Winning Online Poker

Omaha Strategy
Pot-Limit Omaha Strategy Advanced PLO Strategy Limit Omaha Hi-Lo Strategy Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo Strategy

Although it is derived from Texas hold 'em, Omaha is a very different animal. In all variations of Omaha, you start with four cards instead of two, and you must play exactly two cards from your hand and exactly three cards from the board to make your five-card hand. This seems like a simple adjustment, but it trips up players who are new to Omaha. Players who fail to understand this and adapt (and there are plenty of them) make great Omaha opponents.

This page is designed to give you basic winning strategies for all forms of Omaha, and introduce you to this fascinating family of fun and profitable poker games. Omaha is played primarily in three forms online: Pot-limit Omaha (high only), Limit Omaha Hi-Lo , and Pot-limit Omaha Hi-Lo . For the basics on hi-lo poker, click here . If you'd like to read more about Omaha, I recommend the excellent book Omaha Holdem Poker by Bob Ciaffone.

First and foremost, make sure you know whether you are playing high only or hi-lo split! I can't tell you how often I see people sit down without even knowing which version iit is. If you're playing hi-lo, make sure you know the rules about how to make a qualifying low.

Reading the Board

The rule about using exactly two cards from your hand makes it difficult to read the board sometimes. Here are some common situations where many beginners go wrong:

- Four cards of a suit on board and one in your hand: You do not have a flush. However, if you have two cards of the suit in your hand, you do have a flush.
- Two pair on board and one of the same rank as one of the pairs in your hand: You have only three of a kind unless you also have a card in your hand that matches another board card for a full house. (Example: If the board is 8-8-7-7-4, A-K-Q-8 does not give you a full house, but 8-4-3-2 does.)
- Four cards to a straight on board: You only have the straight if you can use two cards from your hand to make it. Check this before you put any more money in the pot. (Example: A-6-5-4 does not give you a straight on a board of K-Q-J-T-3, but A-T-6-4 does.)
- Four of a kind on board: You can only play three of them. Look for a good full house.
- Three of a kind on board: You only have a full house if you have a pair in your hand. Remember you must play two. (When three of a kind are on board, someone will frequently have the fourth, so proceed VERY cautiously, especially at pot-limit. If someone puts in a raise, he probably has it.)

Additionally, there are some quirks about Omaha boards that seem odd to a hold 'em player. If the final board is 9-9-7-7-4, it is significantly LESS likely that a full house or better is out, compared to a board of 9-9-7-5-4. On the first board, a player needs a 9-9, 7-7, 9-7, 9-4, 7-4, or 4-4 to make a full house or better. This is 21 possible two-card combinations. On the second board any 9-9, 9-7, 9-5, 9-4, 7-7, 5-5, or 4-4 does the trick. This is 28 combinations.

Similarly, if the board has four or five hearts, it is less likely that a flush is out, compared to only three hearts. (This should be taken lightly, however, because it is very likely that in a multiway pot, someone has the flush anyway.) However, if the board has four cards to a straight, rather than three, a straight is not only more likely to be out, but pretty much a sure thing, even in a heads-up or threeway pot if there is action.

Draw to the Nuts

Many players used to Texas hold 'em think that since an Omaha hand has four cards instead of two, it has twice as many possibilities. Actually, though, since you use two cards from your hand to make your best five-card hand, there are six times as many possibilities in each Omaha hand. If your cards are A-B-C-D, you have six two-card combinations: A-B, A-C, A-D, B-C, B-D, and C-D. This means that if a pair is on board, it is six times more likely you'll run into a full house. If three cards to a straight or flush are out, it is six times more likely that someone has it.

What does this mean? If you have two pair or bottom set, it is much more likely that you will run into two better pair or a set. If you have a straight that isn't the nuts, you will run into a higher straight, flush, or full house much more often. If you have a flush that isn't the nuts, you will run into a higher flush or full house much more often. Even a full house that is not the best possible on board can be in a lot of trouble.

Another big difference between Omaha and hold 'em is in the quality of straight draws. In hold 'em, the best straight draw is an open-ended draw (such as a hand of 8-7 on a board of 9-6-2), which gives you 8 outs to the nuts. In Omaha, you can have a hand with as many as 20 outs (such as Q-J-8-7 on a board of T-9-2, or T-9-7-6 on a board of J-8-5), or one with as many as 16 nut outs (such as K-Q-J-8 on a board of T-9-2). Notice how many cards make your straight here: any K, Q, J, 8, 7, or 6 in the first example; any Q, T, 9, 7, 6, 4 in the second example; any K, Q, J, 8, 7 in the last example.

When on a draw, remember to always ask yourself "are my outs good?" Say you have 5-5-4-4 and the flop is 7-6-5. There is a bet and two callers before you act. What do you do? This is a clear fold. You can make a straight if a 3 comes up, but you will still lose if someone has 8-4 or 9-8, which is not very unlikely. A 7 or 6 makes you a full house, but someone with two pair or a higher set than yours will make a bigger full house with the same card. In Omaha, avoid any draw that isn't to the nuts (the best possible hand, given the board). (Note: it is generally safe to assume that no straight flush or four-of-a-kind is out, when considering what the nuts is. However, if the flop is something like Q-J -T , you have reason to be cautious.)

Play Coordinated Starting Hands

Remember, there are six two-card combinations in each Omaha hand. When evaluating a starting Omaha hand, the first thing you look for is having many working card combinations. A hand like Q-Q-7-2 has only one good two-card combination: the Q-Q. Many players assume this hand is as good in Omaha as Q-Q is in hold 'em; in fact, a lot of players like Omaha because "I get dealt a big pair more often". This hand, however, is much weaker than a pair of queens in hold 'em. You have one good card combination, but your opponent may have as many as six. This is a huge disadvantage.

Here is an example of a great coordinated Omaha hand: J-T -9 -8. Notice that the hand has six working card combinations: The J-T, J-9, J-8, T-9, T-8, and 9-8 all complete a number of potential straights. If you flop two pair with this hand, you will either have a made straight or an open ended draw to one. Flops like T-7-x or 7-6-x give you 13 outs to the nut straight. Although your flush draws are low and you must play carefully if you hit a flush, the flush draws do add some value to this hand, especially if you are all-in in a pot-limit game. This is the type of hand you really want at Omaha: one that can hit a lot of nice flops.

An example of a great hand at Omaha high-low is A-2 -3 -6. Every combination has value for both high and low. You can make many straights, a nut flush, and you are much more likely to make the nut low than a player holding just A-2-x-x or A-3-x-x.

For more specifics on winning at Omaha, view the strategy guides for pot-limit Omaha (high only), limit Omaha hi-lo , and pot-limit Omaha hi-lo.