What to do When the Board Pairs in Omaha

July 13, 2009 by Dan Brown in Omaha Poker Tips

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. 

William Hill Poker

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.

Pacific Poker

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LADBROKES POKER REVIEW

June 27, 2009 by Dan Brown in Online Poker Room Reviews
 
LADBROKES POKER
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Ladbrokes Poker Room Details:

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License : Gibraltar
Year of Foundation : 2004
Software : Microgaming
Size : NA
Audited By : PWC
Language : English
Accepts USA Players : NA
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Available Games : Texas Holdem, Omaha, 5 Card Stud, 7 Card Stud, 5 Card Draw
Deposit Methods :

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LADBROKES POKER OVERVIEW

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

Pacific Poker

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Playing Drawing Hands in Omaha Hi

June 1, 2009 by Dan Brown in Omaha Hi

The fact of the matter is that most of the time when you are playing Omaha, you are going to be playing a drawing hand. It is a rare occasion that you can flop the nuts and have it hold up through the river. That being the case, you just need to make sure that you are drawing to the nuts and not setting yourself up for a monster hit to your stack.

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.


William Hill Poker

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.

Pacific Poker

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