Marcus Bateman / Marcus Bateman / 21 August 2008 / Leave a comment

This is a concept which players seem to forget at nearly all limits, time and time again.

When playing hi/lo games (the most popular of which are seven card stud eight or better and Omaha eight or better) the high hand wins half the pot, and the low hand (if one exists, as it has to have five cards below eight to qualify) wins the other half. Because of this, the most important aim when playing these games is to win both halves of the pot - not just one or the other.

The best hands to play when going for the scoop are low hands. Low hands have a much greater chance of out drawing into high hands than high hands into low. A hand like KcKdQcJh in Omaha hi/lo can never develop into a low hand, where as a hand like Ac2c3h4h can easily become both a good low, as well as a straight or flush. This holds true in any variation of hi/lo poker and means that your starting hand requirements should be geared around playing low hands with potential to develop into high.

Many players look at hi/lo games and see the potential to play lots of different hands because so often they end up with half the pot. The problem with this is that all it takes is a couple of scoops to break you - you will lose chips just as quickly as if you were throwing away a buy in an hour in a no-limit hold'em game, only you will get to win half the pot a lot in between in the hi/lo games. This can easily give the illusion that you are not making a fundamental mistake when in fact you are.

By focussing on playing hands that have the potential to develop into both high and low hands you can become the player who scoops more often than they get scooped. It only takes one or two scoops over a session of hi/lo to be in profit, and this single concept is what you should be thinking about when playing these games. Obviously there are situations when playing a hand which is only low or only high is correct (usually in multi way un-raised pots - much like suited connectors in hold'em), but always remember that these are the marginal hands of the game - overplay them at your peril.