Poker Articles

I meet so many people who are fascinated by what I do, and they always ask me the same thing: "Do you think I could play cards for a living?"

My answer has always been yes. All the information you need to learn the game is out there. Given a modicum of mathematical ability, the willingness to study hard, and a touch of luck in the beginning, most anyone can do what I do.

But lately I've been thinking that maybe there's too much information out there. I think people are overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of poker books, magazines and TV shows They are at a loss as to what to read, what to watch, what information is valid and what is bunk. So I decided, with my partner in Pokerfox.net, Adam "Hatfield" Stemple, to write a series of articles about the different paths a player can take to making a significant income at the tables.

The Pathways series is meant for self-starters. There just isn't enough space in a series of articles to teach you every nuance of the game, or even teach you proper strategy, but we will tell you where to go for all of that, and give you all the information you need to get rolling.

We strongly believe that if you follow our advice, study hard, and make wise decisions about what role poker should play in your revenue stream, these articles will provide you with everything you need to make a significant income playing poker. We also suggest you feel free to spend money on your poker education sooner rather than later with things like books and videos, website memberships, and lessons.

Before you get serious about playing poker professionally it is suggested that you read Fox's blog entitled "Taking the Plunge" and read Mark Blade's book, Professional Poker Vol. 1.

Done with those? Still interested? Okay.

Many of Omaha Hi/Lo’s strengths as a way to make a living are also its weaknesses. Not a lot of people play it, so it can be hard to find a game, though online there is nearly always a game and there are multiple games running at even the highest level 24 hours a day on the Party network. That also means your opponents are far less sophisticated than many of the hold ‘em players out there, and because of the smaller number of players they are also much easier to track. Data mining while you sleep can pay big dividends.

Omaha is also an action game. If you like winnowing the field down to one or two players that you have good control over, than OH/L is not for you. No matter the limit, you’re playing your hand against a field of 5 or more quite often, and it can be frustrating to flop the nuts, turn the new nuts, and get rivered by three different players. But the payoffs on your good hands are huge, and a mildly skilled player can make much more on average than an equally skilled Hold Em player.

Those of you who enjoy bluffing and the psychology of the game may not like Omaha Hi-Lo as much as Texas Hold Em, but if complex games and game theory come naturally to you then Omaha is your game.

You Will Need –

Championship Omaha by T.J. Cloutier and Tom McEvoy - This book is packed full of the solid practical advice that T.J.'s books have always given us.

How to Win Omaha Hi-Lo

PokerTracker Omaha (PTO) - PokerTracker Omaha is a program that allows you to track your opponent's play as well as your own, and even display your opponent’s statistics. For those of you familiar with PokerTracker, this is unsurprisingly the exact same program, but made for Omaha. You can get it at www.pokertracker.com and we highly recommend an add-on program called PAHUD, which you can download for free at www.pokeracesoftware.com.

A subscription to at least one poker-coaching site – Omaha Hi-Lo takes a lot of experience to master, and having a professional hold your hand while you stagger through your first baby steps can be immeasurably valuable. The trick is finding one that has decent Omaha information. We would be foolish not to mention that our site www.pokerfox.net has quite a few articles on Omaha, including some fairly extensive guides to whoring the game on certain sites. Hatfield plays Omaha Hi-Lo for the majority of his living and writes about it on the site frequently. www.dkbluesky.com is a free site with an Omaha blog and some good information scattered throughout.

You Might Also Want –

Wilson Software’s Turbo Omaha High Low Split
$89.95 is steep, but you can run a ton of hands to gain some experience before you step into a cash game.

Super/System 2 by Doyle Brunson and friends.
Though it doesn't really compare to Cappelletti's insight on the game, the Omaha 8 section is actually quite good, and you will certainly learn a few new things by reading it.

Getting Started –

Your first step is to hit the books. It doesn't hurt to take notes in a notebook reserved especially for poker knowledge, and after you read each book thoroughly make sure to review them frequently. You'll want to start very small, as Omaha Hi-Lo really takes experience and the knowledge in the books will take some time to sink in. Spend time with Turbo Omaha if you purchased it, and design some sample games to sit in. Full ring with a few players at 25% VP$IP and the majority at 50% simulates the lower limits rather well.

While you develop your game you can get used to the software. Spend a day or two learning how to use PokerTracker Omaha. The tutorials and forums at pokertracker.com should provide all the information you need, and feel free to ask questions on the forums; someone usually drops by to answer them pretty quickly. Play for a few hours while you get used to using PAHUD and make sure everything is running smoothly.

When you go to bed or to work, really any time that you are away from the computer for a significant amount of time, you can leave PTO running and importing observed hands. Now when you sit down at a table there will be a good chance that you already have some statistics on some of the players. Sitting down with a player when you already have a large sample of hands on them is a big advantage, and you can sort the players so that you can add the very worst players to your buddy list and follow them around.

Learn how to bonus whore. With at least 5 players seeing every flop, nearly every hand is raked, and raked well. A ton of easy money can be made with a few simple techniques and bonuses clear much more quickly playing Omaha Hi-Lo than any other game.

Moving Up –

Move to more tables first. Trying to read 4 cards pre flop, 7 cards on the flop, and 9 by the river can be a daunting task. Multiply that by a few tables and your mind begins to melt. But it is worth it. 3 to 4 tables plus bonuses and other extras means good, steady money.

