Intro to Omaha Poker
Omaha Poker closely resembles Texas Holdem except you get four hole cards instead of two hole cards. After that, the play of each hand is the same as it is in Texas Holdem. Three community cards are dealt face up, there is a round of betting, another community card is dealt face up, there is another round of betting, one last community card is dealt face up and then there is a final round of betting.
In terms of popularity, Omaha poker comes second place only to Texas Holdem. The games look strikingly similar but there are enough differences in the rules and proper strategy that it's necessary to educate yourself before jumping right in. While the two games may be similar in some respects, they are completely different in others.
One of the key differences between Omaha and Texas Holdem is that in Omaha you must use exactly two of your hole cards when making a hand. In Holdem you can use one, two or none of your hole cards to make your hand. But in Omaha, you must use exactly two of your hole cards.
This is confusing for new Omaha players, especially those that have recently switched over from Texas Holdem. If there are four spades on the board and you have a spade in your hand while playing Holdem, you'd have a flush. But in Omaha, you would still have to have two spades in your hand to have a flush.
Omaha Rules
Dealer and the Blinds
Every Omaha poker hand begins with the dealer's button. The dealer's button is a small disc that is used to represent position at the table. It moves one seat to the left after every hand to make sure every person gets to be the dealer and every person posts the blinds once per orbit.
In cases where there is a full time dealer, the dealer's button is still passed around the table but the person with it doesn't actually deal the cards. Even though that person doesn't deal, the dealer's button is still needed because it determines who pays the blinds and who acts first in each hand.
In most Omaha games, there are two "blinds" which act as antes to start each hand out with a little money in the pot. In each hand, the two players that are located just left of the dealer act as the blinds. The player to the immediate left of the dealer pays the small blind and the player immediately left of the small blind is considered the big blind.
The amount of each blind all depends on the stakes of the game being played. In limit games, the big blind is equal to the size of one small bet. In pot limit games, the big blind is usually equal to 1/100th of the maximum buyin. The small blind is always equal to half the big blind.
First Round of Betting
After each player at the table has posted their blind, they will each receive four face down cards, one at a time starting with the player to the left of the dealer and in that direction (or clockwise) around the rest of the table. After all the players have received their cards, there is a round of betting where players can either bet, check, or fold depending on the action in front of them.
In this round of preflop betting, the first player to act is the one located immediately left of the big blind. That player may pay one small bet to enter the pot, he may fold his hand or he may raise. If he raises, all the other players must at least match that amount to stay in the pot.
The action continues clockwise around the table and ends with the big blind.
The Flop and Second Round of Betting
After all the bets have been matched from the first round of betting, the dealer now deals three cards in the middle part of the table, all of which are face up. These community cards may be used by all the players at the table and is known as the "flop."
After the flop is placed or dealt on the table, a second round of betting may begin. This time, the betting action starts with the player located to the dealers immediate left.
This person may check, bet or fold. Checking is free so folding here doesn't make any sense. The betting action then continues in this direction, or clockwise, around the rest of the poker table until all players have taken their turn to bet or match a bet.
The Turn and Third Round of Betting
Next, one additional card is dealt face up in the middle of the table right next to the flop. This is known as the "turn" card and it also acts as a community card.
After the turn is dealt, there is an additional round of betting which acts the same as the last round. This round also starts with the player located immediately left of the player holding the dealer button.
The River and Fourth Round of Betting
One final community card is dealt face up on the table next what is known as the turn card. This final card being placed in the center of the table is known as the "river."
After the river is dealt, there is one last round of betting identical to the last two rounds. After all the bets are matched, the remaining players turn their cards face up and see who has the best hand, which is also called the showdown.
The Showdown
The player with the best 5 card poker hand, using exactly two cards from his hand and three from the board, wins the pot. Remember, you must use exactly two of the cards from your hand and two from the board when making your hand.
After the showdown is completed and the pot handed to the winner, the dealer's button moves on to the next player. The button always moves to the player immediately left.
Strategy For Omaha Hi Poker
Omaha Hi is the second most popular version of poker after Texas Holdem but it's still a largely undeveloped game. There are lots of Omaha players at most poker sites but the strategy for the game hasn't been studied anywhere nearly as intensely as that of Texas Holdem. Poker players who take the time and effort to learn a proper Omaha strategy can benefit greatly from all the casual Omaha players out there.
The two games might look the same but the proper strategies for Texas Holdem and Omaha are vastly different. You cannot play the same way in Omaha as you do in Holdem and expect to win. Pots in Omaha are usually won by hands that are much stronger than hands that win pots in Texas Holdem. In addition to that, your starting hand selection in Omaha must be completely different than what you use in Texas Holdem.
Omaha Hi Starting Hands
The easiest way to get yourself off to a fast start in Omaha is to pick strong starting hands. You cannot just play any old Omaha hand that has a couple of strong Texas Holdem cards. You have to play poker hands in which all four cards work together no matter how you arrange them.
