Omaha Poker is a tough game to gauge before the flop as the greatest of starting hands is often turned into instant mush once the flop hits. For this very reason, many people recommend that you never raise before the flop. While the general consensus is that this is the way to go, there are a few occasions where you will want to throw out a raise.
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.
With so many cards being out on the deal, the board pairing at any stage can cause panic on the table. Depending upon how many people are still in the hand and how the preflop action went will dictate exactly how you play from that point forward. In most cases, if you don’t have a card that matches, you are going to let your hand go. However, that is not always the case and there are times when you can actually steal the pot away.
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.
If you mention that you play poker to the average person on the street, they will almost always assume you mean Texas Hold’em. Tournament Texas Hold’em was accepted as “the poker game” when the poker boom hit the United States in 2003, after Chris Moneymakers historic World Series of Poker Main Event victory. Millions of college students, middle aged men and women, and retirees began playing the game which was made famous through ESPN’s coverage.
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.
A situation occurred at the World Series of Poker Europe on Thursday that reminded me the power that a big drawing hand can hold in Pot Limit Omaha. David “DevilFish” Ulliott had flopped a set of kings holding Ks-Kh-7c-2s. The flop was Kd-Jc-5d. His opponent, Markus Golser, was holding Ad-Qd-10c-4s. He had both a nut flush draw and a wrap on the nut straight. He held 17 outs to make his hand. (The reason it wasn’t 18 was due to the fact that the Jd would give Ulliott a full house.). At this point, Golser was around 70% to make his hand. Unfortunately, Ulliott was behind.
Omaha is a game of big cards and big draws, and this situation was a big example of how a big draw can actually be better than a made hand. Golser ended up catching a 9 on the turn and Ulliott was unable to fill up. In this case, Golser had a hand that had multiple straight and flush draws, and as a result was able to knock out a player when his draw got there.
A wrap is hand that has at least 3 coordinated cards that can help make a straight. For instance A-Q-10-4 was a wrap. Hands such as J-10-9-8 are also very powerful hands as they can make anything from a nine high straight to broadway. Hands that are also suited and coordinated add even more value. Golser’s hand had the A-Q suited for the nut flush.
There are many players that will raise preflop with a big wrap such as A-Q-J-10 or J-10-9-8. This is not necessarily a bad play. Unless the board flops low or paired, you will usually have some type of a straight draw with many flops. There are also good chances for flopping high pairs and even sets when the board comes paired. If your wrap is suited you give yourself added outs when you catch a flush draw.
Many people get confused how to play a wrap when they do flop a solid draw. Many players recommend pushing your draws, much the same way Golser did his. This is a solid play as in many cases you will have a lot of outs to hit your draw. Be careful pushing when you only have a gutshot draw. At that point you only have four outs. You want at a minimum an open ended straight draw, which is at least 8 out. When you have a straight and flush draws, you are looking usually at 18 outs. When you have that many outs, go crazy as much as you want. You are usually a favorite in that spot.
Be a little more caution pushing a wrap on the turn. Your odds are reduced by half due to the fact only one card can come. At that point, it becomes important to look at pot odds. In the case that you have 18 out, you have 36% to hit your hand. In most cases you will still have odds to draw, but if you do not, you may want to fold your hand.
In Texas Holdem Poker, when a player looks down and sees pocket aces, the player typically does a little leap inside their head. Many players will tend to do the same thing in Pot Limit Omaha Poker when they look down at pocket aces. Unfortunately, not all hands that contain aces are strong. Let’s talk a bit about uncoordinated aces, also known as “naked aces.”
As many people know, the best starting hand in Pot Limit Omaha is A-A-K-K double suited. This is a powerful hand. Preflop, this hand is always ahead. Hands that have aces in them and a couple of coordinated cards are also very power hands.
Where a lot of players get into a trap with aces is when they play aces that are not coordinated or suited. Players sometimes get into a holdem poker mentality and treat any starting hand with two aces in it like the nuts. The problem with playing a hand with aces that does not have any backup is that you are relying on only the aces to win the hand. Otherwise you need to be incredibly lucky.
I was playing an Omaha Poker tournament about a year ago and a player that is known to be an aggressive and loose player raised from middle position. A player on the button reraised the pot. The LAG player reraised all-in and was called. The LAG player showed A-A-4-9 with no suits. The opponent showed Qh-Jd-10h-9s. If you run stats on this hand preflop, the aces are only 58% to win. This is almost a coin flip situation. The flop fell 8s-10c-2d and the aces all of a sudden went to an underdog. The player with the wrap had a 57% chance to win at this point. The wrapped player actually hit his straight and the aces were busted.
Granted, the above scenario required the wrap to hit, but it also demonstrated the need for a player to have backup with their aces. Any random hand with two aces in it is indeed a slight favorite before the flop, but the hand must hit in order to stay ahead. There will be many times uncoordinated aces will not hit the flop and then fall behind.
How should a player play a hand with uncoordinated aces? This depends on several factors including position, the type of players at the table, the limits, and of course your stack. This type of hand is one hand that you may even want to consider limping into a pot with and seeing if you get lucky on the flop. Limping with aces seems counterintuitive, but Omaha is a drawing game. Players that pick up a draw on the flop actually are ahead against “naked aces”. If you are on the button against only limpers and you know that a raise will knock some players out, you may want to put in a raise. Keep in mind that if you do not hit the flop that you may want to tread very lightly. Otherwise, you may end up giving your chips away.
