Omaha Hands
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Omaha and Omaha Hi Lo is a much more complicated game then Hold’em simply because you have a wider range of starting hands seen by players due to the additional cards and combinations players. The best Omaha hands are less bigger favorites against an average hand compared to Texas Hold'em. In Texas Hold'em, common knowledge is that A-A is very big favorite against all other hands. In Omaha, A-A as a part of a hand is far from that strong. In general, an A-A-x-x hand versus a random four-card hand is a 70-30 favorite in average (if. For a Royal Flush you need an Ace King Queen Jack Ten all of one suit, hearts or clubs.
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Omaha hold'em, often called simply Omaha, is an exciting poker game that is strikingly similar to Texas hold'em, although it does have a number of differences to set it apart.
Unlike Texas hold'em, a game in which the preferred betting structure is no-limit, the most popular betting structure of Omaha games is pot-limit.
Games of this type are referred to as pot-limit Omaha, abbreviated as PLO poker.
The first major difference you'll instantly be aware of when playing PLO poker instead of hold'em is that each player is dealt exactly four hole cards instead of two.
However, players don't use all four hole cards to make a hand because they can only use two of them.
In fact, players must use exactly two of their hole cards along with three of the community cards to make a five-card poker hand.
Let's see an example:
- A player holds — a strong starting hand in pot-limit Omaha.
- The five community cards read
In a pot limit Omaha game, the player does not hold a flush despite holding the .
Neither does the player have a Broadway straight.
The player actually only has a pair of kings with an ace-kicker.
This may seem a little confusing when you first sit in a PLO game, but it quickly becomes second nature. You just need to play enough Omaha hands to get used to this and to learn how to read the board correctly.
SEE ALSO: Learn Omaha Poker at GGPoker with Daniel Negreanu
What is Pot-Limit Omaha?
To know more about the basics of the game, you can visit these pages:
- How to play Omaha poker: the official rules of the game explained in the easiest way possible.
- Why You Are Losing at Pot-Limit Omaha (With Ryan Laplante): Poker poker pro Ray Laplante helps you become a better player in a 2-minute video lesson.
- Eight Common Mistakes Beginners Make in Pot-Limit Omaha: 888poker ambassador Vivian Saliba shares her thoughts on the most common mistakes beginners make when they approach Omaha poker.
- Best Free Poker Sites in 2020: a list of the top sites to practice Omaha poker for free or play real money games with bonuses.
Main Differences Between Omaha Poker and Texas Hold'em
Besides starting with four hole cards rather than two, there are a few more differences between Texas hold'em and Omaha games.
The Action Preflop
One such difference is that preflop hands in pot-limit Omaha run much closer in terms of poker equity than they do in hold'em.
- In Texas hold'em, a hand such as is an 82.36% favourite over before the flop hits the board.
- In Omaha poker a hand such as will only beat 59.84% of the time.
This closeness in preflop hand strength is one factor leading to players playing more hands, seeing more flops, and PLO being more of a drawing game than hold'em is.
This creates larger pots with the majority of the chips often going into the pot after the flop is dealt.
Hands Strenght
Another key difference is the fact you generally need a stronger hand at showdown to win at pot-limit Omaha than you would in a Texas hold'em game.
In hold'em, it is not uncommon to win a hand with two pair or even a single pair. In Omaha poker, these hands are rarely the best by the river.
The Betting Structure
The other significant difference between pot-limit Omaha and no-limit Texas hold'em is the betting structure.
In no-limit hold'em, players can bet any amount they wish, up to the size of their stack.
Omaha poker, however, is 'pot-limit,' meaning players can only bet the total size of the pot including their call.
Need help to understand the concept of pot-limit games? Let's look at another example.
Imagine a PLO poker hand that is contested between two players.
The pot has $100 in it, which means the maximum the first player can bet is $100.
When it is the second player's turn to act, that player can only bet a maximum of $400.
