Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo Basic Strategy
Much like many other split pot games, players who wish to succeed in Omaha high low require a slightly different skill set than in some of the other forms of poker. Since players are capable of potentially winning different halves of the pot at different points in the hand, it is very important that players to determine where they are in a hand, and at a variety of different points (preflop, post-flop, turn, and river). Like many other forms of poker, there are a few simple rules which can help players succeed against their opponents, among these being the importance of strong hand selection.
In Omaha high low, there are three different types of hands that players can look out for: hands that are good for winning the high pots, hands that are good at winning the low pots and hands that can “scoop” the pot by winning both halves. Typically you will see that winning Omaha high low players will play one of two types of hands – hands that are very strong for winning the high pot, which are similar to hands you would find in PLO, and hands that can scoop the pot by winning both halves. Against weaker opponents, one of the easiest ways for a player to gain an advantage is to be more selective in the low hands that they choose to play. Although players can win a pot with any hand eight or better, typically it is important to avoid playing eights or sevens as part of your low hand. It’s acceptable if they are on the community, but you do not want them to necessarily be apart of your hole card selection. Typically, winning players want to be holding either combinations of ace-two (A2xx), ace-three (A3xx), or two-three (23xx) as part of their low. Hands that include an ace-two combination are more likely to win the low pot, and as a result you will see many of your opponents play all hands of a similar combination.
However, it is important to understand that since many players are going to play the ace-two combination, at times their hand is going to be very vulnerable when an ace or two is on the board, as it of course counterfeits the cards they have in their hand. Remember, a player needs to use two of their cards and three of the cards on the community to make a low. Therefore, you hold a stronger hand if you have some protection against counterfeiting your hand, which in many cases means holding three cards that are five or lower. Usually it is even better if you have flush draws to go along with your combinations as well, so that you have the potential to make high hands as well. For this reason, AA23 double suited is the strongest starting hand in Omaha high low, because it can win the high pot in many circumstances, and is also protected to win the low pot in a variety of ways.
Once players learn to select good hands they can improve some of their post flop play to improve their chances at winning. In many cases it is important to do some second level thinking in this game, which centers around figuring out what your opponents have. When this is done correctly, players can learn when their opponents are attempting to win the high or low pot, or are attempting to scoop both pots. Once you can determine what type of hand your opponent has, you can (in some cases) win extra pots that you may not have won if your opponent missed a low hand, or if both opponents appear to have a high hand and you have the best low. Because of this, it is possible for players to win pots with seemingly weaker hands, because they’ll have correctly analyzed the strength of their opponents’ hands correctly.
Lastly, when attempting to determine whether or not you should continue in a hand, it’s important to remember the number of opponents involved. Typically, when you are certain that you have half of the pot but not the whole pot, you want to make sure you don’t play your hand so aggressively that you only end up with the player who has the other half of the pot. In these cases you want to keep extra players who have the 2nd best hands involved, so that both of you can win as many chips as possible. To this effect, in many cases if a player is holding a nut low, other players may be holding it as well in which case you are likely to not get the entire half of the pot. As always, it’s important to realize when you have the opportunity to scoop both halves of the pot as that is when players can make the most money in the game. These are the spots that you want to play as aggressively as possible, because you stand to win the most as opposed to many cases where you may only increase a little.

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