Branching Out From Texas Hold'em

What is the best way for someone to branch out from Texas Hold'em and learn a new game? Obviously Texas Hold'em is the most popular game right now, but there are often local tournaments in Omaha and other games that I don't know how to play at all. What do you recommend?

It took me a long time to play anything other than Holdem but I now play a few games of Omaha, Stud and Razz. I think the best way to learn these games is through freerolls but only if the entries are controlled. Look for restricted entry freerolls and try and get into these (legally of course) and stay away from the donk fest public freerolls which will teach you very little.

With some freerolls you'll at least get an oppurtunity to see some hands and also learn what kinds of hands are usually taking it down.

I'd suggest reading up a bit on whatever game you're thinking about branching off into. There are all kinds of strategy overviews of every game to be found online.

Lately I've been considering getting into playing more Omaha H/L as I haven't played much of it at all. I've done some reading on it, went far in a couple of freerolls (final-tabling one of the Fantasy Freerolls on Fulltilt), then played some micro buyin mtts ($1 buyin). Even with a decent knowledge of good starting hands, you'll be ahead of alot of the field and it doesn't take long to see which players on your table know what they're doing & which ones don't (just look at the hands they're playing & how they're playing them).
It doesn't take too long to get used to a new game. I find I'm pretty rusty about knowing what shape my hand is in with a strong draw on the flop but it gets easier as i go along (I also check out hands in an odds Calculator after, to see where I was actually at). THen (just as in NLHE) you expand to other nuances of the game.

GL on stepping out of the comfort zone!! Hope you do well... most importantly 'i hope you have fun'!!

Play the FR games. I think the ticket to week 2 games are a great place to learn. I play the HORSE and 8 Game there all the time to vary up my play.

If your holdem game is decent, it may be easiest to transition to Omaha high since it's another flop game and the starting hand values change somewhat less than if you go to Omaha hilo. And since you haven't played either much, you can probably learn a good foundation from almost any book.

Do NOT start learning to play Omaha with Hi/Lo, it will make you crazy!
Stick to Omaha Hi (pot limit) at the beginning.

Thanks for all the replies so far. Are there any good books that someone could recommend that shows how to play AND different strategies? I will attempt some freeroll games shortly when I have more time to play.

There are a lot of good PLO books out there, I think we all started with Jeff Hwang's first book but there have been a few others released that are great. You'll also find some fantastic videos at CardRunners.

Its really good to find a book and read it on a specfic game. For me, it was omaha hi that i decided to branch out to. I bought a strategy bool for omaha hi and played in freerolls to apply my new learned strategy.

Also, its the same way u learned holdem. Just play! Learning good strategy can wait unless your advanced player.

Leo 50 said:

Do NOT start learning to play Omaha with Hi/Lo, it will make you crazy!
Stick to Omaha Hi (pot limit) at the beginning.

Click to expand...

Lol, it's not that hard .
I even play some Omaha DoNs.
Most are easy to learn, when you know the winning hands.

Super System 2 is a great way to get introduced to all the different variations of poker. The theory is a little basic for those who have been playing for awhile, but I have found it to be an invaluable reference.

Start at microstakes and grind your way up. So if you want to learn how to play PLO, start with 1c/2c PLO. When you're a winner for like 10K hands, you can move up. Then analyze hands, read books, and study while you play.

I actually found a small poker league that plays a variety of games at super micro stakes and have been thinking it will be a good avenue to get started (minimal bankroll risk and decent/good players, at least better than what one would assume they'd be playing against in typcial online mtts of similiar buyin). [why would I want to play vs. good players?.. will help me to learn how to play better].

There's lots of stuff online that one can read up on as well. Playing & studying has always been the best approach for me.

GL!!

PLO is a lot of fun. Been playing the .05/.10 6-max tables recently.

Give Razz a go! Its not such a luckbox game liks holdem can be and its limit game with so many bad players in the micros..easy $$.