Omaha Poker

A player typically does a little leap in their head when a player stares down and sees pocket aces, In Texas Hold’em Poker. In Pot Limit Omaha Poker numerous players will have a tendency to do the same thing when they look down at pocket aces, but not all hands that contain aces are physically powerful.

A-A-K-K double suited as many people know, is the best starting hand in Pot Limit
Omaha.  This also considered is a powerful hand while Preflop, is the hand that is always ahead.  A couple of coordinated cards are also very power Poker hands. So does hands that have aces in them.

When the players play aces that are not coordinated or suited, a lot of them get into a trap with aces.   Players treat any starting hand with two aces in it like the nuts and sometimes get into a hold’em poker mentality.  When you are relying on only the aces to win the hand, the problem with playing a hand with aces that does not have any backup or else you need to be incredibly lucky.

A player that is known to be an aggressive and loose player raised from middle position in an Omaha Online Poker tournament about a year ago.  Mean while a player on the button reraised the pot and the LAG player that reraised all-in and was called.  The LAG player showed A-A-4-9 with no suits while the opponent showed Qh-Jd-10h-9s.  The aces are only 58% to win if you run stats on this hand preflop and this is almost a coin flip situation.  The aces all of a sudden went to an underdog because the flop fell 8s-10c-2d and the player with the wrap had a 57% chance to win at this point.  The aces were busted the wrapped player actually hit his straight.

Settled, the need for a player to have backup with their aces are required the wrap to hit. Hand must hit in order to stay ahead although any chance hand with two aces in it is indeed a slight favorite before the flop.  Uncoordinated aces will not hit the flop and then fall behind in many cases.

The question of how should a player play a hand with uncoordinated aces depends on several factors including position, the nature of poker players at the table, the restrictions, and certainly your stack. Seeing if you get lucky and limping into a pot with on the flop is the type of one hand that you may even want to consider.  Omaha is a drawing game although limping with aces look as if counterintuitive.  Players that pick up a draw on the flop actually are ahead against “naked aces”.   You recognize that a raise will knock some players out. You may want to put in a raise if you are on the button against only limpers.  If you do not hit the flop that you may want to tread very lightly should keep in mind or else you may end up giving your chips away.

A powerful hand is indeed a tool in winning the Pot Limit Omaha. While David “ DevilFish” Ulliot flopped his set of kings with Ks-Kh-7c-2s as the  flop was Kd-Jc-5d, his challenger Markus Golser had Ad-Qd-10c-4s and hat both a wrap on the nut straight and a nut flush draw. To make his hand, Markus held 17 outs because 18 would in fact give Ulliot a full house. Golser was just about 70 % to make his poker hand, at that point which made Ulliot far behind.

Being a game of not only big cards but as well as big draws, playing Omaha is a big example of how a big draw can actually be better a made hand. Ulliot was unable to fill up due to the fact that Golser ended up catching a 9 on the turn. Golser had a hand that had more than one straight and flush draws resulting to beating out another player when his poker draw got there.

A hand that has 3 coordinated cards that can aid make a straight is called a wrap.  An example of which is A-Q-10-4. Another good combination such as -10-9-8 are also very powerful hands because they are able to make anything from a nine high straight to broadway. Suited and coordinated hands are also ads on to the value of the cards that you have. The A-Q suited for the nut flush was in Gloser’s hand.

Using big wraps such as A-Q-J-10 or J-10-9-8 in raising the preflop is used by most players. It is not really a bad play but except when the board flops is paired or low. You will most likely have a type of straight draw with your wraps is suited. When this happens you give yourself added outs when you catch a flush draw.

Confusion takes place when the players do a flop in a solid draw in Poker Games. Golser did the same strategy during his game against Ulliot. Pushing your draws like Golser did is recommended by a lot of poker players. Like in many cases you will have a lot of outs to hit your draws because it is a solid draw.  Be watchful pushing when you only have a gut shot draw in poker tournaments. You only have four outs at this point.  You would want at a smallest an open ended straight draw (which is at least an 8 out). You are usually looking at 18 outs when you have a straight and flush draws. Go crazy as you want when you have many outs. A favorite in that spot that is what you will be.

When pushing a warp on the turn, be a little careful. The odds of winning Poker are condensed because there is only one card that will come up. It is significant to look at the pot odds at this point. You have a 36% to hit you hand in cases when you have 18 out. You will still be able to draw despite of all the odds. But when you decide not to do so, it is better to fold you hand.

