Omaha Strategy Starting Hands
In Texas Holdem, AA is a premium starting hand. In Omaha AAAA is not. Omaha is about drawing hands with strong pairs. For instance, the best starting hand is AAKK double suited because it gives you a high pair straight away and has great draws to a straight or flush. Omaha Poker Strategy. By: Lou Kreiger Recommended Starting Hands. If you follow this list of suggested starting hands, you’ll seldom get into trouble, or find yourself involved in a hand where you’ll be confused about whether you ought to continue playing or fold your hand.
Next to Texas Holdem, Omaha Hi Lo is the most popular poker game played both live and online. Commonly referred to as Omaha 8 or better, this game is easily confused by new players who have yet to grasp the concept of how to read their hands. There are two significant differences between Omaha Hi/Lo and Texas Holdem. The first being that players will have four hole cards and five community cards, with the object of the game to use two of the hole cards with three of the community cards. This is a must not an option and is the biggest mistake players make. Secondly, Omaha Hi Lo awards one or two pots depending on the hands at showdown. Players will play for the best hi hand AND the best lo hand, whereas Texas Holdem only awards one pot, and that’s too the winner.
The strategy for Omaha poker starting hands with King and Queen Pairs have similar rules as ace pairs. In other words, starting hands with kings and queens are as good as having ace starting hands. The best starting hands here are those clubbed with another big pair like Kd-Ks-Qd-Qs, which is. An essential Omaha 8 strategy is to recognize when you have a weak hand early on and get out quickly. The game favors the highest value hands so if the flop offers you little, it’s time to fold. Betting on average hands is a flawed Omaha Eight or Better strategy that will quickly end your game.
The rules in both games are essentially the same, and players will follow the same hand rankings. With the hi and lo hands in play, players should understand that all lo hands must consist of any card up to 8. Anything over 8, and it qualifies for hi. We mentioned the goal was to make the best high hand or low hand, but realistically speaking, the object is to make both high and low as that’s where the money really is. You want to scoop the entire pot, not split it with someone else. To do this you need to understand your starting hands, what qualifies as a great starting hand in Omaha Hi Lo and how to win both high and low. Being able to scoop the pot can significantly increase your bankroll, and is an excellent PLO cash game strategy.
Omaha Hi Lo – Playing for the Low
The majority of novice players mistaken the low pot and will often play for low without being able to draw to the nut-low. The best possible lo hand in Omaha Hi Lo is the same as Razz and consists of 5432A, otherwise referred to as the “Wheel”. Lo Omaha hands do not take straights or flushes into consideration. If there is no qualifying lo hand, the entire pot will be awarded to the player with the best Omaha hi hand.
Careless Reads = Careless Mistakes
We all know reading your hand wrong is careless and novice players often confuse the number of cards they can use with their hands. They also have a tendency to mistaken the actual strength in their hands. Much of this has to do with understanding what qualifies as a low hand when holding an Ace and just how strong that low hand is – whether it’s the low nut or not. As an example, we know that 5432A is the best low hand possible, but what if you hold 6538A and your opponent has 72364 – who wins? Novice players would assume the A hand would win because A is the lowest ranked card when playing low. This is not the case, and a mistake that will cost you a fortune over time. To rank a hand as low the dealer will use the lowest high card and move from there. 72634 will win the pot because the first high card in that particular hand is lower than the first high card in the 6538A.
To simplify it a bit better we’ve created a few hand examples showing a high low split, a high only hand, a low only hand which will help you understand who actually wins the pot in Omaha Hi Lo and why.
Example #1
Player #1 – A Q 5 5
Player #2 – 6 4 7 K
Board – A Q 2 5 J
In this hand example Player #1 takes the high pot with trip 5’s while Player #2 takes the low pot of 6542A. Player one misses the low hand
Example #2
Player 1 – 3 5 A 6
Player 2 – 3 2 6 Q
Board – A 4 2 K 5
These hands make it a bit trickier. In this hand here we can see that BOTH players have the wheel (5432A) however Player 1 has the nut flush A K 5 4 2 . Since the two players tie for low, the dealer would than chop the low pot between both players and award the entire high pot to Player 1 since he’s the only player with the highest ranked hand. The split in the low pot is often referred to as being quartered. Simply put the player ends up receiving only 1/4 of the pot instead of 1/2. Quartering your opponents is an excellent strategy to use. If you find yourself playing for both pots and you know your opponents are playing for one side or the other, your best strategy is to continue to bet and increase the amount of the pot. Often times you’ll find novice players will make the mistake of assuming they are the only one with lo and will assist in the process by making careless raises.
On the opposite side if your gut instinct tells you your quartered, your best option is to keep the pot as small as possible. In a FL Omaha game this is fairly easy but in PL or NL you can pretty much guarantee the player who’s quartered you will be pushing the pot to full value. If your opponent bets do not raise him or reraise.
Like any game, starting hands are very important especially in Omaha Hi Lo. You need to start with a hand that will allow you to scoop both pots not split them. You also don’t want to be put into a situation similar to our second example where you end up tying for high or low only. That’s a sure fire way to lose your bankroll quickly. Opposite of playing Omaha 8, your worst starting hands are those which only play for one pot such as AKQJ or A234. Aim for two not one.
