Two-Time Bracelet Winner Ari Engel Talks Omaha 8 Tournaments

During this series of strategy columns, I have been interviewing 2021 WSOP bracelet winners. These champions will provide observations, tips, and strategies for you, the readers of Card Player, about the specific poker game in which they captured their 2021 bracelet.

The Event: $10,000 Omaha Eight-Or-Better

The Winner: Ari Engel

Ari Engel is an online poker legend. While in college at New York University, he was introduced to poker by his roommate (Andrew Brown, who ironically ended up winning a WSOP bracelet himself in 2008). After graduation, Ari fully committed to playing online, grinding day after day and tournament after tournament. Known to the online poker community as “BodogAri,” he achieved the status of being the no. 1 ranked online player in 2006.

Focusing primarily on no-limit hold’em, Ari began grinding the WSOP Circuit. With his nomad lifestyle, he traveled from stop to stop to accumulate points in order to qualify for the yearly WSOP National Championship. To date, he has 11 WSOP Circuit rings, which puts him in fourth place all-time.

In 2019, Ari achieved the dream of every professional tournament poker player, winning a WSOP bracelet. He bested a field of 996 players to capture the $2,500 no-limit hold’em event, taking home $427,399.

“That year, it was my 15th summer coming to the WSOP and I really never had any significant success. It had been frustrating. So, finally winning a WSOP bracelet was definitely surreal and a dream come true.”

Recently, especially during the pandemic, Ari has been playing a significant amount of Omaha.

“I can’t imagine many people have played more hands of Omaha hi-lo during [the pandemic] than I did. I just sat and played Omaha hi-lo all day, every day. I do enjoy it a lot. I’m not saying I’m the best Omaha hi-lo player. I just played a lot in recent times.”

At the 2021 series, the hard work paid off as Ari captured his second bracelet in the $10,000 Omaha eight-or-better championship, banking $317,076 for the win.

I spoke with Ari for my radio show to discuss his thoughts about playing Omaha 8 tournaments. You can watch the full interview on my YouTube channel (BernardLeePoker) or listen on iTunes.

Bernard: Ari, congratulations on winning your second bracelet in the Omaha eight or better tournament. What an incredible accomplishment winning one of the $10,000 championship events.

Ari: Thank you very much.

Bernard: As you started your career, your poker focus was clearly no-limit hold’em. The majority of your 11 WSOP Circuit rings and your first bracelet have come in no-limit hold’em. However, your most recent bracelet and more recently your 11th ring were both in Omaha. Have you played a lot of Omaha over the years?

Ari: Yes. I started playing Omaha hi-lo after I would finish my online tournament grind 10-12 years ago. Over the years, I’ve ramped up my play in Omaha hi-lo and that’s the game I most enjoy. I also enjoy pot-limit Omaha as well.

Bernard: Well, with Omaha having different strategies than hold’em, let me first remind people of the basic rules.

In Omaha, each player is dealt four cards and you MUST play two cards in your hands and three cards on the board. This rule is unlike hold’em where you can use only one card or even on rare occasions, you can use none and just play the board.

Now, having reviewed these rules, could you discuss some basic strategies when playing Omaha 8?

Ari: The first thing I would say, and this concept is true for any Omaha variety including pot-limit Omaha, is to play hands that are likely to hit the nuts. In hold’em, a king high flush or middle set is a really strong hand. But, in Omaha, given that everyone has four cards (and you must use two) especially at a full ring table with nine people for cards, 36 of the cards would have been dealt. Therefore, it’s much more likely that your second nut flush bumps into the nut flush, or your middle set is up against top set. So ideally, you are looking for nut draws at every stage of the hand.

Bernard: Great advice, but that takes care of the high part of Omaha hi-lo. What about the low part of the equation?

Ari: It definitely goes for low as well. Hands like A-2 have a lot of value, whereas hands like 3-4 and A-4 can just get you into trouble. Beginners to Omaha 8 will see these low cards and think they have a decent low draw. But in reality, you don’t as you really want to draw to the nuts. These hands may initially look good but they can often get you stuck and have you drawing dead.

Bernard: Since hold’em players are used to the high hand winning, I feel that the majority of players misplay the low side of the hand. Do you agree?

Ari: Definitely. As powerful as a hand like A-2 is, it can be vulnerable for three reasons.

First, if an ace or two comes out, you are no longer the nut draw, which puts your hand in jeopardy. So, having hands like A-2-3 are so much more powerful because they give you protection from being counterfeited.

Second, with A-2 often drawing to the nuts, there could be other players holding it as well. So, you could be winning only a quarter or in a worse case even a sixth of the pot. You need to be careful building a pot that you may end up losing money.

Finally, the worst-case scenario could happen where the board doesn’t have three low cards visible and you’re A-2 doesn’t even play.

Bernard: What other advice would you give the novice Omaha player?

Ari: In hold’em, pocket aces are always going to be quite a powerful hand and are going to win a considerable amount of the time. But in Omaha, hands are much closer to each other, so it has more to do with the flop, turn, and river. You don’t want to just get married to your hand without considering the board texture.

Also, do not register late for a tournament. There is often so much weaker play early and since your chip stack is deep and healthy, you are able to take some small risks and withstand any bad beats.

Bernard: Thanks for the great Omaha 8 advice. Congratulations once again for winning your second WSOP bracelet. What an incredible accomplishment beating out 134 of the best Omaha players from all over the world.

Bernard Lee broke into the poker world after a deep run in the 2005 WSOP main event. He has two WSOP Circuit rings, and is an author, having written for Card Player, the Boston Herald, Metrowest Daily News, and ESPN, where he was a host of the show The Inside Deal. His radio show and podcast, The Bernard Lee Poker Show, recently celebrated its 14th anniversary, and his latest book, Poker Satellite Success: Turn Affordable Buy-Ins Into Shots At Winning Millions, is now available on Amazon as well as D&B Publishing. Follow him on Twitter @BernardLeePoker or visit his website at BernardLeePoker.com or YouTube channel at Youtube.com/BernardLeePoker.