The Best Omaha Hi-Lo Poker Hands
Previously we discussed the best poker hands
for Omaha. The general theme was that each 2 card pair should
be useful, and there are 6 such pairings of 2 cards from
our 4 total cards. Now with adding in the challenge of making
a qualifying low hand, that does complicate things a bit.
Previously we said that for a 2 card pairing to be useful,
they should either be 2 of a kind, the same suit, or close
enough to be part of the same straight. Any hand that was
considered exceptional good for regular Omaha should
be considered a good hand in Omaha Hi-Lo as well.
After all, there is always a chance that there will not
be 3 cards of value 8 or lower on the board, in which case
there is no qualifying low hand. So a hand like A A K
K double suited, which we said was the best Omaha hand,
is still a very good Omaha Hi-Lo hand, even though it stands
no chance of making a qualifying low hand.
However, hands that were marginally good in regular Omaha,
lose a lot of their value in Omaha Hi-Lo. For example a
hand like 7H 7C 9C JD is a pretty good Omaha hand, but would
be considered sub par in Omaha Hi-Lo.
So, what would be the best poker hand in this variety
of Omaha?
Well, certainly, we’d like a Omaha Hi-Lo hand that
qualifies us for the low hand (if there is one). But we
don’t want to sacrifice our high hand at that expense.
We’d like to have the best of both worlds. So, the
consensus best hand in Omaha Hi Lo is A A 2 3 double suited.
Let’s break down the 6 two card combinations to see
why this is so good.
A A - a pair of aces, the best pair out there, a
great start for our high hand.
A 2 suited – not only is this the best start
for a low hand, but this is also suited, since A is the
highest card of any suit, this is the best suited start
for that suit, also it could be a good start to a straight.
A 2 unsuited – everything that I mentioned
above, minus the suited part.
A 3 suited – this is also a very good low hand,
and protects your low possibilities in the situation where
a 2 hits the board, also this is a good start for a straight
and a great start for a flush.
A 3 unsuited – ditto for A 2 unsuited.
2 3 – this is a pretty good low hand, and protects
your low hand in the case where an A hits the board (which
should make you very happy since you have 2 of them in your
hand), plus it could help out a straight attempt
So as you can see, each 2 card combination brings something
to the table. A great all around hand, you should be betting
as much as you can pre-flop on this Omaha Hi-Lo hand!
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