Omaha 8 Or Better Strategy

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This Omaha/8 hand offers the opportunity of a nut flush, nut low and straight draws. With a pair you can also flop a set or even quads. Counterfeit protection is part of its upside as well. This is a good hand that is not quite a powerhouse. While you usually want an ace in your hand this Omaha/8 hand represents very good counterfeit protection. Omaha Hi-Lo cash games can be action-filled games as many players do not play a solid strategy. As a result, many players wind up blowing through stacks quickly and feeding the stacks of the solid players. With the above strategy, you should find yourself walking away from Omaha 8 or Better cash games a winner more often.

Limit Omaha 8 or better (LO8) is a game of hand selection and controlling the number of people you’re playing against. The absolute 100% truth of this game is that any hand worth playing generally has an ace in it. There are ZERO premium hands in this game that don’t have an ace and a wheel card. Is pretty, but requires a very specific board. The very best PLO8 and O8 starting hands are known as ‘suited babies’, that is to say small suited cards with an ace suited with at least one other card. These hands have the very best. Omaha Hi/Lo Strategy Omaha Hi/Lo (8 or better) is currently the most popular split-pot poker game in the world. It is important to understand the rules of Omaha before playing Omaha Hi/Lo. While Omaha is very similar to Texas Hold'em, many new Omaha players get confused by the 'must use two hole cards and only two hole cards' rule.

From my experience playing poker, I have to be quite honest here. Even with all the various kinds of poker resources available to players such as books, online training programs and various strategy articles, I am still amazed when I see players sit down only to play every single hand they are dealt. And whenever they are questioned about their wonderful array of starting hands, the excuses are endless; 'there were two face cards, one of them was an ace, they were connected, both were suited.'

You know, I suppose this is an arguably reasonable strategy since these players are bound to catch a hand at some point. Ok, yes, I am joking. Playing every hand has to be single handedly the reason for the downfall of so many player's bankrolls.

This major leak is only amplified when players sign up to play Omaha or Omaha 8 or better since players are being dealt four cards instead of two. The possibilities seem endless then and players seem to find any reason possible to be involved in a hand.

Well, that ends now. What I have done below is highlight the hands that players need to focus on playing and the hands that need to be thrown away in our Omaha and Omaha 8 or better starting hand guide.

Hands to Play in Omaha/Omaha 8 or Better

One of the most important things to keep in mind when playing Omaha or Hi/Lo is that this game is about the 'nuts.' Since there will be so many potential draws out there, players should always play for the nut high or when applicable, the nut low. So, first let's look as some solid Omaha Hi hands and then we'll take a look at lo starting hands.

Omaha Hi

When playing Omaha players need to keep a few things in mind. To begin with, it is important when choosing a starting hand that you are starting a hand that is giving you the most possible outs possible. Let's look at a couple examples:

• Ad-Ah-As-Ac -Bad Hand
• Ad-Kd-As-Ks -Best Hand

Ok, so many of you may be wondering, why would 4 aces be bad to have as starting cards? Well, when choosing a starting hand you want to start with a hand that is going to give you the most outs possible to the best hand. While a pair of A's is a strong hand, 4 A's in the hole doesn't do you any good because now they aren't available for outs. Does that make sense? This will also apply to having 4 flush cards in the hole as well. Those would be two less flush outs that you have to draw to.

Now, a pair of Aces and Kings in the hole is a great hand and in fact, when they are double suited they are arguably the best starting hand in Omaha. This is because you have both a pair of aces and kings to use in the case you hit trips, there are multiple outs to nut straight and flush draws and these are 4 cards that no one else will be able to use as outs. Aside from a pair of aces and kings double suited, here is a short list to get you started:

• A-A-K-K Double Suited
• A-A-J-T Double Suited
• A-A-Q-Q Double Suited
• A-A-J-J Double Suited
• A-A-10-10 Double suited
• A-A-9-9 Double Suited
• A-A-x-x (x=any card)
• J-T-9-8 Double Suited
• K-K-Q-Q
• K-K-J-J

Ok, there is a top ten list to go by when you sit down to play Omaha Hi. The most important thing to keep in mind is that you want to draw to the nuts and have the most outs to do so. A great example of this would be the fact that J-T-9-8 ranks higher than K-K-Q-Q; there are more possibilities with a hand like J-T-9-8 double suited than K-K-Q-Q such as straights and flushes.

So, always be sure you are starting with these types of hands, preferably double suited, and that should make your life much easier in Omaha Hi.

Omaha Hi/Lo

When I first got started in Omaha Hi/Lo, I thought it was exactly the same as Omaha Hi except now you can chase both the Hi's and Lo's. Sadly, I was mistaken; and here is why.

