Holdem Texas vs Omaha

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PokerEstrella

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Hi, I've played Texas Holdem and am pretty knowledgeable about basic strategies, values of cards, etc.

However I'm totally lost with Omaha, how does one approach Omaha vs Texas? How do you look at the starting 4 cards and value them?


Thanks!
 
PokerEstrella said:
Hi, I've played Texas Holdem and am pretty knowledgeable about basic strategies, values of cards, etc.

However I'm totally lost with Omaha, how does one approach Omaha vs Texas? How do you look at the starting 4 cards and value them?


Thanks!
Click to expand...
By your question, I am not sure you understand the basics of Omaha?

In Omaha you need to make the best hand using any 3 cards on the board, while only using 2 of the cards that were dealt to you.

Of course you would like to have an option of having two different suits of cards or two different pairs in order to hopefully make a flush or a set (3 of a kind), or even a boat (full house), if you are holding low or mid semi connectors hoping to make a straight, be careful of other players possibly holding higher semi connectors that may dominate your hands in those situations.

Hope this helps
 
In the past I also played omaha, but I came to the conclusion that NL Holdem is more interesting.

 
I play Omaha and I like the game, the combinations are quickly collected in the game, and all the cards can be played in big hands and small, in Hold'em you just have to wait for good cards and in Omaha you can play almost all the cards and I like it, Omaha and you might like the game!
 
In hold'em, after the flop, the ready-made combination will usually be a serious favorite against the draw (the exception is when the flush draw with two overcards plays against one pair). In Omaha, there are situations where the draw is more than 70% favorite after the flop against such a strong ready hand, like thrips. Imagine an overpair A-A-x-x on the flop 8-6-5 with two hearts. How much interest will you give to the opponent who has a hand with Q-J-T-9 with two hearts? The answer is: the draw will have 69% on the win, and the aces will have only 31%.
Now let's make a change to this example - let's say that in place of a pair of aces there will be a pair of fives giving it to the owner of thrips on the flop. Dro will continue to be the favorite, despite the fact that the thrips have the opportunity to grow to a full house. Now the percentage will be as follows: 55% in draws and 45% in thrips of fives. This statistics surprises many players in Hold'em. The key difference between Omaha and Omaha is the number of outs that "close" the straight draw and the flush draw
 
Yea position is everything in Omaha.Flushes are what pairs are in hold'em they are the majority strong hand.
Pairs go way down in value and aces,unless they are double suited, are just set mining.
You want to have the nut hand because often that is even not good enough after 1 card.
There is no best hand in Omaha pre. Open up your range but avoid low pocket pairs below 99.
Check raise as much as possible.
The stupidest thing you can do in Omaha is draw to the second best hand.It's like an all in bluff in a NLH tournament.
Free cards are insane.
Raise enough to kick out opponets but not enough where 1/3 of your stack is in pre.
Bluff scary boards often,but not for more than 35% of your stack generally.
Omaha is extremely tricky in Tournament format and is super difficult in 8max 9max 10max.
Ace nut flushes go way up in value and are generally the most valuable hands.
Underboats go down in value.
Ace high is absolutely nothing in Omaha.
The variance is much higher play with 110 buy-ins.
Avoid 9 card hands. Avoid Low card hand unless they are double suited and 5/3,6/4,5/7,5/6,6/7, your trips will be bad and your two pair also will be bad.
Bottom top pair is a weak hand that get drawn out quite a bit.
 
Thank you! This was a great post, exactly answered my questions.

To the member 2 posts above, I do understand how to play Omaha, but this was the in depth math I was looking for.


I've already practiced what you've mentioned and I can read the field a lot better.


QUICK QUESTION:
How should one approach pre-flop betting? Seems like in smaller stakes, there is more of a hyper all-in mentality that holdem. And if you don't shove you just limp, and we got the table seeing a flop.
 
Hey thanks this is also a very good post.

For anyone that plays poker a lot, I think they can see what my concerns are with Omaha.


What you've talked about is precisely where my weak points are.
 
I play Omaha and I like the game, the combinations are quickly collected
in the game, and all the cards can be played in big hands and small, in Hold'em you
just have to wait for good cards and in Omaha you can play almost all the cards and
I like it, Omaha and you might like the game!
Click to expand...

You couldnt be more wrong!

Variance is higher in Omaha and therefor You will want to be even more selective with your starting hands...
Playing too many hands is a recipe for desaster!

In Omaha You will want to have the best hand, not a good one! It's a nuts game!

Hands that are very powerful in Holdem are not worth as much in Omaha....
In Holdem Games You can be pretty sure that almost any flush will get you the pot.
Only on few occasions your opponent will show a higher flush.
In Omaha Your opponent is much more likely to show a better flush.

Be carefull when You play pairs. Beginners usually overestimate the value of trips in Omaha.
Pay close attention to the board when playing with 3 of a kind because straights, flushes and
full houses appear in Omaha regularly and not as the occasional bad beat as in Holdem...

My advice for beginners is to fold a lot in Omaha... Sure, You will miss some spots.
But when You carefully select starting hands and look for double suited and connected hands
then You will have a much better chance of actually getting the best hand.

Use an odds calculator before You go to a table and play around with it to get an idea
of the odds in Omaha and how they can significantly change with every card that gets dealt!

Once You have developed a feeling for it Omaha can be very much fun and also profitable
because at the micro stakes You will often encounter people who play Holdem at an Omaha table...

I used my CC freeroll winnings in the last few days to play Omaha cash games on PokerStars.
Usually I play 2 tables at a time and I have not had a single losing session so far.
They will surely come but I think it is a lot easier to not lose your buy-in in Omaha because it is
played with a pot-limit betting structure. No preflop all-in gambles that often cost You your stack
in Holdem because some outdraws your favorite hand. In Omaha You usually get to see a flop for
fractions of your stack and can then make a more informed decision about wther to not risk more money or not.
 
I have very recently started to learn and play PLO. I think it's great fun, but I couldn't agree more that even a small boat means you want to exercise pot control. Seeing quads and straight flushes is not so unusual, which means that even a Broadway straight is very vulnerable with flush draws and a paired board. Most important lesson to remember for Holdem players ist that you always use exactly two hole cards - you can loose a lot of pots if you don't remember that.
 
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