Pot-Limit Omaha Eight-or-Better

You are playing at the final table of a pot-limit Omaha eight-or-better tournament against four wonderfully loose opponents. In your $4,000 big blind, you pick up the K 4 J 2. All four opponents call the $4,000 blind. You have been amazed by the assortment of junk that three of your four opponents have been playing. Only one of the opponents seems to be familiar with the concept of folding before the flop and raising before the flop. Coincidentally, he is the chip leader, with more than $100,000 in chips. You are tied for second-most chips with about $80,000, and the smallest stack has about $40,000.

The flop comes 9 6 3. Thus, you have the second-nut spade-flush draw, the third-nut low draw, and also a gutshot 5 for a low straight. Do you know what the actual odds are of one of the four opponent hands having the ace and another spade? About 10 years ago, I wrote a column (Card Player, July 25, 1997) with a chart of the odds of the nut-flush draw being held; in this scenario, against four opponents, one of the opponents will be dealt the A X about 15.5 percent of the time.

So, what are the percentages of one of the four opponents being dealt an A-2 or an A-4? An A-2 will be dealt to one or more of the four opponents about 24 percent of the time. Similarly, an A-4 will be dealt about 24 percent of the time. But those percentages include 8 percent for both an A-2 and an A-4 being dealt. Thus, none of the four opponents will be dealt an A-2 or an A-4 about 60 percent of the time.

Therefore, if you hit either of your draws, you are a favorite to win that half of the pot. With two cards coming, you will hit your spade-flush draw a little more than one-third of the time. And an 8, 7, or 5 will hit and give you the third-nut low more than 46 percent of the time. Note that if an ace hits (about 17 percent of the time), you will have the nut low. And wouldn't the A (nut-nut) be nice?!

The small blind checks to you. What would you do with this hand?

I considered making a small $8,000 bet into this pot, which was now $20,000. But with this kind of flop, a small bet would be very unlikely to buy the pot. Even betting the pot would be unlikely to fold all of these opponents. If I did bet and somebody made a large or pot-size raise, I would be very unhappy. All in all, although I believed that I "belonged in the pot" (one criterion I use for betting), I thought that more bad things could happen by betting than good things. So, I checked.

It was checked around, although two of the players in back of me pretended to think about something. The turn card was the K. Again, the small blind checked to me. What would you do now?

Of course, now I had a pair of kings in addition to my non-nut draws. Betting $10,000 here seemed to be about right to narrow the action and eliminate some hands that might hit a miracle river card. Occasionally, a high pair ends up winning the whole pot. Also, because of the previous check around, it was unlikely to get raised.

Two opponents called. The good player (the chip leader) and the small blind folded. The river card was the 8. I saw no reason to bet my mediocre holdings. The next player bet $20,000, and the other player folded. Would you call in this situation?

The main argument for calling is that the bettor would have to have two good holdings in order to beat me both ways. If he had an A-2 or an A-4, he would need a king or two working high cards to beat my kings. And he had checked on the flop and merely called on the turn.

So, I called. He had a 10-7, so the 8 that gave me a low gave him a straight. I actually had been quite close to scooping the whole pot - but half a loaf is better than none.

When you play Omaha eight-or-better, especially pot-limit or no-limit, you would strongly prefer to have the nuts or close to the nuts in one direction (for example, top full house that would lose only to quads) before risking your stack. But the world of Omaha eight-or-better is quite imperfect, and even the best players often have to take a swing at some risky pitches (and without steroids).

Formerly a career lawyer with the U.S. Department of Justice, Mike Cappelletti has written numerous books on poker and bridge, and is considered to be one of the leading authorities on Omaha. Mike has also represented the U.S. in international bridge competition, and he and his wife were featured in a four-page Couples Section in People magazine. His books include Cappelletti on Omaha, Poker at the Millennium (with Mike Caro), and Omaha High Low Poker.