The goal in Omaha isn't to just win just the Hi half of the pot or just the Lo the half, but to 'scoop' the entire thing. This is done by having both the best hand that qualifies for both. To put this quite simply, this cannot be done with just a Hi hand because Hi cards cannot qualify for a lo. On the other hand, a Hi/Lo win is quite achievable starting with a Lo hand because you are already drawing to a low but if you hit a straight or a flush, then you can qualify for the high as well. This is very important to remember. Now, here is a short list of starting hands for the Hi/Lo games:

• A-A-2-3
• A-A-2-4
• A-A-2-5
• A-A-3-4
• A-A-3-5
• A-A-4-5
• A-2-3-4

Here is a good list to get you started. I didn't include the high hands because they are listed above and to be quite honest, those really are mediocre hands in Hi/Lo and should only be played when you have position and are in a pot with as few players as possible. Again, the lo hand can draw to both Hi/Lo pots and Hi can only draw to Hi.

Lastly, it is important to avoid medium pairs and straights such as 7-8-9-10 or something similar because you would simply be catching the higher end of a Lo draw and the lower end of a Hi draw. This is quite dangerous and more times often then not, you will find yourself being second best.

Starting Hands in Omaha

What Is Omaha 8 Or Better

When getting started in Omaha or Omaha Hi/Lo it would be in a player's best interest to use our starting hand guide above and not deviate too far from it for a while. Omaha is a 'nuts' game and the sooner you have that memorized, the better off you will be. If anything else, just remember that in terms of starting hands in Omaha or any poker game for that matter, 'less is more.'

Omaha is an exciting poker variant, and although it bears a striking similarity to Texas Hold’em, it stands in a class of its own.

Once poker players have understood the basic rules of playing Omaha Poker and played a few games for real money, they would want to know the secrets of playing a winning game of Omaha Poker.

Here are 10 tricks to winning at Omaha Poker.

Limit Omaha 8 Or Better Strategy

1. Know the Rules Omaha players will naturally be disappointed when the read the first secret to playing a winning game of Omaha Poker – know the rules. However, they must understand that it is literally impossible to understand any Omaha Poker strategy until and unless they have thoroughly understood the rules of Omaha Poker at the deepest level.
2. Mark the DifferenceMany beginners play a miserable game of Omaha Poker because they do not realize the difference between Hold’em and Omaha. Players of Omaha have to create a strong five-card hand using two hole cards and three community cards, and this is what makes Omaha Poker more challenging than Texas Hold’em.
3. Choosing Best Starting HandsA standard deck of 52 playing cards can be used to create 5,277 combinations, provided only four cards are used and suited combinations are not considered. Successful Omaha players understand these combinations very well.
4. All Four Cards Are ImportantWhile it is true that players can use only two of their hole cards to create the strongest hand, they must carefully study all the four cards in their starting hand. Thinking of the various combinations that can be created with these four cards will help players understand better their odds of winning.
5. Ace Pair Having a pair of Aces in one’s starting hands is something to be happy about. For instance, if players are dealt an Ace of Spades, an Ace of Diamonds, a King of Spades, and a King of Diamonds, they will do very well on the flop. An excellent Omaha Poker strategy would be to play a starting hand with an Ace pair.

Learn the basic Omaha Poker Rules

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Omaha 8 Or Better Tournament Strategy

1. Aces Are Not Everything Simultaneously, an ace is not everything and it definitely does not promise the jackpot. While having an Ace in the starting hand is always beneficial, a lot depends on the other cards in the hand. Even if players get an Ace pair, if they have cards such as Five of Clubs and Nine of Hearts with their Ace pair, they will not be able to win. However, if the opponent does not have an Ace in his/her starting hand, the above-mentioned hand can be played. A list of great starting hands with Ace pairs would include AAQQ, AA99, and AAJJ, to mention just a few.
2. Kings and Queens Omaha players who are dealt Kings and Queens in their starting hands can also play their hands, provided they have another strong pair. For instance, a King of Diamonds, a King of Spades, a Queen of Diamonds, and a Queen of Spades comprises a great starting hand, but a King of Diamonds, a King of Spades, a Nine of Spades, and a Nine if Diamonds is not really a good hand to play. Players can consider playing starting hands with pairs of cards, suited connectors, flushes, and connectors.
3. The Best Can Be the Worst Sometimes players might receive cards that look excellent, but have absolutely no potential of winning. For instance, beginners will jump for joy if they get four cards from the same suit or a three of a kind, but such hands are useless to Omaha players because they can use only two of their hole cards and 3 community cards to create a winning hand. Such hands are, therefore, better folded.
4. Identify Worthless Hands Omaha players must understand that they cannot play all starting hands. If they get dealt a hand that has no potential of becoming a winner, they had better fold. Players must learn the art of distinguishing worthless hands from valuable starting hands.
5. Best Omaha Starting Hand The best Omaha starting hand can, therefore, be defined as a hand comprising four great cards that can work collaboratively to create a strong poker hand for the player. Players should look for card pairs, complimentary cards, suited cards, connected cards, and even a pair of deuces.