Omaha vs Hold’em – Complexity There is some debate about which is the most complex of the two variants. On the one hand, Omaha has four cards, but on the other hand, Hold’em players can make use of a much larger range of different bet sizings. Omaha is a hold'em poker variant that uses 4 cards instead of 2. Our strategy articles will help those new to the game and seasoned pros.
Omaha poker offers one of the best opportunities for long term profit of any gambling game. Instead of fighting a built-in house edge like slot machines and blackjack have, you’re competing directly against your opponents. The casino or poker room makes a profit by taking a small rake from each hand, but good players can easily overcome the rake and make more than they lose.
The biggest problem with Omaha poker is that it takes quite a bit of practice and study to become a winning player. It’s simply not possible to read a single page and instantly become a winner. But I’m going to give you everything you need to get started so you can begin your journey to being a winning poker player.
Mastering the Rules
The quickest way to become a good Omaha poker player is to master the rule of the game and learn how to make good starting hand decisions. I cover starting hand selection in the next section.
Don’t underestimate the importance of understanding the rules for Omaha. Most games have a simple rules structure and misunderstanding a rule rarely costs you much money. But in Omaha a mistake can wipe out all of the potential profit in an entire playing session.
The reason the rules in Omaha can create an issue is that most players start with Texas Holdem before trying their hand at Omaha. The rules are similar between the two games, but there’s one very important difference.
Most players think the main difference is you receive four cards in Omaha and only two in Texas Holdem. While this is important, it’s not as important as another rule.
In Texas Holdem, you can use any combination of community cards and your two-card starting hand to make a five-card hand. In Omaha you have to use exactly three community cards and exactly two of your four hole cards to form a five-card hand.
Here’s an example of how this can cost you a big pot.
Your hole cards are the ace of clubs, king of clubs, queen of hearts, and the jack of spades. The board consists of the king of spades, 10 of hearts, eight of spades, seven of clubs, six of diamonds, and the five of hearts.
Many inexperienced players believe they have an ace-high straight with this hand, but all you really have is an ace-high hand because you can only use two cards from your hand, not three.
In the end, it’s fairly simple to learn the rules, but it’s such an important point that you need to take the time to make sure you completely understand them before you start playing.
Understanding the rules is even more important if you play the high low, which is also called eight or better, version of Omaha. The biggest mistake that new Omaha players make in high low is reading the value of low hands.
Omaha Plo Strategy
The easiest way to read the value of low hands in Omaha eight is to read the five lowest cards as a number backward. The lowest number wins.
Here’s an example of how to read Omaha eight low hands:
- A hand of ace, two, three, six, seven is read backward as 76,321.
- A hand of two, three, four, five, six is read backward as 65,432.
The second hand is lower than the first, even though the first hand has an ace.
Starting Hand Selection
How To Play Omaha
The biggest mistake Omaha players make is believing that they can play more hands than they can when they play Texas Holdem because they start with twice as many cards. The truth is that winning Omaha players tend to play fewer hands than most Texas Holdem players, not more.
The best Omaha poker starting hands have four cards that work together in some way. Hands with four high cards with suited cards are the best. Here are some examples of strong starting hands:
- Ace of clubs, king of spades, queen of spades, and jack or clubs.
- Ace of clubs, king of clubs, king of spades, and jack of spades.
- King of hearts, king of clubs, queen of hearts, and queen of clubs.
Another group of good starting hands has three high cards including an ace with a lower card suited to the ace. Here are a couple of examples of this kind of hand:
- Ace of hearts, king of clubs, jack of spades, and even of hearts.
- Ace of clubs, queen of spades, jack of diamonds, and five or clubs.
Hands with two pairs can be profitable, but if you don’t make a full house with one of the pairs they can be trap hands, so you have to be careful playing them.
Depending on the strength of your opponents and your table position, some hands with three cards that work together can be profitable, but they aren’t as strong as hands with all four cards working together.
Hands with only two good cards are rarely profitable. In real money Texas Holdem, a pocket pair of aces is the best possible hand, but in Omaha a pair of aces with two worthless cards is barely playable. And if you don’t flop a set of aces you usually need to fold.
It might seem boring, but the way to be a winning Omaha player is to fold all of your weak and marginal hands and only play the hands that give you the best chance to form a winning hand.
The Nuts Are King
In Texas Holdem you can win many hands without the best possible and. But when you play Omaha if you don’t hold the nuts, or best possible hand, you stand a much higher chance of being beat. The top hands like a straight flush and four of a kind are still rare, but any time the board pairs you have to be cautious of someone having a full house. This makes a flush or straight much less valuable.
Any board that has the possibility of a flush makes a straight almost worthless. Two pair hands are extremely weak because the chance that someone has a set is higher than in Texas Holdem.
You need to be cautious when you have a good hand that isn’t the nuts. This reduces the value you can extract when you do win with a second or third best hand. This is also why you have to push for as much profit as possible when you do have the nuts. You need to make your opponents holding second and third best hands pay as much as possible to stay in the hand.
