So I'm going to give it a go at some O8 tournaments in Vegas and I'm not so settled on pre-flop opening hand range which I assume s/b tighter in a tournament where chip preservation is more crucial.

To begin with I'll throw out a straw man for hands with a full 9 person table.

I'm clear on these = A2xx hands, suited A3's,, 4 broadway cards, A345, A346

Thoughts on the following hands that I would might limp in to see a flop in a cash game? Other hands?

A3 w/ 2 broadway cards
23 w/ 2 broadway cards
234x
A45x w/ suited ace
3 consecutive broadway cards (TJQ or JQK)

If I'm fortunate enough to reach a point where the table size is shrinking, I'll have another set of problems. It's tough to beat the rake playing short-handed in a cash game, so I generally walk away when it gets short-handed.
I'll have to watch some tournament final tables on youtube to get a feel for that.

I would almost never under any circumstances play your last category, 3 broadway cards with a dangler.

A4xx or A5xx without another wheel or low card is often playable especially double suited but playing these more speculative hands should be done not facing a raise and in late position or for 1 more bet in the blinds

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Thank you both for your input.

Tons of a4 and a5x hands are playable for a raise and 3! Them is often a good idea


A3 with 2 broadway cards is a hand OP should be raising. 23 with 2 broadway cards is hand he should mostly be folding but could consider opening from the btn and/or defending from the blinds.

234x is normally a fold. Hands like 2345/3456/4567 are situationally playable but very dangerous and you should be reluctant to try it without strong hand-reading ability postflop. You will often need to hand-read well to know when to hang on with bottom 2 pair on axx flop and how evaluate your lo when 1 or 2 better los are possible.

Agree the kqj/kqt dangler hands are mostly an automuck. Its the type of hand I might limp with on the btn in a weak cash game but even in that situation its marginal.

I would strongly recommend that op prioritize raising or folding a4/a5 hands and not limping them if no one has acted yet. These hands will lose profitability if they give blinds a free ride. Overlimping is fine but raising might still be better. Understanding equity relative to the blinds is probably the number 1 most important concept for winning flo8 poker.

Let's not forget the wide variety of AA hands and hands like KK23, not to mention two-way hands like A35Q.

Jeff Hwang has a useful discussion of O8 starting hand positive features, negative features, and groups starting on page 185 of his book Pot Limit Omaha (which includes a very good section on limit O8). You can find a PDF online (I can't seem to provide the URL without it getting filtered).

Good luck!