PLO Why can i spot the lows but struggle with the high end

TheEdge949

I was wondering why it is that whenever I play plo hi low I find that I do very well at the low part of the game but struggle with the high end. I have hardly played it on Sky yet for fear of looking stupid but on Stars I was able to nearly always scratch out a few cashes simply by loading the pot with pot size raises and splitting the pot with the high hand.

Is it just how my mind processes info as I also seemed to do okay at games such as 2 - 7 lowball and badugi etc or am i just incapable of playing the game.

Seriously its affected my game to the point where I cant play PLO H/L in my local casino as I may as well play em face up.

Any advice would be appreciated folks.

Yours in poker,

Phantom66

If you look in the Sit & Go Strategy section there is a lot of PLO8 advice. It is mostly there as the PLO8 dym tables are quite active. There is also some good advice in the "academy" tab at the top of the page.

One of the main tenets of PLO8 strategy is don't play for half the pot, always try to play for full pots. 

If you have a hand that is the nut low or worse drawing to the nut low, you are putting money into the pot with the chance of at best halving and if your low is counterfeitted you lose the whole pot, or if it is shared you get "quartered".

Talon

  First and foremost you are playing the game exactly the wrong way round.

 Every hand has the high pot and only some have the Lo. You should be looking to win the high primarily and to scoop if both are available. Going Lo only is just an easy way to burn chips and cash.

  The best cure for this would be to limit yourself to playing PLO only for a while to get the grasp of Hi only hands before trying to encorperate your Lo knowledge in. Cheap dyms are a good way to hone these skills will little risk to your wallet.

 After a while playing just PLO then try transitioning back to PLO8 with your wider knowledge

suzy666

In Response to Re: PLO Why can i spot the lows but struggle with the high end:

  First and foremost you are playing the game exactly the wrong way round.  Every hand has the high pot and only some have the Lo. You should be looking to win the high primarily and to scoop if both are available. Going Lo only is just an easy way to burn chips and cash.   The best cure for this would be to limit yourself to playing PLO only for a while to get the grasp of Hi only hands before trying to encorperate your Lo knowledge in. Cheap dyms are a good way to hone these skills will little risk to your wallet.  After a while playing just PLO then try transitioning back to PLO8 with your wider knowledge
Posted by Talon

not sure I agree with this.

whilst HiLo is a form of Omaha, when low draws flop (ca 70% ?), the betting and calling centres around nut or near nut low draws with some high potential. Position is even more of an advantage in PL08, esp if going low only. 

PLO is totally different, 4 cards (ideally connected) can span the range of the deck, whilst in PL08, the mid cards are often not played until short stacked / short handed. This makes PL08 much simpler because ranges are narrower post flop.

to OP. if you can win cash on stars, you'll be fine on sky at same stakes, try the £1.1 tournaments and read some online articles (look at the pitfalls to avoid stuff).

suzy666

try here:

http://www.omahaplanet.com/omaha-hi-lo-8b/strategy/

TheEdge949

In Response to Re: PLO Why can i spot the lows but struggle with the high end:

try here: http://www.omahaplanet.com/omaha-hi-lo-8b/strategy/
Posted by suzy666

Thanks for the advice folks Ill certainly take it on board.

Yours in poker

markycash

If you go into a pot with HI only orientated stuff you are on shaky ground. I mean lets say you have akkq and the flop comes down 23k. You have the nuts and it will be very hard to get off your hand. What if the turn comes with an 8 and there is no flush out? You still have the nuts but you really should not even be leading the betting in this situation, if someone jams the pots back at you then they will likely have the low and will be freerolling for your stack. In this situation it is even hard to hit your boat if there are a few players in the pot as people will often have limped a2xx a3xx (the cards you need to fall to hit your boat).

If you want simple advice which will pay off in the long run I would say this...

Don't get too hung up preflop on what you have in relation to the HI pot. Play hands like a2xx a3xx at full tables and if you nail the low and have very weak HI holdings then play it gently, if you have nailed the low and have a decent hi then hammer it for all it is worth.

In entering a hand you are taking part in a 'risky venture' (playing a pot). It is better to have good insurance in such situations (a strong low). Sure you will play the odd monster HI hand and scoop huge pots while everyone chases lows but in the long run it isn't profitable (at least not unless you are an utterly sublime post flop player and even then I doubt it, or if you have a table you can bully to death or a big stack in a bubble situation).

Obviously these dynamics are fluid and will change in accordance with table size and stack size.