variety will be fun and (2) I've heard that playing a variety of games helps players improve in all their games. Since most players today start with NLHE, I figure the transition from exclusive NLHE to a broader array of games must be a pretty common experience for poker players.

So, anyone who's decided to take up a non-hold 'em game: what games have you found you liked? Which have good profit potential at B&M?

Specifics about my situation:

-I mostly play in Atlantic City. Occasionally, I go to Foxwoods, and I try to get to Vegas once or twice a year.
-I get in an average of six hours of play per month (more if I take a Vegas trip).
-I am a modestly winning live 1-2 NL player (winrate of $30/hr over an admittedly small sample of 44 hours since I began tracking eight months ago).
-I am an adequate LHE player, but I find NLHE to be more profitable and more fun, so I rarely play LHE and am not particularly interested in playing it more.
-While I'm open to taking up more than one new game eventually, I'd like to do so one at a time so I can focus on getting good at each.

My personal inclination is toward Stud, just based on what I've seen on TV that looked fun. That said, I am eager to hear others' guidance.

Re: Picking up a new game - Stud or Omaha
 

The only omaha common in B&M is LO8.

Re: Picking up a new game - Stud or Omaha
 

You're going to find more Stud games in AC then you will Omaha. And like it was said above you're only going to find O/8 live.

Re: Picking up a new game - Stud or Omaha
 

Stud seems more fun than Omahahahaha

Re: Picking up a new game - Stud or Omaha
 

IMO it would be best to learn O8 and Stud hi/lo. Go out and buy the 2+2 hi/low split poker book (Ray Zee?) it will really teach you how to play those games. Borgata has a 10/20 O.E. game that runs pretty much everyday. There is also the 5/10 O8 game at the Taj which is pretty good.

Also, there are a few O.E. games in NYC that range from 20/40 - 100/200+. Sometimes these games are just omaha 8 since most of the people that play in them just love to gamboooool.

Good luck with whatever you choose. Learning other forms of poker is beneficial to your game and often times fun as well.

Re: Picking up a new game - Stud or Omaha
 

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I mostly play in Atlantic City.

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If you're going to play in Atlantic City at the kind of limits you're talking about, forget hi/lo anything and go with regular Stud hi. You can dabble around with 1-5 for a bit, but 5-10 plays better.

Seven Card Stud for Advanced Players is pretty much it. The Reese chapter in SS1 still holds up somewhat. The Stud forum guys can tell you more than I can about that, but I think the hi/lo idea for low limit play in AC is a bad idea.

Also, if you do go with Stud, you're new friends will be about 70 years old on average.

Re: Picking up a new game - Stud or Omaha
 

I'd go with stud, but I'm biased. If you play in AC, you might want to start with the $1/5 at Bally's. That game has a .50 cent ante, and will have more action than 1/5 games at the Taj. I've heard that the 1/5 at Harrah's is decent too. Trop has a newer 3/6 (no ante) game that has good action also. If you have the bankroll, you could start at $5/10 (Taj, Trop), which plays more like a "real" stud game.

Foxwoods has a lot of stud games, and spreads 1/5 (.50 ante) & 5/10. FWIW, I've heard both are looser than AC stud games.

Re: Picking up a new game - Stud or Omaha
 

The experience of branching out from nlhe to anything else is basically non-existent because nlhe killed everything else. Also, (thanks to the wpt) now poker = hold'em. The dumbing down of america is both on your tv and in your local cardroom.

Players like me, who've been playing all kinds of poker for a long time, are the most irritated by this hold'em bullcrap driving everything else into oblivion.

That being said, since you're on the east coast, the occasional player may remember what it was like before hold'em killed everything, and thus you might actually find a stud or other game.

If you like arguing constantly, and think nits are cool, play omaha-8.

If you like a game with strategy, thinking, and all that jazz, play stud.

And oh yeah, 1-5 sucks, 5-10 w/ 50c ante kicks butt.

Al

Re: Picking up a new game - Stud or Omaha
 

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The experience of branching out from nlhe to anything else is basically non-existent because nlhe killed everything else.

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That's just not true on the East Coast. I grant that the jokes above about the average age demographic of 7-stud are right on target. OK, they're an exaggeration. Average age is really just 66.

I share your sadness that NLHE has driven out other B&M games too. But at least online gives us a lot more possibilities to practice non-HE poker.

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And oh yeah, 1-5 sucks, 5-10 w/ 50c ante kicks butt.


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I've only played $1-3 and $1-5, but the Foxwoods $1-3 was anted 50 cents, which IIRC is proportionally a higher ante than the $75-150 game!

Re: Picking up a new game - Stud or Omaha
 

The Foxwoods 1-3 used to be no ante. They added the ante in 2003 or early 2004 IIRC. I think the reason was to kill off the 1-3 and only spread 1-5, but it didn't work.