This is worked out by adding the initial size of the pot ($100), plus the size of the opponent's bet ($100), plus the second player's call of the first bet ($100).
This equals $300, which when added to the $100 call makes the maximum bet $400.
Betting is easier when you play online
While this can be confusing until you are used to playing the game regularly, betting in pot limit Omaha poker is a lot easier if you play online.
When playing Omaha games online you can simply click the 'pot' button and the software figures out the correct amount for you.
SEE ALSO: Want to Play Omaha Games Online? Check Out 888Poker!
Need help? Ask the Dealer to count the chips for you
In a live pot limit Omaha game, if you announce 'pot' before betting the size of the pot, the dealer will assist with the calculations.
Basic Pot-Limit Omaha Strategy
Pot-limit Omaha poker is a complex game, which makes it difficult to come up with the perfect strategy for playing it.
There are a number of pointers that you can remember that can form the basis for a solid pot limit Omaha strategy:
- Be patient with your starting hand selection. Don't fall into the trap of thinking that any four cards are worth playing.
- A bare pair of aces isn't as good as in hold'em. Two aces can help form a strong preflop hand in PLO poker, but unless they improve on the flop you're unlikely to win the pot, especially in a multi-way contested pot.
- There is less bluffing in PLO poker. While bluffing does occur, it's less prevalent in most players' PLO strategy than happens in hold'em; a show of strength in PLO is likely to be a strong hand.
- Draw to the nuts. Although there are times when you can play a weaker draw aggressively, drawing to the nuts is the best idea.
Stop thinking like a hold'em poker player. Many Omaha poker players come from a no-limit hold'em background and play the game as such. They'll overvalue one-pair and two-pair hands, as well as open-ended straight draws (with eight outs).
The latter is particularly problematic since in PLO poker it is possible to have 'wrap' draws with up to 20 outs with the perfect hole card and community card combination!
SEE ALSO: Dealing With Variance in Pot-Limit Omaha
Quick Strategy Tips to Be a Good Omaha Player
While Omaha might not be as 'straightforward' as Texas hold'em, these are some simple strategy tips that will help you get better results at the table — faster.
Go through this list of essential Omaha poker tips, memorise them, and you'll know what to do to become a better player right.
Know what hands to play / fold. The nature of PLO requires you to be smart and take a holistic approach to the cards that compose your starting hand.
Avoid the danglers, for example.
Whenever you decide to play a hand with a 'dangler' (a card that doesn't connect to any of the other cards in your four-card starting hand), you force yourself to play with three cards.
Why is this bad, you ask?
You might think this isn't too bad, especially if the other three cards that compose your hand seem promising.
Think about your opponents, for a moment.
If they go for a 'more conservative' pot limit Omaha poker strategy, they stay in the hand only if they can still play with all four cards, not just three.
By entering the hand with three cards, you are giving others an advantage they shouldn't have.
READ ALSO: You Play Too Loose in These 3 Preflop PLO Situations
Don't play too many hands. Note: this is not only the most important Omaha poker tip you can ever learn — it is a lesson that you should keep for all the poker games you'll ever play in your life.
Once you realize that Omaha poker games have good hands (a few) and bad hands (a lot more), you need to accept the consequences of that.
Select the hands you play and go only for the premium hands.
Omaha, like hold'em, is a game where you need to know when it's time to play and when it's best to fold your cards.
Be patient. Wait until your starting hand fits the range you should play, use the information you have to read your opponents and decide whether you should continue or not.
Know how to read the board and assess the other players' hand strength. Unless you are so good at detecting poker tells that the police use you as a real-life lie detector…be careful.
Omaha poker can become a very expensive game and one where the players don't bluff as much as in hold'em.
If a large bet comes on the board, you better save your hero call for another poker game and fold. Most Omaha players use big bets to protect their hand. Calling their alleged bluffs can be very, very costly.
Understand How Odds and Outs Work. The concepts of odds, outs, and equity are important in all poker games, including pot-limit Omaha.
If you struggle to do the math and understand how everything works, you better rely on the usual beginner's formula.
