This article lays out the similarities and differences in strategic approaches to each of the two Omaha variants. In the interest of saving keystrokes, I'll refer to the two games as Omaha (for Omaha High) and O8 (for Hi-Lo split).

Hand Selection

Hand selection in O8 shares a few qualities with Omaha, but is really a completely different beast.

In Omaha your goal is to maximize your possible nut draws. This is done with suited aces, connected cards and high pairs. The best two hands in Omaha are AA-KK double-suited and AA-J-T double-suited.

In O8 your objective is to have a nut high draw, with a nut low draw for a chance at scooping the whole pot. Again, the best way to go about this is with suited aces, but instead of high or connected kickers you want low ones. The best O8 starting hand is AA-2-3 double-suited, with AA-2-4 DS close behind.

As you can see, the commonality between the two games is the power of suited aces. Both forms of Omaha are nut games: playing hands with second nut or worse draws will leave you broke. As an amateur without the ability to make professional-level reads of the other players' actions and hands, you simply cannot afford to be chasing draws below the nuts.

Full Tilt Pro David Benyamine: Omaha killer; clearly avoids danglers.

Hand selection in O8 is much simpler for a beginner than in Omaha. In O8, you're almost exclusively playing hands with a high/low suited ace (such as having an ace and a deuce of the same suit) with a third and fourth card to back up the first two.

You want to avoid any hand with a dangler, meaning a card that does not connect with the others in your hand.

A-K-3-4 is far stronger than A-K-2-9. A dangler puts you at a huge disadvantage, as it forces you to play three cards against everyone else's four. When you're starting in O8 you are pretty much looking for hands with an ace and a two or a three, with cards to back up a nut draw.

In Omaha, you have more hands that can get you into serious trouble. Run-down hands (a hand where all four cards are in a row, such as T-J-Q-K) can be massive money earners, as well as massive money losers, depending on how and when you play them.

The strongest example is if you're playing a hand such as 5-6-7-8. If you hit a flop with a 9-T in it (giving you a wrap draw), you're drawing dead on most of your outs to a hand holding 9-T-J-Q.

When learning Omaha, you want to try to play only very strong hands with only the possibility to make a nut. I can't stress this enough. Because most hands will be won by straights or better in a full Omaha ring game, the power of pocket pairs is greatly diminished compared to Hold'em.

A professional Omaha player will be quick to tell you that a pair of queens in Omaha is nothing to get excited about, and is rarely if ever worth calling a raise with. The power of a set in Omaha has only a fraction of the strength it does in Hold'em, and the power of an overpair is almost nil.

Bluffing and O8

Even though half the pot is awarded to the low hand (if you don't understand what makes the best qualifying low hand, give this article a quick read), to play O8 successfully you must be playing to win the high, with a low redraw for a chance to scoop.

Full Tilt Pro John Juanda: Also avoids danglers.

I can't tell you how often amateur O8 players make the following mistake: You should never make a naked bluff on the river in O8. If you have nothing, but have represented a strong high, the bluff is always a mistake.

The reason for this is simple, as the other player only has two options to choose from: they put you on a bluff, or they will believe your act and think you have a huge high to call you down with a weak low to save half the pot. Often their second or third nut low will include some sort of pair to scoop the high as well.

In O8, always remember that your opponent is not going to fold a low to you; don't bluff with air. Beginners should only ever semi-bluff in situations where they hold the nuts for half the pot, and are trying to force a fold to scoop the second half as well.

Bluffing in Omaha can be effective, but is an advanced play. With all the possible hand combinations available in a four-card game, your opponent will commonly have enough of a hand to want to call - far more frequently than in Hold'em.

Until you're able to make strong reads on your opponent, feel the texture of the board and understand the betting story, you will not be able to make bluffs with a high rate of success.

Drawn and Quartered

Although it's possible to share the best high hand with another player, it's somewhat of a rare occurrence. Playing for the nut high will typically give you half of the pot.

In O8 the low is most often won by a player holding A2 as their two low cards. For this reason, it is very common that the low is split between multiple players, all of whom hold A2 as the nut low.

Getting quartered is unique to high/low split games, and only very rarely happens in a split Stud game. O8 sees more players get quartered than any other game.

Don't get overzealous with the nut low. Seriously.

Beginner players get overzealous with the nut low, thinking they have a lock for half the pot. In the best-case scenario, you end the pot heads-up.

The other player is making the largest bets they can, and you're calling with your nut low. On the showdown, they win the high, but they also have the A-2 to share the low with you. You've now put in half the total amount of the pot to win one quarter.

The more players in the pot, the less of a share you will receive. It's crucial to treat the low as just a bonus to your strong high hand.

You should also work quartering into your O8 game plan. When you have the nut-nut (holding both the nut high and the nut low), and your high is obvious (there are three to a flush on the board) it can be common for another player with the nut low to put you on just the high and call any bets to take half the pot.

In this situation you want to take them to the cleaners and pump the pot to the maximum. Any player who feels they have a lock for half the pot will be willing to put in any amount of money.

The common theme between the two games is that you are playing a nut game. You need to be very strict in your starting-hand requirements, and play solid, tight, by-the-book poker.

More Omaha strategy articles from Sean Lind:

• Pot-Limit Omaha Beginners Guide Part 1
• Omaha: Common Beginner Mistakes
• Omaha Odds and Outs: A Quick and Dirty Guide
• More to Poker Than Hold'em Part 1: Omaha