For beginning see The 1st Part.

4) Your hand AQQ6 Flop Q96

On the flop you get a wonderful hand: high three-of-a-kind and nut flush draw. You say first on the flop and three players call you. On the turn there appears for example 4. You make a bet, two opponents fold their cards and one calls. The last comes 3 leaving you the nut flush. What should you do: bet or try check-raise?

Definitely you should check. Your opponent probably has either flush or straight draw. In any case check instead of a bet gives you an opportunity to earn another ante. After you’ve been leading the pot and trying to collect nut straight or nut flush you may get an impression of failing. Assume the last card is 8 which forms a few possible straights with the flop cards. The right thing to do is bet, because in case your opponent has already finished his straight, he may simply open the cards.

5) Your hand: AK97 Flop: J108

You come after blind and the flop gives you nut flush. In preflop a player on your left raises and three other players call him. After the flop you say first. What to do – bet or check?

Bet. The high cards on the board mean that some players have two pairs or three-of-a-kind. They can draw and beat you so try and make them pay for possible drawings. Don’t hope that the player who bet in preflop will continue to do it for you. You have in your hand two top cards for flush and you have to act yourself, so act.

You play limit Omaha holdem poker and get in the following situations:

1) Your cards 9865 Flop J107

You make a bet during the flop. Person on your left side rises and button player calls. Should you reraise?

Don’t reraise but call with tears in your eyes. Don’t even try to show me that you get nuts and don’t ask me to be your partner. I don’t need this weak hand of yours’. Only on the turn you need 13 of 45 cards to appear on the board for you to keep your nuts, and the chances that after the fourth and fifth cards you will still have your nuts are 6%. Split is possible but only owing to a miracle that your opponents will not improve their hands. Actually it is better to fold than call.

2) Your hand Q877 Flop J109

You’re on the button and 5 five persons go on the flop. First makes a bet and three others call. Your actions?

Fold your cards. It is likely that someone has K-Q with higher straight and even if you draw your flush from queen up, you still are not in good running. If you raise and the first player reraises then a player with nut flush draw will stay; if a pair forms on the board you’re dead. Games where you don’t have nuts, where you can’t draw it and can’t kick somebody out of the pot (because it’s a pot-limit game) are games for tourists.

3) Your hand AA32 Flop 944

Being in middle position you raise and three players call you, first before you and two others behind. On the flop first player checks. Your actions?

Bet. There is high possibility that your hand is the best, small pair on the board makes the flop quite good for the two aces if there aren’t a lot of people in the pot. In any kind of poker it is more difficult to win over two pairs with aces than over a pair of aces itself. Accident can happen if somebody checks on the flop. Of course if you bet and someone shows strength then you should reconsider your position. In Omaha you can’t stay out of bets just because somebody may raise you, cross the bridge when you reach it.

For continuation see The 2nd Part.

Limit Omaha played by highest combination is quite simple game. We’ve already discussed the strategy of playing Omaha hi in preflop. If you consider your hand the best then you bet; if not then your prime strategy in Omaha high is to make sure that there are enough cards available in order to get you nuts and that will justify your staying in the game. The stress is to be made on the word nuts, since in Omaha it is seldom reasonable to draw the hand which will not be good enough even after drawing.

Most Omaha games have the following structure: bets on the bottom limit are made before and during the flop and bets on the top limit are made on the 4-th and 5-th streets. As a result so many players claim to the pot that you should forget about all your tricks. Bluff is absurd. Drawing to anything but nuts is just nonsense. Every time when you don’t get nuts means that you didn’t manage with the starting hand. For example if you have 13-sided straight draw with flush draw, then straight draw is enough to stay in the game. If you buy flush but it is not nuts, you should decide whether you have good hand or not. You should consider a lot of factors such as: the number of players, street tightness, which player likes his hand and most importantly how much money is in the pot. Of course a lot of depends on how close your hand is to nuts. Flush from a king can win even in Omaha but a weak flush wins rarely.

In Omaha a frequent mistake is too aggressive bargaining on a pat hand during the flop. Holdem players raise automatically each time they see nuts. In Omaha straight is quite delicate combination. Even if it gets through you’ll get only a half of the pot or even less. If there is flush draw on the board you’d better try to understand before raising whether something irrelevant will appear on the turn or not. Your hand is safer if there is only one card to appear on the board than two.

After the last card is opened a player used to limit holdem which was bargaining will eventually pay expenses when the situation on the board will change and a pair or three-card flush will lay on him. When someone else will make a bet it is likely that he’ll be beaten but at the same time high chances to get the pot mean that it is difficult to fold.

In Omaha you can save money

There are a lot of people in the pot and it is quite possible that somebody will draw the necessary card, on that account Omaha players are “programmed” not to bluff. In a situation when someone will probably buy their cards and when most players don’t bet even they were not going to do it means that normally you should fold your cards.

