Omaha Hold Em Strategy
History
- Omaha is already the second most popular card game after Texas Hold’em, and now people are becoming bored with Texas Hold’em and are turning to Pot Limit Omaha (PLO) for new excitement. Although Texas Hold’em skills are transferable, to play Omaha you will have to learn a lot more strategy to become a good player at Omaha.
- An essential Omaha 8 strategy is to recognize when you have a weak hand early on and get out quickly. The game favors the highest value hands so if the flop offers you little, it’s time to fold. Betting on average hands is a flawed Omaha Eight or Better strategy that will quickly end your game.
Omaha Hi Lo is a fun and potentially profitable poker variation. It offers a nice change of pace for Texas holdem players and when you learn the best way to play can be more profitable. This page includes sections on how to play and strategy. The playable Omaha hands are on par with the weakest of these Hold'em hands, but there are more of the Omaha hands. You don’t go into a coma (well, maybe you get close to a coma),. In Texas Hold'em, you can win the hand with suited connectors often enough to make it a viable strategy that is sporadically pursued. In Omaha, it's more likely the other guy will have a.
The exact origins of the Omaha variant of poker are unknown, although it first appeared in a casino setting at the Las Vegas Golden Nugget Casino. The full name of the variant was originally “Omaha Hold'em” as outlined in Doyle Brunson's super system. Omaha Hold'em is synonymous with a variant of Hold'em poker known as “Tight Hold'em” where players must use both of their holecards to construct a 5 card hand. (In the modern version of Hold'em players can use both, one, or none of their hole-cards to create a 5card hand).The “Omaha” part of the name “Omaha Hold'em” reflects this rule of using exactly 2 hole-cards. “Hold'em”, refers to the fact that players share a pool of community cards which they can use to make their 5-card hand. This is different from draw games where players have purely face-down hole-cards, and stud games where players have a mixture of face-up and face-down hole-cards but no community cards.
Omaha Poker Rules
AAKK
b) Players must use exactly 2 of hole-cards to make a 5-card hand.
Player A: AAKK
Player B: 43QQ
Board: 56789
Because of the 'both card' rules, this is not the split pot (e.g. both players playing the board); instead Player B wins creating 7-high straight using his 34
c) Omaha is more frequently played with a pot-limit betting structure meaning it is not possible to go “all-in” unless the pot size is sufficiently large.
Keeping Score
Similar to all other variants of poker each player starts with a number of “chips”. These are small circular bits of plastic which are used for betting and keeping score. Generally these chips can be traded in for their monetary value after the game is over. The objective of the game – to win your opponents chips. In a poker tournament, you win by accumulating all of the chips on the table.Blinds/Position
Playing a Hand of Omaha
Betting
Hand Rankings
Betting Structure
Why Play Omaha
Official Omaha Hold'em Rules
Similar to No-Limit Hold'em, Omaha is also a game of skill that can be beaten in the long term with enough work. The good news is that the average competition at Omaha games is a lot weaker than in Hold'em games. So even though it takes a little longer to figure out the basic rules, it can potentially be more lucrative than playing No-Limit Hold'em.Omaha Tips for Beginners
- We need to use exactly two of our hole-cards and three cards from the board to make a 5-card hand. Can't stress this enough. This is easily the most common mistake players transitioning from NLHE make.
- Play 4 cards which work well together. The best starting hands in Omaha are comprised of hole-cards that work well together as a 4 such as AA10J. Non co-ordinated cards are sometimes referred to as “danglers”. It should be easy to see why the 3 in the hand AA103is not really that useful. We would also rather have AA10Jthan AA10J. Since we can only use two of our hole-cards, having the J means we block some of our spade-flush outs. The worst hand in Omaha is considered to be 2222. It will hardly ever improve since the cards it needs are no longer in the deck.
- Stronger hands. If we come from a Hold'em background, we will need to up our standards for what constitues a strong hand. Bottom set in NLHE is considered a relative monster. Bottom set in Omaha will get us into a ton of trouble. If our opponent wants to stack off he will have a higher set the vast majority of the time. As such our stacking off range in any spot should be the nuts or at least very close to it. Even 2nd nut flushes are huge problem hands for beginners since they will nearly always be up against the nut-flush when there is a lot of action.
- Nuts is not always nuts. Even with the stone cold nuts there may be situations where folding is correct. If we have the nuts and no redraw it will be a losing play to stack off vs our opponent who also has the nuts but with a strong redraw.
- Wraps. Wraps are very strong hands in Omaha and are straight-draws with additional fire power. They will have significantly more outs than a straight-draw in NLHE. For example we hold T-9-6-5 on a board of 8-7-2. We have 20 possible outs to make a straight!
