Mixed Games, Where to Start?

Developing your skill set and knowledge of games other than no-limit hold’em will only serve to improve your all around poker senses and create opportunities to sit in juicy mixed games if and when the no-limit games dry up. This will be the final article focusing on how to become comfortable learning new games with a concentration on the various flop games you can expect to find in the mix of games played.

Flop Games

The flop games in question that are the most commonly spread limit games include: limit hold’em, Omaha eight-or-better, and crazy pineapple eight-or-better.

Limit Hold’em: Players start with two cards down where these two are dealt face down clockwise starting from the left of the dealer, one card at a time. Players will have a forced small and big blind bet to create action and the game does include a button. The best hand is a royal flush. Some key concepts in this game from my observation: Since everyone considers themselves an expert at hold’em, players try to out-level each other with raises, reraises, and fancy plays. For this reason, when limit hold’em is in the mix of games, I play it very straightforward, playing position, playing big cards, and big pairs. I will say that since it is the game most people cut their teeth on, most people play hold’em fairly well. I have found that most mixed games players try to get any game in the mix except hold’em, as a large percentage of mixed game players want to play games other than hold’em, for a variety of reasons. As previously stated, most people play the game fairly well, so it is hard to find soft spots at the table during the limit hold’em round. Also, since hold’em is so commonly spread, players get bored of hold’em quickly. As with any variant of poker, play your best, respect your opponents, and if you play three or more hands badly, be honest with yourself, pick up your chips, and live to fight another day.

Omaha eight-or-better: Players start with four cards dealt face down one at a time, in a clockwise rotation until all players have four starting cards buried in the hole. Players will have a forced small and big blind bet to create action and the game includes a button to determine position. The best hand for high is a royal flush, and the best hand for low is a wheel, A-2-3-4-5. Players must use two and only two cards from their hand and three and only three from the board to create their five card hand. Players may use the same cards for their low hand as they use for their high hand, vice versa, or mix and match, but the key takeaway is you must use two cards from your four down cards and three board cards to make your hand. When you are first starting to play this game, understand that an ace in your hand is a magic card. What I mean by this is the ace can play for high, or low, or both. The ace is the most important card in Omaha eight-or-better. Your starting hand selection should almost always include an ace and a wheel card or two, especially the deuce. The reason behind starting with an ace and other low wheel cards, is that you will almost always be trying to make a low hand first, then back into a high hand. In this situation, when you have the best low, often times you are freerolling for the high side of the pot. Be careful when you have a low-only hand with little chance of backing into a high hand. You will find that in cases where the pot is contested by numerous players, a large percentage of the time the high side is scooped by one person, and the low side is then split by two or even three players with the same low hand. This is a situation where you will be fortunate to get a quarter of the pot, and it is hard to win money playing split pot games getting quartered. Hands which have the ace and other low cards with a suited ace go up in value. The best starting hand is generally considered to be A-A-2-3, double suited. If you do start with a high only type hand such as K-K-Q-J, proceed very carefully after the flop, especially if the flop brings three low cards. These are the types of hands that will get you in trouble in this game, and I would advise you hold off playing these types of hands until your feel for the game improves. Play for low, and get very good at reading the situation in front of you based on the action. A common mistake I see in this game is players overplaying the nut low only. For example, two players both make the nut low on the turn card and the player with the dry nut low (meaning no redraws to a better low if counterfeited or a redraw to a high hand) thinks there is value in capping the betting. This player then laments his bad luck when a deuce falls on the river and he no longer has the nut low, and gets zero from the pot. What he doesn’t realize is that negative freerolls are just that, a disaster of a situation where your opponents’ expected value skyrockets with each bad raise or bet he puts in the pot. Players will justify their bets and raises by saying they were trying to protect their hand, and to charge the others the maximum to draw out on them. The simple fact is that in limit games, protecting your hand by isolating works in certain rare situations, but is a concept better suited to no-limit than limit.

Crazy pineapple eight-or-better: Players start with three cards dealt face down one at a time in clockwise rotation until all players have been dealt three starting cards face down. There is a small and big blind and dealer button to create action and determine position similar to the other flop games. The difference here is that after the first betting round, before the flop, players must throw away one of the three cards. So action completes before the flop, now the remaining active players throw away one card each. The game is now what I like to call high/low hold’em. You now must navigate the flop, turn, and river with two down cards, with half the pot going to the best qualifying low hand, (if a low is even possible) and the other half going to the high hand. My experience in this game is limited to several hundred live hands played at the Aria casino and from that limited experience and discussing the game with friends, here are my strategy observations: Try to start with an ace and a wheel card, the lower the better. You will be trying to make a low first and back into a high hand similar to the other high/low games. Play the game very tight until you get comfortable, as the game is not spread often enough to get a ton of experience in the game. Many of the players sit out or go for a walk during crazy pineapple as the game has high variance. It is tough to develop an autopilot mode for this game, since the board will change your strategy greatly as the community cards come out. When I first started to learn this game, I dove in head first and played too many hands, trying to mix it up and learn this weird new game. I will admit I lost more money playing this game than the others in the mix when I was first learning, due to variance, poor play, and the desire to speed up the learning process. If I had it to do over again, I would fold more before the first betting round and watch the other strong players play the game for thoughts on starting hands, and strategy until I got more comfortable.

Some general tips for playing flop games:

When first learning new flop games, play tighter than you think you should until you get comfortable.

In eight-or-better flop games, try to make a low hand first, and back into a high hand.

Since there are no antes, you should tend to play tighter up front, and loosen up as your position improves.

Be aware of when you are on a positive or negative freeroll and adjust accordingly.

Be honest with yourself, if you play three hands badly in a session, it is probably time to go home.

Learning the flop games is absolutely necessary to becoming a great all-around player. Virtually every mixed cash game and mixed tournament includes flop game variations. As always when learning a new game, ask your friends for their opinion on hands. Start discussions at the table if you are comfortable discussing strategy with your opponents. And if you find yourself lost in a game or confused, play tighter until you feel more comfortable or go for a walk to decompress. Your investment in new games, and developing your skill set and proficiency in all the games will only serve to improve your poker mind. The side benefit of learning all the games is that each new game you pick up makes you a better poker player, challenges your mind, and creates a bigger pool of players willing to feed the poker community for the long-term best interest of the game. Don’t wait another day, dedicate an hour today to exploring or experimenting with a new draw, stud, or flop game. Your investment in yourself will pay dividends immediately and expand your poker mind! ♠

Jonathan Green is a Commercial Manager for the General Electric Company and a semi-professional poker player, currently living in Los Angeles, CA.  Jonathan spent 2004-2011 living and playing on the east coast tournament trail, with annual trips to the WSOP since 2007. In between tournaments, Jonathan can be found playing middle limit mixed cash games in L.A. and Vegas. All feedback is welcome at:  [email protected].