I decided to record myself 1-tabling 6-max LO8 on Bovada tonight so I could review my play and post some hands. Some of these hands may seem easy, but I am still in the phase where LO8 hurts my brain. These were the 5 most difficult spots I found myself in after 3 hours of play...



Hand #1 - BTN is 25/8 after 12 hands. I saw him c/r a maniac on a 327 flop w/ T945 a few hands ago when defending his BB. After an 8 turn and 9 river, he gave up the initiative and check-called with his top pair + 3rd nut lo.

$3/$6 LO8: I open 5T8A in the CO, BTN 3bets, blinds fold, I call. I c/c the 87K flop. I c/r the 8 turn, he calls. River is the 3 and I am not sure whether to check or bet.



Hand #2 - SB is 81/16 after 32 hands. I have seen him put in 6 bets on the turn and river with the bottom end of a straight 3way. He seems to immediately lead out with strong hands. He has taken 2 to the face on the flop with nothing but trashy backdoors.

HJ is 21/3 after 33 hands.

$1/$2 LO8: HJ limps, SB completes, I check my BB w/ J5J2. SB leads the flop J39 flop, I raise, HJ cold-calls, SB calls. Turn K, SB leads making it $10.75 currently in the pot. My action?



Hand #3 - HJ is 28/4 after 69 hands. I have recently seen him lead a QJ3 6-way family flop w/ 5A67 from UTG with just a nut flush blocker and a trashy backdoor lo. He has otherwise been pretty mellow.

SB is 82/15 after 68 hands. He fastplays strong hands, badly overplays non-nut hands, and never folds any piece.

$1/$2 LO8: HJ limps, CO calls, BTN calls, SB completes, I check my BB w/ 39QJ. 5 players see the KTQ flop. SB checks, I check, HJ bets, CO folds, BTN folds, SB calls, I call. Turn 8, SB checks, I check, HJ bets, we both call. Should I have played the flop and turn any differently?



Hand #4 - HJ is 27/9 after 66 hands. BB is 39/0 after 18 hands. SB is 0/0 after 3 hands.

$.50/$1 LO8: HJ opens, I cold-call J6A2 on the BTN, both blinds call. Flop is 346 and it checks to me. I bet, SB folds, BB folds, HJ calls. Turn is 2, HJ bets, I call. River is the 5, HJ bets... should I raise or just call?



Hand #5 - CO is 26/10 after 100 hands, UTG is 40/0 after 5 hands and has only $6 left, BB is 41/0 after 41 hands.

$.50/$1 LO8: UTG limps, CO limps, I complete my SB with 83AK, BB checks. Flop is KQ7. I check, BB checks, UTG checks, and CO bets. Should I continue here?

Hand #1 - 12 hands isn't much information to go on. It's close but I would c/c rather than b/c. Against a normal player's 3-bet range you really only scoop against weak aces and maybe some A3xx hands. When he has a scooping hand, he will raise if you lead out and you'll lose 2 bets. You're more likely to scoop than villain, but you aren't twice as likely.

Hand #2 - This is extremely ugly. HJ (playing 21/3 in 6-max) most likely has the nuts. What other hand does a nit cold call 2 bets with on that flop in a tiny pot? From your description of SB it sounds like you'll get whipsawed if he has a flush. The pot isn't that big, you don't have that many outs, and you may get whipsawed, so you fold.

Hand 1: My gut reaction was that holding the Ad would make it a value bet but I'm now convinced betting is a small loser. I made a simple EV calc assuming that we lose two whole bets to any two diamonds with A2,A4,24 in PPT's top 18% and we are always called and win our equity from AA without a 2 or 4 (84% equity) and AK without a 2 or 4 (91%) from the same starting range (top 18%). We lose 0.04B on that river bet. Adding A233, A334, A28, and A48 all add small combos in the wrong direction.

Frankly, I have no idea how often you get called in that spot by A3QQ or the like but my guess is almost never. Convenience is my only basis for limiting his range to the top 18% in PPT. You may have better insights into what a typical 3! range should be.