Using Patience to Win
In the last two sections you learned the importance of starting hand selection and having the best possible hand. Both of these things tie together in this section. Winning Omaha players are patient because they understand that they can take advantage of a few golden opportunities during a playing session to make an overall profit.
By folding weak and average hands you increase your chances of hitting a big hand when you do enter the pot. You also avoid wasting money chasing the second and third best hands. And when you do flop a great hand you can maximize the amount of money you make off of your opponents with second and third best hands.
In Omaha eight, the worst thing you can do is chase a pot to the end with only a low hand. Low hands are often split between two players, so you might end up with only a quarter of the pot. This can be costly in a big pot.
Conclusion
Any time a new gambler asks me for my recommendation for a game that gives them the best chance to win, I suggest Omaha. It’s not as popular as Texas holdem, but there are plenty of games available. This is especially true if you play online.
It’s not easy to learn how to be a winning Omaha player, but at the low and medium levels most of your opponents aren’t very good. Some of them don’t understand the rules, and some of them play too many hands. This creates a good opportunity for a good player to make a consistent profit.
Start building your Omaha knowledge and strategy using the advice on this page. If you can master starting hand selection it puts you in a great position to make a long term profit. Continue learning and building your skills from there and you have an excellent chance to be a long term winning Omaha player.
Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.Omaha Hi Lo (also known as Omaha 8 or Omaha Eight or Better) is a “split pot” version of the popular Omaha poker game. In this version of the game, there are two winning hands in each round: the high winner and the low winner.
The high hand winner is the player with the highest value winning hand – the same as in the standard version of Omaha. The low hand winner is the player with the best hand featuring five unpaired cards valued 8 or lower. Flushes and straights are ignored in the low hand. If you know the basics of Pot Limit Omaha Hi strategy, you should have no problems getting to grips with Omaha Hi Lo strategy, so here are some tips to get you started.
Be prepared to fold on the flop
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.
Forget about bluffing
If you are planning on bringing your Texas Hold’em bluffing skills to the Omaha Hi Lo table, think again. The game is driven by strong hands so when the betting starts, the chances are you are going up against players with high-value combinations. Bluffing in this situation is a sure-fire way to get beat. There are some Omaha Hi Lo strategy advanced situations where bluffing may be useful, but it takes time and experience to understand such nuances of the game. Until you reach that point, bet the hand you have.
Don’t commit too early
If you are dealt a strong early hand such as A-A-2-3 double-suited, don’t be tempted to raise early. You will reduce the field while committing a lot of money before you have seen the flop. It’s much better to keep as many players in the game as possible if you have the potential to hit the “nuts”. Some players may raise early if they have a good but not strong hand to try and force other players to fold but this strategy can backfire after the flop.
Remember, the key decision you need make after being dealt with your hole cards is whether to play your hand or not. If you have a premium hand, you should play but avoid raising until after the flop when there is a multi-way pot there to be scooped.
Omaha Hi Lo 8b Strategy
- How To Play Omaha Hi-Lo Split 8-or Better — Clear And Concise Guide – The Rules Of How To Play Omaha Hi-Lo.
- Omaha Hi-Lo Starting Hands Guide — Starting Hands Guide For Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better and PLO8
- PLO8 Poker – Ace-Two Errors & How To Spot Them — Every PLO8 Player Enjoys The Sight Of A2 As Part Of Their Starting Hand, However There Are Times When A2 Errors Can End Up Costing You Chips.
- Omaha Hi-Lo Point Count Systems For Starting Hand Selection — Dr Hutchinson’s Omaha Hi-Lo Point Count System Reviewed – Useful For Online Play??
- High Only Hands In PLO8 Poker – For The 30% Of The Time A Low Is Not Made, An Introduction To Profitable High-Hand Play.
- How To Avoid Being Quartered In O8 Poker – Avoiding Being Quartered In Certain Situations Can Make A Big Difference To Your Bankroll.
- Playing Static Flops In PLO8 – Cardrunners Coach Dan ‘CampFireWest’ Deppen takes us though some advanced strategy ideas.
- Omaha Hi-Lo Probability Math – How Often Will You Make A Low? — How Often Will You Make A Low For Different Starting Hands.
- All-Ins Pre-Flop In No Limit Omaha Hi-Lo — No-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo Strategy Should Include Defense Against The Constant All-In Overbets Pre Flop in NL08.
- Straights In Omaha Hi-Lo, A Closer Look! — Straights, Draws To Straights and When To Play Straights In Omaha Hi-Lo… A Closer Look!
- Omaha Hi-Lo Probability Math – How Often Will You Make A Low? — How Often Will You Make A Low For Different Starting Hands.
- Scooping PLO Hi-Lo Pots – The Why And The How! — Lets take a look at taking the high and low splits of the pot in O8 games.