Playing a drawing hand
 

Hey,

I've been doing some reading up on Omaha high/low, and I had a question in relation to a concept I don't really understand. The book I'm currently going through is "Championship Omaha" by T.J. Cloutier and Tom McEvoy.

Cloutier claims that when you have a strong draw on the flop, you should bet out regardless of the number of opponents. The turn play is the one that I have a hard time coming to grips with - T.J. claims that HU you would bet out again on the turn (which makes sense since against one opponent your hand is less vulnerable), but would simply check against 2-3+ opponents. He concludes that 3 handed or more, you don't lead at the pot on the turn.

I've thought about this a fair bit; I can see why you would play the hand in the above fashion IF you are in LP - a bet on the flop in LP, enables you to exploit the "check to the raiser" tendency, and gives you a potential free card. This is a pretty standard limit play. But why are you failing to protect your hand if you are in EP?

The only rational I could come up with was as follows; if you have missed your draw on the turn, checking enables you to (possibly, but unlikely) see a free card. Betting is also doubled on the turn and river, so it is a more expensive play. Additionally, the structural nature of Omaha (4 vs 2 hole cards) makes it more likely that any card coming off the deck in a multi-way pot has improved someone's hand. And, finally, checking enables you to see the way in which your opponents act, thereby giving you an idea of whether or not your previous number of outs are still live.

Basically, does it really come down to "don't over commit on the flop with a draw, because hands are not as clearly defined yet"? That's the idea that seems to be hinted at.

Any discussion would be appreciated.

Re: Playing a drawing hand
 

You'd probably get a better response in 'poker theory' or possibly 'book discussion' or even 'beginners questions'.

Betting a strong draw is often correct because in Omaha, you will often have a flop in which you do not have even a pair, yet you are the equity leader in the field. Run the numbers on a straight wrap draw plus a nut flush draw if you don't see what I mean.

On the turn, you've got to have some instinct as to whether or not you have 'fold equity' (aka FE), but you're much more likely to have FE HU than multi-way.

I haven't read the Cloutier books myself.

Re: Playing a drawing hand
 

Thanks for the reply Frank, I'll re-post this in the theory portion of the board and let a mod know that they can junk the post.