For example, the hand AK59 has a strong combination (AK) but every other combination of cards is weak. This hand can realistically only win the pot in one way. A hand like TJQK, on the other hand, is much stronger. No matter how you arrange the cards, you'll have a solid starting hand.
Other strong hands include high double pairs such as AAKK, QQKK and so on. These hands have two strong pairs but all four cards still work together no matter how you arrange them. These hands are even better if they are double-suited.
Double-suited hands are hands in which there are 2 cards of one suit and 2 cards of another suit. This gives you two different flush possibilities while at the same time taking away your opponents' flush outs. Double-suited hands are great but you cannot allow yourself to get attached to flushes in Omaha unless they are the nuts.
When choosing your starting hands in Omaha, look for hands that have both high card power and hands in which all four cards work together. If you begin your Omaha strategy by picking the right hands, you'll already have a major advantage over your average Omaha opponent.
Omaha Hi Postflop Strategy
The differences between Omaha and Texas Holdem become even more pronounced during postflop play. In Omaha, you have to be extremely careful after the flop because there are so many cards in your opponents' hands. Anyone can have the nuts at any point in an Omaha hand. With four cards in each opponent's hand, there are six different hand combinations in each person's hand. You need be very wary.
In Texas Holdem, top pair is often strong enough to win the pot. That is rarely the case in Omaha. It usually takes the nuts or something close to the nuts to win a pot at a full Omaha table.
You cannot get attached to low sets, low flushes and big pairs in Omaha. A low set might look good at first but it can actually become a very expensive hand. If anyone gives you action, you're probably beaten. In the worst case scenario, you will improve from a small set to a low full house and get beaten by someone who had a bigger set the entire time and improved to a bigger full house.
One of the key skills new Omaha players should learn is knowing how to instantly identify the nuts. The nuts can change with the addition of every community card so you always need to be aware of what the strongest possible hand is. With that in mind, you can then begin judging the value of your hand.
Omaha Hi Draws
Drawing hands play an even larger role in Omaha than they do in Texas Holdem. If you play hands in which every combination of cards works well together, you can get draws that are more likely to hit than to miss!
Wraparound straight draws are the biggest draws in Omaha. These hands can also have flush draws to go with them that can give you 20 or more outs to improve. For example, the hand 78JQ on a 9Tx board has 20 outs to improve. Any 6, 7, 8, J, Q or K gives you a straight.
One very important thing about Omaha draws: you cannot get attached to draws that aren't to the nuts. Drawing to non-nut hands is a big waste of time because the only times you'll get action are when you're beaten. If you draw to a non-nut hand and nobody else can beat you, that means they have even weaker hands than you and will be unwilling to put much money in the pot.
Omaha Hi-Lo Poker Strategy
Omaha Hi-Lo can be a wildly profitable poker game if you apply a few basic principles to your game. As you improve your Omaha skills and move up in stakes, you'll be able to make even more money off all the new and inexperienced Omaha Hi-Lo players.
Play for the Scoop
The first thing you should learn about Omaha Hi-Lo strategy is that your ultimate goal is to scoop the entire pot. If you play every hand with that goal in mind, good things will come your way. It's perfectly fine (and expected) to take what you can get as far as split pots go but always remember that a scoop is the best outcome.
Omaha Hi-Lo Starting Hands
Choosing the right starting hands in Omaha Hi-Lo will give you a great advantage over the average Omaha Hi-Lo player. You should pick your starting hands with the ultimate goal of scooping the pot in mind.
Because Aces can count as both high and low cards, you should primarily only play hands that contain an ace in them. Aces make your hand so much more likely to win both halves of the pot that you wouldn't be too far wrong if you only played hands that contained Aces.
Hands like A234 are incredibly powerful because they can effortlessly create the nut low. What makes them even better is that the Ace and all the connector cards can also give you the nut high hand. Low straights and big pairs are often strong enough hands to win the high half of the pot as well.
Omaha Hi-Lo Postflop Play
The strategy for Omaha Hi-Lo postflop play can get incredibly in-depth but there are still a few basic principles you can use to give yourself the biggest advantage possible as quickly as possible.
One major mistake new Omaha Hi-Lo players make is drawing to half the pot. This really isn't a winning strategy because draws are already losing propositions when you can win the entire pot. But if you're drawing to just half the pot, you're making an even bigger mistake. Sure, catching the cards you need is always a good thing but spending money in the hopes of just hitting half the pot is a bad thing.
Getting quartered is also a very real possibility in Omaha Hi-Lo. It's not as bad as losing a pot outright but it still costs money. If you and another player both tie for either the Hi or Lo side of the pot, you will split that part of the pot and end up with just 1/4th the value of the entire pot.
If you ever suspect you and another play are sitting on the same hand, you will want to be aware of the possibility of getting quartered. If it looks like your opponent is dead set on playing the hand down to the end, you should usually avoid making any bets or raises against him.
You need to be very careful, though, because if you have misjudged your opponent's hand, you can miss out on a lot of value by not raising. You will also want to keep in mind that if there's a chance that you can get your opponent to fold, a bet or a raise is the way to go.