Raising Before the Flop for Greater Profit
Posted on 14. Jul, 2010 by admin in Playing Tips
Unlike its cousin Texas-Hold’em, in Omaha Poker, the greatest strength of a player’s wagering strategy is developed in the starting hand. While there are the occasional strong hands to start with but more often there will be junk hands all over the table. It is through keeping yourself in the game and raising when you can pre-flop that will help increase your odds of winning.
Many players will simply limp along on weak hands in hopes that they will finally get what they need on the flop. By strategic raising on a hand that has at least a good potential, you can force the wagering to go more toward your best chance. Starting hands, even the junk hands, do not run in a close value at the beginning. By forcing bids and raises in your opponents who are looking to the flop to redeem these hands, you are in a better position to share the pot if not take its entirety.
A great deal of the Omaha Poker player’s success is in exploiting the small advantages one gets before the flop. By then you have had your opponents add to the pot and still be secure in knowing that all they have to do is draw a “dead” card for their flop to destroy their chances at the win. It does take concentration to use the information on the table to determine the approximate value of all the hands still in the game. If you hesitate and wait for the flop to determine the outcome of the big blind, you will have missed the opportunity to have weak handed players drop out so the odds are greater that you can emerge victorious in a more closely played heads up game against fewer opponents.