Raising with random hands

[Cincy_Kid_ES]

I was wondering how people felt about raising with somewhat random hands like 9d 5c Jh As should be in your omaha play? Raising with more random hands could be a good way to break out of the cycle or mindset of your opponents saying people who raise OOP have AAxx.

This also seems to be a really stupid statement as to brand someone as having AAxx just because they raise from a particular position. I am somewhat new to the game - have only played about 5k-10k hands, but it seems to me predictability is the main thing to stay away from in omaha - not hand selection or pre-flop strategy - although those thinigs are still important. I just do not feel they are at the top of the list.

[Cincy_Kid_ES]

bump - can someone please respond?

[JackInDaCrak]

You can find a lot better hands than 95JA rainbow to widen your preflop raising range.

in e.g.,:

5677 ds
9TJQ
89JQ
7799

etc.

[Ricky_Bobby]

Raising a wider range of hands than AAxx is good. Raising total garbage doesn't seem good to me. You don't have to open your range that much to dispell the idea that an OOP raise is always AAxx. I'm no expert on pre-flop hand requirements in Omaha (note that you didn't specify full ring or 6-max) but I can think of no situation where I would be playing AJ95o.

[BadBenOni]

dont raise with random hands,
there are always enough interesting hands to raise with if you want to donk it up.

[crashwhips]

Like everyone else said, why would you want to raise with random, bad hands when you can raise with good hands that aren't aces. The only reason you should be raising a hand like AJ95r is when it's folded to you on the button or in the small blind with players who are very tight preflop in the blinds.

[Cincy_Kid_ES]

alright well I will admit - raising with the worst hands in omaha is not a good idea.

But back to another point I made - raising with decent not great hands in early position is not a leak. And correct me if I'm wrong, but I've been reading a decent amount of strategists in these forums state that you should almost never play in EP. Raising a hand like 9764 rainbow OOP seems like taboo to some people, but I think the key thing many people are forgetting is table image. Omaha isn't about hand selection which I also think many people in the Omaha HI forums are trying to make it out to be.

Does anyone agree/disagree?

[TimberBee]

I like to loose it up on the button a lot, but I just don't see you point in raising trash from EP. Why can't you rather raise up some hands that will flop something good once in a while. For example, I'll sometimes raise 5677ss in EP, but that's almost about the worst I go, unless there are special circumstances.

And do you really want to get no respect from any of your raises, and a bunch of flatcallers everytime you raise?(some would say 'yes' here I guess [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] )

[Cincy_Kid_ES]

I'm saying if you are consistently getting garbage hands in EP at a particular table lets say for the last 15-20 minutes, why not start raising up EP with any form of decent hand just to get your image loosening up. No, you should not raise with garbage continuously, but if you are too tight, once your good hand comes around, you may get too much respect and not paid off - that's all im saying. Raising in EP with marginal hands shouldn't be a trend, just something to do if you feel that you find your image turning into a nit when it comes to playing from EP.

Do you agree that playing Omaha has more to do with playing off your image and understanding the person you are up against as opposed to hand selection?

[BadBenOni]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm saying if you are consistently getting garbage hands in EP at a particular table lets say for the last 15-20 minutes, why not start raising up EP with any form of decent hand just to get your image loosening up.

[/ QUOTE ]
Because a tight image is just as good as a loose one, you can bluff more later.

[ QUOTE ]
Raising in EP with marginal hands shouldn't be a trend, just something to do if you feel that you find your image turning into a nit when it comes to playing from EP.


[/ QUOTE ]
Seems like a nit would be the ideal image for you, you are naturally loose so it would be deceptive.

[ QUOTE ]
Do you agree that playing Omaha has more to do with playing off your image and understanding the person you are up against as opposed to hand selection?

[/ QUOTE ]
Both are important.
But some players just play their own hands,
no value in playing rubbish if nobody notices.