Today I will attempt to answer a couple of questions from readers regarding the A-2.
Paul a reader from Australia reminded me that I said I would discuss the un-suited A-2 at some point. Let's tackle this one first. There are 722 possible A-2 hands. Using Wilson's software and running 100,000 simulations on each of those combinations the following facts are clear. The average net win for the entire group is $11.61. The net win ranges from a negative $1.52, for the A-2-2-2 non-suited to a positive $44.06, for the double suited A-A-2- 3. 12 of the possible hands produce a negative net win.
There are 91 un-suited A-2 combinations and the net wins range from a loss of $1.52 for the A-2-2-2 to a win of $33.47 for the A-A-2-3. All 12 of the A-2 losses fall into this category. The average net win for all the un-suited A-2 hands drops to $6.71 a reduction of 43.2%.
The chart on the left lists all the A-2 starting hands with negative net wins. The A-2-7-7 even though showing zero actually has a net loss of $0.00025.
The A-2-2-2 while on the surface looks good; you are basically playing for just a low. It loses almost twice as much as the other hands. One would not be giving up too much it their policy consisted of playing every hand that contained an A-2 except for the A-2-2-2 un-suited. This hand, when suited actually returns a net win of $0.21. The real difference is the nut flush draw.
The chart on the right is the first of 3 charts displaying the un-suited A-2 by category. Please note there is only one way to make 2 pair with an A-2 and 2 possible ways to hold 3 of a kind. Unlike the set of deuces, the set of Aces is profitable due to the added ability of the Aces to win the high as a pair or completing a full house when 3 of-a-kind falls.
The charts that follow show the balance of the A-2 un-suited hands. Within the pairs, we find 4 of the 12 non-profitable hands. They consist of the pair of deuces combined with, to use a phrase coined by Bill Boston, "the 3 bandits", 7-8-9. The other is the pair of sevens. The pair of eights, while profitable would not be missed if you ignored it as well. The best of these hands are those that contain a pair of Aces followed by Kings and Queens. The best hand is the A-A-2-3 which offers good counterfeit protection while offering plenty of straight possibilities. 
The benefit of the straight potential is also evident on the high side. By combining the Aces with a high card that can form a Broadway we generate net wins above $23.00. The A-2-K-K which offers the same straight potential as the A-A-2-K has a net of $17.19. These two hands are excellent combinations for showing that the pair of Aces is worth 1.34 times as much as a pair of Kings. There is no flush possibility. The straight possibility is the same for high and low. This plays quite well into our continuing discussion of developing a point count system.
Looking at the chart on the left we see that 7 of the 12 or 58.3% of the negative net wins are in this classification. Except for the A-2-6-J they all contain one of the bandits, with the 7 most prevalent. This is your basic non-paired, non-suited starting hand. They do however posses straight draw capabilities.
Scanning the chart reveals that the A-2-3-K tops the list followed by the A-2-3-Q. The fact that the A-2-3-4 trails behind these two hands is a good indication that while Omaha H/L is basically a low game two way hands are important. Do note that the A-2- 3-K thru A-2-3-T all form the same low hand, same low straight and same high straight. The only difference other than high card value and/or high pair value is the gap factor for making a straight. This is even minimized as an Ace high straight is a one way straight to begin with. I will have more on this when we continue with our point count system.
The overall average net win for this category is $3.73 while that of the pairs is $11.08. In other words the paired A-2 is almost 3 times better, (2.97) than the unpaired version.
Did the bandits play a role here? You bet they did. If we look at the results for just those hands containing a 7, 8 or 9 the bandits, we would find average net wins of $0.70, 0.95 and 0.70 respectively. This is almost one fifth of the average for the entire category. Cleary the bandits have done their thing!
Paul also would like to know how to play these hands. Well Paul, you play them based on their net win. The higher the net win the more aggressive you may play before the flop.
Depending upon the texture of the game and/or whether it is a tournament or not, I may only raise pre-flop with the pair of Aces. I like these hands as they can confuse your opponents especially when a low or low draw does not materialize on the flop. When you show it down and scoop with the high hand they will not give you credit when you raise post flop with the nut low or low draw.
Post flop these hands can lose value if a flush or flush draw is possible. It is also easy to get trapped with these hands if the board pairs with no low draw. You may be tempted to play for the 3rd Ace. You need to be very mindful of the number of pre-flop callers and betting. It is also very easy to get quartered with this hand by a suited A-2.
Another reader Henry writes asking about the outcome of playing A-2 suited with a flop of 3-4-5 double suited to your hand. Unfortunately Henry did not tell me what his other two cards were. These two cards may drastically affect the outcome. I will try to contact Henry and see if he remembers his other two cards. If I can't reach him I will run the simulation using two random cards and two insignificant cards.
So what have we learned? There are only 12 nonprofitable hands containing an Ace Deuce, non suited or otherwise. If we play every hand containing an A-2 except for A-2-2-2 unsuited, we would be playing hands that would be profitable on average. Think about that statement for a while and remember there are 270,725 possible starting hands. Just utilizing one simple rule we can cull out the majority of junk hands.
Next in addition to answering Henry I will produce a list of all profitable hands not containing an A-2.
