Poker: Omaha H/L

[Toddzilla]

I played a couple of PokerStars $1 HORSE tournaments and have done reasonably well (for (a) not having any experinece outside of Texas Hold'Em and (b) being a complete and utter donkey). Anyway, what spurred me on to cashing in these tournaments were my play in Omaha H/L. I surprised myself at how much I enjoyed the game, as well as how much I seemed to understand the nuances.

So, I jumped on Party Poker last night to kill a few hours on some low-limit Omaha Hi/Low tables. Playing 3 tables of Pot-Limit $0.10/$0.25, I made about $75. I was estatic. This morning I couldn't wait to fire it up again. Predictably, I donked away just shy of $75 before lunch. Whereas the night befor I seemed to scoop the pot once in a while, or at least keep the low payoff to myself, today I found myself betting a bunch into the pot when I had the low nuts and then splitting it 3 ways, effectively losing money on the hand. Needless to say, I don't understand the game as much as I thought I did. But I really do enjoy it.

So, my question to the BALLERZ (yo!) is this: what are some basic, sound Omaha Hi/Low strategies? Good starting hand guidelines? Pitfalls to avoid? (I've gotten better at recognizing when a possible straight or flush is on the board, and I'm no longer in love with sets.).

Thanks!

[MJ4H]

The main concept in O8 is to play for a scoop and settle for a 3/4. If you are drawing to half the pot you are probably losing (unless the pot is huge and/or the number of opponents is sufficient).

You will want to play most A2xx hands (though some are borderline), most A3xx hands with a suited Ax, and some 3 to a wheel hands.

High only hands can be played, but I think generally you will want to limp and check out the flop with those. It can be very dangerous having a high only hand with one opponent in a raised pot and the flop is 356 or something. Also, in high only hands, most of the time you are going to want all 4 cards to be T or higher. Middle cards are death in O8, so try to avoid those totally. Remember that a hand with 4 good cards is much better than a hand with 3 good cards. That one 7/8/9 in your hand can make a borderline hand unplayable.

If you have any specific questions, I can probably answer those or at least help guide your thought process (This is my game of choice; I, too, enjoy it a lot--much more so than Hold 'em).

[dixieflatline]

check here: hxxp://o8poker.com/. MJ4H has some good advice below. About the only board thing he didn't cover was make sure you are drawing to the nuts if you are drawing. If you are drawing to the flush and the board pairs on the turn you are cooked, get out.
Normally this would be the time when I recommend the 2+2 book for that form of poker but I just cannot recommend Ray Zee's stud 8&O8 book. Maybe I just am not good enough at the game yet but I just don't seem to get the book. Either it is way too advanced or way too simple. There are few hand examples and little advice like: If UTG raises then you should fold a379 rainbow (for exaple).
Mark Gregorich wrote a chapter in supersystem II that seems much superior to me. The problem with that is it is only one chapter. Mike Cappelletti's book is supposed to be good for new players but some people hate it. I really have been focusing in on hold'em recently but O8 is supposed to be more mathematical and less read depending so at some point I am going to pick that up again. So many more hold'em tables running though.
Lastly, there is little info on PLO8 which seems to be the hot game right now (as far as O8 goes). The 2+2 forum has some decent posts on PLO8 and that is probably the best source for info on that game right now.