The Ace: Don't Leave Home Without One

By Raphael Zimmerman

In a hold 'em ring game that I played in at the Turning Stone Casino in Verona, NY, there were two players who would regularly slow roll their hands by showing an ace first. Then, the other card if their opponents didn't muck. Their comments upon revealing the ace were always "Don't leave home without one."

I was a bit annoyed at the time because it appeared as though these two players were "giving lessons" to the rest of the table. But then I got to thinking about how strongly the comment applies to high-low poker on the internet.

In a low-limit online game of 9-handed Omaha 8, the typical players plays far too many of his/her starting hands. There is profit to be gained by being selective about one's own. Being able to recognize a good omaha/8 starting hand is critical to one's success at the game. One can just about show a profit at this game just by remembering the quote "Don't leave home without it", referring, of course, to the ace.

Let's make a comprehensive list of all aceless Omaha 8 hands that are typically playable out of the blinds. There's high-only hands like KKQJ, preferably with one or both of the kings being suited. There are very few of these hands, as conventional wisdom suggests that high-only hands should only be played when all four cards are ten or above, and one has a pair and a three-straight, or three-card one gapper. So we can come up with the list: KKQJ, KKQT, KKJT, KQQJ, KQQT, KQJJ, KJJT, QQJT, QJJT,QJTT

The hands on the bottom half of this list are questionable, because one cannot make a nut set with any pocket pair below queens. Also remember that any of these hands can be helped by having a flush draw. Now, for good aceless low hands:2345

Am I forgetting any? The hand "2345" can make nut low with double-counterfeit protection when any ace and two other low cards hit the board. A hand like 3456 can only make nut low if the board contains both an ace and a deuce. Hands that need "perfect flop" such as this one are usually unplayable because can't take any heat unless they get it.

If the flop comes down A67, the 3456 hand could be behind in both directions, and would probably fold if the flop was bet and raised. Even holdings such as 234K or 2356 are marginal at best, and should only be played short-handed, or when there is a decent chance to steal the blinds. In low-limit full-table internet Omaha 8, the blinds are virtually never stolen preflop. Now, let's make a list of playable, aceless two-way hands that haven't already been mentioned:23KK, 23QQ

If you're first to enter the pot on the button or one off it, you should play, and probably even raise with, weaker holdings such as 23JJ, or 24QQ. But once again, this situation is very uncommon at low-limit.

In short, you can just about count the total number of playable aceless Omaha-8 holdings on the fingers of your two hands. Regularly "leaving home" without an ace, or one of these specific hands, can be very detrimental to your bankroll.

I'm not saying that all hands containing an ace are playable, but I am saying that almost every playable hand contains one (or two). An ace will even help by serving as a kicker in some rare situations. Let's say that the board is: QT772. You shown down A24Q and your opponent shows down 23QK. This ace kicker has meant the difference between scooping with your 2 pair and mucking it.

In low-limit, patience is a virtue, and some online poker sites allow you to play two tables at once to overcome the boredom of waiting for playable hands. If you're doing this and still can't stand waiting for playable hands, go play roulette. There's a lot of action to be had there, but not much profit.