Omaha High-Low for Low-Limit Players
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6 reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Reasonably good--but repetitive--advice, at least for what's there
7 April 2009
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Amazon says that this book has 240 pages. Physically, that's true. Informationally, however, it's not even close. Less than half the book is actual content created by the author. The back more-than-half of the book is nothing more than page after page of charts, listing all the possible starting hands in Omaha and their calculated winning percentage based on thousands of Monte Carlo simulations. (To be fair, the author did assume a variety of player styles in the simulation runs.) No one, and I mean no one, is going to read all the pages of charts and memorize their contents. The author and publisher would have been far better served to put this information in an online addition to the book and not waste the paper that the charts are printed on.
But what's left after you remove the charts? A think book, to be sure, definitely not worth the $20 list price, and barely worth the Amazon price. Most of the content is covering a few basic types of Omaha hand, and then discussing those hands and their place in the charts, stating which hands are profitable long run based on the charts and which ones are not. while some of the thoughts are repeated too often, one concept is more overlooked, that of the cards working together. While he does touch on the concept, it's not fully fleshed out, and few hand examples really explain this concept, one of the most important of Omaha.
As a beginner to the game of Omaha, however, this book did help my game, especially in two areas. First is in the cards to look for when going for a low. Always depending on the action, of course, I almost never will go for a low without an A-2 in my hand. it's just too easy for someone to have a better low without these two cards. Second is just how bad middle cards are in an Omaha hand.
Compared to the hold 'em poker literature by writers such as Doyle Brunson, David Sklansky, Ed Miller, Tom McEvoy, Mike Caro, and even Ken Warren, the writing and the content here is pretty much middle-of-the-road. It's not bad, and if it's the first Omaha book you pick up to get started in the game, it won't do you wrong. But there's so little actual content, and what's there is so shallow, that I really can't give this book a rating better than 2 stars.
But what's left after you remove the charts? A think book, to be sure, definitely not worth the $20 list price, and barely worth the Amazon price. Most of the content is covering a few basic types of Omaha hand, and then discussing those hands and their place in the charts, stating which hands are profitable long run based on the charts and which ones are not. while some of the thoughts are repeated too often, one concept is more overlooked, that of the cards working together. While he does touch on the concept, it's not fully fleshed out, and few hand examples really explain this concept, one of the most important of Omaha.
As a beginner to the game of Omaha, however, this book did help my game, especially in two areas. First is in the cards to look for when going for a low. Always depending on the action, of course, I almost never will go for a low without an A-2 in my hand. it's just too easy for someone to have a better low without these two cards. Second is just how bad middle cards are in an Omaha hand.
Compared to the hold 'em poker literature by writers such as Doyle Brunson, David Sklansky, Ed Miller, Tom McEvoy, Mike Caro, and even Ken Warren, the writing and the content here is pretty much middle-of-the-road. It's not bad, and if it's the first Omaha book you pick up to get started in the game, it won't do you wrong. But there's so little actual content, and what's there is so shallow, that I really can't give this book a rating better than 2 stars.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Just the facts mam
3 Dec 2009
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book, like Boston's previous work, is a compilation of hand statistics gathered from computer simulation of millions of low limit hands. He presents some generalizations gleaned from the data along with guidelines for selecting hands to play - and hands to fold.
Omaha-8 is a more complicated game than Hold'em simply because of the number of hole cards. As a result evaluation of the playability of hands pre-flop in Omaha-8 is much more difficult, necessitating simulation. The value of computer simulations is undisputed and some outstanding players - Chris Ferguson for one - owe their success in significant part to their own simulations. Bill Boston's data presentation allows a player to get most of the value of such simulations without the programming effort that would ordinarily be required.
The bulk of the book is comprised of tables detailing the outcome of Boston's simulations, and it is these tables that are of the most value - indeed it is the tables that provide the data supporting any conclusions that can be drawn from the simulations. The text details the more important of these conclusions.
One reviewer apparently didn't appreciate the value of the tables (NOT "charts" as he stated.). He apparently wanted a check list of which hands to play and which to avoid. He apparently failed to notice that Boston provides just such a checklist in his brief discussion, giving enough information to allow the reader after even a quick reading to instantly recognize approximately 2/3 of the hands that should be discarded.
This is a valuable resource for all Omaha-8 players. If you'll assimilate Boston's discussion, then take the time to pore over the tables your game will improve.
