Most players who have played Texas Hold’em for a long time assume the same rules apply to Omaha; it is not true. While these poker games are somewhat related, Omaha requires a unique mastery of skill. It is commonly referred to as Pot limit Omaha (PLO), and is a type of community card poker game that mimics Texas Hold’em where players are dealt four cards and use only two to make the best hand. To some players, like those in North America, Omaha comprises several poker variants – Omaha Hi-Lo, Omaha/8, and in Europe, there is the pot limit and no-limit Omaha.
Texas hold’em only became popular in the 2000’s due to exposure on the internet, television and famous literal works. Experts attributed the growth to the game’s ability to allow players to determine strategy and make decisions using the hole cards in hand. Before then, the game was just one of the many online poker games played in casinos. The objective of Texas Hold’em is to control the pot, depending on the hand the player is holding. While both Texas holde’em and Omaha have similar layouts of community cards and betting rounds, they have notable differences in the rules, starting hands and structure, among other features.
How to Play Omaha Poker
All the players are dealt four private cards, but there are five community cards dealt face-up on the board. The players use three community cards along with two of their hole cards to make a five-card poker hand. If you are playing the no-limit or the Pot limit Omaha, the game is based on the size of the blind. A $1/$2 Omaha game has a big blind of $2 and a small blind of $1. Betting commences from the player sitting on the left of the big blind.
How to Play Texas Holdem
The operator deals two hole cards face down to all the players. These cards are dealt randomly hence, the player does not have control over the cards he receives. Five community cards are then dealt face up in three stages; the flop, the turn and the river. Every player makes the best five-card poker hand combination along with their two hole cards. The players then make bets before the flop is dealt and the player with the best hand and has not yet folded wins the pot. Two players can also win the hand thus, splitting the award. The game also ends when all but one of the players have folded thus, abandoning any claim to the pot.
Omaha vs Holdem
The Starting Hands
The most notable difference between Hold’em and Omaha is that the latter has fewer starting hands. In Omaha, the player is dealt four cards but only starts with two. It means that if two players have equal hands, one only has a 60-40 advantage over his counterpart. In Hold’em, however, one player has an 80-20 lead over the other player. As such, players are more likely to experience more flops in Omaha than in Texas Hold’em. According to experts, inexperienced players should avoid playing too many hands until they have obtained reasonable experience in playing Omaha.
The Gameplay
As earlier highlighted, Omaha deals four cards to players, but only two are used to make hands. The more the hands, the easier it is to make bigger hands. Most players say that Omaha generates a lot of action compared to Hold’em. Usually, an inexperienced player does not want to fold and wants to keep on playing since he does not understand the strength of the hand. For example, AA is a strong hand in Omaha and Hold’em, but the other two hole cards dealt to the player determine the gameplay in Omaha. In most scenarios the AAxx is not as strong as the AA in Holdem; however, beginners overplay the hand in Omaha, thinking it increases their chances of winning.
Player’s Position
It determines how to play Omaha poker and Hold’em. A late position in Hold’em allows the player to gather as much information about the game compared to his opponents. In Omaha, the late position also allows the player to obtain reasonable control over the pot. Thus, if you make an early position, your opponents are more likely to make larger bets just to beat you. Players are warned against raising pre-flop in an early position when playing Omaha.
The Level of Risk
In Omaha, you are more likely to risk the entire stack than in Hold’em. This is because players allow the cards in the deck to determine the outcome, which makes Omaha such an action game than Hold’em.