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Omaha Poker Strategies

Saturday, March 5th, 2011 by Phil

Omaha Poker Strategies

Omaha used to be one of the most popular poker games in the world, but it faded out of the limelight as Texas holdem exploded. But today Omaha poker is undergoing a  resurgence. Many Texas holdem players have become intrigued by Omaha.

Some poker skills translate well from game to game, but other skills are useless. For example, 3-bet bluffing pre flop will cost you a lot of money in Omaha, but it can be  profitable in Texas holdem. And understanding relative hand values is important in both games.

Texas holdem players have a head start on Omaha poker strategies. There has never been a better time to profit from Omaha, as many of the tables run rampant with new players. Omaha can be complicated, but there is a lot of money to be made if you are willing to spend the time improving your skills.

General Omaha Strategy and Tactics

Omaha is a game that is built around draws. If you are afraid of playing draws, Omaha is not the game for you.

You have to be willing to put your money in the middle without the nuts. There aren’t too many times where your opponents are going to be drawing dead in Omaha, no matter how strong your hand might be. In Texas holdem, a full house is virtually impenetrable, but in Omaha it can be crushed with ease.

Draws in Omaha are played partially for equity, and partially for their intrinsic value. In other words, your draws don’t need to hit in order for you to make money with them. If you can force other players to fold their hands, you are going to be picking up pots.

If you do get called with a draw, you are going to have opportunities to make your hand. Draws are common in Omaha mainly because players are able to work with four cards as opposed to four. You might start with a pair pre flop, but end up having the nut flush on the river. This is why double suited hands are so valuable. If you miss one draw, you still have a chance to connect with another.

Pre Flop Strategy in Omaha

Hand selection will largely determine whether or not you make any money playing Omaha Holdem. Starting hands can be tough to decipher, especially when you have to work with four cards. There are many different hands that you are going to run across, some might appear stronger than they are, while others appear weaker than they are.

In general, you are either playing with a draw heavy hand, a showdown value type hand, or a junk hand. Occasionally you are going to have hands that offer both draws and showdown value. Typically, a hand with draws and showdown value is the most valuable.

Double suited hands that are connected are extremely valuable in Omaha. A hand like 7h 8h 9s Ts would give you all kinds of opportunities for a big hand. You could hit two different flushes, in addition to many different straights.

After the flop is dealt, it is easy to determine whether or not your hand is worth continuing with. For example, if you flop an open ended straight flush draw, you want to do everything you can to get all of your chips in the pot. If, however, you only flop a pair, you should be tossing your hand away.

Keep in mind that these types of hands are played for their drawing potential, not for the chance that they might hit a pair or two. If you get lucky and flop a full house, that is an exception to the rule.

Double paired starting hands give players a chance to land a full house, a set, or even quads. Quads are rare in most forms of poker, but they are not that uncommon in Omaha. Double paired hands could even be double suited, in which case your hand would have even more outs.

8h 8s 9d 9c would be a monster hand because it allows for straights, full houses, or even better. If you have two big pairs, like jacks and kings, you really want to land a set or better. As strong as these pairs are, they are often beaten by two pair, straights, flushes, or other hands that top a lone pair.

Trash hands are self descriptive. Don’t waste your time trying to turn junk into gold, even if it is tempting. You can definitely get lucky in Omaha, and even more so than in other games, but it still isn’t worth the risk.

Post Flop Strategy in Omaha

Post flop play is when players really have a chance to exploit their opponents. While pre flop play is far from easy in Omaha, post flop play is much more difficult.

You need to learn how to accurately assess the value of any given hand, while also determining how strong your opponents are. Failure to do this can result in massive and ongoing losses.

This advice might seem obvious, as you need to do the same in other poker games, but Omaha is tricky. On the surface, two pair looks like a strong hand. When you realize that you were just 4-bet, however, you begin to see why it might not be so strong after all. Your hand’s value is always relative to your opponent’s holdings.

Making Plays With Draws in Omaha Poker

Most players don’t feel comfortable when they have to go all in on a draw, but in Omaha, it is a necessity. Scared money is terrible in Omaha because so many players play aggressively. If you have a draw, you need to force the action and hope to take down the pot one way or another.

Forcing the action does not mean going all in with 7 high flush draws, but instead making logical plays. For example, if you lead with a bet on the flop with a big flush draw and get raised, are you going to call or fold?

Calling makes your hand transparent, and transparency is never a good thing in poker.

Folding is a weak play that is cutting off a line of profitability.

Raising, however, gives you multiple opportunities to win the pot. If your opponent folds, you win without a showdown. If your opponent calls or re raises you, there is still a great chance that you are going to make your hand. Sure, you are going to lose from time to time, but you can’t be scared of the inevitable losses.

Omaha rewards fearless (and smart) players.

Learning to Fold – An Important Omaha Poker Tactic

As necessary as aggression might be, learning to fold can be just as important. If you call down with every hand or chase with every draw, you are going to find money bleeding from your bankroll. In holdem and other variations of poker, hands like flushes and straights are strong and often unbeatable.

In Omaha, however, a flush is often topped by a better flush. Even full houses or sets are crushed on a consistent basis. You have to realize that everyone is playing with four cards, so bigger hands are going to show up much more frequently. Because players are more likely to make big hands, you need to know how to fold a hand when you are beaten.

If you make a call with a big hand and happen to lose, don’t beat yourself up over it. There is a legitimate chance that your call was fine and you ran into a cooler. The problems start when players are calling down with hands that are clearly beaten.

For example, if the board is paired and you have a jack high flush, a player raising into you probably has you beat. If they don’t have you beat, they are probably bluffing. You should be sure that your opponent is bluffing if you decide to invest the money.

Remember that bluffs are not as common in Omaha as they are in other games. Most players know that it is tempting to call down with anything in Omaha, and that bluffing is a losing proposition.

It can be frustrating to lay down a big hand, especially when you invested a lot of money into a pot. Keep in mind that you could have saved yourself a lot of money. There is little point in making that last call if there is no way that you have the best hand.

Some of the best Omaha players in the world pride themselves on making incredible laydowns, not incredible calls. For every big call that someone makes, there is usually a bunch of bad calls to back it up. Light or weak calls are the downfall of many players, but Omaha players who know how to fold are winners.