Becoming a winning Omaha/8 sit-n-go player requires many of the
same skills that go with winning at no limit Texas holdem sit-n-gos,
and winning at Omaha/8 ring games.
The three main considerations are:
The blinds go up very quickly.
Many of your opponents will not play Omaha/8 well.
You must scoop pots to win.
Early Stages, Small Blinds, and
Tight Play
It is important to realize that the blinds escalate quickly, but
it is also equally important to realize that even if you don’t play
a single hand for the first four rounds, you will still have enough
chips to compete, because the blinds start small. Because poker is
an intricate game and so much of solid strategy depends on the
current game conditions, I rarely will issue a rule that should be
followed 100% of the time, but in this case I must make an
exception.
Rule – In an Omaha/8 sit-n-go tournament, do not play any hand that
does not have above average scoop potential in the first four rounds
of play.
Other than the blind situation, the biggest reason for this rule is
that the poor players, and these tournaments are filled with them,
will either be eliminated or cripple themselves out of contention
within these rounds by playing too many hands. As most sit-n-gos pay
the top three places, every opponent that is eliminated moves you
one place closer to a money finish, even if you are just watching
the action. The strategy here is to survive until there are five
players or less. By following the advice listed above, you will
still be playing at this point a great majority of the time,
probably between 80 and 90%.
Play in the Later Stages of an
Omaha Hi-Lo Sit and Go
When the blinds reach the fifth round, they start to represent a
larger portion of your chip stack and you will be forced to play
more hands. Because of the nature of Omaha/8 and the tendency for
many pots to be split, having a low possibility in your starting
hand becomes very important. The first four rounds, you can play
your best high only hands, in hopes of scooping a high only pot, but
in the late rounds the majority of hands will be played heads up and
hitting a low will allow you to survive. It doesn’t always have to
be a great low either. I have won many low pots with 6 8 or 3 7 in
these late rounds, allowing me to survive until I can scoop a pot.
These lows have no chance against four or more opponents in a hand,
but heads up they can win when you miss the high hand.
Example Hands
Here are some examples of strong hands early in the tournament,
and examples of the types of hands that can be played in the later
rounds. An x is any card, a w is a wheel card (2 3 4 5), an s
denotes a card of the same suit as the Ace, an e denotes a card
eight or less and a t means any card Ten or above.
Early Rounds: A 2 x x
A 3 w x
A w w w
A 3 s x
A t t t
A A t t
A A w w
Late Rounds: All of the above hands plus the following.
K K e e
Q Q e e
J J e e
A t e e especially with suited cards.
These are not all of the hands that you will play later in the
tournament, but these are the types of hands that you need to wait
for until your stack gets dangerously low.
Patience and understanding the changing values of the starting
hands, when combined with solid play, will help you consistently
show a profit in Omaha/8 sit-n-go tournaments.
Thanks to
Pokermonger for this article.
Be sure to also read the companion to this article,
Omaha sit and go strategy, and this article's OTHER companion,
Texas holdem sit and go strategy. And I've also got a complete
list of
Omaha/8 qualifying low hands available here too.
This page was last updated on January 5, 2006.
