some thoughts on A2 in O8/b

[Felting]

I think playing bare A2 is probably a leak. Almost always your playing for only half the pot. Plus, since everyone plays A2, we'd be playing for half of a half way more then we'd like.

IMO, A3 and 23 are better then A2 because you won't be quartered so often when you do flop nut low or nut low draw. Don't misunderstand me, I'm talking about bare 2 card hands link A 2 8 Q rainbow. I'll play A 2 all day with cards to go with it like A 2 4 5 . In the end though, probably all hands with only one good combo should be mucked.

side note - I think 4 card low hands with 6's or 6 7 in them are great hands cause if you and your op. both make a wheel low you one up his hi.

Thoughts, complaints, momma dresses you funny jokes?

[supafrey]

a28q is not completely naked, i'd love it HU or 3 ways. it's signif better than a2k9 and stuff.

[raisebot]

Ideally, you'd want either a complete or at least a partial wrap (A234, A235, etc), or a double suited Hi,Lo, preferably something like AKK2, etc. I just feel that, especially in the full ring PLO Hi/Lo online games, and not so much in limit games, a bare A2xx is just to risky of a play, getting quartered and/or counterfeited for only half the pot goes against the main goal, going for the scoop. But there are some exceptions, I guess.

[xDiamond_CutteRx]

Yes, playing bare A2 is probably a leak in most games, but in some very loose games, A2 with a suited Ace is almost always enough to justify staying in.

2 of the biggest leaks most O8 players have are overplaying A2 (and naked nut low draws in general), and overplaying AA.

[crack]

No, hands like 2367 and so on or whatever you are on about in O8 are really bad. I'd rather have A2 than A3 any day thank you please.

[Felting]

No, hands like 2367 and so on or whatever you are on about in O8 are really bad. I'd rather have A2 ...

with a board of 4 5 8 j k and 4-5 players?

enjoy your 1/4 to 1/8 the pot. i'll be stacking half of it.

[xDiamond_CutteRx]

No, hands like 2367 and so on or whatever you are on about in O8 are really bad. I'd rather have A2 ...

with a board of 4 5 8 j k and 4-5 players?

enjoy your 1/4 to 1/8 the pot. i'll be stacking half of it.

That's about the only time you will have the best of it with that type of hand, though. The point is, middle cards almost never scoop the pot. Playing for half can be reasonable sometimes, but it should never be your goal from the get-go. That's why playing a bare A2 can be such a leak.

[crack]

Think of it like this, if 4 people have A2 and you have 5678 you are only playing for half the pot anyway.

You're not going to make the nut low and the cards you need to hit are going to give people a low. Oh yeah, and if there are 5 players in the pot already, they are likely to have a lot of low cards, meaning the deck will be rich with high cards, another reason middle cards don't work well in O8.

Enjoy very rarely getting 1/2 or a scoop while I am making a small but consistent profit.