The young Norwegian used to be a predominately online player but she has started to make her presence felt in the live arena. Some of her famous wins include coming first a 180-man tournament despite only looking at her hole cards once and outlasting a field of 20,000 in an $11 tournament.

Having played mainly No-limit Hold’em for most of her career, Annette has been branching out and learning new formats, with Pot-limit Omaha being one of the games she is looking to excel at. It seems as if her studying and hard-work has already started to pay off as she completely dominated the final table of the $1,100 Pot-limit Omaha tournament in Melbourne, Australia.

By the end of the first day, the 160 entrants were whittled down to just the final table of nine with Annette sat third in chips and within touching distance of the title, championship gold ring and the AUD$40,000 first prize money. The players at the final table had no answer for her aggressive style of play and she was responsible for eliminating five of her eight opponents.

The final elimination came after only three hands of heads-up play against Billy Seri. A pot sized raise on the button from Seri saw Annette re-raise enough to put Seri all-in. He called and the players revealed their Omaha poker hands. Seri showed Kh8dJc9h and was trailing Annette’s KcJdJh2s. The board ran out Ac9cAh2cTc and Miss Obrestad’s pair of jacks held up to give her the win and consign Seri to second place.

The win took her live career earnings to over $2,800,000 and cemented her third place in the women’s all-time winnings listings.

The first situation is when you have AA and you are the first or second to act.  In order to have a shot at winning the hand, you are going to need to eliminate some players and the only way to do that is to get some money in the pot.  When you are first or second to act, it is early enough to dissuade callers from getting into the pot with a marginal hand.

You are also going to have a better idea of where your stand against your opponents if they are getting into the pot. As it is unlikely for someone to call you with a marginal hand, you can count on the fact that you are sitting across from a hand that has a high pair in it.  If the board flops babies, you can continue to be aggressive with a little more confidence that you are still sitting on the best hand.  If a K or Q hits the board and you fire with them coming right back over the top, you are probably better off letting the hand go as they will more than likely be sitting on a set and you are reduced to 2 outs.

The second situation where you can throw out a raise is when you have a lot of limpers already in and you are in late position with a drawing hand.  The reason for this is to build up the pot on the hopes that you hit the flop in a big way.  The beauty of this move is that most inexperienced players will check it around to you regardless if they hit or not.  They will hope to hit you with a check raise and if you don’t hit, you have the ability to get a free card on the turn.

Raising here is very effective over the long run as the odds that you are generating off of the initial raise are rather large when compared to the overall investment that you are seeing back on your hand.  If you manage to hit one out of about 8 hands, you will be at the very worst even.  If you can hit two of these hands, you are going to have a very profitable session.

Raising in Omaha is a true weapon and you have to use it wisely.  Don’t abuse it and after you hit a few hands you will be able to pull off a bluff every now and again.  You of course need to mix up your game a bit so you don’t become predictable, but stick to these guidelines for the majority of your play and you can turn profitable sessions when you are raising before the flop.

When you see the flop with multiple callers and you are not on the pair, you absolutely have to let your hand go unless you are on the nut flush or the nut straight draw.  Even then, you are going to have to play very cautiously as any match will crush you.  This will be more of a feel for your opponents at that point, but be very careful.

The best opportunity that you are going to have to steal away the pot is when you are heads-up with a prefop raiser and a small pair hits the board.  As long as you don’t see an A or a K out there, you very well may be able to snatch the hand by keeping the pressure on all the way through the river regardless if you have the matching card or not.  The preflop raise is a definitive sign of a player that is sitting with AA or KK in their hand. 

Now when the pair hits the board and you do end up hitting your boat, you have to pay particular attention to how you hit the boat. When that river comes around and you are sitting with the low kicker, you may still paying someone off. Throw the bet out there and see what the reaction is.  If someone is banging you right back, you may have to actually let the hand go.

When you flop the nuts and there is no danger of anyone outdrawing your boat, you want to encourage the action.  You can do this by putting out cautious bets that will now show your hand, but still let everyone know that you have something.  With a little luck, someone with a weaker boat will come over the top and you can drop the hammer on them. 

Remember, Omaha Poker is a dangerous game when you are playing on a full table.  More than likely, the nuts are out there on each and every hand so you need to make sure that you don’t go to aggressive on a hand, regardless of its strength, if it is not the nuts.  Learn how to read the board and pay attention to how each and every opponent plays different hands.  Do this, and they will be reloading when you catch them with their hand in the cookie jar.

