Gambling Articles: How to play Omaha High and Omaha High/Low?
Title: How to play Omaha High and Omaha High/Low?
Author: poker24
Date of subbmision: 05-06-2005
Are you bored with Texas? Fancy playing something new? Why don`t you try Omaha- our article will help you start playing this interesting type of poker…
The rules of the game, that is 2+3=5
At first glance Omaha`s rules are identical to Texas Holdem rules. Deal of the cards consists of the same four phases- pre-flop, flop, turn and river. The one and only difference is the fact that the player gets four cards instead of two. As a matter of fact, if you can play Texas, you can play Omaha, too. However, before you sit at the poker table read this article thoroughly and you will avoid a lot of disappointments.
The most commonly mistake made by Omaha beginner players is the fact that they forget the 2+3=5 rule. When playing Omaha you have only one possibility of making the best hand- YOU MUST use two (only two!) cards from your hand and three cards (only three!) from the table. There is no other possibility! You had more freedom in Texas- you could choose or use two cards, one or none of the cards from your hand. It can be illustrated with the help of the below mathematical formula:
0 (2) + 5 (5) = 5 (7) or
1 (2) + 4 (5) = 5 (7) or
2 (2) + 3 (5) = 5 (7)
Omaha:
2 (4) + 3 (5) = 5 (9)Not otherwise than!
Although a lot of players know the 2+3=5 rule, they forget it while playing the game and throw the counters into the pool which cannot be won.
Exemplary mistakes:
hand: 
 table: 
You do not have Full House but three sevens!
hand: 
table: 
You do not have straight 6 7 8 9 10, as a matter of fact you have nothing!
hand:
 table: 
You don`t have Full House, you don`t even have Three of a Kind! That card looks lovely but it gives you only two pairs- A A J J
You need to remember a simple rule- a card like A A A Q (set in your hand) is a good moment to call no bid- before flop!
Not only does it not give you Three of a Kind but it decreases the probability of an Ace to show up on the table which would give you Three of A Kind (because there is only one Ace left in the pack).
The above examples show that only two cards from hand can be used. Now look at the example which shows that only three cards from the table make the winning set:
hand: 
 flop: 
Great you have Flash. However, turn gives 9h.Your experience from playing Texas tells you that it is no good- the fourth hearts gave the best Flash to someone who had only Ah. And remember the 2+3=5 rule- your opponent cannot use four hearts from the table to make Flash with Ah! So either s/he has Ah xh (which means that you were in trouble in flop) or doesn`t have it and your Flash is still the best. Do not be afraid of a table with four cards of one color!
Let`s go back to the example with Straight:
hand:
table:
All right then, that hand is not Straight yet. However, draw in Straight is very strong in this case. Playing Texas with 8T card in your hand and 7 9 on the table, you have an open (two sided) draw on Straight and 8 outs- you should be happy with one of four sixes or one of four Jacks.
It is far better in Omaha example- you have 16 outs- you can get Straight with a five or a six, or an eight, or a ten or Jack! You will get Straight in turn or river in 57% of cases. That is fantastic, is it not?! Well, not necessarily. Only a five or a six gives you a nuts Straight. There is a very high probability that in the remaining cases your Straight is dominated by your opponent (s/he has a higher Straight).
The Game, that is - there are no nuts before fiver.
Omaha's attraction is mainly the fact that any hand can assure you with the final winning really. You can have a very weak card at a given moment but four cards in hand often give a draw on flash, straight and full house at the same time!
However, that attraction is a trap for beginner players who are blind to getting a good card easily. You must remember that your opponents have four cards in hand, as well. And they get good sets with the same frequency. You will learn quite quickly that Three of a Kind means very little in Omaha. Straight is a reasonable minimum although it is advisable to have a draw on full house or flash. If you can not have one of those three sets you should limit to "check or fold". Cutting the long story short you should play Omaha tight!
As far as the choice of hands is concerned I recommend Hutchison System which is really very good. You will find it here.
As I mentioned before, your aim is to get straight, flush or full house. If after flop you know that there are no chances of getting one of the above sets- call "no bid". On the other hand, you can have nothing but you can have draws for any of the above sets- that is when you can even bid- not to scare your opponents, you bid to make the pool bigger- because you are a favorite to win it!
An example:
hand:
flop: 
A Three of Aces is nothing special really but it is a certain winner in this example. You have an open draw on nuts straight, a draw on nuts flush, a pair on the table will give you full house in Aces; Ah means Aces` Four of a Kind and 8s or Ks means straight flush or even royal flush.
The variability of your card's strength on turn and river is very characteristic in Omaha. For example, you got straight in flop (such a good straight that you call it "nuts straight"). When playing Texas you are sure that your card will be "nuts" after turn and river, as well. So your main aim is to get as many counters from your opponents as possible. It is different in Omaha and you have to be more careful. Your nuts straight can be worth nothing any moment.
