Pushing High

Playing in a loose Omaha high-low game at the Tropicana in Atlantic City, I was in next-to-last position and picked up the A 4 2 9. Three players called around to me. With A-2-4 in a well-attended pot, I raised before the flop. I didn't mind the button folding as it gave me last position (a nice advantage). Everyone else, including the blinds, called.

In six-way action, my hopes for low cards were dashed when the Q 9 6 hit the flop. However, the good news was that it was checked around to me. Should I graciously accept the free card?

I didn't. I thought the hand had enough all-around potential to bet and put some pressure on the checkers, even though it was quite possible that I might run into a check-raiser. It is important not to give checkers a free card that might lead to their beating you out of half the pot (or even the whole pot). For example, if the next card was a heart, someone might have two hearts higher than mine, or the card could give someone trips.

So, I bet and one of the blinds checked-raised. Everyone else folded. I had noticed that the check-raiser was the real "operator" type, and was quite aggressive. I was at least going to call, but since I was sitting in back of him, I thought I'd "test him" by reraising (which also could get me the option of seeing a free last card). He thought about it and fiddled with his chips. I was almost expecting a "reluctant reraise" – but he just called.

The turn card was the 4 – a pretty good card for me. It gave me two (low) pair, the nut-low draw, and a heart-flush draw. He came out betting. Maybe he really had something! All I could do was call.

The last card was the J. All in all, I liked it – although I would have preferred a low heart to have an "emergency low" in reserve.

He bet. Did he have a higher flush (A X was "the nuts" in this hand)? Should I call or raise?

I merely called. He had nothing but a pair of nines (king high). He had been driving a straight draw; his hand was K-9-8-7. So, if I had raised, he would have folded.

Two of the arguments against raising in Omaha are: First, if he has me beat, instead of winning an extra big bet, I might lose two big bets (since he is the type of player I have to call in limit poker). Second, if he is bluffing, he will fold when I raise and I have risked raising for nothing. Note that if he had a hand with which he would call my raise and lose, he might not have bet (looking at three hearts on the board).

His come-bluff ("driving"), which he launched after the turn card, might have worked if I had not hit favorable cards. But in theory, he actually did not have the right kind of hand for "using up one of his bluff attempts." In Omaha high-low, come-bluffing on a one-way high hand when there are two low cards on the board is a low percentage play. If the last card had made a low, that would have made further bluffing impractical. For example, on this hand, if I had made a low and called after the last card, it turns out that my pair of nines with an ace would have beat his nines with a king.

In Omaha high-low, when you bet to represent a high hand after the turn, you have better percentages going for you when you also have a good low draw. Then, if the last card does not make a low, you can fall back on the bluff for high. In Omaha high-low, if two players are both drawing for a low on the last card, it is clearly better to be the bettor.