If you’re a poker player, you no doubt know that Texas Holdem is the number one choice for players in poker room tournaments and cash games. The game is so popular that even james link preferred it to his preferential game of Baccarat in the 2006 remake of the 1967 film, Royal Casino..
The lesser known game of Omaha Poker is also offered at most major poker rooms. One version is called Pot Limit Omaha There are two big differences between pot limit and There is not limitmeter:
Players are dealt four hole cards instead of two.
Players can only raise up to the size of the pot.
All other actions are the same. There are five up-close community cards dealt by the house dealer between betting rounds: three calls failure, one called the fold and one more called the river.
Before playing, the dealer places a white disc called button in front of the player immediately to your left. The button represents a theoretical dealer and has an advantage to the player because he is last to act during a hand. The button moves a player to the left after each round.
The first player to the left of the button is called the small blind. The player to the left of the small blind is the big blind. Both players must put a predetermined amount of money into the pot before the cards are dealt. The blinds also move one position to the left after each round. Its purpose is to incite action by securing a large amount of money in the pot before playing. Quantities increase after preset time periods. Four cards are dealt face down in a clockwise order to each player. The first player to the left of the big blind is under the gun and initiate the action with one of three options:
Oh manure(remove) all four cards to be out of the hand
Oh Call, betting the amount of the big blind
Oh Increase, betting double the amount of the big blind.
Players may think that having four hole cards to play can be more beneficial than two like in Texas Holdem, but the opposite is true because you can only use two of the cards along with three community cards from the board to do your best. This makes the game very interesting. Here are some reasons why:
The size of the pot grows rapidly because the four hole cards allow for more draw hands. Players often see the hands at the end of the betting rounds because the choice of two cards is not made until the final hand is played.
· Since drawing hands are more frequent, opponents also have hands that are more likely to bluff.
· Double suited hands with high cards like the jack, king of spades and ace and queen of diamonds are favorites due to the flush possibilities.
Unfavorable hands before the flop can include sets and two pairs because only two of the cards can be used in the final round.
Another version of Omaha Poker is called Hi-LO Omaha, which is played exactly the same as Pot Limit except that the pot is split between the winners with the highest ranked hand and the lowest ranked hand. A low ranking winning hand cannot contain any pair or a card greater than an eight. Also, a straight from ace to five can be used to win a high or low hand.
The next time you’re in the casino poker room, you’ll want to try Omaha.
Good luck!