Betting probably doesn't lose less than check-call since all those scooping diamond combos only get one bet and AA and bluffs probably bet when checked to often enough to offset that half-sized pile.

Hand 1: I think a bet is very slightly profitable given that you have the Ad, making it quite a bit more difficult for villain to have a hand that scoops you.

However, I would fold preflop (though I would raise if the A was suited).

Hand 2: Very close, depends on how likely the HJ is to raise a non-nut flush. The opponents I play against are not likely to do this, so I would probably call, but I don't play on the internet.

Hand 3: I would probably bet out on the flop, but calling down is fine.

Hand 4: I think you should definitely raise here. Villain is almost certainly bet/calling any wheel, and a naked wheel is much more likely than A7(3/4/5).

Hand 5: I would raise the CO's flop bet. CO has a very wide range to bet here, and it seems pretty unlikely anyone in the field has anything that great. A raise cleans up you equity (worse K's and better backdoor draws will fold), and there's a good chance you're ahead of CO anyway.

Good idea.

I much prefer one hand history per post. But OK, I'll look at them.

By "open" I assume you mean you come in with a raise. When I'm playing Texas hold 'em, and I enter the action, I generally "open." Omaha-8 is different for me. I want a specific reason for "opening."

I don't like your starting hand much.
• (1) In my opinion, your starting hand lacks sufficient high card strength.
• (2) I think A5 is a poor low draw.
• (3) Your starting hand has two middle cards. (I consider eights and tens middle cards).
• (4) Your starting hand is a rainbow.

Since you need to play two cards from your own hand (along with three cards from the board), I'm looking for winning two-card combinations in starting hands. The best two-card combination I see in 5T8A is an ace-five draw mainly for low.

That's not to say I would not play 5T8A and that's also not to say I would not raise with it before the flop.

In a six max game, I think on average there are probably one or two better starting hands that have been dealt to opponents than that particular starting hand you're looking at. Since there are two folds in front of you, my guess is neither of the players who folded has a better starting hand. That leaves the one or two better starting hands to BTN, SB, or BB.

Ah! Perhaps you have located the better starting hand this time. So now you have three small bets in the pot and are facing a player with a probable better starting hand who has position on you.

So anyhow, I'm wondering why you raised.

OK.

You flopped a pair of eights plus a poor low draw. It's not a very good flop for you. But (disregarding the rake for now) there are 7.5 small bets in the pot... and since it's only 1 small bet to call, you get kind of suckered in.

However, if you're planning to stay until the showdown to get your share of the dead money left behind by the blinds, when you're gotten heads up before the flop, and if your plan is to check/call your way to the showdown, then immediately after the flop you should look at the betting as probably costing you 5 more small bets to see the showdown.

And your opponent (who probably has a better starting hand) will also be putting 5 more small bets into the pot. Thus starting from after the flop, if you scoop (disregarding the rake), you'll win 7.5+5=12.5 small bets and if you split, (disregarding the rake), you'll win half the dead money contributed by the blinds, 1.5/2. Meanwhile, if your intention is to go to showdown, your risk is 5 small bets, not 1...

Seems right. Nice catch on the turn!

I would bet. Since you have the ace of diamonds, he may not raise even if he did make a diamond flush... and chances are he didn't make a diamond flush. If you bet this river he may fold an A4 or A5 low. If he raises, it's a bummer, but you call.

OK.

OK.

Call. Looks like SB may have the heart flush, but some aggressive players bet scare cards, hoping to steal. And the board might still pair on the river.

OK.

I would bet. Although it's unlikely, someone might have a Broadway, and if so, you want to find out here, if possible, rather than later. Also, you want to make sure any heart draws pay here.

And if you don't bet here, I think you're ****ed. That is, you won't know what anyone betting behind you has and you'll be more or less stuck "calling it down."

