How to Win at Omaha High-Low Poker By Mike Cappelletti
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Overview
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Positioned as “a strategy guide to the hottest new poker game,” Cappelletti certainly provides a guide for Omaha 8.
Book Structure
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Count them with me. 1, 2, 3 . . . 70 sections! The book has about 230 pages with 11 chapters and each of the 70 sections is only a few pages long. Cappelletti devotes about 30 pages to each betting round and provides a sufficient amount of charts to drive his points home.
Unique Advantages
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It’s not Cappelletti’s first book on Omaha and it shows. He digs deep in to the ether of O8 and pulls out some convincing support for O8 game selection and starting hand theory.
Disadvantages
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Some of the math is VERY confusing and I think lost on the reader. Cappelletti offers a lot of math but does not offer a universal way of calculating probably of hitting a high, low, or scooping against a random hand. This may be difficult or even impossible to do in book form but as a Hold’em player I know if I have 8 outs once I’m going to make my hand about 17% of the time. I’d like that comfort when playing O8.
Conclusion
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Yes, this is an above-average guide for O8. My problem is that this does nothing to convince you that O8 is the ‘hottest’ or even ‘newest’ poker game. If you doubt this assertion, walk in to an American casino on a Monday night and start a list for O8. I’m not sure you’ll use these skills often enough to make the time/money investment in this book worthwhile.
Focus: 7/10
Cappelletti loses me on occasion when he gets in to computer simulations. And the 30 pages he devotes to personal exploits detract from the learning process a bit (although this section is dotted with little nuggets of useful info like stats).
Quality of advice: 8/10
He’s Card Player’s O8 guy, that’s quality.
Examples: 6/10
Confusing. He does provide a good point system but it WILL take time to understand.
Readability: 4/10
At times, he’s all over the place referring to multiple examples in the same sentence.
Appropriateness: 3/10
If I see a O8 game in my regular casino, if the guys at my house game ever want to play it, if if if . . .
Overall (not an average): 6/10
A bit confusing and a perhaps inappropriate for today’s poker environment.
VERDICT: SURPRISE! Buy it and take the time to understand it and learn it. IF IF IF O8 ever takes off, you’ll be WAY ahead of the curve.