Omaha-8 is a more complicated game than Hold'em simply because of the number of hole cards. As a result evaluation of the playability of hands pre-flop in Omaha-8 is much more difficult, necessitating simulation. The value of computer simulations is undisputed and some outstanding players - Chris Ferguson for one - owe their success in significant part to their own simulations. Bill Boston's data presentation allows a player to get most of the value of such simulations without the programming effort that would ordinarily be required.
The bulk of the book is comprised of tables detailing the outcome of Boston's simulations, and it is these tables that are of the most value - indeed it is the tables that provide the data supporting any conclusions that can be drawn from the simulations. The text details the more important of these conclusions.
One reviewer apparently didn't appreciate the value of the tables (NOT "charts" as he stated.). He apparently wanted a check list of which hands to play and which to avoid. He apparently failed to notice that Boston provides just such a checklist in his brief discussion, giving enough information to allow the reader after even a quick reading to instantly recognize approximately 2/3 of the hands that should be discarded.
This is a valuable resource for all Omaha-8 players. If you'll assimilate Boston's discussion, then take the time to pore over the tables your game will improve.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Tons of data, not much strategy
28 Feb 2010
Format:Paperback
This book obviously underwent a major transformation between the time the publisher listed it and it actually was released. Both Amazon.com and its competitors list the book title as "Low Limit Omaha High-Low Strategies" and 240 pages, but the final book is "Omaha High-Low for Low-Limit Players" and 330+ pages. (I've sent a correction to Amazon so at some point in the future this comment may not make sense.)
The mathematical analysis behind the book is quite interesting, but I'd say removing "strategies" from the title is a good choice. There's really only one strategy -- play quality starting hands. His discussion of trap hands and trouble hands is good. And the data to back up why you need an ace and why all AA or A2 hands aren't equal really makes that part of hand selection hit home.
But overall the book is lacking in content; despite coming in at 330 pages, there's only 130 of Omaha discussion (less than half the book), what one of the other reviews called "author created content". The starting hand tables are 188 pages. While in hold 'em rankings and values for all 169 hands is useful, with 5000+ hands the signal to noise ratio is small. Does anyone care about the relative merits of 4-8-8-8 and 4-4-8-8 with various suited variations? Readers would be better served if the book included the highlights or even as many as the top 1000 hands (35 pages) in the book with the full tables available online.
I also have some concerns about the validity of his data, and wish he had gone into more depth to explain how he arrives at his numbers. Many complete trash hands have values of much less than -$4 which doesn't seem plausible since you could always fold on the flop and just lose $4. For example, 4-4-4-4 has a value of -$9. Given his setup for the simulation to always see the flop you're going to invest $4 pre-flop and occasionally $8 if there's a raise. But you'll never put money in the pot after the flop, so losing $9 on average doesn't make sense.
I have no way to determine if this problem exists only for junk hands or if the methodology is flawed across the board. If the underlying data isn't correct, then the conclusions may likewise be flawed.
The mathematical analysis behind the book is quite interesting, but I'd say removing "strategies" from the title is a good choice. There's really only one strategy -- play quality starting hands. His discussion of trap hands and trouble hands is good. And the data to back up why you need an ace and why all AA or A2 hands aren't equal really makes that part of hand selection hit home.
But overall the book is lacking in content; despite coming in at 330 pages, there's only 130 of Omaha discussion (less than half the book), what one of the other reviews called "author created content". The starting hand tables are 188 pages. While in hold 'em rankings and values for all 169 hands is useful, with 5000+ hands the signal to noise ratio is small. Does anyone care about the relative merits of 4-8-8-8 and 4-4-8-8 with various suited variations? Readers would be better served if the book included the highlights or even as many as the top 1000 hands (35 pages) in the book with the full tables available online.
I also have some concerns about the validity of his data, and wish he had gone into more depth to explain how he arrives at his numbers. Many complete trash hands have values of much less than -$4 which doesn't seem plausible since you could always fold on the flop and just lose $4. For example, 4-4-4-4 has a value of -$9. Given his setup for the simulation to always see the flop you're going to invest $4 pre-flop and occasionally $8 if there's a raise. But you'll never put money in the pot after the flop, so losing $9 on average doesn't make sense.
I have no way to determine if this problem exists only for junk hands or if the methodology is flawed across the board. If the underlying data isn't correct, then the conclusions may likewise be flawed.
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