Blind Response

In a tightish $15-$30 Omaha high-low game, a frequent preflop raiser made it $30 to go, around to my $15 big blind. I considered the possibility of reraising, either to gain what I call the "TIV" (tight image vigorish) or perhaps just to muddy up the waters (since a reraiser almost always has an ace). But this particular opponent seemed to have that fearless "plunge-in" tenacity, so I simply called with my 3-3-2-2 single-suited.

That tactical TIV reraise of a preflop raise that has reduced play to heads up is based on the simple theory that after reraising preflop, if you lead bet both the flop and the turn, you will have a positive expectation on the hand (either you have the best hand or your opponent will fold a fairly high percentage of the time) if you have a tight image (and your opponent is not aware that you make this sort of play). Otherwise put, it is an attempt to convert the disadvantage of acting first to an advantage.

The flop came Q 4 2, a good-news/bad-news flop. It was good to have a set heads up, but the three spades and the two low cards were both bad. I made the "mandatory check," since an opponent will almost always bet here. He bet, as expected. Would you call or check-raise with my hand?

Although many good players would simply call in this situation, I believe it is important to raise to try to gain the initiative. With this type of hand, which is reasonably strong in one direction (strong enough to call to showdown) but weak in the other direction, it is often best to create the illusion of overall strength to encourage your opponent to fold before seeing the last card(s), which might enable him to win half the pot (or all of it).

Perhaps the main argument for the raise here is to "gain the initiative" and thus overcome the disadvantage of acting first. Of course, the main disadvantage is that he could have a big flush (and a good low draw?) and reraise here, or raise on the turn after my lead bet. Then, I might lose a few extra dollars, since I probably would call him down (since I am a favorite to win high). But the extra bets are a good investment in image, and sometimes will swing a half or whole pot.

So, I check-raised. He looked insulted. He fingered his chips as if he was thinking about reraising, but he just called. The turn card was another queen, pairing the board. Now, I had a full house (albeit the lowest), negating his possible flush. I was happy to make the $30 bet, according to my previous plan. He raised! Oops! Did he really have something? He could have a bigger full house, but I certainly had to call.

The last card was the K; at least he would not make a low. I checked. Again, he studied carefully, then checked. I tabled my little boat. He slammed the table with one of the best Omaha high starting hands possible, A-A-Q-10 double-suited. But his three queens lost. Although his starting hand is a great one in Omaha high, it is not that good in high-low. According to Caro's Poker Probe, his hand started as a very slight favorite over mine.

Exactly two rounds later, again on my big blind, we had an exciting sequel that once again replicated the proverbial "two stags on a log." The same preflop raiser again "cleared the bases" around to me. But this time, just because I was feeling mean, holding a mere J-7-5-4 double-suited (a reasonable calling hand but certainly not a good hand), I decided to try the TIV reraise discussed above. He went into his usual chip-fingering thought, as if considering a reraise, then called.

The flop came J-6-5 with two hearts, giving me two pair, an open-end straight draw, a bad flush draw, and a worse ("emergency") low draw; all in all, though, it was a very good flop for me. I bet, and he raised. What would you do with my hand?

Of course, I reraised, or else I wouldn't know if I should bet on the turn. If he reraised, I wouldn't lead out on the turn. He snorted and pretended to be thinking (which usually meant that he didn't have much), then called.

The 2 came on the turn; a low was made and there were now two diamonds as well as two hearts on the board. I bet, according to my previous plan. He went into his usual thought, but then he folded! I must admit, I was curious about what he had. I asked him later, but he didn't remember.

Note that my strong betting might have influenced him not to draw for a low, which might have cost me half of the pot or more. In Omaha high-low, it is good to make occasional moves that might garner an extra half of the pot.