Omaha Poker is a game that is played very much like Texas Hold’em but has two unique differences in overall rules.  First, each player is dealt four cards.  From that point, the game is played much like holdem with a flop, turn, and river.  Betting occurs after each round as in Hold’em.  At showdown, players must use two cards in their hand and three cards on the board to make their best five card hand.  The best hand wins the pot.  Omaha is primarily played in two forms, limit and pot limit.  Pot Limit Omaha is the most popular form and the form we will use for this article.

Omaha is a game of big cards and big draws.  The best starting hands are those that include two aces in them.  You also would like one or both of the Aces suited with other cards.  For example, the best starting hand in Omaha is A-A-K-K double suited, which means that one A-K is of one suit and the other is of another suit.  Not all hands with poker Aces are created equal.  Hands with two aces but two cards that do not coordinate are speculative hands at best.  Ac-Ad-8h-5s would be one such example.  You have aces, but nothing else really.  There are a couple of straight draws, but ones that can easily be outdrawn.  Hands such as A-A-K-Q, A-A-Q-10, A-A-J-10, etc are all fantastic starting hands.  Not only do you have a pair of aces, but you have multiple straight draws. If your cards are suited as well, especially suited with the aces, that gives you even more outs to win.  Most of the time you will raise the pot pre-flop when you start with a hand containing two aces.

Other great poker hands include hands with two kings and two queens as their top pair.  The same holds true for hands with big pairs as it does with aces.  Not all hands are equal and the hands with straight and flush possibilities are superior.  Hands that contain two pair are also strong hands.  Again, the higher the two pair and the more coordinated they are, the better.  For example, Qs-Qh-Js-Jh is much stronger than Qs-Qh-7c-7s.  Both are playable, but the bigger the cards, the harder your opponents fall.  These are hands that are can also be brought in for a raise pre-flop, but only call if someone else has raised.

If someone says that they have a wrap in Omaha, they are not talking about their lunch.  A wrap in Omaha is four consecutive cards that can make a straight.  The strongest wrap is J-10-9-8 double suited.  This hand will allow you to make any straight from a 9 high straight to broadway.  That is six different hands.  Lower wrap straights need to be played with caution as they can be trap hands.  A hand such as 3-4-5-6 can be easily outdrawn.  While you are learning to play the game, these are limping hands.  You can typically call a raise pre-flop with these hands, but I wouldn’t recommend calling more than one raise.

Not all coordinated hands should be played, at least not while you are learning the game.  Hands with two low pair (3-3-2-2), low wraps (A-2-3-4), two medium cards and two low cards (Q-J-5-6) , and suited hands with medium suited cards and two low suited cards (Qc-Jc-5h-4h).  Also, large unsuited wraps and hands with two pair that are totally unsuited are hands that can be potential losing hands.  I would recommend only playing unsuited wraps and big pairs either in the blind or in a very loose game.  If the flop does not improve your hand, get out.

Betting in Pot-Limit Omaha is a little different in most games.  First, the first player to open betting can raised up to seven times the small blind.  In a $1-$2 blind pot limit Omaha game, the player can raise to $7.  After the initial raise, each subsequent raise is the amount of the pot.  While other bet amounts are allowed, a lot of times players will tend to bet the full amount of the pot to either protect their hand, or to get more money into the pot.  Also, you will find that Pot Limit Omaha is an action game.  Due to the drawing nature of the game, many people will see a flop and stay in a pot after the flop due to the different possibilities their hand possesses.  In fact, more money typical goes into a pot in a pot limit Omaha game than does in a No Limit Holdem game.  In many part of Europe PLO is more popular than holdem.

You need to pay careful attention to the board in Pot Limit Omaha and know where you hand stands at all times.  If you flop a set, is there a straight or a flush draw out there.  When you are on a straight draw, is it the nuts and are there any flush draws?  The board just paired.  How does that change the hand dynamic?  In Omaha, you need to be drawing to the nut or holding the nuts or you will typically be the loser, especially in lower limit games where fewer people will fold pre-flop.  If you hold a straight and there is a potential flush, get out.  If the board paired and there is more than one opponent in the hand, then it’s typically time to get out.  When your hand is 2nd nut or lower, you need to consider getting out of the hand.  Obviously, there are exceptions to this, but as a beginning player, you need to start paying attention to other possibilities.  This will save you money long term.

Omaha is a high action game that is not for the faint of heart.  The swings in this game are unlike any game that you will play, including No-limit holdem.  Developing a solid strategy is imperative to maximize your winning and to minimize your losses when you have a losing session.  With the above tips, you should have a great start in learning pot-limit Omaha.  Now it is time to go out and put these tips to use.  Good luck and I hope to see you at the tables.