Poker Hi And Lo

Although not as popular as no limit hold ’em, hi lo games - Omaha and stud in particular - have large followings on most poker sites, or if not large on some, then dedicated. As they are usually played at limit, they are generally not so risky. Or are they? Omaha hi lo is also played at pot limit and occasionally at no limit; I have yet to see stud hi lo so played, but the unorthodox play of some players can be very tricky for the unwary, and often lachrymosal.

The screengrabs below are all from hi lo games.


May 29, 2009: Third on William Hill.


March 31, 2011: Runner up in a small tournament.


April 11, 2011: A garbage hand in the unraised big blind leads to a split pot with a suck out straight flush.


April 14, 2011: Auntie is runner up in the nightly $5 + 50c limit Omaha hi lo tournament on William Hill.


July 28, 2011: Congratulations, you have won the tournament.


November 20, 2011: Quads win half the pot.


January 21, 2012: Third in the stud hi lo.


January 24, 2012: $3 + 30c Pot Limit Omaha Hi Lo, $1K Guaranteed, 492 runners, 63 places paid. I finished 3rd winning $151.29. A nice return for a small buy-in.


May 11, 2012: Garbage in the big blind converts to quads, and wins half the pot.


May 17, 2012: Scooping in a stud hi lo freeroll.


May 26, 2012: Aces full beat trip sixes.


May 27, 2012: Scooping with a straight flush first hand. Not a bad start to any tournament!


June 24, 2012: Third in the $3 + 30c stud hi lo.


June 30, 2012: Third in the $3 + 30 stud hi lo on PokerStars. Again!


August 10, 2012: Quad kings in a cash game.


August 26, 2012: Mr Big Stack comes unstuck with his garbage hand.


August 26, 2012: A terrific flop, but no callers.


September 9, 2012: Aces full wins half the pot.


September 13, 2012: No low, no high to speak of, and yet...


September 13, 2012: Cashing in a small limit Omaha hi lo tournament. See also screengrab above.


September 14, 2012: A flopped house at Omaha hi lo.


September 15, 2012: The short stack scoops with a straight.


September 17, 2012: Cashing in the 7 card stud.


September 17, 2012: Cashing in the limit Omaha hi lo as well.


September 18, 2012: Full house wins half the pot.


September 20, 2012: A garbage hand in the unraised big blind leads to a scoop with a full house.


September 21, 2012: Scooping after flopping a set.


September 22, 2012: Aces full wins a big pot heads up.


September 30-October 1, 2012: A low stakes late night ring game; quads on the turn.


October 7, 2012: A straight first five scoops at stud hi lo.


October 8, 2012: Rolled up 7s improve to a house but can win only half the pot.


Scooping with the low in the same tournament as immediately above. I was chip leader of 24 but faded fast, and although I still cashed, I should have finished much higher than 9th.


October 8, 2012 again: A deuce to the 8 straight at stud hi lo.


October 22, 2012: Full house first five wins half the pot.


October 22, 2012: 7th of 57, cashing but not great.


October 25, 2012: Terribly short stacked, I was all-in pre-flop with a reasonable hand, flopped the nut house, and scooped.


October 25, 2012: Nice one. This is a grab from the same tournament as above. I finished 13th of 431 runners winning $14.22 of the $1,293.00 prize pool.

[The above article was published originally as a blog on October 20, 2012 with 11 screengrabs; another 26 were added in due course. The first screengrab for September 17, 2012 is actually for regular stud, not hi lo.]


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