This is how we see the profile of successful Omaha player by highest combination. He has exceptional skills to choose his starting cards. After the flop his actions are aimed for getting nuts. Desire to bluff and reading skills leave in the back seat. It helps to understand why we prefer pot-limit games. It also explains why pot-limit Omaha players prefer split top-small eights or higher instead of playing top limits.

See beginning in the First Part.

Even more often at Omaha tables I can see a lot of players calling all bets with A-A-x-x no matter how high they are. The instinct of Texas holdem so often gets over these players that they just can’t let the two aces go.

Some time ago such game situation happened with me.

I’m in early position, there are five of us, and I get rainbow K-Q-9-6. There was a small raise and I called it with all the others (often at the small tables it makes sense to call in preflop even with such unimpressive cards). On the flop there appeared Q-Q-6 with two of diamonds. I don’t have flush draw but it doesn’t matter because I got full house!

The pot was not big before the flop so I decided to bet the pot and got a call from one of the players. On the turn 5 of clubs appeared on the board, meaning that flush is not finished and my Q-6 hand is still nuts. In spite of this I don’t want to give somebody a cheap card with Queen and a kicker higher than my 6, otherwise my opponent can collect a stronger full house on the river. So again I bet the pot which in case of call takes my opponent to all-in.

The opponent remains adamant and says call. Now I can only rely on fate and hope that he won’t catch his card on the river. There comes 4 of hearts and I know that the danger has passed and at worst I’ll split the pot with Q-6. The opponent loses the pot and generously shows me his A-A-x-x with irrelevant cards not connected with his bets at all. I should have thought that he had opened his cards to show me how lucky I was. Well, I went on the flop but I didn’t bet a lot of money and I would hardly have played if the flop didn’t suit me perfectly. It is here where lays the very idea of preflop calls – if I don’t catch strong flop I retreat without losing much otherwise I can find myself potentially in good situation, which will bring me in the future over twenty bets.

What was my opponent waiting for? The flop came with two queens and equipped with this information he saw one of the rest four players starting to attack. However he didn’t take into account exactly what his opponents could have had; among the sixteen pocket cards – one third of the pack – any could have proved to be one of the two remaining queens (quite good chances). And still he continued to waste his stack by calling with two aces, though he had to catch at least one ace on the last streets.

There are two explanations for this. Either he didn’t see anything but his aces or he believed strongly that I was bluffing!

I must say that I can rely on a pair of aces in Omaha holdem only if in preflop I bet all-in. After the flop aces seldom remain attractive with a few callers especially if two other my cards are not suited or connected.

Based on the words of Tony Bromham.

As I’ve already mentioned, online I often find myself at low-limit Omaha tables only because I usually play in small poker rooms, less choked up than major sites. Besides that I can play there with absolutely different players from careful amateurs, which seldom take part in tournaments, to complete losers and beginners, which are going to give me all their money. It’s a constant source of income, maybe not so big as you’ve imagined but of low risk for limited budget. This is the right game for most players who can’t fight variance at higher limits.

This week I remembered situations really advantageous for a player involved in them and really costly for those who make a mistake. Perhaps I’ll share with you some of my observations and gibe you some secret pieces of advice for Omaha high.

No doubt that one of Omaha holdem greatest advantages is that most players at the table happened to be there by accident having spent their time playing mostly Texas holdem. It can be seen when they show their cards at the end. The fact that with such hands they go to the river shows complete lack of understanding the initial game.

Thus you can see that these players will call with weak hands until the very showdown and even if you want to hear pass having gone bankroll on the turn with unfinished hand – you will get nothing but call.

Analyzing my own game I can say that opponents rarely can read my cards; it can happen only when I have a high chance to win or when I can make a cheap call at the end of a game in spite of high possibility to lose. You’ll be surprised how often your opponent’s small bet signals about his weakness. As if he says: “Hm, I have almost nothing but if I check I’ll give up. At the same time if I go bankroll it is likely that I’ll be called and will lose a lot of money, so I would rather make a small bet and hope for my opponent to pass.”

Today I found myself at the very situation. A player in late position played pot reraise in preflop and a player in early position, who raised first, called. The reraiser might have had A-A-x-x but we can’t be sure. There came a patched flop which as it seemed didn’t impress any of them so they both checked (either of them could have played slow). Anyway initiative passed to the player in early position who expected to get a high bet on the flop from an opponent in a better position.

The turn also turned in two checks. On the river there came another king, the player in early position thought it over for some time and then made a small bet something like 20% of the pot. I said to myself that his opponent should call. It is cheap and tempting: either the guy has a king and tries to collect the bet or he has almost nothing but he risks a high sum of money to take the pot. If you have A-A-x-x it is a reasonable call with pot odds 6 to 1, especially taking into account that players at these limits are used to bet the pot on the river in case of buying set or full house.

