how long did it take you to win at this game?

[ill rich]

did you sit down and start winning? lose at fist, but then win, or break even and then start winning?

the omaha 8-or-better games at my casino are super good for the most part. super good. i've played two sessions, and quit after about an hour each time because i was losing. the first time i was playing short-handed and never played the game before. the most recent time i played okay i guess, but made mistakes on two key hands (drawing at a Jack-high flush on a paired board, and some other mistake, i forget) and lost a good amount of bets. i've purchased the high-low split poker for advanced players book and am abrosbing it, and i've also read the omaha 8-or-better section in super system 2.

so, how much table experience does it take to finally make it click and start winning.

i am a winning texas hold 'em player and i would realstically rate my ability as very good, and i am also a winning seven card stud player and rate my ability somewhere between OK and good. i want to learn how to play all the games, so i can switch to another game if the hold 'em or stud games aren't that great at the time.

sorry for the long story, but i felt it was important to note that i am not a losing player and can win at various forms of poker. i started off losing in no-limit hold 'em, but then became a winning player in under one year, and in limit hold 'em and stud i begain winning right away.

[steamboatin]

I don't know, 1.25 years and I am not there yet.

[wackjob]

Not long, but I made sure I was playing really poor players. I've never played higher than 30/60 online, but most of the games I find really soft, and I almost always play 6-max.

Make sure that 1) you play well under your comfortable limit, IE play at 2/4 if you have a comfortable 5/10 BR while you are learning. 2) you are playing against poor players, IE no need to learn against the pros 3) you play more conservatively when you start learning, IE leave the advanced plays, the weaker starting hands, etc. until you have more experience.

Obviously the game is quite different from HE in some aspects, but in many regards it is quite the same, and the "general" TAG strategy is usually best. Limping in is much more accepted, but other TAG theory applies in many the same ways, as do many concepts, IE isolation raises, value betting, semi-bluffing, etc.

Most importantly, post hands for review by the forum! Most of the best advice I've gotten on my O8 game has been in these forums, not from some lousy book, and definately not from other plays in person.

[wiseheart]

About 1 month for me, about the same time I discovered 2+2.
I actually started with $5 sent from my brother, never deposited, got down to .23 at one point (well and have bustod and gotten back in with FPPs a few times) been a 3bb/100 winner or thereabouts since after the 1st month.

[Shabamabam]

I'd say 1 month as well.

I played a whole bunch of other games and just carried some skills over (hand reading, aggression, etc.) to o8.

I read all the posts that I could (even from months back) on this forum and browsed many hands. I started to understand what lines people take and used it with game theory, which is why you'll often see me bluffing so much and making thin calls.

I'd start off playing high % scooping hands, start posting some of them, and go on from there. You should be killing it in no time.

[HLS2k6]

Your implicit assumption, that you're not a winning player at the FW 4/8 game, might be wrong. Two hours is probably less than 6 orbits at that game.

I've been playing O8 as my first choice game for only about 6 months now, mostly due to boredome with other games. I started having only read SS2, and was a winning player at the FW game from day one, assuming I'm not just on a sick upswing (I play 2-3 times per week live, and have just under 300 hours at the game). Online has been tougher, although I seem to have turned a corner from breaking even to winning about 2 months ago (currently playing at the 1/2 level).

At the typical FW 4/8 game, good basic fundamentals will win. For me, this initially meant a good understanding of starting hands and basic O8 preflop strategy, a mediocre understanding O8 postflop strategy, and having a solid background in limit poker generally from other games.

As you play more, you'll learn that the game is a cast of regulars and reads become incredibly profitable. There are a few very solid players (usually not more than 2 at a table at a time), but, in the vast majority of cases, solid means predictable, and you can just stay out of their way. It's amazing how 2 or 3 (and sometimes only 1) donators are all you need at a table.

For now, play ABC poker. That means don't ever draw to a J high flush when the board is paired. The swings can be frustrating when you're folding every hand, finally get a great starting hand, and brick the flop. I've started sessions with 20+ BB swings where I didn't make any huge mistakes or get coolered, and most of that money was lost by seeing then folding the flop. When things start going your way, though, the money can come back to you so fast-- much faster than it does when playing the same TAG style at hold em or stud, in my experience. Scooping 2 or 3 kill pots can be a 30-40 bb upswing, and is really all it takes.

[RobNottsUk]

As someone recently playing FLO8, after play FLHE, I'd like to emphasise that reading this forum, and posting has helped me.

I think I've tightened up my game, and understood what I studied better through the discussions on here. FLO8 can be very frustrating, you'll have nut Lo's double counterfeited and whacky draws come home against you.

Compared to pure Hi poker, the split pot halves the odds calling stations receives, yet doubles the hands they can make to keep them involved to the river. Pure genius!

[fishyak]

I first sat down at an O/8 table last November. Since then, I have played O/8 26 times. W 11 L 15. Net loses =434 in 93 hrs. of play for a -0.8BB/hr. loss rate.

At the wild tables of Commerce 3/6 with a full kill, variance is really high. I've won 500+ in 1 1/2 hr. And I've had the opposite, too. I'd like to say my play is trending better, but I think variance in this game is even higher than in LHE.

I've seen a lot of bad play. (Some of it was mine!) But with variance so high, it may take a lot of play before you can really establish your true win rate.

I haven't played in a little while. With a recent trip to LV I stopped playing O/8 because there O/8 is next to non-existent on the strip.

[ill rich]

[ QUOTE ]
Your implicit assumption, that you're not a winning player at the FW 4/8 game, might be wrong. Two hours is probably less than 6 orbits at that game.

I've been playing O8 as my first choice game for only about 6 months now, mostly due to boredome with other games. I started having only read SS2, and was a winning player at the FW game from day one, assuming I'm not just on a sick upswing (I play 2-3 times per week live, and have just under 300 hours at the game). Online has been tougher, although I seem to have turned a corner from breaking even to winning about 2 months ago (currently playing at the 1/2 level).

At the typical FW 4/8 game, good basic fundamentals will win. For me, this initially meant a good understanding of starting hands and basic O8 preflop strategy, a mediocre understanding O8 postflop strategy, and having a solid background in limit poker generally from other games.

As you play more, you'll learn that the game is a cast of regulars and reads become incredibly profitable. There are a few very solid players (usually not more than 2 at a table at a time), but, in the vast majority of cases, solid means predictable, and you can just stay out of their way. It's amazing how 2 or 3 (and sometimes only 1) donators are all you need at a table.

For now, play ABC poker. That means don't ever draw to a J high flush when the board is paired. The swings can be frustrating when you're folding every hand, finally get a great starting hand, and brick the flop. I've started sessions with 20+ BB swings where I didn't make any huge mistakes or get coolered, and most of that money was lost by seeing then folding the flop. When things start going your way, though, the money can come back to you so fast-- much faster than it does when playing the same TAG style at hold em or stud, in my experience. Scooping 2 or 3 kill pots can be a 30-40 bb upswing, and is really all it takes.

[/ QUOTE ]

what kind of expectation do you have at the $4-8 game?

is it more profitable than $4-8 hold em?

[HLS2k6]

Appreciably better expectation than hold em for me. In my time so far, the good nights are about the same to slightly better in terms of BB won, but the bad nights are generally better in terms of BB lost. I also have slightly less losing sessions at O8 than Hold em.

Others' results may vary, especially if they're less prone than me to fall into boredome induced FPS at hold em games. One truism I've read is that, if you're playing too loose or too fancy, play a few sessions of Omaha. It cures those mistakes in a big hurry.