High/Low Split Poker For Advanced Players

by Ray Zee

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Reviewer: pjensen

While it may sometimes seem that the whole poker world revolves around holdem, High/Low split poker games – both Stud and Omaha – are still spread in casinos and many online sites. High/Low Split Poker For Advanced Players covers both games and is another solid offering from 2+2 Publishing. This book will help introduce you to the games, and also contains some advanced concepts.

Because these games are complex and difficult to play well, there are plenty of bad players, and a good High/Low player can often find the game quite profitable.

Many players are content to play nearly every hand, since they assume that they have a good chance of getting at least half of the pot, so to them it seems like a good gamble. But playing that way will just lead to making costly second-best hands. And one of the key concepts of High/Low split is that you want to play hands that can potentially scoop the whole pot.

The Stud High/Low half of the book discusses what makes a good High/Low hand, which is often quite different from what would be considered a good 7-Stud high-only hand. There is also good advice on playing each street, bluffing, reacting to scare cards, and more. If you are already a 7-Stud player, this will help you to understand the similarities and differences with Stud High/Low.

The Omaha High/Low section covers starting hands, play on the flop (the most important betting round), as well as playing the other streets. It also covers other areas such as full-ring versus short-handed play, position, drawing to the nuts, and getting counterfeited. The Omaha section isn’t quite as comprehensive as the Stud section, but it is nevertheless full of solid advice.

There are two possible complaints. First, there are no sort of starting hand charts. Granted these games are so complex that it’s difficult to put together a chart like that, but some readers might be disappointed in that (however, if you understand the concepts of what makes a good hand in what position, you won’t need a chart). Secondly, there are no odds/probability charts, which would be helpful. For example – in Omaha knowing what the odds are of flopping a nut low draw and hitting it by the river. The lack of any sort of odds chart doesn’t detract from the quality of the advice, but it would have been a welcome addition.

The end of every section contains some excellent hand examples/quizzes. They help to solidify the concepts learned, and offer detailed explanations of how you should play the hand.

It might seem odd to put both games in one book, but you’ll find that if you are proficient in one you can quickly learn the other. High/Low games can be very profitable when played well, and High/Low Split Poker For Advanced Players is arguably the best book out there for both games.

4/5

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