Omaha

So I have been straying from my usual hold'em and trying to play this omaha. I quickly caught on to hold'em and stud, but still have a little trouble on what hands to stay in on. Anyone have a brief guideline on what four hole cards are best to play. I have read a few books on it and have a general knowledge; however, most of the books discuss theory and not practical knowledge from real tables. I appreciate any help you can provide.

AAKK suited. A2A3 is also a good hand. I avoid any starting hand that has three suited cards.

More or less try and play four cards that work well together.

I look forward to hearing other opinions as I am just getting started on O myself.

Hands that can make STRs two different ways like 89QK especially suiited one. These are also high value starting hands.

I'm no expert, you get what you pay for, your mileage may vary. But here's my take....

One comment about kmixer's affinity for AA23 - this is only if playing Omaha H/L. The cards are close together, so straight possibilities, but you'd much rather see QK than 23 in plain old omaha. Toss any hand with 3 of a kind unless they are accompanied by a suited high kicker (Ah Ac Ad Kd) AND in you're in good position. The best you can do is 3 of a kind, and the odds of even that are very slim. Three of the same suit is not ideal, but fine. I don't like 4 suited unless they are all somewhat connected (i.e. QT97).

The 'ideal' starting hards are high connectors, double suited (i.e. Ks Qh Js Th). I'm NOT a big fan of KQ78 (even though they each have a shot at a straight), because you have to hit it exactly, and hit the high end preferably (so as not to be beaten by a higher str8). I like to see at least 3 cards at least 'sorta' together, like TQK with perhaps a 5 that is suited to something. Double suited is not critical. You'll be sitting out probably 19 out of 20 hands if you wait for that.

High pairs are fine, hopefully at least one other card is suited and/or connected. BTW, aces and or AK is great, but I look more for a nut flush possibility than a straight, because any str8 is a gutshot/close ended.

Hmmmmm omaha. Really never played it but its considered "Unpopular" i guess. Read about it the other day , didnt take too much interest in reading it thoroughly but it really didnt fascinate me .. so with Omaha i guess im Blue :| . !

Thanks for the incredible response. . .this is definately enough information to get me started toward making some profitable runs with the omaha. Recently I bought and read a book, Mastering Hold'em & Omaha, by Mike Cappelletti and Mike Cairo. I found this book to be a major help and have found my game improving daily.

LOL... Omaha is considered "Unpopular"? Where exactly did you get that info from. Granted, in comparison to Hold'em, no poker game on earth can come even close to the shear number of players. However, if you look around at all, you will find that the 2 Omaha variations are almost always #2 & #3 in popularity behind Holdem. So, I don't think "Unpopular" is the correct term to use. You can ALWAYS find multiple games at many limits on PS and mostly all of them on FTP.
The thing is, Holdem is percieved as an easy game to try because all of the hacks see it on ESPN and say "hey, I can play that". Omaha, especially the hi-lo variety takes much more thinking as there are many more hand variations and possibilities than in HE. Still though, there are a lot of HE players that seem to dabble periodically in Omaha or O8, which is usually good for the Omaha regulars becasue most of them play like they were playing HE

This thread makes me roflz.

Care to share what is so funny? I could use a good laugh.

hi str8 draws, double suited, hi prs w str8 or fl draws, double suited hi prs (yum) ... no lo str8 draws.
Danglers (unplayable 4th card) can ruin an otherwise good hand... I like to see four working cards optimally.

Does anything pleasant EVER roll off of your fingers?


---

Ahh the lovely OMAHA. By far my least favorite game as it seems everyone thinks that they can win wiht any 4 cards. I hate it but then again also easy money if you can take advantage of it! AA23 Best starting hand in H/L AAKK suited is techincally the best starting hand in Omaha Hi

But I hear you doh...


---

LOL because we all know about the people who think 3c5d9sKh is the best starting hand so idk about the omaha crowd=) lol