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 he Guardian G2 Poker Column |
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| Victoria
Coren |
| Monday February 5,
2007 |
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Last week, I promised you a secret about high-low split games which
would allow you to mop up your innocent friends' hard-earned money. Don't be
disappointed by the simplicity of the tip - the original golden goose was a
pretty straightforward concept too. Here it is: always play for the entire
pot.
In high-low (or "eight or better") games, half the pot goes to the
lowest hand and half to the highest. This applies to seven-card high-low, as
explained last week, and Omaha high-low (which, having been given the rules of
Omaha and high-low split, you should be able to figure out on your own). With
two ways to win and so many cards to choose from, your foolish friends will
find excuses to call with most starting hands. If you restrict yourself to
cards that might allow you to win the whole pot, you will always have a big
edge. (Remember that you can make two different hands if necessary, using a
different five of your seven cards.) |
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The key factor is that aces are both high
and low. A2345 is the lowest possible hand, yet 10JQKA is the highest possible
straight. This means that an ace is a fantastic "dark card" in seven-card
high-low - and in Omaha high-low, it's barely worth playing without one.
A perfect opening hand in seven-card high-low would be A23 of the same
suit. Now you're drawing to the best low, a flush and a straight. Conversely,
QQJ is uglier than it seems, because you are only drawing to the high hand. You
can win half the pot at best, and you might not even get that.
The
natural corollary is to avoid middling cards. Eights and nines are awful,
because they are neither high nor low. This is the first and last law of
high-low poker: "going both ways" is not an added bonus. It is the very object
of the game.
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