Archive for 'Guides'
Consistant Small Winnings Are Better Than Occasional Big Wins
Posted on04. Aug, 2010 by admin.
Unlike Texas Hold’em, the hand you build before the flop is generally much more important than what you might anticipate by holding on to a pair or trying to fill a backdoor straight or a shotgun flush. Remember that pocket pairs can come across as being weak in Omaha poker. Not only do you have to spike your set but will need to pick up a pair off the board to create even a moderately successful hand. In order to make this strategy work you have to manipulate the wagering so that the majority of your opponents fold.
You can bluff in Omaha Poker, it is just that the opportunities for doing so are few with most of the cards being easily seen or anticipated. Nut hands are easy to come by and working a hand to where you can drive off some of the competition requires knowledge and nerves of steel to raise, call, or pass so that the impression is given that you have more than they do.
Still, if all you can manage are numerous small pots, it is still better than building sets for a big win that sweeps the pot which may come only rarely or not at all. Small pots with coordinated sets are much easier to bluff than most Omaha Poker players imagine which is why the bluff can be such a successful ploy.
Don’t underestimate the power of an Ace. A single Ace in your hand can dominate the remainder of your set while pocket aces are more likely to prevent you from having nearly as many final hand options as are required to take the majority of the pot.
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Figuring the Nut Low from the Available Flop Cards
Posted on14. May, 2010 by admin.
Figuring the Nut Low from the Available Flop Cards
In a game of Omaha Hi/Lo you often hear the term “nut low” in reference to the lowest possible hand that can be formed from the board cards available. This is not in reference to any “squirrelly” play, but merely a determination of the range in which the lowest hand can be formed. If the board holds 9-7-6-K-J then the “nut low” for that board could only begin with the 9, utilizing the 7 and 6 in combination with your two hand cards to form your final low hand.
Since the winning hand must beat 976??, you would then use the two lowest possible cards in your hand to finish the run. A 1 and 2 would give the best “nut” at 97621 which would beat anyone else unless they could also match the 1-2 combination to tie your hand.
Rather than focusing at first on your lowest possible hand, try to determine what the “nut low” for the hand will be. As example, 8-6-3-Q-A on the board would mean that you would get a better low hand with a 2-4 in your hand than if you had a 1-2, 2-4 giving you a final low hand of 84321 whereas the 1-2 would leave you with 86321. The Ace duplicated (or counterfeited) you could not use both of them to end you hand with a ???11.
When all else fails, rather than call your hand at the showdown, just present your cards for the dealer to read. Since Omaha Poker statistically provides big edges, even a bad player can pull off some spectacular pots just as an experienced player can still lose for the same reason.