I live in Las Vegas and play poker recreationally and am an average at best NLHE player and really dislike the game in general, so I'd like to find a different game to play.

Stud8 has always been my best game but I can never find it live, and since I really enjoy split pot poker, I wanted to start learning O8. I've read Ray Zee's book and with stud8 ability I'd like to go ahead and start playing some O8 hands.

Am I better off finding some low stakes on bovada or just going to the 4/8 1/2 kill on the strip? I would have 300bb for either choice but don't want to put a lot of $$$ online. So basically is it worth me playing online for .25/.50 yet decreasing cost of learning, or staying out of tough spots at the live game and continuing to study with a chance to win more?

Thanks in advance.

Also any preference of The Venetian vs The Orleans when pertaining to O8? Seems both have the same rake but orleans does offer a jackpot and Venetian offers more comps and general traffic.

I'm leaning Orleans because they actually do have HORSE + Rose tournaments and the best (rare) chance at a Stud 8 game

Suncoast has a stud8 game I think.

Online stick to PLO8 IMO. Live for LO8 you're better off playing the 8/16 at the V unless your bankroll is very small. 4/8 is just a rake trap usually.

I'll be using same roll as NLHE which is ~$3,500. 8/16 seems steep and I would be more willing to play under rolled if I has more experience with the game.

I'm still learning, but I'm not an Omaha-8 beginner. (I learned the game playing in a private home poker dealer's choice game).

On-line is cheaper than brick-and-mortar. The on-line rake is lower and there are no tokes. And on-line is faster, more hands per hour. Finally, if you are distracted by personal interactions, there are fewer personal interactions on-line. Shut off the chat and it's like you're playing against robots.

I don't play much on-line myself, but given the choice of one or the other, I think an on-line casino might be a better place to learn than a brick and mortar casino. There might even be some sites that offer free games and instruction for beginners.

But then when you really start to play the game, I think you should play your opponents more than your own cards. To do that, I think you need to learn how all of your opponents play. And that's not easy.

You're welcome to come here and ask questions.

Good luck.

I've played at both the Orleans and the Venetian. I like them both.

Buzz

an advantage of online is you can gave an odds calculator and check hands as you go to see if your calls/bets were warranted.


I would want to play a few thousand hands on a computer (simulator, play money, cash) before I would ever want to sit in a live game in Vegas (even if I lived there). Just to get experience being quartered, sixthd, eighthd and following the blinds/action.


Then if I got decent online, I would hit the live tables (if you are just learning Omaha 8 and really bad, you will burn lots of money fast in a live game)

I dont like hold em either :-))
May i ask u why? (i had a recent trip to vegas)

You say your roll is 3.5k,
i will tell u how my (short) experience was in plo8

if players have a decent hand, (A2xx , they see it like kings etc)
Meaning sometimes u have to commit 100-125$ pre just to see a flop (in a 1-2-5game)

for live plo8 u need between 30-40k$ to play at 1-2-5


start playing online & build your roll there.

Can anyone give me a idea of typical O8 swings I want to take a chance at going pro, I'm working right now making 15/hr but my expenses are around 800/month, I can't decide if I should put all my focus in limit 08 or limit holdem, I see more dummies in O8 at the Venetian but I have a very small sample size, I want to go semi pro for a few months even longer but I have no idea what is a attainable win rate or what kind of swings I can expect,,,, Help

My worst downswing online was 800 big bets with a winrate over a reasonable samlple being above 1 BB/100 pre rakeback. You cannot build any kind of a roll one-tabling a full ring at 4/8 or 8/16 hk, as your hourly would be ridiculous, and swings are severe.

I tested live poker playing 20-40 during the WSOP this year, but grinding low stakes on PokerStars is still way more profitable for me (simply put, online I play 20-25 times more hands per hour). I guess one might consider live poker starting around 75/150, but it requires huge bankroll, decent skill and serious tolerance to losing YEARS despite playing +EV poker.

To be honest, we are only starting to realize how huge are the swings in a competitive poker environment. And it looks like the only reason to play live for a competent player comes from having an access to super-soft highstakes closed games and stuff like that.

I, too, have played at both. In my opinion the Orleans had more regulars (still terrible at LO8) while the Venetian had more tourists.

Both run LO8 every day which is a plus.

If I had to pick, I'd go with the Venetian based on more tourists. Also, you can request to get a mixed game of Stud 8/O8 immediately to see if it triggers any interest!

This is absurd. Softest game on earth, if you can find it....

in the 3 games i played it was a standard straddle+open to 20 & rr to 100-125