Omaha

Omaha

Omaha is a variation of Texas Holdem. It differs in the fact that in Omaha each player gets four instead of two cards. The players then have to choose two cards of these four which they then, just like as in Texas, combine with three of the five cards at the table. It is very important to remember this!

Just like as in Texas Holdem, the cards are dealt from the player/person who holds a type of fiche/chip, called the button, in front of him/her on the table. After each round, the button moves clockwise to the next player. The two players on the left side of the button are obliged to bet the blinds before the cards of the next game are dealt. There is a distinction between the big blind and the small blind. The big blind is twice as high as the small blind. The player on the right of the button bets the small blind, the player next to him/her the big one. The blinds are the first monies that go into the pot.

In the next step the cards are dealt. Every player gets four cards which cannot be seen by the other players. Then the first round of betting starts. The player on the left of the blind is the first to say what he/she will do. After that all the other players get their turn clockwise, with the big blind being the last to make his/her decision. There are four possibilities to choose from: bet (commitment), check (pass), raise (raise) or fold (give up). In the first round only the big blind is able to check, given that he has already made a commitment before the first betting round.

After the first betting round has been completed, three cards will appear open on the table which every player can see and use to combine with his/her own two cards. These three cards are called "the flop". After this a second betting round follows.

Then the fourth card, which is called "the turn", will appear on the table, followed by another betting round. From this round on the bets are doubled at the limit-variant of Omaha (in the limit-variant the betting / commitments are limited to a certain amount and it's not possible to go "all in"). Then the fifth and last card, which is called "the river", will be turned over on the table. Hereafter the last round of betting follows.

After the last betting round the remaining players show their hand, which is the best possible combination of two of their four own cards with three out of the five cards from the table (so best combination of five cards in total). The best hand wins the pot. It is at Omaha possible that two players have the same best possible combination. In that case the pot is split between those two players.

The Rules for Omaha Hi Lo

Omaha hi/lo is a variation of Omaha (hi), where there are two winning hands instead of one, the highest (hi) and the lowest (lo) hand. The rest of the game, buy-in rounds etc, functions exactly the same as regular Omaha.

At the beginning of the game every player is dealt 4 cards, of which he can use 2 to make a combination with the cards on the table. For the highest and the lowest you can use different combinations of 2 cards. Eventually there will be 5 cards on the table of which you can use 3, either for a high or a low hand.

So what is the lowest hand? The lowest hand (lo) is a combination of 5 different
cards 8 or lower (So A2234 is not a low hand!), where the Ace counts as 1.
The best lo therefore is A2345, also known as a wheel. The best starting hand for this as well as the best hi is AA23, double suited.

Example:

If you have A256, your opponent A367, and the table shows 348910, you'll win the lo with A2348. Your opponent has A3468. He wins the hi with a straight 678910 against your ace high.

Omaha hi/lo is played as limit as well as pot limit and occasionally as no limit.

Introduction

Below you'll find a short explanation of the rules for the most popular types of poker. We advise you to start with the variant called Texas Holdem and to continue with the alternatives once you're familiar with this type of poker.

Texas Holdem

These days Texas Holdem is by far the most popular poker game. It is very easy to learn, meaning you can start almost immediately with the actual game.

At Texas Holdem the cards are dealt from the player or person who holds a type of chip, called the button, in front of him/her on the table. After each round, the button moves clockwise to the next player. The two players on the left side of the button are obliged to bet the blinds before the cards of the next game are dealt. There is a distinction between the big blind and the small blind. The big blind is twice as high as the small blind. The player on the right of the button bets the small blind, the player next to him/her the big one. The blinds are the first monies that go into the pot.

In the next step the cards are dealt. Every player gets two cards which cannot be seen by the other players. Then the first round of betting starts. The player on the left of the blind is the first to say what he/she will do. After that all the other players get their turn clockwise, with the big blind being the last to make his/her decision. There are four possibilities to choose from: bet, check (pass), raise (raise) or fold (give up).

After the first betting round has been completed, three cards will appear open on the table which every player can use to combine with his/her own two cards. These three cards are called "the flop". After this a second betting round follows.

Then the fourth card, which is called "the turn", will appear on the table, followed by another betting round. From this round on, the bets are doubled at the limit-variant of Texas Holdem (in the limit-variant the betting are limited to a certain amount and it's not possible to go "all in"). Then the fifth and last card, which is called "the river", will be turned over on the table. Hereafter the last round of betting follows.

After the last betting round the remaining players show their hand, which is the best possible combination of their own two cards with three out of the five cards from the table (so best combination of five cards in total). The best hand wins the pot.

