Intro to Omaha Poker

Omaha poker is an increasingly popular alternative to Texas Holdem and can now be found at all online poker sites. The most noticeable difference between Omaha poker and Holdem is that Omaha is played with 4 ‘hole cards’. At showdown exactly 2 of these hole cards, together with 3 of the 5 community cards are used to determine the best hand. This may appear to be a relatively minor difference – however the implications for both your starting hand selection and overall strategy are huge.

The game of Omaha poker is usually played in either fixed limit or pot-limit format. No-limit does not work well with Omaha, as this is a game of draws and re-draws which mean the ability to over-bet could kill action very quickly. Omaha can also be played in split-pot format – known as Omaha Hi-lo split 8-or better (omaha8 for short).

Hand Selection

Starting hand selection in Omaha poker values cards which work well together. The best way of demonstrating the effects of coordinated starting hands is to think of your holding in terms of the combinations of 2 card hands which can connect with the flop. Each player gets 4 cards A-B-C and D, there are thus 6 possible combinations of 2 cards which could be used at showdown A+B, A+C, A+D, B+C, B+D and C+D. When you have coordinated cards you can have all 6 combinations working for you. With 1 card that is not coordinated with the others you are down to 3 playable combinations. If you hold a high pair and no other coordinated cards you are realistically playing just a single combination.

A big difference between Omaha poker and Holdem is that there is no dominating favorite before the flop in Omaha poker. The best possible starting hands such as A-A-J-10 double suited (2 suits to the aces) or A-A-K-K double suited are only a 3-to2 (60% to 40%) favorite over a hand such as 5-6-7-8 double suited or 8-9-10-J.

The lack of dominating pre-flop hands makes Omaha a post flop game by nature. In fact there are situations in Omaha where it is correct to fold the nuts on the flop – as so many redraws are available to opponents that your hand is very unlikely to be the best at showdown. In fact it is common for a strong draw to be 65% to 35% favorite over trips on the flop, these instances usually include some combination of a flush draw and a wrap-around straight draw.

Betting

Pot-Limit betting is the most commonly used betting structure in Omaha poker and also affects your strategy. This is due to the way the pot escalates from the relatively small pre-flop and flop bets to the huge potential for bets on the river. Combining this betting structure with the inherent strength of drawing hands and the no-dominating hand observation and you have a subtle and complex post flop game.

Conclusion

To summarize, Omaha poker shares many traits with the more popular Texas Holdem, however the differences in starting hand selection and post-flop strategy are huge. Omaha is an immensely enjoyable game where playing coordinated hands and ensuring that your post flop play reflects the strength of your draws can pay dividends.