In split-pot games, like Omaha/8 and 7-stud/8, your goal is to win, or "scoop," the entire pot - not just part of it. Therefore: seek hands offering an opportunity to make the best high and the best low. Don't get trapped in situations where you can win just half the pot, and then only if you get lucky. That's not to say you should never play hands that can win in only one direction. After all, you might flop the best possible fl1sh, a full house, or even four-of-a-kind in a hand with a bunch of opponents. Even if you split the pot with a low hand, you'll make money.

But most of the time you won't be lucky enough to flop a good hand. In fact, much of the time you won't flop a real hand at all - you'll be drawing instead. Maybe it's a draw to the best possible straight or flush, or maybe you've flopped a big set and need the board to pair. If there's a pesky flush or straight draw that always seems to get there when you're in the pot, you'll need a higher flush or straight, or even a full house, to show down the best hand.

In such situations, you need to compare pot odds to the odds against making your hand. Then you can decide whether to continue playing. Although you don't have the best hand at this juncture, there's a silver lining in that cloud, and here it is: If you fail to make your hand and don't improve, you're certainly not going to call at showdown. Since you're going to save that last bet whenever you miss your hand, you're actually getting slightly better pot odds than any player with a made hand who's planning to bet on the river.