O8 Strategy with Mid Pairs

[Zamees]

Been reading a little bit online about Omaha Hi/Lo strategy and it seems a lot of it has to do with starting hands. What's listed are the most common starting hands which I'm fairly aware of, but I didn't see any discussion about middle pairs. Are hands like 10107K(unsuited) any good or 66310? In hold-em you usually want to see a flop with any pair if it's cheap. But in Omaha, it seems the lower pairs suck going in. What pair should I require myself to have if the other 2 cards in my hand suck? Should this be affected by number of limpers and me in late position?

[pzhon]

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Are hands like 10107K(unsuited) any good or 66310?

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Those are garbage hands in most games. Don't aim for middle set, or baby flushes.

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What pair should I require myself to have if the other 2 cards in my hand suck?

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AA.

In Omaha, look for hands where all 4 cards work together, or at least 3 work well together. If you are taking 2 cards to battle against players with 4 cards, your 2 better be A2 or AA.

This is not true if you are playing heads up, or if it somehow gets folded to you on the button.

[Zamees]

So KK72 get's the boot?

[pzhon]

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So KK72 get's the boot?

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Ye's.

[Kurn, son of Mogh]

What do you hope to make, a set of K's?? Great, you'd win half the pot when the set held up, and it won't hold up that often. One big pair that isn't AAxx is not a good high hand, and 72 is worth zero for low.

You need to play hands that can scoop.

[I dunno]

Hands like 663T are always trash, even for skilled players. Your starting hand selection is going to depend on the table conditions, and you should generally play looser preflop in a shorthanded PL game than at a ten handed limit table.

KK and rags isn't necesarilly a fold, but if you are just learning the game then I would recomend it, unless the side cards are well coordinated.

Avoid middle wrap hands (like 9875) and a pair by itself doesn't usually make the hand worth playing. 9s9c3sKd should be folded, where as Ac3s9d9s is certainly good enough to see a flop for one bet.

[nhtool]

KK72 is not a terrible hand on the button in 6max if you can open with a raise and isolate the big blind. Otherwise, it's pretty much crap.

KK with two wheel cards, though, is actually decent in a shorthanded game.

[gxc999]

KK32 might be the minimum to call a raise with. Even AAxx such as aa7j etc, very foldable hands if there's been any action. Besides, in low limit, how often will just 1 pair even split that pot? Rarely<

[binions]

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What do you hope to make, a set of K's?? Great, you'd win half the pot when the set held up, and it won't hold up that often. One big pair that isn't AAxx is not a good high hand, and 72 is worth zero for low.

You need to play hands that can scoop.

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Pocket pairs 99-KK are far more valuable at pot limit O8 where your set can make it very expensive for the low draws and force them to fold or make a mistake by calling pot. Contra limit O8 which goes to showdown much more often. One of the biggest mistakes you can make in PLO8 is calling big bets trying to win half the pot. Sets allow you to harvest this mistake from the bad players.

Pocket pairs 88-22 are still garbage at PLO8 (without more) because if you hit your set, there is automatically 1 card to a low on the board. AA has the same problem but will always be top set to compensate.