Basic Omaha Strategy

Although Omaha is played almost identically to Teaxs Holdem, the proper strategy for Omaha poker is completely different. The addition of two extra hole cards to every hand makes it so that each player is holding up to 6 different poker hands. As a result, you’ll see tons more action and big hands at Omaha than you will in Holdem.

The first two things you’ll want to learn about in Omaha strategy are starting hands and hand values. As you’ll come to learn, Omaha is an action game but it also requires patience in waiting for the right hands and the right times to put your money in.

Omaha Starting Hands

The best starting hands in Omaha are hands in which all four cards work together in every combination. For example, a hand like JQKA double-suited is very strong because every combination of cards is pretty strong and there are two different suits in the hand.

Other strong starting hands include big double pairs such as AAKK, KKQQ and such. Smaller pairs such as 22 and 33 are very weak in Omaha because even if you do hit a set with one of those, it will be a low set and easily beaten.

The top starting hands in Omaha include JQKA, AAKK, AAJT, AAQQ, AAJJ, TJQK, AKKJ, QQJJ, QQKJ and such. This is by no means a complete list but it should give you an idea of what types of hands to look for. These hands are all made up of big cards that work well together.

Hand Values

Hand values are much lower in Omaha and the relative strength of your hand is extremely volatile. What might be the nuts on the flop can (and often does) turn into junk on the turn. In full ring and small stakes games, it usually takes the nuts to win a pot so don’t get involved in a hand if you don’t have the best hand on the board.

Hands like bottom and middle set almost always win in Texas Holdem but this is not the case in Omaha. In Omaha, you have to be prepared to lay down hands such as middle set, bottom set, two pair and top pair. Those hands are nearly worthless in Omaha because they are very easily beaten.

Even hands like small full houses, non-nut flushes and non-nut straights are extremely dangerous in Omaha. In fact, these hands are the most dangerous because it’s so tempting to put your entire stack in the middle with these hands. Experienced Texas Holdem players know all too well how difficult it can be to fold these types of hands.

Draws are the only hands that increase in value in Omaha. With four hole cards in your hand, it’s possible to have draws that are more likely to hit than miss. In Omaha you can have a wraparound straight draw that can be completed by 20 different cards. For example, the hole cards 68TJ on a 79Q flop will create a straight with any 5, 6, 8, T, J or K.