Ladbrokes Poker Room Details:

Ladbrokes are well-known British bookmakers and the Ladbrokes Poker website is a part of its vast online betting network. It is a great place to begin your poker-playing career as it offers a good sign up bonus apart from which it gives its players an opportunity to play online casino games from the poker website itself. The website also provides various promotions that are introduced time and again. There is a lot that players can look forward to at Ladbrokes Poker. So, if you are still thinking of where to begin, you might just find your ideal solution by opting for Ladbrokes Poker.

Ladbrokes Poker uses the MicroGaming software, which offers simple but useful graphics that make game play easy and quite interesting. The software offers a browser playing facility that allows instant game play. The games run at a good pace and players do not have to wait for games to start, as dealing is quick and there is no time wasted between the hands. The lobby is straightforward and you are able to access the games with no fuss at all. You can also get all the available table stats such as a detailed history of your hands. Also available is a chat facility that enables players to interact with each other and exchange notes.

The ‘My Lobby’ option allows you to view all the games you have played along with a list of all your successfully played games. You can customize the options as per your requirement. A calendar is also available that enables players to organize their time and also mark events they would like to participate in, so that they can receive reminders of the approaching dates. Also you have access to their Sports book that allows you to bet on some of the major Sporting events around the world.

You can even play a demo version of the games before you sign up for a real account. If you do not wish to play for real money even then the website would be a perfect place for you.

The games offered at Ladbrokes Poker include the standard Texas Holdem, Omaha, Omaha High, Omaha Low, 5 Card Stud, 7 Card Stud and 5 Card Draw. There is a huge range of stakes that you can choose from. In Texas Holdem, the available variations are Limit, No Limit, Pot Limit as well as heads up versions. The stakes begin as little as $0.01/$0.02 and can go up to $25/$50.

Also available are a number of tournaments, which include single table, multi-table, sit and go, heads up, ladder and satellite tournaments. You can enter a tournament with a buy-in as little as $2 or play for higher limits that range to thousands of dollars.

Apart from the regular poker games, Ladbrokes poker also allows its players to play casino games that are made available on the poker website. These include Blackjack and Roulette with limits beginning at $1 and going up to $5,000. You can also play Baccarat, 3 Card Poker and multi hand 3 Card Poker, Craps and Cyber Stud Poker. If you are a slot machine enthusiast, there are a lot of slot machines available to suit your fancy.

Ladbrokes Poker offers new players a 100% sign up bonus of up to $500. The players can wager for this bonus by gathering Player Points with 30 times the points against your deposit. You can get these points by playing tournaments and raked hands.

As for promotions there are several offers that keep coming up and each one is more lucrative than the other, thereby attracting a huge amount of traffic to the website. You will never have the regret of being a part of the Ladbrokes poker site because the online poker room strives to provide the best to its customers.

Basic Details Country of Origin : Gibraltar License : Gibraltar Year of Foundation : 2002 Software : iPoker Network Size : 11.9 MB Audited By : PWC Language : English, French, Italian, Spanish Accepts USA Players : No Bonus : $600

Available Games	:	Texas Holdem in Limit, No Limit, Pot Limit and Limit versions. Limit Omaha, Pot Limit Omaha, Limit Omaha HiLo, Pot Limit Omaha HiLo, 7 Card Stud, 5 Card Stud
Deposit Methods	:	VISA, Masters, Diners Club Credit Cards, Ukash, abaqooo, CLICK2PAY, Monybookers, ECO, wirecard, WebMoney, sofort, UseMyBank, Przelewy24, paysafeCard, POLi, NETELLER, Nordea, my Citadel Wallet, moneta.ru, Bank Transfer, iDEAL, INSTADEBIT, ClickandBuy
Withdrawal Methods	:	VISA, Masters, NETELLER, Moneybookers, ClickandBuy, CLICK2PAY, my Citadel Wallet, ENTROPAY, Local Bank Payment, Bank Draft
E-mail Support	:	Support@WilliamHillPoker.com
Telephone Support	:	UK: 0808-120-3503 International Phone: +44-20-3393-6959

William Hill Poker Review

William Hill Poker, one of the leading bookmakers of the United Kingdom offers poker players a wide range of online poker games. Apart from being major Sports betting provider William Hill has become one of the largest online gaming sites available today. Its growing popularity lies in the reason that it offers some great promotions and bonuses that draw thousands of people to its poker playing website.

