Already very popular in Europe, Pot-Limit Omaha is a game that’s catching on in other parts of the world too. Unfortunately, most new players haven’t caught on to the game themselves, and struggle with the finer points of Pot-Limit Omaha. That being said, here are a few tips that will help you get off to a good start in PL Omaha.
Starting Hands
Like any poker variation, your success in Pot-Limit Omaha will be greatly affected by what starting hands you play. And since you are dealt four cards in PL Omaha, your decisions will be very different from the cards you would play in Texas Hold’em. You will need drawing hands that have the potential to hit high straights and flushes because pairs and two-pairs rarely win in PL Omaha. Some examples of great starting hands in Pot-Limit Omaha are: A-A-K-K, A-A-J-T, A-A-Q-Q, A-A-J-J, and A-A-T-T.
As you can see from this list, high pairs are still good for starting hands…..they just need to have a couple of cards that have straight potential too. Thus A-A-J-T is a better starting hand than A-A-Q-Q.
Edges are Minimized
In Hold’em, having the best hand in pocket aces gives you a 66% edge against the second best hand in pocket kings. Contrast this to Pot-Limit Omaha where the top hand in A-A-K-K only provides a 6% advantage over the second best hand in A-A-J-T. With this being the case, you really need to be selective in how you play starting hands. Since edges are so small, you absolutely must play goods hands past the flop to ensure that you’re consistently getting value.
Raise before the Flop
With the edges being so small in Pot-Limit Omaha, many people don’t think that you can benefit from raising before the flop. However, even the smallest of edges will benefit you when exploited over the long run so raising before the flop is a must. Raising pre-flop will allow you to push other drawing hands out of the pot, and increase the amount of money you can make on excellent hands.
Those who play a lot of Omaha know that it can be a very risky game. After all, there will be plenty of times when you’re forced to put a lot of your money into the pot without knowing if you will get a made hand or not. Of course this is where the art of knowing which draws to chase and which ones to avoid comes into play. And doing this becomes a lot easier when you know what Omaha hands can fool you into chasing a bad draw.
