Playing Against Tight, Solid Players
In Omaha eight-or-better, you have to use all your reading skills to get a line on your opponents.
You must observe the type of hands they play and how they play them.
Some people play only low hands, plus a few premium high hands with aces or perhaps four big cards suited up ( and a few don’t even play these hands ).
So when you come across players who won’t play many – if any – high hands, and only one low card comes out on the flop, you frequently can win the pot wither by bluffing them out or by having the best hand, even if it is a “trashy” hand.
In addition, consider position. Some players are very tight in early position but loosen up if they can come in late.
This idea is important in most forms of poker, but in Omahs eight-or-better, it plays a major role.
To save money, don’t give nay action to those players who play very tight and very solid.
There are usually a couple of them especially against weaker players. Late in the hand, if these tight players show any strength, don’t play with them. They won’t bet or raise unless they have you beat.
Early in the hands, even though hand values run fairly close, tight player tend to go out too much.
That is, they sometimes won’t even take another card off when it is correct to do so.
Consequently, the biggest advantage you have against this type of player is not giving him any action later in the hand, unless you are sure that you have the best hand.
Very tight, very solid players usually have either the nuts or at least a hand close to the nuts.
Even in pots that are quite large, if one of these players comes out betting or raising, or he is in there calling on a jammed hand, he almost always has the nuts for low and usually has some kind of nut draw for the high side.
It just doesn’t pay to stay in these pots. However, you have the benefit of being able to easily spot this type of player.
He is not in many pots, he does not raise very often, and on the end, he almost always shows the nuts when he turns over his hand.
He may not win the whole pot and may even get quartered occasionally when he goes all the way.
But, as just stated, he usually has a cinch. The few times that a tight, solid player goes to the end and then throws away his hand, he has missed a big draw.
His body language generally indicates that this was the case ( he might make a face or squirm around in his chair ), so you should be able to recognize him.
To repeat, it just doesn’t pay to give these super-tight players any action. You might have to force yourself to discard your hand when you are against them, but you usually won’t regret it.
For example, if you play on the low side when they are going low, watch for an ace-deuce or an ace-deuce-trey in their hands. you are going to be quartering the pots with them, and frequently they have high hands to go with their superior low draws. As a result, you will be taking much the worst of it.
Introduction / Automatic Play / High Versus Low in Three-Handed Pots / Loose Games / Multiway pot Versus Short-Handed Play / Scare Cards / Getting Counterfeited / Getting Quartered / Playing Against Steamers / Playing Against Tight Solid Players / Your Playing Style / Fluctuations / Pot-Limit Omaha Eight-or-Better / Afterthought