It caters to all kinds of players playing at the poker tables, which include players from other gaming sites such as from the online casino, Sports betting and bingo websites. So no matter what kind of player you are, you will always find something to attract your attention at William Hill Poker.

Software:

William Hill Poker is now a part of the iPoker Network and uses the PlayTech software. The software is straightforward and simple to understand and handle. The game play is fast and the software offers some useful features. The menus are easy to manage providing you with quick access to the desired information. With the help of a swift scan you can easily locate the table you wish to play.

You can also get information on the player statistics, flop percentages, average pot size, hands being played and some other useful details. Also available are hand histories on request. The graphics are not of very high standard but do not cause a hindrance to your game play. The software also offers multi-table playing facilities that allow you to play at multiple tables at the same time. Games at

William Hill Poker:

William Hill Poker provides a wide range of games to select from that include the most popular Texas Holdem, Omah, Omaha Hi-Lo, Seven Card Stud, Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo, Five Card Stud and the exciting Blackjack. Stakes can start very low allowing players with smaller budgets to attempt games too. However those keen on making larger wagers can also have their share of the fun at the larger tables.

Apart from the ring games there are also numerous tournaments to play, which include multi-table tournaments, guaranteed tournaments among several others. There are various jackpots to attempt too including the exclusive bad beat jackpot that offers £150 in cash prize.

Bonus/Promotions:

You can get a 100% bonus of up to £600 on your first deposit and you have 60 days in which to wager for this bonus. Apart from this there are daily promotions that attract a lot of traffic to the website. There are freerolls to be won every day and the first winner of the Royal Flush in a day is awarded £100.

William Hill Poker also offers Loyalty Points on every hand and tournament played with real money. These points can either be exchanged for cash or for entries to live tournaments.

Deposit/Withdrawal

Deposit methods include VISA, PayPal, NETeller, Moneybookers, Bank Wire among various others. Withdrawals can be made via FirePay, Citadel, NETeller to name a few.

Customer Support:

Customer Support is available around the clock seven days a week via telephone, live chat facility and email system.

Basic Details Country of Origin : United Kingdom License : Malta Year of Foundation : 2005 Software : iPoker Network Language : English Bonus : 100% Upto £100

Available Games	:	Texas Holdem, Omaha, Blackjack, Five Card Draw, Siki, MTT,STT and Stud
Deposit Methods	:	Visa, Delta, Mastercard, Neteller, Solo, Switch, Paysafecard, Bank Transfer, Click2Pay, Bank Draft and Check
Withdrawal Methods	:	Visa, Switch, Neteller, Delta, Bank Transfer, Solo, Click2Pay, Bank Draft

Virgin Poker Review

Overview:

Launched in 2005, Virgin Poker received its license in Malta and has ever since been providing poker fanatics with online poker games that are not only fun but rewarding as well. The objective of Virgin Poker was to establish an online poker-playing site that was equally interesting for both skilled players as much as it was enthralling for new comers and pleasure seekers. It certainly achieved its goal and is now considered as one of the leading online poker playing sites in the whole of Europe.

The fabulous rewards and Virgin points are fully packed with exciting goods as is true with all the Virgin promotions. Many players are specially drawn to these wonderful offers besides which there is some great action at the cash tables and tournaments and a lot of money to be won.

About the Virgin Poker Software:

Virgin Poker like all the other poker websites on the iPoker Network uses the Boss Media Software. The software is easy to maneuver and quick to download while the graphics are clear and vibrant and the exclusive Virgin red color evidently decorates the website and the lobby. The lobby is straightforward and gives you easy access to the games through the quick filter that allows you to select the game of your choice as well as the limits you wish to play. Everything on the menus is clear-cut making it simple even for a novice to understand how to get around the site.

The screen is adjustable as per your comfort but alas there is no multi-tabling facility that generally allows you to play at more than one table at a time. Your play statistics, flop percentages, notes, pot size and other basic necessities are also available directly from the lobby.

Games offered at Virgin Poker:

Like all the other poker sites, Virgin Poker too offers the usual poker games that are much enjoyed by players around the world. The games offered are Texas Holdem, Omaha, Omaha Hi/Lo, 5-Card Draw, 5-Card Stud, 7-Card Stud and other games. Texas Holdem as usual is the most frequented followed by Omaha but the 5-Card Draw, the 7-Card Stud and 5-Card Stud are also played more often than they are played at other poker sites. Various limit sizes are available making it possible for all kinds of players to find games that suit their budget.

