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.