The fun thing about Omaha is that the limit games don’t seem to get much harder as you move up. 1/2 might play a little wilder than 20/40, but there are frequently 20/40 games online with 3 or 4 truly terrible players. There are some tough tight Pot Limit games but if you're tracking them with PLO you'll know ahead of time and you can just avoid them. You can almost always find a table at the big sites with 5+ players seeing the flop at the limit you like. Once you have the experience and the bankroll to move up, do it. You’ll be surprised at how consistently poor the play is, even at the higher levels.

Equipment -

I know many players who multi-table on normal size monitors and deal with slightly overlapping tables just fine, but having a larger monitor with no overlap will make life easier for you. Flat screen LCD will be easier on your eyes, and any monitor that can handle 1600X1200 resolution will allow you to play 4 tables without tables overlapping. You will also want to set your monitor to the highest refresh rate that it supports. A refresh rate below 75ghz will be much harder on your eyesight.

The Dell P1130 flat screen CRT monitor seems to be a very popular choice for multi-table play, and the price is certainly right. Although it is big and heavy this is the cheapest monitor we've seen that has a flat screen that supports 1600X1200 resolution.

A nice optical mouse or wireless trackball will also make life a lot easier for you, and prevent things like carpal tunnel syndrome, and tendonitis. With a wireless trackball you can move around the house, make dinner, and sit back in your easy chair while you play. Repetitive motion problems are common among serious online players, and it's cheaper to prevent them than it is to get them treated later.

Moving up -

If you're going to make real money you will have to play 2/4 and higher. The games won't change much until you get to 10/20 and higher, and you will find terrible players all the way up to the 20/40 level. At each level make sure to check your stats in PTO and make sure that you are a consistent winner, though if you are beating 3/6 you are almost certain to beat 5/10 etc. If you are making less than 1.5 big bets for every 100 hands then you should go back and hit the books. Check your stats once you have 2,000 hands at each new level, but don't worry too much about them until you have at least 5,000 hands logged. It is expected that your big bets per hour statistic will go down slightly at each new level as the games get tougher.

Bankroll considerations -

While small swings will be common in limit Omaha, the large swings won't be as large or as common as they can be in Hold Em. 300 big bets should be a safe bankroll for limit play once you are certain that you are a winning player. Until you are comfortable at a given level (and have a very large sample of hands to assure you that you are a solid winning player) we recommend a figure closer to 400 big bets to help insure that won't go broke or need to move down a level if you have a small cold streak.

When playing Pot Limit Omaha you'll want to maintain a bankroll of at least 20 buy-ins for the level you play and 35 buy-ins is not an unreasonable number.

Live games -

You will often find live games tougher than online games when playing Omaha Hi-Lo. In large card rooms with a high percentage of tourists the games can be very soft, but if the same people are playing every day they will usually be too tight preflop to be very profitable. The rake and dealer tips also have a larger effect on a Hi-Lo split game than they do on most standard games. Splitting a pot with one opponent and actually losing money because of the rake is not uncommon at the lower levels. When playing pot limit in a live card room you'll want to quickly identify the solid players and be careful when involved in a pot with them.

To avoid losing your bankroll to the rake you will want to play tighter in a brick and mortar card room than you would online where there is a lower rake and no dealer to tip.

Income -

With some study you can expect to make more big bets per 100 hands than you would in a limit Hold Em game, with some experts making as many as 4 big bets per 100 hands.

Playing Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Lo I have seen Hatfield's long term results and I can assure you that 15 big blinds per 100 hands is easily achievable and higher numbers are not out of reach at the lower levels. An Example at the 5/10 level will help to understand what you might see.

At the 5/10 level playing four tables that are each full you will see about 210 hands per hour. At 1.8 big bets per 100 hands (easily achievable at that level) this would give you an hourly wage of around $38 per hour. Our upcoming pathways article on free money will help you increase this rate to well above $45 per hour, and an income of $50 per hour is not unreasonable to expect at this level considering how well Omaha lends itself to many of the free money programs.

Continuing study -

You must continue to study. The game changes every hand and there are a near infinite number of nuances to master. There are at least ten excellent books that can help your game immensely as you move up in levels. The books we mentioned will provide you with most of the Omaha Hi-Lo knowledge you will need, but learning about poker in general and how to control your emotions will continue to improve your win rate.

Having a friend who is on a similar journey is always helpful as well. Neither one of us would be where we are without having the other around to talk to and share knowledge with, and when learning a new game like Omaha it's particularly nice to have someone to discuss the game with.

Treat poker like a serious pursuit. Sure it's fun, but if you want to make the kind of money that a lawyer makes you'll have to put in almost as much study as they do to get their degree. If you want to make as much money as a pizza driver makes then you can study a great deal less, but you might be better off getting a job driving pizzas…

Feel free to contact Hatfield@pokerfox.net (he's our Omaha expert) and he'll try to answer any questions you may have. Don't forget that the forums here on pocketfives can be a very good source of information as well, with some of the best players in the world answering questions frequently.

Keep an eye out for upcoming Pathways articles on tournament poker, sng's, other alternate games and bonus programs.

Thanks for reading, now get back to the tables!

Hatfield and Fox