December 13, 2007
Omaha is highly situational. In hold’em, you can get pocket aces ten times in a row and it may usually hold up even if your hand doesn’t improve on the flop, turn or, river. In Omaha, you can get a strong double suited AKAK and never win a pot if the flop always comes six high.
Look at Omaha as shifting the action one street later. Pre-flop, you can play nearly any reasonable cards to see a flop, the flop is when you commit more to a hand, the turn defines your hand, and of course, the river finishes a hand (one way or another)
Because of this shift, you should play most of your good hands on good flops straight forward both to get maximum value and to protect your hand. In Omaha, like any poker game, if you think you have the best hand, your goal is to make your opponent make a mistake. Giving them incorrect odds to draw out on you is just that, and can be achieved by a pot-sized bet, especially if you follow that up with a pot-sized bet on the turn if a blank comes down. You’ll force them into a second opportunity to make a mistake, and if they draw out, you’ve done all you can. Read the rest of this entry »
November 08, 2007
Omaha is not as popular as Texas Hold’em but the games are there if you look for them. Many good Hold’em players want to try out Omaha and are unfamiliar with the game, but they may still play at high limits because they are good at Hold’em. These players generally play too loose.
Also, Omaha is much more of a technical game because it is easy to see what the best hand is, since usually there is a flush or a straight on board and odds are that somebody has one. By “technical” I don’t mean that Omaha is a more complex game. On the contrary, it is much simpler, because it is more a game of straightforward probabilities, whereas the psychological element in Texas Hold’em is much stronger.
At the low-limit Omaha games, there are a lot of opportunities if you have the patience. Many of these games are filled with players who are playing far too loose because everyone thinks that their two-pair is a great hand. The best strategy is to play hands that do well in multi-way pots and bet hard when you have the nuts. Please note: this article is intended for beginners playing low-limit Omaha games where the play tends to be loose and passive. It is not intended for more serious Omaha games.
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