Hand selection is very important in Limit Omaha Double Board as it is in most of the “carnival” games. With two different boards and four cards in a hand, most players will often find a reason to play and chase to the river. Thus, any significant leaks in pre-flop decisions will be quickly exposed.
Throughout this series, we will use rankings from ProPokerTools (PPT) to help flesh out our pre-flop default strategy. Our end goal is to find the appropriate hands with which to slot into the various positions at the table where we are opening pots with approximately the following frequencies:
Target Frequencies
UTG: 12%-15%
Hijack: 16%-20%
Cutoff: 20%-30%
Button: 40%-55%
Last issue we discussed Aces and Kings. This month we will examine other big pairs as well as two pair holdings.
Queens
Queens are a relatively good starting hand. However, getting isolated by either a pair of Aces or Kings is a very bad situation. Thus, we must be somewhat selective from the first two positions at the table. When we hold neither an Ace nor a King, one of those holdings will be out a sizeable percentage of the time. With five players left to act, it is close to 30%.
In order to play from the first two positions, we should at a minimum be double suited (Q
Q
83 [PPT ranking 9]), have some straight potential (QQT
9
[r 10]), have an ace kicker (AQQ5 [r 12], or be suited at least once with non-terrible side cards (QQ85 [r 12]).
From the cutoff position and later, any pair of Queens suited once is a clear open. We should also open if our hand simply contains a King (KQQ2 [r 20]) or at least has some semblance of straight potential (QQ86 [r 23]). On the button, we can open any holding with a pair of Queens. QQ72 [r 67] has a very low PPT ranking. However, with position, the ability to make big sets and showdown value unimproved it is almost certainly profitable.
Jacks
Once we get to Jacks we are really starting to delve into the mediocre as an over pair is often out and even when one isn’t in play, you need to get relatively lucky to win any particular board unimproved. Flopping two sets is a little too much to ask for thus it stands to reason that these holdings also contain flush and straight potential to increase your odds of scooping. After all, scooping is the name of the game and we can’t lose sight of that.
Some examples of minimum holdings to open from any position would be JJ85 [r 9], JJT8 [r 9], and AJJT [r 11]. Since you will flop a set around 24% of the time, it’s not that bad when the pot goes off multi-way especially when your holding has other ways to hit the boards.
If it’s folded to us in the cutoff, a once suited holding with some semblance of straight potential such as JJ85 [r 21] is enough hand to open as would an unsuited JJT8 [r 22] that has better straight potential. However, one should take note how much less value these hands have when compared with those above with more flush possibilities. The reduced flush potential also impacts playability and our ability to realize equity in the face of aggression from an opponent.
As a button open, any pair of Jacks suited at least once is worth a play. However, with a completely unsuited holding we must be somewhat selective. For example, button opens would include rainbow holdings such as KJJ8 [r 27] and JJ97 [r 29] but not something like JJ74 [r 55] particularly against sticky players in the blinds.
Tens and Lower Pairs
Even though they block many straights, a pair of Tens really isn’t that strong when the pair of Tens is the main attribute of the holding. For example a double-suited TT85 [r 15] is probably only a good open from the cutoff and later. While it ranks somewhat high according to PPT, it will often suffer from reverse implied odds as its sets, pairs, flushes, and straights can all easily end up second best.
Single suited Tens should include a suited Ace, two other Broadway cards, or have reasonable straight potential with side cards such as J9, 98, or 97 in order to open from either the hijack or cutoff. Lacking suits completely, it is imperative to have both big card and straight potential to open from the cutoff or button.
Medium pairs such as Nines, Eights, and Sevens are hands that mediocre players tend to lose many chips with. In a heads-up pot, they are in quite bad shape against an overpair or just simply many over cards. And if they miss a draw will often make a crying call on the river hoping to split. In multi-way pots, these hands will often make lower sets or lose to top two pair that turns into a higher full house.
Good players will sometimes end up in bad spots when they start out with relatively good hands such as A998 [r 9]. However, action players can dump a bunch of chips after defending the big blind with 8832 [r 99] and then complain that their set got cracked on one of the boards.
Two Pair
When holding two pair in our hand, we will flop a set or better a whopping 42% of the time and 62% when we get to the river. These are good odds of making a good hand but it doesn’t mean that all two pair holdings are strong hands worthy of playing in all situations. For example, AA72 is still a 59% favorite over JJ55 and a 9922 type hand is for the dregs.
Certainly any two pair headed by Aces or Kings is a clear open from anywhere as would any Queens-up holding suited once; QQ22 [r 10]. With lesser hands, it is very important to have suits and/or have straight potential. A sampling of various hands and their heads-up equities against several different percentiles is as follows:
The higher pairs suited once or the lower ones suited or the middling double-suited holdings with straight potential all fare very well to reasonably well against the 50 and 25% percentile hands; however the 9922 is not even a favorite against wide big blind defend ranges..
The following is a reasonable set of opening standards for two pair hands in a six-handed game:
PPT helped out a lot with this analysis. For example, let’s consider a double-suited 9966 holding that is listed as an open from under-the-gun. It has a PPT ranking of 9 which is probably too high to consider folding when our target opening % from first position is 12-15%. With this holding, there are the obvious concerns of running into higher pairs and in general making second best hands. However, with two pair, two suits, and straight possibilities there are a plethora of different ways to hit multiple boards and if we play well post-flop this can be a profitable open.
But this is open for debate and not an exact science and if you are new to the game you can certainly tighten up a pip in each of the cases from the suggestions above. For example 9977 [r 7] could become your default first position open for double-suited Nines-up hands.
Next issue we will cover the remainder of the various playable hand types including hands with a fistful of big cards, suited Aces, and medium rundowns.
