Hey, sorry to put in such a long blog. But, since today's Freeroll is Horse, I thought this would interest you players, like myself, who are trying to learn Omaha Hi. I ran across this article on the wed. Written by a pro. Don't rememger who.-------------------------------------------------------------------

Omaha Is A Flop Game>>

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Omaha is a flop game and hands dramatically change in value when the flop is dealt. You could have the absolute best Omaha hand in the world pre-flop and, in the instant the flop is dealt, have to muck it when an opponent throws out a big bet on a flop that kills your hand. >>

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The flop is when you really need to assess your hand, and how you want to play it. In many cases, the turn and river cards are almost afterthoughts, as the real decisions are made on the flop. When you're analyzing your prospects, just look into what's in front of you, what the flop is, and how it might fit into your hand (as well as your opponents' hands). >>

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Don't get distracted by how great your hand was pre-flop. Stick to the flop and how it fits into your hand, and the likelihood that it helped out your opponents>>

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Omaha Hands Really Begin On The Flop>>

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Don't Fall in Love With Aces >>

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Everyone loves to look down and see a pair of aces in their hands. It's easy to feel invincible when you have aces, betting and raising it up, ready to rock and roll. >>

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We're not saying that you shouldn't raise with aces in Omaha, as you should, just that you need to keep in mind how dramatically the flop can change Omaha hands, making very strong pre-flop hands suddenly weak, and vice versa>>

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Never Play Three of a Kind in your Starting Hand >>

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This is slightly rare, but a good thing to file away in the back of your brain. If you play enough Omaha you'll eventually be dealt a starting hand like Kh Kc Ks Qd. >>

Don't get too excited. While this hand looks great at first glance, you can only use two of your cards, so you simply have a pair of kings, not three of a kind. What's worse than that, though, is that there's only one king left in the deck, so your odds of improving and catching another king on the board are much lower than if you only had two kings in your hand. >>

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It's tempting to play starting hands with three of a kind, especially if they're queens, kings, or aces, you should always fold these hands. Three aces is the only one you should consider playing, and even then you should only play it if it's cheap to call pre-flop, and should fold it to a raise. >>

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It's frustrating but you just have to fold these hands, as they're not as good as they look at first glance and it's almost impossible for you to improve to a better hand, since you already have one of your outs in your hand yourself. >>

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Position is King >>

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While position isn't quite as important in Omaha as it is in Hold'em, it's something you should strongly consider and factor in each and every hand. >>

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If you're in late position, you get to see the entire action unfold before you're forced to commit a single chip. This is exactly where you want to be, as it gives you many more options and can dictate whether you should call, raise, or fold, especially with good but not great hands. >>

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If you're in early position, you have to act first, which puts you at a disadvantage. You might have a good hand but not a great one, yet you don't know what the players are going to do behind you. You'd like to call and see another card, hoping to improve your hand, but you don't want to call and then be faced with a big raise by a player in late position. >>

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Many Omaha hands develop into a battle of a made hand versus a strong drawing hand, which can lead to rapidly escalating pots. If you're in late position, you get to see all this develop, a luxury you're not afforded if you're first to act. >>

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While you still want to play really strong hands from any position (and likely raise with them), you always need to keep a close eye on your position at the table, and take that into account. >>

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Starting hands with a pair of aces are great, but don't get too attached to them if you have multiple opponents and a flop like 9 10 J, and your opponents go crazy raising and re-raising. It's tempting to fall in love with them and to continue in the hand, even if it's a dangerous flop that seems to have helped your opponents. >>

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A simple way of dealing with the situation is convince yourself that Omaha hands really begin on the flop, and to act accordingly. That way you won't be disappointed or tempted to continue on with your big pairs that looked so strong pre-flop, especially if the flop doesn't help you at all and your opponents wake up and start raising. >>

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Omaha Is A Game Of Big Draws >>

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A fundamental situation in poker is when a good hand meets a hand that is not as good but has the potential to improve. Typically, the made hand bets out and the drawing hand has the choice of calling or folding. To make a well-founded decision, the player on a draw would then compare the size of the pot and the cost to continue playing to his chances of winning the pot.>>

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Risk Reward Ratio For Drawing Hands>>

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As you know, the winning chances of the drawing hand depend on the number of cards that would improve the hand, also known as 'outs'. In Texas Holdem, the made hand is usually a favorite to win the pot after the flop. The standard draws are flush draws (9 outs) and straight draws (8 outs) which both give the made hand winning chances of 65% or better. This is not the typical case in Omaha. The draws in Omaha are of a completely different caliber. Let's look at an example. Your hole cards: Th-9s-6h-5s Flop: Ac-8c-7d You have a straight draw, but it is a very different animal from your usual Texas Holdem straight draws that we discussed above. >>

