Omaha
Much of the information in this Beginner’s Poker Blog is good for all poker games. Most of our examples are presented as Hold’em hands and when specific advice is different from one game to another, we attempt to point out the differences.
As far as play of the game is concerned, Omaha is very similar to Hold’em. In Omaha you get four down cards, in Hold’em you get two. In Hold’em you can use one or both of your hole cards along with three or four of the community cards to make your best hand. Heck, you can even “Play the Board” and use all five of the community cards. In Omaha you must use two of your down cards and three from the board. And there you have the differences between Omaha and Hold’em. The deal, betting, flop, turn and river are the same.
Now, of course, strategy and odds are hugely different when everyone starts the hand with four cards. At a full ten player table this means that 40 of the 52 cards are in play before the flop and 45 of 52 are used by the river. Omaha is also played most often as a Pot Limit game, although Limit Omaha is spread in many card rooms and online you can even find No Limit Omaha. Also the Hi/Lo version of Omaha is very popular, often that variation is referred to as Omaha 8 or better. In the Hi/Lo game the pot is divided between the highest poker hand and the lowest, however, the low hand must be five cards lower than an eight. So the best Lo hand is A2345 but A2349 is not a Lo hand and does not qualify for the low half of the pot.
Like all poker games, we recommend learning the game by playing for free online to acquire the basics of the game and also reading books and participating in forums. The Omaha section of the Online Poker Forum is one of our most active threads. We welcome you to participate and join in the Omaha conversation.
-This is Beginner’s Poker Blog Post #86
