Fourth and Fifth Card The Zoo Parade

Whereas at straight high Omaha the last two rounds of betting (usually at the double size limit) present many opportunities for the expert to exercise his skill and judgment in reading the opponents and then perhaps making good percentage moves, at Omaha high-low, it is much more difficult to read the opponents correctly. Thus even the best players must proceed more on general principles (as do the medium good players) than on deep brilliant moves. However, general principles sometimes can be applied with considerable skill and psychology.

Just as all good Omaha high-low players know that they must avoid getting “squeezed” by the brutal and terribly expensive raising that sometimes occurs on the last two rounds (unless they have a lock in one direction), all good Omaha players also know that this is indeed one of the best times to make money. Although a lock low hand is often reluctant to cap out the betting in fear of getting “quartered” (that is, getting only one- quarter or one-sixth of the pot), when there is a known fish splashing around in the pot, sometimes the lock low will risk a raise or two (especially after the fourth card if he has some extra prospects). Many Omaha experts tend not to “over squeeze” a poor fish caught in the middle because it turns off the fish and sometimes resembles collusion (even if the good players do not know each other) — and there is always the possibility of getting quartered.

Less deep

There are also some occasions where an expert can make fairly safe assumptions (especially about the starting hands of other good players) which strongly affect the odds of a situation and allow the expert to make somewhat “offbeat” bets and raises on the last two rounds. But, all in all, Omaha high-low has much less “deep game” (a contract bridge concept) potential than straight high Omaha.