I think it's a major mistake not to directly bet this flop... that is, it will be hard to recover from this mistake later in the betting unless you get miraculous cards.

I think that's another mistake. Having failed to bet this flop, I think you should check/raise here. (But probably not, if it's a private game... because if you play this aggressively in a private game you may not get asked back).

I would directly bet this turn.

Yes. (See above).

OK. Looks right to me.

OK. Looks right to me.

Just call. My guess is you get quartered here.

OK. (Or you could raise, depending on your motive for raising).

You have a nice starting hand, but you missed a fit with the flop. (In a six-handed game, a pair of kings is not, in my opinion, a "flop fit"). But that's not to say you should necessarily give up. Probably nobody else likes this flop either, and if someone does, you want to know who (and you want to try to figure out why).

I'd bet, just to see.

You lost the initiative by not betting first. I like either a check/raise (to perhaps get the initiative back) or a fold better than a call.

Which I prefer depends on these opponents. I see that you have included information about them... "CO is 26/10 after 100 hands, UTG is 40/0 after 5 hands and has only $6 left, BB is 41/0 after 41 hands"... but I don't know what those numbers mean. Is the "26" for CO the percentage of hands he plays? Is the "10" for CO the percentage of hands he raises with before the flop? Or do the numbers mean something else?

If my guess as to what your numbers mean is correct, these opponents look fairly tight for a 50¢/$1 game. Looks even more like you dropped the ball already by checking this flop. And if my guess as to what your numbers mean is correct, perhaps you can recover by check/raising... and I think that's probably your play here. The goal is to immediately knock BB and UTG out of the hand with the double bet... and then knock out a fairly tight CO on the next betting round.

Buzz

Hand #1 - fine with how you played. B/c river

Hand #2 - calling turn, raising any boat

Hand #3 - you have a backdoor draw w the diamonds. IMO, you can C/R the flop and see where you're at, but meh. You picked up a diamond draw on the turn so I think it's ok to check call and bet any diamond river.

Hand #4 - I see nothing wrong w raising the river as he may be betting a straight high or low. A good chance to 1/4 your opponent- raise and call a 3! if necessary.

Hand #5 - You can c/c this flop and reevaluate the turn. No harm in c/f based on your read.

Can't wait for your twitch feed. Hand 1 would bet cause I'm an optimist, and some of his scooping hands wont raise. I'd guess this hand has equivalent equity as A5o in LHE from CO.

Hand 2 call and boat up obviously. You're good at folding rivers if needed.

Hand 3 I play the same.

4. I just call. If you win 3/4 just say "the pot was big enough". Oh, I forgot you're online. Wouldn't keep too much online with spring approaching.

5. Best spot of the bunch. Fold seems best. When your high is crushed it just isn't worth it with this pot size. If it had been raised preflop for sure raise and drive out any A2, A3 hands hiding in those ranges. . I don't like calling but would with A28K.

#1 i b/c river
#2 i fold
#3 i bet flop.
#4 i r/c. dude's just betting a wheel because he has one. i'm assuming you can rule out a deuce, so that's less combos that make a 6 hi straight, and i think he'd bet his oesd's on flop, so that's a lot of the 6hi+ straights being discounted.
#5 i bet flop and as played, i c/r.

wouldn't be surprised if dude in hand #2 showed up with KKxx lol.

Hand 1-Definately value bet river,its very possible he has something like TP+A5 low(AK5x is a very 3betable hand from the BTN) so youre quartering him,plus he might end up folding a better low w no high.Bet calling seems right.

Hand 2-Calling for sure one bet,getting 5:1(and prolly more if the player behind calls) considering i have all 10 clean outs,and raising any rivered FH.

Hand 3-This reeks of RIO all the way imo,i guess a donk bet on the flop could help you see where youre at,but id prolly fold to any serious action.

Hand 4-This is a clear 3bet imo,mostly for value.As played,c/c turn and raise/call river,at worst youre splitting,but you also get 3/4s lots of the time.