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Omaha Hold'em, 8 or better high-low split was in definite need of shortening, so poker players commonly refer to it as Omaha/8 or Omaha hi/lo. As with any other game of poker, the rules are mostly simple, but mastering the game requires a talented, relentless student. Omaha is also thought to be the game of the future, with its popularity growing very quickly, and already outgrowing many 7 card stud populations. In fact, the most populated omaha 8b games are found online these days. Full Tilt Poker has the best Omaha hi/lo 8b games, with a combination of good player population and lots of big name pros to watch at $1000/$2000 limits and higher. Absolute Poker has fewer players, but their Omaha hi/lo 8b pot limit games are very loose at the lower levels.
Qualifying Low hands
In Omaha hi/lo, the pot can be a split pot if there is a qualifying low hand. To qualify as a low hand, the player must have five unpaired cards that are 8 or lower. An ace counts as the lowest card in a qualifying low hand, and flushes and straights do not effect the low value. The best 'low' hand would be an ace through five straight (A2345). This hand is commonly called the 'Bicycle.' It is entirely possible for a player to have the best low and best high hand. Take for example a player has A2456, all of spades. He has a spade flush as a high and and an Ace through 6 low hand. Players can even use different cards in their hand to make a separate low and high hand. If a player has both the best high and best low hand, he wins the entire pot, also called 'scooping' the pot.
The Blinds and Dealer Button
Omaha is a fixed position game, like Texas Hold'em. Position is determined by who currently is sitting behind the dealer chip or button. The dealer chip moves clockwise around the table after each hand. The dealer has the advantage of acting last on every round except for the first, and wise poker players know the advantage this brings. Also like Texas Hold'em, we use blind bets to get the pot started. The first player to the left of the dealer puts in the small blind, which is usually half of the big blind. The player to the left of the small blind is required to put in the big blind, and this is generally equal to the small bet at the particular limit being played. For example, in a $10/$20 game of Omaha, the small blind would be $5 and the big blind $10.
The initial deal is where we see the major difference between Omaha and Texas Hold'em. In Omaha, each player is dealt four cards face down instead of two. However, only two of these cards are allowed to be used in creating the players hand. This must be kept in mind as the hand progresses! The four down cards is the greatest stimulant for action for the Omaha variation of poker, as it is not hard to find a nice hand when you are dealt 4 cards.
After everyone is dealt 4 cards face down, the player to the left of the big blind must either call the big blind, fold or raise. Each player acts in turn, folding, calling, raising or re-raising. The blinds are considered 'live,' meaning that when the action gets to them in the first round of betting they can also fold, bet or raise.
The Flop
Omaha Hold Em Strategy For Beginners
When betting action is completed on the first round, chips are raked into the pot and the dealer places 3 cards face up in the middle of the table. These are community cards, used by all players to create their best hand. Again, do not forget that you must use exactly 2 cards from your hand and three cards from the community board to create your best five card hand! A round of betting begins, starting with the player to the left of the dealer button.
The Turn
After betting action has concluded on the flop, another card is placed face up in the center of the table, called the Turn. This card is also a community card. Bets double on the Turn. In our game of $10/$20, while $10 bets were made before, we now have to be or raise $20 at a time.
The River
The final community card is placed face up in the center of the table, and the final round of betting takes place. We again use double bets on this round.
Showdown
Omaha Strategy Vs Hold'em
When all bets are equalized on the River, a showdown occurs and the last player to make a bet or raise must turn over his down cards, revealing his best five card hand. If there was no betting on the final round, the first player still active to the immediate left of the dealer must show his hand. Each player in turn can either turn over his cards to reveal a better (or worse) hand, or muck his cards face down if he is the loser. Each player has to use exactly two of his hole cards and three cards from the community cards on the board. If there is no qualifying low hand, then the player with the highest ranking hand wins. If there is one or more qualifying low hands, then the player with the lowest qualifying low hand and the player with the highest ranking hand split the pot.
Notes and Frequently asked Questions
The best low hand is determined first by looking at the highest qualifying low card in each players qualifying hand. Someone with A2358 would say he had an 'eight low.' His opponent meanwhile has A2357. He has a 'seven low' and wins the low side of the pot, since his seven is lower than the first player's 8. If the players have qualifying low cards of the same rank, we simply move down the chain of cards until one player's card is lower than the other. Example: A2368 beats A2378. Player one would note that he has an eight-six low, while the loser holds an eight-seven. It's not often to have two players who hold identical low hands, but it happens, and this results in a split of the low side of the pot.
Never forget: You form your hand using exactly 2 cards from your hole cards and 3 from the board.
You can use two of your cards to form a high and and two others to form a low hand. Keep all of your options and possible hands in mind!
An interesting event happens every now and then in Omaha hi/lo, and it is called 'getting quartered.' This occurs when two players tie for the high side of the pot and a third player is the only one with a qualifying low hand. The low hand gets half the pot, and the two high hands split the high side, hence they only receive a fourth, or a 'quarter' of the entire pot. The same thing occurs when two players have identical lows, and another player has the high hand. The high hand takes the high half of the pot and the two low hands split the low side of the pot. Getting quartered is almost always a bad thing, as you will tend to put more money into the pot than you will get out of it, unless there were a lot of players in the hand donating towards the pot from the beginning.