Quote:
Originally Posted by greybeard33
I would think PokerStars play money would be more worthwhile than this. Assuming you don’t want to put real money on Ignition, ACR, etc.
The problem with play money games on PokerStars is that nearly everyone calls all bets and raises on all streets, so they're not representative of actual game play.
The last time I played a play money LO8 game on PokerStars, I joined the game and posted UTG. I got four random cards that I wouldn't have played had I not had to post, there were raises on every street, and I somehow managed to scoop a massive pot with a backdoor straight or full house and an emergency low. The very next hand, I got four random cards in the big blind, and the same thing happened: I scooped a massive pot with a hand that was unplayable outside of the big blind. After my first two hands, I was up something like 68 or 69 big bets. That would never happen in a live game. That's when I realized that a play money game was a total waste of time.
Play money tournaments are slightly better in the sense that many of the players are actually trying to make good poker decisions. If you can't find a play money LO8 tournament, try a play money HORSE or 8-game tournament. The 8 games include LO8 and limit hold' em.
But to answer your serious question, OP, sit down at a table at home and deal out 9 or 10 four-card hands facedown. Look at each hand in turn and make a preflop betting decision (don't use chips; just think to yourself, call, raise, fold, whatever). Put out a flop. Look at each remaining hand in turn and make a betting decision, etc. Deal out 10 hands to completion, and in 15 minutes you will have seen 90 or 100 Omaha hands. Do that every night for a month, and you will get to see 2,700 to 3,000 Omaha hands. This will give you a better feel for how often lows gets counterfeited or quartered, how often massive draws on the flop miss everything, how often someone makes a full house when the board pairs, etc.
If you want, you can even track how often the winning low hand is the nut low, the second nuts, the third nuts, etc., and how often the winning high hand is two pair, trips, a straight, a flush, a full house, or better.