The player passed and his opponent proudly opened his unfinished draw. The loser could have won if he had bet 1/6 of the pot.

I don’t know whether the passing player really had A-A-x-x or not. If so than his nerves failed him on the safe flop K-x-x. If he was really scared by the king at the end then this pass could really be the right thing to do if the call had not been so cheap. He gave up the pot six times higher than a price he had to pay to check his opponent’s honesty. I think it was a good price.

Interested? See the Second Part.

The beginning of the article see here.

So from this all the only strong hand in holdem is A-K. Many tight players will fold any other hand.

Holdem and Omaha are completely different games. A-K is a strong hand in holdem but A-K-8-4, A-K-10-3, A-K-7-5 and similar hands in which ace is not suited with any other card are usually not played in Omaha.

Do you still not get it? A-K in holdem in 50% of cases will improve on the flop and give you top pair with top kicker. In holdem such hand is enough to win. In Omaha a pair of aces or kings is usually hopeless.

In Omaha one tries to get straight, flush or full house. Such combinations win in most cases and sometimes one wins over the other. Even straight is quite vulnerable if there are three suited cards or a pair on the board. A pair often gives somebody full house. At the same time A-A-K-Q where both aces are suited with other cards (e.g. AKAQ) is a strong hand because all six combinations from two cards may create nuts. These are not just high cards but they are also suited. J1098 is also very strong hand because it has good chances of getting straight and flush.

High possibility

Try to play the hands which have high possibilities of improving on the flop. In the given example the A-K-8-4 hand has very low possibilities:

– no possibility of getting flush (we don’t have two suited cards, desirably with Ace for nut flush);

– only two possible straights (we need three cards in line on the board: 5-6-7 or Q-J-10 and only one of them gives us nut flush);

– very small chances of getting full house (pocket pair is better for this instead of two different cards).

Hands weaker than straight seldom win at long tables. So if you don’t have a chance for straight, flush or full house you’d better keep out of the pot. Why lose your money for nothing?

Conclusions

There are a lot of peculiarities in Omaha high and only experience and strategy will open them to you. The only thing you have to remember from the very beginning is how not to lose your money fast. In Omaha more cards are used than in holdem so against you there will play more potential hands. It will not be until the river that your opponents are sure in their victory. Of course sometimes it will cost you a lot but on this account the pot also gets bigger and bigger. And a big pot makes players go to the very showdown.

Try and take pots as effective as possible. And choose starting hands very carefully before making bets. Then they’ll work for you bringing you profit.

And for now just learn, play tight and don’t try to jump over your head!

Play bankroll

You’ve already tried playing limit Omaha at low buy-ins and got accustomed to use only two pocket cards and three board cards? We hope that a successful session hasn’t turned your head and you haven’t begun to play at high buy-ins and of course you haven’t sat at a pot-limit table. Or you would have already made the next deposit by now. Such things often happen when somebody plays poker too self-confidently.

While you still learn how to play stay at low limits. If your bankroll is 200 or 300 dollars don’t sit down at a table with limits higher than 1$/2$. On a table with 1$/2$ limits, preflop starting bet will be 1$, flop bet – 1$, turn and river bets – 2$. Moreover sometimes you’ll have to call a raised bet or raise yourself. Having made bets on each street you’ll put in the pot minimum 6$. Before you win a few hands these 200 or 300 dollars may end pretty fast.

Play tight

In process of training try to play tight and make bets only with good hands which have good chances for improvement on the flop and other streets. Don’t get into the pot with weak hands especially when your opponent shows strength and raises. How to play certain hands on each street and when fold them will be described in further articles.

Successful game should begin in preflop. You have to play in Omaha holdem only the hands which will give you the highest chances to get nuts. Each player has four cards not only you. Nevertheless you should aim at all four cards to work for you, though you can use only two.

Forget holdem, it’s Omaha

If you were dealt AK84 don’t play this hand instinctively like you would in holdem, where AK is good starting hand. Of course AK may be used in Omaha as well but it is likely that you are behind already. Having four pocket cards you may form six combinations of two cards. In Omaha a very good hand must have six combinations of two cards which could be played in holdem without supplement. Naturally, you’ll get such a hand quite seldom but we would advise you to try and play the hands with at least four good combinations.

In the given example AK84 how many combinations will you play in holdem considering that a beginner should try and play tight?

AK – is played in any position from the dealer (button).
A8 – a weak hand but may be played in late position (if you bet the last).
A4 – a weak hand but may be played in late position (if you bet the last).
K8 – fold.
K4 – fold.
84 – fold.

Continuation see here.