Start with a free odds calculator and continue using the tool until you learn how to do the calculations in your head.
Three Things NOT to Do in Pot Limit Omaha Poker
While in Sochi, Russia, for an 888poker Live event, PokerNews'own Tiffany Michelle approached 888poker ambassador Vivian Saliba to talk about Pot-Limit Omaha.
With more than $100,000 in PLO tournament winnings and an 11th-place finish in a PLO event at the World Series of Poker, Saliba is known (and respected) to be a good Omaha poker player — perhaps even the best one in the 888poker team.
In her conversation with Michelle, Saliba touched on the three most common mistakes she sees poker players make at the table when they play Omaha poker.
Don't Freak Out When Short Stacked
'When you have seven or 10 big blinds (BB) you are not that short. You still have a lot of room to pick your spot and to pick your right hand,' Saliba explains.
Confirming one of the Omaha tips we shared earlier, patience is the key. 'You need to be very patient. I see too many people just going crazy [because] they think they are super-short.'
'Poker is about survival,' Saliba continues. 'Tournaments are about survival. PLO is like that, too — just perhaps at another level. You need to learn to manage risks all the time..'
Don't Play a Lot of Hands
If you thought our list of Omaha strategy tips was the only one mentioning the sheer volume of hands beginners play — think again.
'You have four cards,' Saliba explains. 'I know they look pretty — but this is the same for your opponent.'
If you plan on staying in the hand and invest your stack, 'you really need to have strong high cards, high pairs, drawing for the nuts.'
'You shouldn't be playing multi-way pots with weak draws or [small] pairs. You have to select the hands you play.'
Don't Assume It's Just Like No Limit Hold'Em
It's no secret that the majority of players that get into Pot Limit Omaha poker come from Texas hold'em.
According to Saliba, many of them make one common mistake: 'they think Omaha poker is simply hold'em with four cards.
'There are a lot of differences between the two games in terms of hands, of strength, theory, approaches, and more.'
'There are so many things that before you start playing PLO you should stop and study the game. Omaha is not as simple as people think.'
Best Starting Hands in Pot-Limit Omaha Poker
Like other variants of poker, pot limit Omaha success begins with solid starting hand selection.
Omaha Hands Calculator
The very best Omaha poker players in the world play a wide range of poker hands, but those new to the game should stick to hands that are stronger and therefore easier to play.
The best PLO poker starting hands are those that have a big pair in them and some connectedness that allows them to improve post-flop.
Ideally, your hands will be what is known as 'double-suited,' meaning you have the chance to flop two different flush draws.
E.g., is a nice double-suited starting hand with a big pair.
Computer simulations show that double-suited is the best pot-limit Omaha starting hand.
Flopping a set with this hand means you'll always have top set, while any flush draw will be to the nuts.
Other strong hands containing a pair of aces include and , while double-suited run-down holdings such as are also very playable.
SEE ALSO: You Can't Play Them All: Evaluating Starting Hands in Pot-Limit Omaha
Final Considerations
As you have probably gathered, pot-limit Omaha poker is an exciting game that creates big pots, and sees players make big hands regularly.
Omaha Hi Low Starting Hands
As great as this is, the big thing you need to consider is playing Omaha poker requires a larger bankroll than hold'em variants mostly because of the closeness in the strength of hands both preflop and postflop.
It's common to not have more than 60% equity on the flop against a single opponent, which can and does lead to some crazy swings!
When you run good at pot limit Omaha, you usually run very good, but the flipside is also true. Remember it when you play!
Top Omaha Poker Sites
This article was originally published on March 1, 2016. The last update includes new info, including a list of practical Omaha strategy tips and Vivian Saliba's insights on the most common mistakes beginners make when they play Omaha poker.
