In this game the betting format and community cards are the same as Texas hold'em , which most of you are familiar with. However in
Omaha, you get dealt four hole cards which you must use two and only two of them. But in the high low version you use two of your cards for the high and two of your cards for the low hand, but they can interchange. If a player is trying to win the low hand, he must use two unpaired hole cards that are ranked lower than eight, and three board cards, also unpaired, that are also ranked lower than eight. It sounds confusing, and that is why you will see a lot of mistakes in Omaha and Omaha Hi-Lo (8).
The players post the blinds and then receive their hole cards. After receiving the hole cards, a betting round takes place and then comes the ‘flop’, the ‘turn’ and the ‘river’ with a betting round between each of them.
The players post the blinds and then receive their hole cards. After receiving the hole cards, a betting round takes place and then comes the ‘flop’, the ‘turn’ and the ‘river’ with a betting round between each of them.
In that sense, your hands that you decide to play should contain for cards that work together and have potential to scoop both sides of the pot. So a strong hand in Omaha eight might look like this: Ac, 2d, 4c, and the Qd. Notice how all of these cards work together in some way, be it straight or flush draw. The ace-deuce are the best two cards you can have to win the low, save for being counterfeited. And Ace-Queen is a good high drawing hand for a Broadway straight, while being a double suited combination can win you the high pot on a flushed board. In addition, if your deuce does get counterfeited, the four is a reasonable out for the low end as well.
Compare that hand to Qh, Qc, Jh and the Jc. This hand actually looks very good to a lot of players, but it is a huge underdog in Omaha 8, considering the fact that you have no possible low hand to play for, thus eliminating your potential for scooping. This is actually a trap hand that hold’em players tend to lose a lot of money on.
Even though you get more choices and possibilities with four hole cards in Omaha, they should be coordinated - meaning all four of the cards should work together. Paired hands, and two pairs don’t really hold up in Omaha. You really need community cards that can give you straights, flushes, full house or better. At the very least, do not even consider entering a hand without at least 3 cards working together. Double-suited hands will significantly improve your outs in Omaha because flushes are very common as opposed to hold’em.
Omaha is normally played either Pot Limit or Limit, but increasingly, (at least online) you can now find no-limit games. Since Omaha is in its nature a drawing game, keeping the pot constrained to start is better suited to the game.
Omaha 8 Starting Hands
Omaha Hi-Lo Trouble Hand example: This hand is comprised of pocket aces and connectors, while having two cards suited. Your biggest challenge is going to be correctly identifying these as a trouble hands, even though most online Omaha high low players think just the opposite.
We get back to the bandit hands containing 6, 7, 8, or 9 and this hand contains two of them. The problem is even though two cards are suited, to six and seven do not work well with the aces. That means that it is really unlikely you have any chance of winning the low pot. That in turn means that you are willingly going into the hand with the expectation of only winning half or less of a pot.
In Omaha high low, you need to be playing for both the high and the low, especially when it costs you more than just the blinds - or a significant portion of your stack. If you separate these cards in to two hold’em hands, then you have some nice connectors and pocket aces.
That is how a lot of your opponents are thinking, and it is a big mistake. This is not hold’em, and traditional hold'em hands are significantly weaker in Omaha 8.
This also appeals to your opponents desire to draw to the best hand, or at least what he perceives is the best hand. This can often end up to drawing to the second best hand, which is another common mistake of new players to the game.
