How to Play Omaha?

bra01

bra01

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I could play NL Poker, i could predict the opponent. but its hard to predict the opponent in omaha.
anybody could help me how to read the opponent hands???
because many time i thougth i had a good but when showdown, they always had a better hand me.
its unpredictable because 4 cards in hand :(
 
Tammy

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In Omaha you must use 2 of your 4 hole cards (no more, no less) to make the best 5 card hand. So 2 cards from your hand, and 3 for the community cards, or 5 cards on the table. Many beginners in Omaha mistakenly think that can use only 1 of their hole cards, or 3. That is not the case. You must use 2 out of the 4.

I hope that helps answer your question.

Check out this article: Pot Limit Omaha vs No Limit Texas Holdem Poker
 
vinnie

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Reading hands in omaha is more about identifying which made hands and which draws would take certain lines. Someone who raises on the flop usually has a great made hand or multiple draws to hands that beat the current nuts. It is rare for someone to raise with only a small draw (note an open-ended straight draw is a small draw in omaha).

Try and think about what sorts of hands would have multiple draws on a board, or a wrap. How likely is it that your opponent has top set? Is your opponent one to fire lots of barrels, or do they wait until they have the nuts?

Really, the best thing to do would be to post a specific hand and the actions up to a certain street, and then we could walk through what range would likely be held by your opponent based on actions, history, and board texture. It's impossible to speak in complete generalities with it comes to omaha.

Generally, it's not too hard to have some idea of what your opponent has. Of course, there are a lot of draws out, and your opponent will not be able to hold all of them. Good opponents will be betting cards that complete draws they don't have. It can get a little complicated. But, the opportunity for mistakes is as large as the range your opponents have. So, it's very profitable.
 
playinggameswithu

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You need a hand that has potential the the 4 cards in your hand so you can combo 6 hole cards.

Also in Omaha bluffing is not recommended since player usually have something unless the board turns scary and the pot is big bluff away.

In omaha you want only the nut hands. Small pocket pairs go down in value,junk flushs go down in value,straight go way down in value. Play the NUTS or super strong hands. Be aggresive with your "wrap" draws.
 
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karl coakley

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I usually play for flushes, straights, and full houses in Omaha. When you are drawing to a hand you really want to be trying to draw to the nuts. I usually try to avoid drawing to queen high flushes, small sets, ect... because you are going to find on the river someone that stayed in the hand does have you beat.

While it is important to put people on hands, like you I find it about impossible, I just make sure when I'm drawing I'm drawing to the nuts as much as possible or try to control the pot and not let it get out of hand.
 
grant34

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I still have not learned to play in Omaha
 
Trick1988

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play with the best possible combination, and do not forget that there are always two cards playing
 
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mojorising

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The descending order probability changes for 5 card vs 7 card vs 9 card poker

For 5 card the probability matches the rank order (straight flush down to high card).

For 7 card the probability does not match the rank order

i.e. 1 pair is most probable followed by 2 pair followed by high card (then it reverts to matching the rank order and 5 card poker)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poker_probability#Frequency_of_7-card_poker_hands

But for omaha the probability for trips seems to change dramatically according to the only probability table I could find for 9 card hands

http://www.durangobill.com/Poker_Probabilities_8_Cards.html

Is this correct?

3 of a kind has a probability of only 0.04

whereas straight has a probability of 0.14 (0.12 + 0.02)

so straights are much more likely than trips in omaha?

Why do they not change the hand rank order to match the change in probability so trip would beat a straight?

In british 3 card brag a straight beats a flush. This is because a straight is less probable than a flush in 3 card brag
 
debriz

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In Omaha you must use 2 of your 4 hole cards (no more, no less) to make the best 5 card hand. So 2 cards from your hand, and 3 for the community cards, or 5 cards on the table. Many beginners in Omaha mistakenly think that can use only 1 of their hole cards, or 3. That is not the case. You must use 2 out of the 4.

I hope that helps answer your question.