Hand 5-This seems close.I dont really know if a right away fold is nitty,although im not really sure what we are drawing to if we call.We are prolly behind any decent hand villain has,and even against semi bluffs like AJTx we arent that much ahead either(we could very well be dogs especially if he has backdoors as well).All this,combined with our poor position,prolly make this a fold.

wtf somehow i thought you were only getting half the odds you needed to draw. #2 is an easy call and fold unimproved. dude behind you can only raise good flushes and the other times he will pad the pot for you with a straight or even worse set, and sb will always pay you off when you get there.

I've read all of the replies and I think this is the first one to get it right. I would just add that the 3! In hand 4 is not just a value play, it's an isolation/push play. A2(678)(Broadway) are really good 3b hands because getting HU helps you win 3/4 or all of the pot with like 1 pair +NL or escape for half when you get counterfeited. The hands that should be more inclined to encourage multiway action with are hands with 3+ wheel cards.

I'm puzzled that anyone is advocating a fold in hand 5. Given the action, I think you are ahead most of the time.

hand 4 would be a better isolation/value raise in most cases, but against villain described, raising would be spewy. just not strong enough in either direction. op got it right with just cc'ing.

HAND 1: It's the preflop choice that's giving me the most thought; if the BTN was tighter or even weaker, I wouldn't mind a raise in this spot, but seeing that he's a bit of a gambling type, I might just limp here(I might change my mind if the Ace was suited, though, but eh). I c/c and c/r both flop/turn as you did, but I'm betting the river 100% of the time. Against this type, it would be weak/wrong not to because his range isn't as narrow.

HAND 2: I would just call the turn and see what HJ does. I'm not folding.

HAND 3: Sometimes I would just bet out but admittedly I hate these spots because you really can't improve barring some runners and if someone raises you w/a flush draw, you won't know if it's the draw or the AT. And, other times(especially in multiway pots and/or if my opponents are more reliable) I tend to check this flop and see who does what; if it goes bet/raise or even bet/call/call? I'm probably just gonna let it go and not even call. This is a very tough spot and too much depends on the exact table dynamics, so.

HAND 4: I'm raising 100% of the time. He has A5(and nothing else) or he has the six high straight w/no Ace(well, at least that's how he played it anyway).

HAND 5: I bet this flop---

Thank you very much guys! These are by far the most courteous and well thought out replies I have ever received on a poker forum. I feel like I improved dramatically after reading these responses. My thoughts a week later:

Hand #1: 8 posters voted to bet vs. 2 to check on the river. I checked in the actual hand and was pretty sure I had messed up. I felt like villain almost always has a better lo or a flush, and that there was therefore more no value in a bet. Today, I see this as a clear bet. If he has A3 with no backup, I still win the lo. And it's certainly possible that he raised pre w/ a good hi only hand or AAxx w/ a worse lo draw. My A should prevent raises from flush + A4/A5 type hands. Betting allows me to get the money in good when I have a scoop, and I am rarely being raised. Checking allows him to check behind his weak hands that would call the river while pounding me when I am scooped. Checking only saves me a bet against A2 + trips or better, but I miss a bet against hands like AKQ3 and AAxx with no or worse lo.

As far as the pre-flop play... I still like it with this tight guy on the button. I got 3-bet this time, but I get to play in position against the blinds most of the time. Also, I worry that if I fold this hand, I am not playing enough hands in 6-max to to outrun the blinds... propokertools puts my hand in the top 22%, and I feel like I definitely need to be playing 30+% from the CO.

Hand #2: 8 posters voted to call, 1 voted to fold. I actually folded this hand at the table... my reasoning was that HJ seemed very tight so far and is very likely to have the nut flush. If so, he will likely raise and SB would definitely 3bet any flush. When he doesn't have the nut flush, I felt like he often has 2 pair or a set blocking some of my outs. I felt like this ruined my pot odds enough to make it a fold. Today, I prefer a call... kinda embarrassing, but this has mostly to do with math fail in the moment on my part. As an LHE player, I am never in a spot where I am drawing with a set. I assumed that if it went raise-3bet, I would not be getting proper odds. But I am getting adequate pot odds with implied odds to boot. I also failed to realize that I am still getting more than adequate odds if 2 of my outs are blocked. And to top it off, my limited PLO hi experience makes me instinctively want to abandon ship in spots like this. Oops.