Tournaments:

There are several tournaments available at Virgin Poker with over 30 events taking place each day. Tournaments include the $50 daily free rolls, various qualifiers, free rolls for virgin point holders and re-buy in tournaments with low wagers. The tournaments pick up a rapid pace and plenty of all-in bets are available.

Those who are able to win three final tables in a row are entitled to one of the ten seats to a guaranteed tournament with a final table prize of $15,000. All the players participating at the final table get a share of the money while the winner gets a cash prize of $3,500.

The yearly tournaments include the chief satellite tournaments such as the Virgin Poker League that comprises of various festivals.

Bonus and Promotions

They offer its players a 100% sign up bonus of up to £100 and they have 180 days in which to wager for this bonus.

Promotions include the famous V-Points that can be collected with every cash game and tournament that you play. These Virgin Points can be exchanged for some great gifts such as mobile top ups, flying miles and other lucrative prizes.

Also available is a referral program where you are entitled to $25 for each new player that you successfully introduce to Virgin Poker.

Support:

The ever-helpful Virgin Poker staff are available 24 hours a day to help you out with your queries. You can choose to contact them via email, telephone or the live chat facility that allows you to reach the staff much faster.

As you probably already know, when you are playing Omaha Poker, just about all the cards are going to be dealt out on a full table. This makes it very dangerous to draw to anything but the nut flush and the high end of the straight. Doing anything else is a foolish play and will land you in the poor house.

This all goes back to starting hands to make sure that you do not get trapped in a hand that you have no shot of winning. If a flush hits the board and you are sitting on a J high draw, forget about going after the flush. With the amount of cards out, it is unlikely that your suited Jack is the best flush draw at the table.

While flushed are generally pretty easy to get out of the way of, straights are an entirely different matter. This is where people make the biggest mistakes in reading the board and making sure that they have the best hand. It is also where hold’em players go to die.

A bottom end straight that you can play strong in hold’em is of little use in Omaha. If you have problems letting it go, get over it quickly. The only straights that you can play are the high end and a 2 gapper that you have plugged. If you are sitting on two cards that make the straight and one of them is also on the board, let it go unless it is an A high straight.

The reason this hand is so tricky is strictly a mental block. After years of playing hold’em, players are convinced that their straight has to be good with no boat or flush on board. It will only take you a few pots to realize how wrong this mindset is. Remember, if you are not drawing to the nuts, the hand is not worth being in, period. The amount of money that you will lose chasing down these hands will far outweigh the small percentage of times that it actually holds up. Let it go and wait for the next deal.

The first difference in the two games is that you are going to get dealt 4 cards in the hole instead of 2. This is very important to know as if you are playing on a full table, just about every card in the deck is going to be dealt out. This means that you are going to have to play cards very carefully going into the river as many a great hand has gone on to die a slow death when that card has been turned over.

Playing Omaha before the flop is much different than no limit. While you will see the occasional raise, it is few and far between to see the game get capped or consecutive raises happen before the flop is dealt out. In most cases, the only hands that even consider raising are AAxx and KKxx, but doing so causes a major problem. Basically, everyone at the table knows what you have at that point and can play accordingly.

The reason you will see a lot of callers before the flop and not much raising is that the possibility of hands is endless. Yes, you still need to be selective in what you play, but with four cards in your hand, you just never know what kind of shape you are in until the flop hits.

Ideally, you want to start the hand off with a decent pocket pair with straight and high flush possibilities. AsAh10s5h would be a hand that would have you salivating before the flop. You are sitting with the best pocket pair that you can start with, two nut flush draws and both a high and low flush possibility.

Once the flop hits, the game changes dramatically. Great hands are turned into complete garbage and questionable hands become fortune makers. Once the flop is dealt, take your time and look it over to see every possibility. Even if you are in the lead, you have to look and see what is out there that could beat you. If there is a draw, someone is holding it in their hand.

If you are playing a straight, you need to make sure that you have the nuts. Since you have to play two cards, it is critical that you have the best two cards on the straight. When you hit a 2 gapper in the middle with no other possibilities, you are locked in. However, if you are sitting on 46 to a flop of 257 and then an 8 hits, you could be in a heap of trouble. You immediately go from the nuts to the low end of the straight. If you fire a bet and someone comes over top of you, you can be pretty sure that they are sitting on the 69. If a 9 hits the river, everyone is now looking down the barrel of a J10 that will steal it on the river.

More than any other game, it is extremely important to watch and see what kinds of hands people start out with. Omaha invites chasers and there are those that will play solid and there are those that will literally play any four cards. You better know the difference when you get into a pot with them.