Check out this article: Pot Limit Omaha vs No Limit Texas Holdem Poker
They must give more time bank in Omaha especially in tournament.
 
vinnie

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The descending order probability changes for 5 card vs 7 card vs 9 card poker

For 5 card the probability matches the rank order (straight flush down to high card).

For 7 card the probability does not match the rank order

i.e. 1 pair is most probable followed by 2 pair followed by high card (then it reverts to matching the rank order and 5 card poker)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poker_probability#Frequency_of_7-card_poker_hands

But for omaha the probability for trips seems to change dramatically according to the only probability table I could find for 9 card hands

http://www.durangobill.com/Poker_Probabilities_8_Cards.html

Is this correct?

3 of a kind has a probability of only 0.04

whereas straight has a probability of 0.14 (0.12 + 0.02)

so straights are much more likely than trips in omaha?

Why do they not change the hand rank order to match the change in probability so trip would beat a straight?

In british 3 card brag a straight beats a flush. This is because a straight is less probable than a flush in 3 card brag

Omaha is not the same as the 9 card poker on that site. The assumption (on there) is that you can use any 5 of those 9 cards. There are 126 (9c5) 5-card poker hands possible when you can pick 5 from any 9. There are 60 [(4c2)*(5c3)] or [6*10] 5-card poker hands possible with any omaha hand, at showdown.

Wizard of odds has an Omaha table [https://wizardofodds.com/games/poker/]

I am not sure how he arrived at the specific numbers for omaha, but I have read his papers on how to calculate poker odds and the links to deeper math discussion (as these sorts of things interest me). I trust that his numbers are almost certainly correct.

Things that are interesting. Straight flushes are much, much more likely than quads. Although, both are still infrequent enough that changing their ranking just for omaha would not be worth the confusion.

Two pairs is also more likely than 1 pair. There is no point in changing this ranking, even though it is frequent. Because, if you made 1 pair beat 2 pair, then you would quickly discover that 1 pair hands are much more likely than 2 pair. This is a result of the function of choice. Because we can choose to prefer 2 pair (if it ranks higher) or 1 pair (if it ranks higher), then the higher ranking combination will be most likely, no matter what we try and do with the combinational math.

Straights are more frequent than 3 of a kind, but this could also be a function of choice. Or maybe not, it's hard to predict the intersection of hands that would be both straights or trips. In any case, the probability is close enough that trying to "correct" this issue to fit the actual odds is just introducing confusion, with very little benefit for those who prefer a mathematically perfect game. Due to issues with preferential ranking and choice, the game can never be mathematically perfect (in the sense that the less likely hand wins), anyway.

In the end, the ranks of hands were set by the 5 card stud probabilities. The rules of poker have solidified the ranks of winning hands based on that understanding. Trying to change the ranking based on specific probabilities in a given game is only going to introduce confusion. And, in many cases, there is no way to do it because changing the ranking will change the probabilities and make the new order incorrect anyway.
 
fabiancampos

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summary, play with couples and connected cards like: AKQQ, 9967s, AKs 10s, JJ 89s, from any position that kind of hands work well. Luck.
 
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mojorising

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^^Thanks Vinnie.

That wizardofodds table was what I was looking for.

So it is a much closer call between trips and straight but straight is still more probable.

Interesting.
 
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bigjay2007

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I have lost an uncountable number of hands in Omaha with the best hand to the river. With 4 hole cards, many players are more inclined to chase and that means they hit more often. It is fun but can be frustrating as well. Count your odds and play really good hands, this will prevent some of the bad beats I'm talking about!
 
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Klito

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I could play NL Poker, i could predict the opponent. but its hard to predict the opponent in omaha.
anybody could help me how to read the opponent hands???
because many time i thougth i had a good but when showdown, they always had a better hand me.
its unpredictable because 4 cards in hand :(

You must study your opponents and see how often they raise preflop
If an opponent is tight and he raises hw might have a strong draw or very good hands which include suited aces kings
 
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