Poker after all is nothing more than a game where the best five card hand wins the pot. In lowball variations then the best five card low hand takes the pot or in split pot variations then the best five card hand for high and low share the pot. Omaha is a game played usually with four cards and there are four betting rounds just like in hold’em. There is a pre-flop betting round, a three card flop just as in hold’em with a betting round to follow, a turn card with a betting round to follow and a river card with a betting round.
The game is strikingly similar to hold’em in many aspects and there are also many numerous variations to Omaha just like hold’em. For example you can play limit Omaha and pot limit Omaha just like you can in hold’em. You can play Omaha in cash games and in tournaments too. Also you can play Omaha in a high-low split capacity.
Many of you may ask why one should switch to playing Omaha from games like hold’em? Well there are numerous reasons really but the main reason is that the game is far more action orientated than hold’em. There are several different reasons for this and one has to do with how much closer hand values are in Omaha than hold’em. In Texas hold’em then you can often be in situations where some hands dominate others. Like for example when someone has A-A against another player with K-K!
Other examples may be when say someone has A-K and another player has A-Q. So you can see that pre-flop starting hands in hold’em can vary quite widely in strength but in Omaha then hands like K-Q-J-10 can be very similar by way of equity to hands like K-J-10-9. So this means that more players see the flop on average and so the average pot size is much bigger. This is one of the reasons why Omaha when played for high is often played in a pot limit or limit format and not no limit.
Another huge factor as to why many players are turning to Omaha is to do with how much faster you can clear bonuses and earn rewards. The amount of generated rake in Omaha is much higher because more players are seeing the flop and beyond as previously stated. So the amount of bonus rewards is much higher in this form of poker and good players can certainly prosper and do well.
When you first switch to Omaha high then it is often confusing at first for novice players as to what constitutes a strong hand post flop. For example a two pair hand in hold’em is a strong holding but in Omaha then the hand is very weak. This would apply to other hands as well like sets or even low flushes. The nuts is out there far more often in Omaha than hold’em and especially in full ring Omaha games. But if you are having problems being bored playing Texas hold’em then switching to Omaha may just turn out to be one of the best things that you ever did.
Carl Sampson is a professional poker player that plays online at 888poker
