Omaha Hi/Lo

In the beginners guide we covered some of the basics and some simple ways to put you on track for winning money rather than losing. This guide is to take your game to the next level and help increase your winnings further and keep your losses down. The biggest fish in Omaha actually come from Texas Hold’em players. This is because they think it’s the same game when all new strategies and techniques apply.

Players who enjoy playing loose will have an opportunity to hit a lot of flops and open up stealing opportunities. This is because Texas Hold’em players often don’t know how to get a lot of value out of cards. With Omaha having so many possibilities to make hands you can get away with being loose pre-flop. However, be cautious and always remember that playing hands loosely before the flop is all fine and dandy however playing them post flop can cause you huge problems, especially if you’re not drawing the nuts.

One thing that you must remember about Omaha is that the big pots almost always involve the bets hand versus the second best and. This can be in all forms like a straight against a higher straight, a straight versus a flush, and a flush against a larger flush. We could keep going with this pattern but I think you get the idea. The purpose is you want to hit a strong hand, preferably the nuts. However you have to be aware of what can beat your hand and the possibility of it happening. A good example is, if you flop a straight and you bet the amount of the pot and say three people call you. The reason the turn and river can be so dangerous at this point is if the board pairs with someone with a higher straight or a flush you’re probably done for. So if you bet for the river and you get re-raised hugely you have to have the self discipline to know you’re beat and lay down your cards.

Another situation to be leery of is if you have a big pair and when the flop comes it doesn’t pair the board in a set for you, if you don’t have a draw of some sort just fold. It hardly ever happens that a single pair is the best hand after the river. Obviously the best situation to be in post flop is to have a hand that has paired the board with a chance to increase the quality of your hand. A good example of this would be if you’re holding 8-9-T-J and the flop comes 5-6-7. Boom all of the sudden you’ve got the nut straight and any card that’s a 8, 9, or 10 will just improve your hand. Even if someone’s holding 8-9 chasing a straight you’ll probably win a lot of money off them even if they have an 8-9 because you have the over top cards too. That’s not to mention if your cards are double suited or full suited to give you a shot at the flush or straight flush. Although this hand wouldn’t have a good shot at the nut flush since you would only be holding the J.

As with any game or anything in life as you play and gain experience you will learn your opponent’s tendencies and you will start to feel out if a hand isn’t the nuts. If all else fails remember to play for the nuts, because there is very few situations that are worse that you putting money in the pot all the way to the end of the river into the showdown with a K high straight or flush just to get beat out by the ace.

Outline

1.    The Advanced Omaha Hi-Lo Guide
Opportunity for Flops
Omaha and Big Pots
Big Pairs

2.    Key Tips for Advanced Players
Free Cards
Getting Flushed
Caution with Aces
Master of Disguise

3.    Factors and Advantages
Situational Game
Playing Reasonable Cards
Position
Random Acts of Bad Players

4.    Hand Playability
Stating Hand Playability
Two Pair Scenarios

5.    Concept to Calculating Odds
Other Factors Besides Odds
Calculating Your Hand Odds
Calculating Pot Odds
The Being Quartered Catch

6.    Kinds of Bets
Value Betting
Bluff Betting
Semi-Bluff Betting
Risk of Bluffs

7.    How to Use Position and Betting
Position pots
Aggressive Betting
Tells and Patterns

8.    How to Prevail Over Different Kinds of Players
Calling Stations
Maniac
Amateurs That Don’t Know How to Size Bets