The topic is quite rare but causing a lot of arguments among Omaha players as for how to play three pairs on the flop. One can beat one’s brain out thinking about the opportunities of getting three pairs in a game of five cards. But the situation can be such as this: you start with A-Q-J-8 and on the flop there come Q-J-8. Here are your three pairs.

Before taking any decision one should consider several factors:

Does the flop give anybody a hand better than yours?

To form three pairs of K-8-2 is not bad because you are sure that you are not threatened with a line or other suit. And so your top pairs will be the strongest hand. However if the flop shows 10-J-Q or A-9-8 of hearts you are in a quite vulnerable position.

Will your opponents leave the bet unchanged on the turn if you’ve called it on the flop?

You need to make a certain analysis of your opponents to get an answer. Assume the flop is A-9-8 of hearts and you have A-K-9-8. Your opponent makes a bet. If you think that he will not change the bet on the turn if you call it on the flop then it makes sense to call and try to collect full house.

Is your opponent quite aggressive when a harmless flop is dealt?

The K-8-2 is a beautiful flop for now, but be careful if your opponent is being evasive. If the situation with his hand is not completely clear it is likely that he has three of a kind. In this case you should get rid of your cards as soon as possible.

High cards are dangerous

If you have Q-J-9-7 and the flop is Q-9-7 there is no reason to think that your hand is not the strongest one. But if an ace or a king comes on the turn you should give up.

To cut a long story short you may play three pairs on the flop in Omaha hi if there are favourable conditions for it.

Whenever a player wins a big pot his opponent must have had a pair of aces at the dealing. Nevertheless you should logically estimate your chances to win with aces in your hands. If you have A-A-K-9 and on the board there are K-Q-8-7-5, the situation seems to have no danger and you assume having good chances to succeed. But in the real life in most cases you’ll lose because your opponent may have at least two pairs.

It looks like you should keep cool as for two aces but sometimes aggressive game with them is quite reasonable:

1. When there is a small pair on the board.

If the flop is 3-3-9 then a pair of aces has advantages in the game even on the river.

2. You have three aces.

Of course you should play them aggressively.

3. When your pair of aces suits an incomplete combination.

For example you have Ace of diamonds, Ace of clubs, 10 of clubs, 6 of spades and the flop is King of clubs, Jack of diamonds, 8 of clubs you should play fast, because you can collect suit, kind or on the contrary you’ll win simply by forcing your opponents to fold.

But more importantly don’t get caught making bet with a pair of aces in Omaha high poker ’cause it’s very dangerous if your opponents have four cards to play.

If you get a suit on the flop it’s important that you start playing it immediately. There are two reasons for it. First is that if you’re the only player who has collected suit on the flop one more suited card on the turn or on the river will not do you any harm (unlike holdem). If you manage to find out that you’re the only one with suit, it makes no difference whether the highest card is ace or eight and you should play similar in both cases. The only danger is a pair on the board.

And the second reason lays in the fact that you’d like to know beforehand about your failure and making bets fast you can force players with better combinations to “win back” and estimate your chances to win more carefully. With small suit in Omaha you may also simply call.

Pot-limit Omaha has a reputation of a game with huge difference between winning and losing. Moreover this kind of poker is played at high sums. Luckily there are a lot of poker rooms all over the internet where one can play pot-limit Omaha at smaller sums. At this tables income variations are more tolerable what is quite interesting considering the fact that most players do not fully understand the very idea of the game. Information for first-timers in low limits is as follows.

In pot-limit Omaha two factors are of greatest importance:

1. The necessity of getting nuts
2. Position at the table

In most cases to win in Omaha one has to get nuts while in Texas holdem less valuable combination would be enough. A lot of bad players will call for example with straight at a board where flush or full house is possible. Try not to follow them because it can cost you a lot! To collect nuts you should play from the very beginning only the combinations which can give you nuts at the end. For example play when your cards can give you nut straight or nut flush. In this game everything is based only on getting nut straight, nut flush or nut full house.

Good starting cards in pot-limit Omaha are:

Top pocket pairs

These are good cards. They allow you to get top full house. But if you don’t collect three-of-a-kind during the flop then you should fold.

Association strategy

For example four associated cards – those are very good starting cards because they give high chances to collect straight.

Suited cards in limit pots

Such cards like are only worth playing when they give you a chance to get nut flush (with Ace). It is quite risky to wait for a smaller flush.

Position strategy plays a great role in pot-limit Omaha holdem. In this game any free card can mean your defeat. In other words in this kind of poker slow-playing is contra-indicated even if you have nuts! Straight or flush can be beaten by full house! That’s why if no one raises and you’re in late position, it’s better to bluff and take the pot.

Therefore in early position don’t raise in preflop. Even if you have very strong cards like it is better to call. Only in late position you may raise. Besides that in pot-limit Omaha you shouldn’t raise simply to force your opponents to leave the game; this strategy may only be used to create a big pot.