Omaha Poker - Differences from Holdem

The first and most obvious difference between the two games is the fact that in Omaha each player is initially dealt four cards for his holding rather than two. The second is that two of these cards must be used in the players final holding.

Dealing four cards creates six couples for each player. If you have four cards, A, B, C and D, you will be required to use two of them in your final hand. There are six combinations – A&B, A&C, A&D, B&C, B&D, C&D.

The number of cards available totally changes the nature of what may be expected to prevail in terms of final hands. Excellent Holdem hands, such as high trips or aces-up, are seldom good enough to win in Omaha, where the winning hand is usually a straight, flush or full house, and where it is not uncommon for three or more players to be holding hands of this quality after the full widow has been dealt.

In addition, a traditionally lame 7,5, which is seldom retained in Holdem, is frequently retained in Omaha as part of a four-card holding and may end up making a lock straight when the widow produces a K, J, 8 of hearts, 6 of diamonds and four of clubs. It is important to remember that in Omaha, a straight or better is the expected result in a great majority of deals.

Another important consequence of the greater number of cards available to each player is that the difference between starting and finishing holdings is much less pronounced in Omaha than it is in Holdem.

Also, the factors taken into account regarding when to call are different. In Holdem it depends heavily on the quality of a given two card holding: a pair of Queens for example or an A,K, suited, is each worth at least a call in Holdem under almost any circumstances.

In Omaha, the strength of your hand depends typically on the existence of multiple possibilities or multi-way holdings. If 4,5, or 6 of the six possible couples in a four card holding would each work with a different widow, the holding is more powerful than even the best couple taken alone. Thus a pair of queens on its own is a poor holding in Omaha and an A,K, suited, accompanied by only a 7 and a 4 is only an average holding.

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