The crucial difference between Omaha Hi strategy & Texas Hold'em strategy derives from the fact that Omaha Hi players are dealt more cards. Correspondingly, the chances of making good hands are much better for both you & the other players. Therefore, you need to play more cautiously, and expect to come across strong hands. There will be bigger pots, and you will probably need a bigger starting bankroll.
Don't Slow Play it
Playing a strong hand weakly in order to make more money from later betting rounds is a dangerous game in Omaha . Remember with four cards each your opponents effectively have six hands. Give them a free card and they may make a hand that beats yours. It's usually a better strategy in Omaha to take advantage of any value your hand has immediately & try and force the opposition to fold. Omahi is not much of a bluffers game.
Table position
In Omaha it is not as important because it's harder to make a move on the pot with so many people still in it with so many drawing hands. Usually in Omaha the correct play is simply the straightforward one, not a steal attempt.
Basically, the philosophy behind playing Omaha is to adapt Texas Hold'em strategy to the fact that there will be more hands of a higher ranking at the table that in Hold'em. Therefore, play tighter, and don't just hope for the best.
In terms of starting hands, you will want to play hands that feature a pair that connects with the other cards for either a straight, or a flush. Basically, very good hands with a range of possibilities and already with some value prior to the flop.
Everyone will tell you that Omaha is a game of "Nuts". What this means is that you have to be aware of what could be the best possible hand using the community cards on display, and then seeing if you've got it. If you have...great! Raise away! If you haven't. or if subsequent cards reduces your hand from being the Nuts to just being good (semi-nuts). The seriously consider getting ou tof the hand before you spend a lot of money.
|
