Though there are many places that run regular pot limit Omaha eight ring games online, there are few regular opportunities to play pot limit Omaha 8 single table tournaments. This is not because it isn’t a popular game, it is because the way sit n go’s are designed, with quickly escalating blind structures; you are often forced to gamble with marginal hands as your chip stack goes down. In other words, you often aren’t able to wait for the best starting hands before committing a large portion of your chips. This is not the way winning players become winning players. Remember that the best players put themselves in situations where they get the majority of their money in with the best hand.
With all of that being said, there are a few things you can do while playing pot limit Omaha eight high low sit & go tournaments that will improve your overall win rate. The most important thing is to focus on starting hands that are better than average for both a high and low hand. Examples of these types of hands are:
A 2 K Q
A 3 J J
2 3 T T
Of course any hand better than those listed above qualifies as well, but understand how each of these hands offers a wide range of possible improvements on the flop. Hands with an Ace suited to one other card increase the strength of a hand as well.
The biggest mistake that I see is players committing all of their chips on a draw. For example, a player may flop four to a flush and do everything they can to get all in on the flop, with no other draws. This is simply a bad decision, and while they will double up sometimes, more often than not they will make a quick exit from the tournament.
The other type of draw players make mistakes on, and it provides even worse return odds, is when they flop four to a low hand and commit all their chips. The problem with this type of draw is they are usually only playing for half the pot, and even when they hit their draw they may get chopped, and only win a quarter of the pot. This quickly depletes their stack.
So in summary, I do not suggest playing pot limit Omaha eight in the single table format very often, but when you do, follow these guidelines closely. Never commit all of your chips on a draw unless you are a strong favorite, or your stack is so low that you have no choice. Concentrate on playing only hands with scoop potential, especially early in the tournament. Let weaker players bleed off their chips, hopefully to you when you have a strong hand. Don’t let other player’s poor play alter your decisions at the poker table. And finally, always strive to get your money in with the best hand and don’t let the few times that you are on the short end change your correct decision making.