Omaha Hi Lo – Starting Hands and Position
Since we know that AKQJ is a terrible starting hand, what makes a good starting hand? You really want to aim for double suited connecting cards, specifically AA23 double suited or A234, AAxx, 2345 etc. Be careful with your low hands. Don’t play with a non low nut and if you do play your hand with caution. Players really want an A in their hand simply because it gives you a good starting point to aim for both pots. If you don’t have an A, and your high hand is mediocre at best you really need to be careful of what you’re willing to risk and how much. Some aggressive betting on the right board will is generally a pretty good indication that someone has the low hand and will milk it for all its worth. These situations are the ones you want to avoid and will help save some unnecessary betting. Position is equally important in Omaha Hi Lo as it is in other poker games. Limping with mediocre hands should only be done in late position. Likewise you really shouldn’t play for low unless there are two low cards already in play on board and your drawing to the low nut. Not only could your hand lose to a better low hand, but drawing to the low is one of the most expensive mistakes you can make.
Omaha Hi-Lo is a fascinating game packed with action! The action, at least in small-middle stakes games, is not only loose but many times also weak. By having four cards, and playing for high and low, some players frequently find a “reason” to stick with their hand. However, even if their hand has some potential, pot odds often do not justify playing it. So, many novice players play too loosely, stick with their hands when they shouldn’t, and end up making many mistakes.
Most errors originate from poor preflop hand selection. Understanding which Omaha high-low starting hands are solid and under which circumstances they are playable will significantly improve your game!
Starting hands
The best starting hands in Omaha hi-lo have both strong high and low potential. Since aces are the best cards for high and low, they are excellent starting hands! Almost all playable starting hands contain at least an ace! On the counterpart, cards between six and nine, are considered weak. So, any starting hand containing one or more of these cards usually decreases in value.
Another deal-breaker is to have trips in your starting hand! This is because you can only use two out of three, so you have an unusable card in your hands. Your chances of hitting a set also decrease. Let’s take a look at the strongest starting hands.
Top hands
The best starting hand is AA23, followed by AA24. These hands have excellent high and low potential! If one, or even better, both aces are suited, the strength of the hand increases as it also has nut flush potential.
Powerful starting hands with both high and low potential
- AA, with one or two low cards (the smaller, the better), like AA2x or AA35
- A2 or A3 with two high cards, like AKJ2 or AKQ3
- A2 or A3, with a big pair, like KK or QQ
Strong only low starting hands
- A2 or A3 with one or two more low cards (the lower, the better), like A23x
- 2345, 2346, 2356 (the flop must contain an ace, and at least another small card, or the hand may become useless)
Note that if one or no low cards come on the flop, these hands lose their value
Strong only high starting hands
- AA, with two high cards, like AAKJ
- A with three cards ten or higher, like AKJ10 or AKQJ
- Four high connected cards, like KQJ10 or QJ109
- High cards with one pair, like KKQJ, or KQQJ
- Double paired high cards, like KKQQ
Note that if three or even two low cards appear on the flop, these hands go down in value. So you should adjust your play accordingly.
Trouble starting hands to avoid
Unlike Holdem, in Omaha hi-lo, it is ok to play a little looser preflop. The idea is to try to see many flops with hands that have potential. However, you must remain selective and avoid some trouble hands, especially when playing in a full table.
Some hands may seem attractive, but will only make second or third best! Don’t play them as they have a negative expected value. For example, avoid playing A4x or A5x type of hands in a full table, as they may get you in trouble more often than not.
The same goes for the high. With everyone having four cards, it is more probable that someone will make a monster hand, so you don’t want to be drawing for second or third best! For example, if you are drawing for a queen-high flush, you will often lose to an ace or king-high flush. Even if you make a set of nines, you will often end up second best to a higher set! Let’ take a look at some other trap hands.
- 333A, AAA4 type hands have minimal high potential, and even if they make a low, it may be second-best.
- 9876, 8765, 7654 may seem keen but are really not! With these hands, it is tough to scoop the pot. If you make a nut straight, most of the time, there will be a low, and you will split the pot. If you make a straight with high cards, a better straight may beat you!
- High pairs with two one or two trash cards like KK9x or QQxx are weak hands. Do not confuse with the value of a pocket pair in Holdem. In Omaha hi-lo, with straight and flushes appearing often, a single pair is not all that great.
So, how to bet preflop?
In Omaha hi-lo, taking the lead in the hand with preflop aggression is less crucial than in Holdem. So, raise preflop mostly for value when you have powerful hands and position.
From position, when several players have limped, you can widen your range and add in see cheap flops with some speculative hands. Raise with premium hands for value. Most of the limpers will call you, and you also want to build the pot to be able to make big bets after the flop.
Out of position, limp with hands that have both high and low potential, to see a multiway flop.
Omaha Strategy Starting Hands
Multiplayer versus heads-up preflop requirements
Omaha Hi-lo Strategy Starting Hands
Some of the hands that are not good enough for a multiway pot go up in value heads-up. When playing in a multiway pot, you want your hand to have nut, or close to nut potential for the high and low. When playing heads up, you can win the low or high with medium-strength hands. For example, heads-up A4 is often good enough for the low, whereas in a multiway pot, it is a weak hand.
Also, heads-up you can win the high with a hand like two pair or a set, even when the board has some flush or straight possibilities. If the board is dry, even top pair-top kicker can win you the pot! In a multiplayer pot, when the board has flush or straight potential, you should expect that someone will have it most of the time!
In a nutshell
In Omaha hi-lo, you often see players playing too loosely. By adopting a selective starting hand strategy, you gain a significant advantage over your opponents. In multiplayer pots, play hands that have strong high and low potential, and avoid hands that can give you second or third best!
Omaha Starting Hand Chart
I hope you found this post helpful. If you have any questions or suggestions that you want to share, please leave a comment below.