By Tony Guerrera

No-limit hold’em has reigned supreme on the mainstream poker scene for several years. But mixed games have been an important component of both high stakes games and home games. Now, interest in mixed games is becoming a bit more mainstream. Many online poker sites now offer games well beyond Texas hold’em, and mixed games at lower stakes are spread in some brick-and-mortar rooms. As you move up in stakes, versatility is a big part of ensuring favorable table selection. Increased availability of different poker variants gives dedicated players the opportunity to put some good practice in as they move up the ladder.

Many mixed games feature variants that are played hi-lo. In hi-lo games, the high hand splits with pot with the low hand if there’s a showdown. Low hands are ranked first by the highest card, and then by subsequent lower cards. For example, 8s7c5d3h2c and 8c7h4d3s2h are both 8-lows since they both feature 8’s as their highest card. However, 8c7h4d3s2h is a better low than 8s7c5d3h2c because its lower at the first point of differentiation (the third card in this case). Most hi-lo games require low hands to be qualified; a hand only counts as a low if it’s an 8-low or better. If there’s no qualified low at showdown, then the winner of the high hand takes the entire pot-this is referred to as scooping the pot.

Strategic aspects vary a bit across hi-lo variants. However, there exist a few fundamental aspects of hi-lo poker that apply across the board. The most exploitable players in a hi-lo game tend to be those who don’t understand one or more of the following:

Adjustment to Pot-Odds: When playing a game based on high hands, you’re almost always competing for the entire pot. But even there, situations exist when you may be drawing to a chop. When competing for a chop, you’re only drawing to half the pot. Suppose you’re playing no-limit hold’em, you have 27, and the board is 5683. The pot is $100, an opponent bets $50 and gets 2 callers. The pot is $250, and you only need to call $50. At first, it appears that you’re getting $5:$1 pot odds in a situation where you’re 38:8 = 4:75:1 against hitting your straight. However, with a bet and two callers, it’s very likely that at least one of your opponents is also drawing with a 7 in hand. Reality dictates that you’re really paying $50 to win $100 in the event of a two-way chop or $50 in the event of the three-way chop. When playing hi-lo poker, situations in which you’re only playing for half the pot are common. Make sure you properly account for this when considering pot odds.

Different Approach to Value Betting: Normally, when value betting in a game that’s high-only, you’re making a bet with a hand that will win at least 50% of the time when called by one opponent, 33% of the time when called by two opponents, or 25% of the time when called by three opponents. This principle still applies in hi-lo games when it’s clear that there’s no qualified low (in other words, the hand is effectively being play high-only). But in hands where there’s a possibility of chopping, the strategy behind value betting changes a bit. Suppose you’re heads up in a hand of 7-card stud hi-lo. It’s seventh street, your opponent’s up cards are 8d5c3h2d, and he checks to you. Your upcards make it highly improbable that you have a low. You have no value in betting one pair or two pair here since you will just get your bet back if your opponent has a low (i.e. you’re betting 1 betting unit to win 0 betting units). Meanwhile, when your opponent has a concealed high, you lose your bet (possibly two bets if your opponent check-raises you). When betting against two opponents in a situation where a chop is likely, you’re effectively getting .5:1 on your bet (i.e. you should bet when you’ll take half the pot at least 66% of the time when you get action from two opponents). When betting into three opponents, you’re effectively getting 1:1 on your bet (i.e. you should bet when you’ll take half the pot at least 50% of the time you get action from three opponents).

Quartering: If multiple players go to showdown, and there’s a tie for either the high or the low, the tying players split their respective part of the pot. If two players tie for half of the pot, those players each get one quarter of the pot, and if those players didn’t get part of the high half of the pot, they are said to have been quartered. If three players tie for half the pot, they get a sixth of the pot. Players getting quartered lose money in all heads-up betting rounds. Players getting a sixth of the pot lose money in all betting rounds with less than six players. This notion of quartering introduces another dynamic that affects value betting in hi-lo games. One big mistake having to do with quartering typically happens in Omaha hi-lo. Times exist when it’s correct to show aggression with the nut low (either for value or to get opponents with marginal high hands to fold in order to scoop the pot uncontested). But mindlessly jamming the pot with nothing more than the nut low is a big mistake.

If you’re having trouble with the hi-lo version of a particular poker variant, it’s likely that you’re not accounting for how at least one of these factors pertains to the game you’re playing. Do some serious thinking about your lines of play with respect to these concepts, and figure out the appropriate adjustments.

Tony Guerrera is the author of Killer Poker by the Numbers, Killer Poker Shorthanded (with John Vorhaus), and Tournament Killer Poker by the Numbers.

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