Omaha High/Low:

ACES AND SPACES

BY: Russ Fox

"Diligence is the mother of good luck."-- Ben Franklin

I was observing an Omaha high/low tournament, watching a well-known hold'em player (hereafter 'wkhp'), when he picked up A A 8 Tin the small blind. This is a hand that I often see overplayed. While it has a nut flush draw and the pair of Aces add to its' value, it cannot make the nut low. I was curious what would happen on the hand.

It is important to note his chip situation: he had 6584 (this was an online tournament) and was short-stacked. The blinds were 800/1600. The quality of the other players was mixed - the poker that I saw was not of high quality. The table was eight-handed.

A middle-position player with a lot of chips (23775) raises to 1600 and everyone folds to the wkhp. He elects to re-raise to 2400, trying to get heads-up with the initial raiser. This is a reasonable play: his hand has much more value heads-up than in a three-way pot (the pair of Aces may win high). However, the big blind with 5223 in chips calls, as does the middle position player. Strike one, I thought.

The flop is 5 6 8 . This is not a good flop for the wkhp. The cards connect, so it is possible that one of the blinds has a straight. It is certain (with three opponents) that one of them has a good low. And it is probable that someone has a spade draw. But the wkhp bet 800, with both other players calling. Strike two for the wkhp, I thought.

The turn is the J . This is about as ugly a card as possible for the wkhp (his ideal card would have been an Ace or the board pairing). Now there's a spade flush and though he has the A , if someone has the flush they're almost certain to call. The wkhp wasn't deterred and bet 1600 with both his opponents calling. Strike three, I thought, his money is going to his opponents.

The river is the 5 . Unfortunately for the wkhp, the flush is already made, no one's low has been counterfeited and he is left with two pair (Aces and fives) and no low. The wkhp checked (as did his opponents). The middle position player showed A 2 3 4 while the big blind had A 7 K K . As I suspected, the wkhp found his stack reduced to 1784 and soon found himself out of the tournament.

I wasn't surprised at all. Aces and spaces strikes again.

I first encountered the expression 'Aces and Spaces' in bridge - it denotes a no-trump oriented hand without intermediate honors (e.g. A 8 6 A 8 4 A 6 4 2 A 5 3 ). These hands tend to play poorly in bridge.

In Omaha, a hand with a pair of Aces without a good low, a good high, or good flush draws is another Aces and Spaces hand. The wkhp's A A 8 T is a good example. He has no good low (A8 is not a good low), no good high exclusive of the pair of Aces (AT pales in comparison to AK; the T8 is not worth discussing), and only one flush draw (change the T to the T or the 8 into the 8 and the hand improves markedly).

So what should the wkhp have done with his hand? Given his chip stack (small) and the quality of play at his table (poor), I would have folded. It is unlikely that the big blind would fold. His hand is reasonable heads-up but an underdog in three-way action. The re-raise would be my second choice: you may drive out the big blind and you may flop a high-only hand. Calling with the wkhp's hand would be a bad decision; you are almost forcing the big blind to call.

Once the flop comes low without hearts it's time to give up on the hand. Someone has a low and someone has the nut draw(s). Discretion is the better part of valor - checking and folding would have been the best action.

On the turn this becomes even more obvious. Perhaps the wkhp thought his bet on the flop might drive out a bad flush draw. Both players called so they either both have lows or some sort of high draws. The big blind is pot committed. Betting in this position cannot be correct. The wkhp just threw 1600 in chips away.

I would be the first person to admit that the wkhp is a much better hold'em player than I am. But I think he needs to practice his Omaha.

By the way, if you were dealt A A 8 9 in the small blind of an Omaha high/low tournament, and faced a middle position raiser (it is early in the tournament and everyone has a reasonable stack) with the big blind yet to act, what would you do? If you're thinking about playing the hand please email me so I can send you directions to the clubs I play at.

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