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Look out for huge draws
As a matter of fact, here you have no less than 20 cards that fill up your straight! Four fours, three fives, three sixes, three nines, three tens, and four jacks will all make your straight. Given that a straight is good enough to win, this increases your winning chances to almost 70%. Because of the big straight draws in Omaha Poker, the drawing hand may actually be a favorite over the made hand. Of course, it is not certain that all your possible straights will be winning hands. Often enough the opponent with a made hand, such as a set or two pair, will have some drawing possibilities that interfere with yours, such as a flush draw that 'kills' some of your outs. Some of your straights may also not be the nut straight, so that you risk losing to a better straight. Nevertheless,>>

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big draws are an essential part of Omaha. If you learn to recognize them and to play them just as hard as made hands, your Omaha will improve. >>

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Shorthanded Omaha >>

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To play shorthanded Omaha differs a lot from playing a full ring game. When it comes to Texas Hold em, a game is usually considered shorthanded if it contains of six players or less. This is not the case in Omaha. Because of the increasing number of cards used, an Omaha game is usually considered shorthanded when four players or less are in it. >>

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It should be stressed that playing shorthanded requires more and different skills than playing full ring games. So it is advisable that you that you get some experience playing full tables before making the switch to shorthanded poker games. >>

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As in all shorthanded games aggression is the key. In Omaha somebody at the table is very often holding the nuts, but this will happen a lot less frequently when you play shorthanded. Therefore you have to push your hands a lot harder and you cannot worry as much that someone might have a better hand. Drawing hands decrease in value, because you will not get paid of as much when they hit. At the same time high pairs increase in value because they stand a greater chance of holding up. >>

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If you are playing a hand aggressively pre-flop you should usually continue doing so whatever cards the flop holds. Shorthanded Omaha is a game of aggression and bluffing. An exception is if the board comes something like QJT, if you do not have the straight or at least a straight draw, and your opponent shows any kind of strength, get away! >>

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Shorthanded Omaha is a very exciting and entertaining game, but remember that it requires totally different skills than full ring games. And to become good at it you can not go around worrying that someone else is holding the nuts, you have to stay aggressive. >>

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Good Omaha Poker Starting Hands >>

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Like in Texas Hold'em, winning Omaha players make most of their money by being patient and only playing the best starting hands. Losing players, on the other hand, play far too many hands, hoping to get lucky, and aren't patient enough to wait for good starting hands. >>

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The first thing to look for in good starting hands are pairs, preferably big pairs. You'll almost always play a hand with AA in it, even if the other two cards don't help you that much, such as a hand like AdAh8c2d. Like in Hold'em, big pairs win more often than hands without big pairs in them, so >>

You should also look for hands that are "double suited". This means that two of your cards are of one suit, and two of another suit, such as Ad 2d Kh Qh. Double suited hands are powerful because they can make a flush in two different ways, depending on the board. Ad 2d Kh Qh is much better than Ad 2d Kc Qs, since the first hand could make both a heart or diamond flush, while the second has only the chance to make a diamond flush. >>

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All four cards work together in good Omaha poker starting hands. A hand such as Ad 2d Qh Jh is much better than Ad 2c Qh 7s, because all four cards in the first hand are coordinated. You can make the nut diamond flush, a queen high heart flush, as well as a straights because your cards are connected in two different ways (A2 and QJ). >>

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Like anything, you can't always get what you want. While it'd be great to have a perfect hand that fits all categories, like Ad Ac Kd Kc or Ad Ac 2d 2c (if you're playing Omaha Hi Lo), you can't sit there and wait for hands as perfect as that.
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Be Aggressive >>

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Like most forms of poker, it's always better to be aggressive instead of passive when playing Omaha. If you're patiently waiting for good starting hands and the flop helps you, it's time to get as much money in as you can, as you usually have a big edge. >>

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Omaha is a bit counter-intuitive, as it appears at first glance that more "luck" is involved than at Hold'em, especially when someone gets very lucky and draws out on you on the river in a huge pot, when they have a horrible hand they never should have been playing to begin with. >>

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The truth is that your edge is usually bigger in Omaha, if you're patient and wait for good starting hands. The common trait among bad Omaha players is that they play way too many hands, and it's much harder for them to overcome this than it is in Hold'em. >>

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Playing a hand like 9h 10h usually isn't as disastrous in Hold'em as playing a hand like 2h 7c 10d Ks is in Omaha, as the 9h 10h often isn't that far behind in most situations. Bad hands in Omaha, though, are often huge underdogs. Add in the tendency for bad Omaha players to play nearly every hand and you have a huge edge for patient, aggressive players, when they do find a good starting hand to play. >>

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Once you have a good hand, be aggressive. Your edge is usually very large so don't be shy about getting chips into the pot. You obviously won't win every hand but that doesn't mean you need to be shy about betting and raising. Push your edges when you have them, especially against bad players who play far too many hands

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