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cash game strategytournament strategypot-limit OmahaOmaha pokerPLObeginner strategystarting hand selectionequity
The high-low split pot version of Omaha is a fun and exciting game, which we will refer to as Omaha/8. It is typically played as a fixed-limit game, but the pot-limit variety (known by the abbreviation PLO/8) is also popular, particularly online. The format, betting structure, and requirement to use two cards from your initial four hole cards, in conjunction with three cards from the board, is all the same as Omaha high but coupled with the addition of the best high and best low hands splitting the pot.
In our lesson on how to play Omaha we outlined that one major difference between Omaha and hold’em was the number of potential hands vying for the pot. In Omaha/8 that number remains constant as each hand still has six possibilities but now some of them are vying for the low end and others for the high. What this translates to is an action packed game with numerous bets and raises and large pots.
Omaha/8 Showdown Rules
Omaha/8 is a split pot game, which means that unless someone scoops the pot it will be split. There are two ways to scoop the entire pot. The first is to have both the best high and low hands. The other way is to possess the best high hand when no hand qualifies for the low.
The High Hand
The high hand in Omaha/8 is the identical to a winning hand in Omaha high. If there is no qualified low hand then the best high hand will win the pot.
Qualifying Low Hand
The rules for a qualifying low hand are as follows:
- Players may use any five cards in their hand for the low
- A low hand is five unpaired cards, no higher than an eight
- Aces are low for the low hand (and high for the high hand)
- Flushes and straights do not negatively impact the low hand
Ranking Low Hands
Low hands in Omaha/8 are ranked ‘top down’, from the highest card in the hand. For example is lower than . This is an example of a “7 low” versus an “8 low”.
If the highest card is equal in rank then the next highest card is used to determined the lowest hand. This means that is lower than because the second highest card among the five is lower. If the second highest card was the same then it would go to the third, fourth, and fifth card respectively. If players share the same low cards then the low half of the pot is split.
The best possible low hand in Omaha/8 is A-2-3-4-5, known as a ‘wheel’. Remember that low hands that are straights and flushes do not disqualify it from being low but, in fact, make it a two way hand and a candidate to scoop. While a Royal flush and a five high straight, called a wheel, would represent the best high and best low hands, the hand you really want at the showdown is a five high straight flush to scoop the pot with the best high and low hands.
Omaha/8 Hand Examples
The basic rules are the same as Omaha high, in that you must use two of your hole cards with three on the board.
In the above example a low hand is not possible because the board doesn’t contain three cards that are eight or lower. Only the best high hand will win. The nuts for this board would be someone holding Jack-Queen for the straight. With (which is an excellent starting hand in Omaha/8) you would use along with the on the board to make a high-hand of one pair.
Here is a hand that would qualify for both the high and the low:
In the above example the board contains three card no higher than an eight; the . The hole cards in this example are very strong. In Omaha/8 you can use any two of your cards for the low and any two for the high-hand. The can be used for the nut high hand (flush) and can be used for the nut low ( A-2-3-7-8). This is a prime candidate for scooping the pot.
If you’re unsure how to work out low hands, which can be confusing at first, then don’t worry. The key is to count backwards from the highest low card first. As mentioned, the best low hand is A-2-3-4-5 which is a five-low hand, which when counting backwards would obviously be 5-4-3-2-A. The next best low hand would be a six-low of 6-4-3-2-A, followed by 6-5-3-2-A, then 6-5-4-2-A, then 6-5-4-3-A and so on. The highest card is counted first and if there’s a tie the next highest low card is counted.
The split pot rule makes it a very different game to Omaha-high. But it’s important to stress that Omaha/8 is not a game of splits. Whilst the best high hand will win half the pot and the best low hand will win the other half; scooping the entire pot is the true object of this poker game.
This game seems to have polarized poker fans in so far as they either love it or have a disdain for it. I like to call those who love it Omaholics and you should be careful, for if you are just getting started in this addictive form of poker, you may well join their ranks.
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By Tom 'TIME' Leonard
Tom has been writing about poker since 1994 and has played across the USA for over 40 years, playing every game in almost every card room in Atlantic City, California and Las Vegas.