Under the Gun
This is the most brutal position to be in with a big hand, especially when you are playing Pot limit Omaha Poker. You look down and see AdAsKdQs and you want to slam the pot, but you are only going to be getting a marginal bet in and you are not going to scare anyone. In actuality, you are only going to serve the complete opposite and make them very much aware of what you are holding. You are going to have to show some restraint here and limp in hoping for someone else to at least double the blinds and give you a real chance to hammer the pot.

If everyone else just falls in line, you are going to have to see how the flop plays out. Remember, you are not playing hold’em here and AA is not as big a hand as it is in that game. The ideal situation would have a couple of callers and then someone making a small raise with all of those players in. This is when you come right over the top and make a pot limit raise. You will chase all of the other limpers and if the raiser does call you, you have a very good chance of having 2 of his outs sitting in your hand. You definitely want isolation here if it all possible and that pot limit raise should get it for you.

Middle Position
When you get a big hand here, you are going to have to play it much the same way as you did in early position unless you get a couple of limpers in front of you. One is really not enough to get enough money into the pot to scare a marginal hand, but if there are two in there, you can absolutely let the raise fly. Again, you are basically showing your hand, but you have to scare some players out and deal with the callers on the flop.

Late Position
In an un-raised pot and several limpers, you are in a strong position to take this hand down pre-flop with a nice raise here. If there are no callers, you should still fire at the pot to make the blinds at least think about it before they get to limp in for free. Your hand is also not so obvious as you could just be looking to steal and may even see someone play back at you. That is a dream circumstance because now you can really lay into the pot.

You do have one other option when there are a lot of players in the pot, but it is a dangerous one. With that many players in the hand, you can limp in and see how the flop hits. You risk losing all of those blinds, but you also could hit along with someone else and have a totally concealed hand. This is something you may do when you are ahead of the game and can afford to throw away a possible pre-flop scoop. This will also give a little variance to your game and have them guessing the next time around.

Remember, you can never play the hands identically time and time again. If you don’t change up your style, you are telegraphing your hand to everyone as the table. When you are running good, you can make a move in middle or late position with lesser cards to represent a hand that you don’t have. You may even choose to show one of those when everyone folds to you to set them on tilt. Once you get them guessing, you hold an extreme edge and can set trap after trap.

Many people inside the game of poker only play Texas Hold’em and many of these people do not even understand the other forms of poker that are our there. I recently hosted my weekly home poker game and decided to make it a dealer’s choice game. I selected Omaha Hi/Lo, Razz, and 7 card stud as my dealer’s choice games and had to explain the rules and concepts of the games numerous times. A few of my friends, who are quite talented Texas Hold’em players, were not big fans of these new games, as they did not fully understand the strategies to excel at the new games and could not be bothered to apply themselves. A few of the other players at the game, loved the new additions. They liked the added action created in Omaha, as well as the new information and betting rounds created in Stud and Razz.

There are so many different and unique caveats of each game, that it creates new and different challenges amongst each game. I, like many, first learned how to play Texas hold’em competitively. I got into Omaha by playing online and reading books such as Super System. At the time I first got into Omaha, I was a bit burnt out on Texas hold’em. That’s what really got me interested in playing Omaha competitively. Learning the nuisances of this game type and the different strategies involved with Omaha brought back my passion for playing poker. I became a student of the game again, studying and learning everything I could about the game. In the end, I became much better at Omaha, but these strategies and new thought processes also helped me in my Texas hold’em game as well.

Some sites do not offer every form of poker or have as high as volume of games in these different games that they do in Texas hold’em. However, most of the large sites and many medium sized sites have many game types. Full Tilt, Poker Stars, and Ultimate Bet all offer games in Texas Hold’em, Omaha, Omaha H/L, Razz, 7 Card Stud and 7 Card Stud H/L. Just like Texas Hold’em, these sites offer micro stakes, .01/.02, low stakes, $1/2, medium stakes, $10/$20, and large stakes, $50/$100 and above. I would suggest starting at very low stakes for Omaha if you are just learning the game. It is a very fast paced game and you don’t want to blow your whole bankroll before you even understand the game.

Throughout the next few weeks, I will take you on a journey through the various forms of Omaha and the challenges with each form and game stype. I will not only give you a better understanding of Omaha Hi and Hi/Lo, but I will teach you some proven winning strategies for each form of Omaha and the various opportunities involved with each game.