If there are two cards of the same color on the table, you can certainly assume that the third card will give someone flush. The thing is that if there are a few players in the game (and usually there are because each of them has a draw) it is almost certain that one of them will have two cards out of four that give him flash. See example:
hand:
 flop:
It is worse when there is a pair on the table. You can have nuts straight or even nuts flash. However, the pair on the table is a warning for you- your opponent has full house. And even if your opponent does not have it in flop, s/he will get it in turn and river. Have a look at this example:
You have a draw on a good straight and nuts flush. There is 57% chances that you will pick up on those sets with the way the cards are. However, a pair on the table means that it is a potential full house for one of your opponents. When you see this kind of flop you may think that: the opponent does not have fours` three of a kind for certain, then who would call in with a four… You cannot think this way in Omaha. Playing at a ten players table (there are 40 cards dealt for the players!) it is almost certain that one of them has a four and it is very likely that there are two players with a four. Your opponent can have a hand consisting of:4 7 J Q. Now, count how many cards give him full house: -three threes, three sevens, three Jacks and three Queens. Twelve outs for full house and one out for fours` four of a kind! There is 48% chances that he will get one of those cards in turn or river! But that is only one opponent, so be careful!
Omaha High/Low (aka Hi/Lo, Omaha Split, Omaha Eight and Better)
High/Low is a type of Omaha (perhaps the most popular one) in which there are two pools to get in each deal. High Pool for the player who shows the highest card and Low Pool for the player who shows the lowest card. Both pools consist of a half of the counters all the players bet in a particular dealing.
Although I do not need to explain what the highest hand is, the low hand needs some explanation. It needs to be said that not in every deal there is a card that qualifies as Low.
A hand that qualifies as Low has to meet the following requirements:
- consist of cards not bigger than 8(A 2 3 4 5 6 7 8),
- cannot contain a pair,
- consist of two cards from hand and three cards from the table,
- it does not matter if the cards make straight or flush.
Examples:
hand:
table: 
You have a Low Hand - A 2 3 4 7
hand:
table:
You Don`t have a Low Hand because you have only one card in your hand lower than 8 or equal to8
hand:
 table: 
You don`t have a Low Hand because a two is repeated
hand:
table:
You have a Low Hand - A 2 3 4 8
hand:
table:
You have a Low Hand - A 2 3 4 5 -and a nuts straight at the same time. Low A 2 3 4 5 that is nuts low!
hand:
table:
You have a Low Hand - A 2 4 7 8 -and flush at the same time.
Now, let's talk abort which hand is lower- that is which one is better. The highest card counts in the first place- the player with the highest card wins. For example: 3 4 5 6 7 is better than A 2 4 5 8. the second best is the who has a lower "the second highest" card etc. For example: A 3 4 5 7 is better than A 3 4 6 7.
The chart Low hand is often the reason of many misunderstandings (lost money). The point is that you can read in a lot of sources that the best starting hand is the one which has A 2, it is true certainly. However, the fact is that you have A 2 does not guarantee you winning a Low pool. It often happens that a beginner player bids hard with A 2 6 7 8 card counting on winning the Low pool. Then s/he is stunned that the counters keep "running away" to the player who showed 3 4 5 6 7.
You must know that the same hand can win both Low pool and High pool- for example A 2 3 4 5 is the best possible Low hand and straight at the same time. When playing Omaha High/Low you can make a separate hand from your cards to win Low pool, and another separate hand to win High pool. An example :
hand:
table: 
A 2 3 5 7 set wins the Low pool but Kd Ks Kc 7h 7s card wins the High pool
What kind of card should you use to call in the game in Omaha High/Low? Use Hutchison System.
I would like to add that every card with A 2 is worth playing. Simply because it is good enough to make "Low nuts". If you see 4 7 8 in flop, you are positive that you have the best low card and a half of the pool is yours. Be careful though!
If a two shows up in turn, then your card is not nuts anymore. On the contrary, your hand is still A 2 4 7 8 but you lose with a player who has 3 5 and makes 2 3 4 5 7 hand!! A 2 3 is a far better card- it gives more chances for low nuts than A 2 ( it eliminates a problem when a two shows up in flop). However, you have to be careful!
If 2 3 8 shows up in flop, well then, firstly- you do not have a low hand yet. Secondly, even if i.e. a seven shows up in turn/river and it will give you a low hand, you lose with a player with i.e. A 4 anyway.
So, similarly to Omaha High there are no nuts before river!
Here is another interesting situation. You have A 2 3 4 5 after river, that is nuts low. There are two more players in the game apart from you. Obviously, when you have nuts you want to get as much as possible from that dealing so you keep on bidding. But other two players don't call no bid, they bid as well. You think to yourself all right then. I have nuts low, one of them has nuts high, and the third one is a pigeon who will give us his money. Perhaps that is the way the things are. But it is likely that the player, you think is a pigeon, has a hand… A 2 3 4 5 (despite appearances that situation is quite frequent)- so both of you will be even and share the low pool. The high pool winner takes 50% counters and the rest of you only 25%.
Anyway, you lose in this deal, you put 1/3 of the money in the pool! Obviously, it does not mean that you should not bid when you have nuts low. But, if you feel that someone else has the same hand, do not put too many counters into the pool because only some of them will return to you.
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