Tips for Playing Omaha

When you play Omaha you have to make sure you are using exactly 2 cards from your hand, not just one or just three. For example, if the board reads K Q J 5 3, and you have A Q 3 and 3, your hand is only three-of-a-kind 3's. You do not have a full house of 3's over queens. If the board is A K Q 10 2, then your hand of two Jacks and two 3's is not a straight because you have to use two of your cards, not just one. This is a much bigger difference that it looks when playing Omaha . I can't stress enough how different Omaha is from Holdem when it comes to reading your and reading the board.

Another major difference between Omaha and Holdem is that there really isn't a great hand before the flop. You could have two Aces and two Kings and still lose the hand. That doesn't mean that strong hands shouldn't be bet before the flop, they should. The best starting hands in Omaha are hands where you have two pair and also a good draw. For example, A, K, JJ, with two of each suit, or QQ, 9, 10, with two suits are strong starting hands. One thing to remember when playing Omaha is that you want to be drawing to the nuts. You want to be drawing to an Ace high flush, not a King high or a Queen high. The same holds true for the straight. You want to be going for an Ace high straight, not a 10 high. The problem with drawing to a second best hand is that you could hit your hand and lose to a better one. Another difference in Omaha is that pairs don't play nearly as well as they do in Holdem. Pairs don't play very well in Omaha because someone else is probably drawing to a straight or a flush. Two pair doesn't play any better because someone that is on a draw is probably going to beat you.

Another thing to remember in Omaha is that a flush or a straight is not an automatic winner as it usually is in Holdem. With a full table of action in a mult-way pot, a full house is very often going to come up and that will beat the flushes and straights.

You want to remember that Omaha is a game of getting the nuts. Most people don't remember this when playing Omaha , and it gets them into all kinds of trouble. Throw those pairs and sets away and you will be much better off in Omaha . Always remember that drawing to, and getting the nuts, is what you are looking to do.