Omaha

Omaha differs from Texas Holdem, in the fact that in this version of poker each player gets four instead of two cards. Out of these four cards you combine two cards with three of the five cards from the table. It is very important to remember this!

Just like Texas Holdem, Omaha uses a button to indicate which player deals the cards and who has to bet the blinds. The betting rounds, flop, turn and river are also the same.

Omaha Hi/Lo

In this variation of Omaha poker the pot is divided in two equal parts. The highest hand (according to the normal rules) wins one half and the lowest hand the other.

There is not always a "lo" (low hand). For this you must have 5 cards which are 8 or lower. Furthermore you're not allowed to have two pair (or more) and you have to use two cards of your own hand and three of the table (just like for the "hi"). You are allowed to use the Ace as a 1 just like in case of a street. In case nobody has a "lo" the whole pot will go to the "hi". The best "lo's" are A2345, the worst 45678. Any random combination of 8 or lower cards will be enough for a "lo". a certain combination of cards like required for a "hi" is not needed for a "lo" (for example it doesn't need be a pair or a street). In case of equal "lo's" the "lo" part of the pot will be split up between the "lo's", which occurs quite frequently.

Seven card stud

The rules of Seven card stud are very different from the Holdem alternatives.

Each player gets two cards facing down (which no one can see) and a face up card (visible to all the other players). The player with the lowest open card has to start with the betting. In all following rounds the player with the best hand has to continue with the betting. In the following rounds each player gets another three facing up cards, always followed by a betting round. The last card is a closed card again, followed by a last betting round. Afterwards the remaining players show their 'face-down' cards.

Introduction

A lot of poker players wonder: "How do I become a good PLO 6max player?". NL Holdem players tend to find the transition very challenging. This series is intended as a guide for these players.
Some basic knowledge about NL Holdem, PLO and poker statistics is required to fully understand the concepts in this article. If you don`t know much about these subjects yet we suggest that you read the basic material on this site first.

Preflop

In PLO, position is more important than your actual hand. That doesn`t mean you should play any four off course, but the player in position controls the hand, more so than in a Holdem game. This is because much more scare cards can come down, which creates a lot of good bluff spots.
As a consequence, its very important to take advantage of your position when you`re on the button (or the cut-off). But even more importantly, you should never play marginal hands out of position! Low pocket pairs, bad suited aces etc. should be folded! They look nice, but its impossible to play these type of hands out of position. Tighten up in the blinds!

Because position is so important, you should choose your seat on the table accordingly. You don`t want to have a descent player to your left. If you can`t avoid this, adjust your game by raising a tighter range and by limping the small blind. This will prevent you from getting into a lot of tricky situations when called or reraised. Against tight or weak players, you can open 40% on the button (open every double suited hand for example). Against opponents who 3bet a lot you should play tighter or limp more hands.

As opposed to NL Holdem, its hard to say what the optimal VPIP/PFR percentages are. Instead, take a look at the following guidelines:

VPIP

< 15 too tight
15-25 tight
25-35 normal
35-45 loose
> 45 too loose

A VPIP outside the 15-50 range is not playable. You can (and should) play more hands compared to NL Holdem.

PFR

< 5 passive
5-10 normal
10-15 loose
> 15 loose aggressive

In NL Holdem its very important that the gap between your VPIP and PFR is very small. This is not true in PLO. Some winning players hardly raise at all! Its ok to play 20/10, but 45/5 is possible as well.

Holdem Manager is currently the only software that supports Omaha. It can be purchased separately or as add-on.

3betting

You should never 3bet bluff, as your opponents will always get the odds to call your 3bet. There are three valid reasons to 3bet: value, isolation and deception.
PLayers tend to disagree on whether you should 3bet out of position at all. Some say its never profitable to do so, others say you should do it a lot. In any case its better to 3bet out of position with a marginal hand than to call, as this gives you initiative.
When you`re up against a bunch of short stacks, its obviously a bad idea to 3bet other than for value.

Postflop

In general, postflop play is more difficult than in NL Holdem, because your opponents ranges are much wider. We recommend this site to get an idea of your equity in certain common postflop situations.
Its very important to pay attention to the way your opponents are playing and to make notes! For example: Does the betsize correspond to the strength of the hand? Does a player bluff missed draws on the river?

You can bluff occasionally, but most of the time you should bet with the nuts and with strong nut-draws. If you have a weak draw to the nuts, you should generally call. Occasionally you should call with a very strong nut hand. Fold everything else!
Note that this means you should never draw to a non-nut hand, especially multiway!

One last bit of advice: a nut flush draw is a very strong semi-bluff hand in PLO, because you have more equity than almost any combo!

Good luck!

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Enjoy!

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