I've been playing Double Board Limit Big O because it is popular in the mixed game I've been playing.

The game is two boards and ultimate high and ultimate low. Therefore, you can play both your high and your low from just one board.

Also, having A2 does not mean you have nut low because the other board could make a non-A2 hand the nut low. For example, you have A2xxx and these are the two boards:

Board#1: 2566J
Board#2: J783K

You have nut low on Board#2 but you lose to 34xxx because that hand has a 65432 low while you only have an 8732A low.

I'm kinda lost on what to look for in starting hands since I am used to playing just four cards and the double board is throwing me off.

One thing I did think of was with two boards, that means there will be more lows so it seems like A2xxx should be slightly better than in regular limit big O.

What should I look for in starting hands? Should I be tighter than four-card O8 because of the extra fifth card?

i'd be wary of attaching a lot of value to A2. yes it's good but in games like this, you really need to value every bit of card you're dealt.

You know how the edge thins going from PLO to 5 card? The margin is much thinner on two boards, for reasons you gave as an example. See flops cheap and then act, I think you can pretty much bank on AAxx, three handed, double board not being much of an ultimate advantage

In reality, such games are much simpler than they sound. Strong hands gain value.

Nod, this. You get to run it twice and qualify on the better board!

It seems like your real question is "how do i play limit big O?" coming from 4 card.

agree on all counts


fwiw i would love if they ran this at my local casino but most likely it'd be a nightmare splitting pots and just cause games to take way longer.

The more carnival-y games get, the more showdown-bound they tend to get and hte more value there is in just playing tight.

big pocket pairs are valuable. It means you have a showdownable high on both boards before they even come out. If you have a low-focused hand (like a A7632), you may smash it on the low board but have nothing on the high focused board.

This is even more critical in double board 4 card omaha, where it's much harder than in 5 card to nail both boards. It's also much more important for HU pots obviously.

If I understood the rules of the game correctly, I don't agree at all.

Doesn't this mean that there are two chances for low to come (and you only need one low!) and two chances to beat the high pair? So my conclusion would be just the opposite of what you say - A2(3) and suits go considerably up in value. AK23ds should be at a huge advantage vs say AAHH.

No. You only qualify for low by board. So take two hands:

AKK54

v

AT432

If the boards are:

J7686

And

KT737

AKK54 wins high on both boards. AT432 gets quartered.

It’s hard for AT432 to scoop AKK54 since it has to make high on two boards. On the high side only, AT432 has around 36% equity, and the times it wins the high on one board hurts its chance of winning high on the second.


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Oh ok. The sentence "The game is two boards and ultimate high and ultimate low. Therefore, you can play both your high and your low from just one board." still confuses me though.

I’m confused, as the game was described it seemed like this would be a chop. Best high made is Kings full and best low is the one made with A2 on first board

What is described here is just Double Board Big O, the ultimate talk is not just misleading but seems wrong?

If that’s true (you only have to qualify as low on one board to be awarded half the pot), then disregard what I said. But I’d assume that both boards are 100% separate.


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in AKK54 vs AT432

board 1: J7686
AKK54 wins high, AT432 wins low

board 2: KT737
AKK54 wins high, AT432 wins nothing

so yeah AKK54 quarters AT432


the two boards have nothing to do with each other

Are you sure? Would like OP to swing on back and confirm.

He definitely seemed to suggest that even though there are two boards there is just one high winner and one low winner

Online can easily handle this, but live play this game would be painfully slow

Double board can be played with different variations. Best hi, best lo is most common and takes less time to divy up pots.

Community cards shared by both boards (whether flop or later streets) is also a frequent occurence that makes it less of a pure game.

ya that could be

This is correct. There is only one high and one low and they could come from the same board.

Therefore, consider this board in a heads-up hand:

board 1: J7686

board 2: KT726

AKK54 vs AJQT2

AKK54 scoops everything. It has the high, of course. And it also beats the nut low on board 1 of AJQT2 because it has a 7-high low on board 2. AJQT2 only has an 8-high low on board 1 and it doesn't have a low on board 2.

yep, i was totally wrong.

interesting game.

so best hand across all boards, not per board. think it'd be easier to play live than normal DBO games though. that said i think only DBO high only would be practical to play live.

Thanks for clarification, sounds interesting

In your example the big pair and set won the high although I’d think the value of big pairs go down as you would usually have to hit a set and fill up. Flush and straight potential go up. Other low starts such as A3 and combos like 234, 345 would seem to go up. Mid pairs are awful.

What others have said in that the better hands get better is basically true but think there are probably a few things to think about in regards to hand selection

i agree with all that. wish i could play something like this live where players would definitely not take heed to that advice. but seems impractical and just asking for a ridiculously slow game.