Hand #3: 5 posters liked betting out, one poster liked a c/r, and 2 liked the way I played it. There was more ambiguity in this hand though... a few posters felt like it was a close decision between leading out and checking to see what happens. My reason for checking at the time was that I felt I could easily fold if it went bet-raise at any point. I also felt like it was very likely in a 5way pot that someone has AJ, another J9 + someone with hearts or a set, or maybe someone had set + flush draw which is ahead of me on the flop. Finally, I did not want to bloat the pot and end up folding when a heart comes or the board pairs. I think this is mostly due to lack of experience on my part at the time. Today, I do prefer betting out as I feel like I can make a good fold later on if I need to. My position sucks, but I do have position on the awful SB. I feel like my #1 goal in this hand should be to pound on SB and extract value from draws until I have good reason to believe I am facing AJ.

Hand #4: 6 posters voted to raise and 2 posters voted to call. At the time, I assumed villain's turn donk was A5 and was afraid of A57 on the river and just called. I then quickly realized this made no sense, as 75 has the nut hi on the flop... oops. I now think villain has a 7 hi straight almost never and has a naked wheel a lot more often than I realized at the time. It is very difficult to come up with a7xx hands that make any sense, as another card needs to be a 3/4/5/6. Plus this tight villain needs a hand strong enough to raise from the HJ that has all of these features, but does not contain A2 (since A2 would have bet the flop). Finally, it seems like most a53x, a54x, would have bet the flop. So ya... I missed a raise.

As far as the pre-flop play... today, I would probably just go ahead and 3bet pre. Creating dead money from the blinds and playing heads up in position with this hand would be sweet. The blinds seem reasonably tight. If they do play hands that would have folded to a 3bet, they will often be hands I would rather not play against as they make it much more difficult for me to scoop. My hand is fairly indifferent to 3-4way vs. heads up action, so today I feel like position + dead money from the blinds are key.

Hand #5: 3 posters voted to c/f, 3 posters voted that I should have bet the flop, and 2 posters voted for a c/r. I think a couple of the posters who voted to c/r or c/f may have voted for me to bet, but chose to skip to my decision after I checked since that is where the action is as posted. I honestly just had no clue how to evaluate the strength of this hand when I posted this. I suspected that it might be much stronger than I realized, but was not sure. All 3 possibilities crossed my mind at the time. But when I started LO8, my tendency was to play too loose and aggressive so I promised myself I would play cautiously until I improve. Today, I prefer betting out. I often have the best hand, my backdoor lo is almost always the best backdoor lo, and checking opens me up to making a bad fold later on. Let these guys peel with gutshots and terrible backdoor los. If they have a better hand, make them prove it. I also feel like I should have check-raised as played... BTN should feel tempted to bet very light given the action with so little risk and the chance to take down the pot or get heads up against a weak hand. Anything but a J, T, or 9 is a good-decent turn card for me.

@Buzz - Yes, my stats listed are VPIP and PFR. I will mention that at the top of future posts. I am indeed from an LHE background, which is why I used "open" as a shorthand for open raise. Will keep in mind that open limping is more common in LO8 than LHE. That will be the first and last of my 5 hand threads I think, lol. I actually had to trim 16 "tough spots" down to 5 after 3 hours of play, but I am finding myself in fewer and fewer confusing spots every week.

@networth - You just want me to stream on twitch so you can troll me and make fun of how bad I am at LO8!

@everyone - Thanks again for the thoughtful replies!

I would only troll your taste in music. I have no doubt you would own me at the table.