Review of Omaha High-Low: Play to Win with the Odds

Title:

Omaha High-Low: Play to Win with the Odds

Author:

Bill Boston

Publisher:

Poker Plus Publications

Date:

2002

ISBN:

1884466-47-8

Pages:

153

Price:

$19.95

Reviewed by Nick Christenson, npc@lvrevealed.com

February 21, 2003

By my reckoning, limit Omaha High-Low Split (or Omaha8, as it's sometimes called) is the third most popular form of poker played in the United States. One might not suspect this based on the relatively small number of books on the topic. One of the difficulties in analyzing this game is finding a way to cope with the large number of degrees of freedom as a consequence of each player starting with four cards. Therefore, it seems natural to use computer simulations to attempt to gain insight into this game, and this is the approach taken by Bill Boston in his book, Omaha High-Low: Play to Win with the Odds.

Boston starts the book by explaining how he arrived at the figures in his book. He used Wilson Software's Turbo Omaha High-Low Split to evaluate the results of Omaha8 starting hands against a representative field of players. The author says he selected "tight player" profiles to perform his evaluations. I really wish that he had provided more details on exactly what profiles were used. This lack of specificity makes it extremely difficult for someone to attempt to verify or expand on his work. Further, I'm not sure that one would always want to evaluate one's starting hands based upon this particular profile.

Boston slowly introduces us to is results in support of his recommendations regarding hand selection, table position, the value of flush draws, the value of connector cards, and playing later streets. There are places where I'm not sure I agree with the author's ideas, and I'd like to see to what extent his numbers would change as player profiles change, but I found some real insights in the information presented. I intend to take another look at some of his data to see whether or not it supports some of my own conclusions regarding Omaha8 hands, but since all the data are present, I have the opportunity to do this.

About two thirds of the book is taken up with the statistical tables that are the result of Boston's simulations. Fortunately, readers don't have to perform their own analysis of all this information in order to gain something from this book. Boston has condensed portions of the data into a few tables that are easier to digest. For example, he lists 50 hands that don't contain an ace that his simulations say are profitable, hands with an ace and deuce that aren't profitable, and his top 100 most and 50 least profitable hands. On top of an already solid strategy, these charts can assist a player in finding

By no means is this a good first book for players who want to learn to play Omaha8, nor is it the most important. I believe that it is, however, likely to be a useful tool for Omaha8 players who already have some experience with the game. At the same time, the book has some pretty significant flaws. Despite the author's claims, 100,000 trials per hand is a lower sample size than I'd like. I disagree with some of Boston's interpretations of the data and many of his strategies. Plus, as I already said, it's really too bad that a complete explanation of the methodology wasn't provided. Basing poker strategy on computer simulations can be a risky venture. Even though I believe the data in Boston's book could have been compiled better, that doesn't mean it isn't useful. I would expect that serious students of Omaha8 will find its contents valuable.

Capsule:

Computer simulations are a dangerous basis on which to base poker strategies. Nonetheless, with the right perspective, they can be very valuable tools. Omaha High-Low: Play to Win with the Odds provides some good supplemental information that could be very useful to an experienced Omaha8 player. While the book has some problems, and it certainly shouldn't be the first, only, or primary book for Omaha8 players, I believe it would be worthwhile to serious students of the game.