Online Poker Strategy Articles

Art Young

This article will cover:

1. Taking the pot with two low hands and high cards flop.
2. Raising on fourth street with a nut low wrap or flush draw.
3. Going from zero to one-half or from one-quarter to three-quarters on the end!

(1) Since most intermediate players are only playing strong hands with an Ace and a 2 or an Ace baby (A-3, A-4), high flops often present an opportunity for the expert player. Say in a pot you come in raising with A-2-5 or A-3-4, you get called from behind (but not raised). You can quickly deduce that the call from a decent player probably has a similar hand to yours (if he had AA with a baby or AA with high cards then he probably would have 3 bet). Now if the flop comes low you bet out; but what if the flop comes high' You still bet out! Since if your deduction earlier is right and he too has low cards, you are likely to win it right there! If the high flop contains a single baby he may take off another card (in a single raised pot most players would not). This too is ok in that it will likely result in an extra bet won if the 4th street card is not helpful to the low. On 4th street no matter what comes fire out. Since on the flop your opponent didn't raise your deduction is likely right: that he is trying to make a back door low (and/or maybe a flush). By betting you continue to set up the 5th street bluff if a blank comes (with the likelihood of winning many extra bets). If a low card comes and you make the nut low with maybe a high pair or better you would continue to bet hoping to ' your opponent or maybe even scoop him if his resulting low isn't as good as yours and your high pair is better than his high.

Example:
A-2-4-7 vs. his A-2-3-6

Board: 3-J-Q-7-8

Your A-7, pair of 7s, would beat his A-3, pair of 3s.

Also, by betting the low with no high you still might scoop if he had in fact flopped a high straight draw and merely made a low pair on the end.

Example:
A-2-4-6 vs. his A-K-T-8

Board: 3-J-Q-7-8
Him failing to call since you represented high throughout.

One word of caution, these hands do not always work out because of the nature of an eight card combinations to each hand. But since Omaha 8 or better is a limit game and since the pot is always large relative to the size of the bet ;this expert play ,and others like it, in the course of a session separate the good player from the expert.

(2) Another expert play kind of takes the previous play and turns it around. In this situation the expert acts last and catches one low card-but is the key card to his hand.

Example: expert hand, A-2-4-5
Flop: Q-J-3

Since there were multiple raises he takes one off after the flop. Fourth street is a 6 (or even an A, 2, 4, or 5) giving the expert a rap straight draw to the 7 (or to the 6) and an uncounterfietable low draw. When the player with the lead bets the expert play is to raise representing a high hand slow played on the flop. This single raise (one additional bet) sets up a bluff for the 5th street if you brick but many times gets you multiple bets on the river by your opponent not realizing your drawing for low due to the miss direction play you made on 4th street.

Back to an example:

This type of play also works when on 4th street you pick up the nut flush draw with the nut low draw.

Example: Ah-2-4-5h

Board: Qh-J-3-8h

On 5th street if a low card comes you've made the nut low; if a high heart comes you've made the nut high; if a low heart (not pairing the board) comes you've made nut-nut; if a brick comes out- a non-heart high card or a non-heart pairing the board - you bet out hoping to steal the pot by having set up this bluff (if needed) by the misdirection raise you put in on fourth street! Again, the one additional bet on fourth street puts you in position to win many bets even when you brick. Again, this play may not work every time it comes up but you will be amazed at how often it does work and the huge dividends it will pay! Two further notes on these types of plays:

1. Without the raise on fourth street your opponent will often deduce in all likelihood that you are trying to backdoor a low (since you also merely called on the flop) and will call you down if you suddenly bet on the river when a non-low card falls-with most high hands even extremely weak ones! Thus again you can see how these types of aggressive plays separate the expert player from the good solid ground-em-out player.

2. This play also works well from the first position, when the expert player check raises on fourth street (taking the lead) and then fires on the river no matter what card hits!

(3) A popular play by many near experts deals with raising on the end when he is semistrong in both directions but realizes that the better has him beat in one direction (and hopefully not both) and the third player also has a weak hand but may beat our expert). By raising to knock out the third player, this aggressive play if successful results in ' the pot for the raiser that might have resulted in a zero piece of the pot had he not raised.

Example: 3h-6s-Kd-8d-Td

Better (likely to have) A-2-X-X or a high flush

Expert raiser: A-4-5d-7d

Third player: '

Of course the real risk here is multiple bets lost if the third player does not drop out of the pot resulting in your zero return or being quartered (if each of you have the low with A-4). Likewise, if the original better has a better 2-way hand you will also get scooped. Again, this play is common among near experts and experts, but the real world class play is the move to go from ' to ' of the pot!!! This play came up twice and I used it successfully both times in the WSOP $5,000 world championship event on day one. Knowing where you are and where your opponent is at is essential for this play to work. The hand that I will describe is the first time it came up in the tournament (the second time having very similar characteristics will not be transcribed here).

The Play:
Board: 3-8-K

Player A (1st to act, in the blind left of the button):

My hand: Ad-2-5-8

Player B (3rd to act):

I had the raised before the flop and player B had jumped the fence and called. Since he didn't reraise I suspected he had a similar hand as mine and not AA. Player A in the small blind called. The flop was 3d-8d-Kd. On the flop, Player A (a solid player from California) immediately bet out. I called and player B called. I felt with this type of action that player B had a similar hand (A-2) to mine. I also reasoned player A was betting a high hand probably K-8 or K-3 and not giving a free card to the low draws.

The fourth street card was the 7c.

When player A checked he confirmed my belief that he was high. I checked behind him because I believed that player B would bet-and bet he did-confirming my analysis that he too had A-2. When player A called, he confirmed my belief that he was high, with probably two pair (with a set he might have bet out or raised here to knock out a weak or even a strong flush draw that I could have). I smooth called knowing that I was likely three-quartered.

A perfect card: the 7h came on the end!'

Player A checked; I checked, and as scripted player B bet out. After player A called I raised! I believed that my raise at this late date would look like I filled up with the sevens pairing the board. Just as I hoped (and planned) player B reraised, believing he had the low lock by himself. Player A then folded believing he had no win with me apparently filling up and Player B with the low. I then merely called having accomplished my mission to knock out the hand that I felt was high.

When I announced A-8 for high (two pair: 8s and 7s with Ace kicker) with the nut low both players nearly fell out of their respective chairs-and I dragged ' of the pot and not the ' I would have won without making this play!

Note by gank: this article was published by my dad, Art Young (aka Youngblood as his pokername), a two time runner up for a bracelet back in the old days and winner of the 1982 Amarillo Slim Super Bowl of Poker. Nowadays, he plays mostly high limit cash games and tells stories about playing with most of the legends way before the poker boom such as Chip Reese, Amarillo Slim, and Gabe Kaplan.