Omaha Starting Hands

Choosing starting hands wisely is just as important in pot limit omaha as it is in any other form of poker.  You could even make the argument that it’s more important because it’s so easy to go astray.  When you start with four cards it can be easy to justify calling a raise or playing out of position thinking you will hit more often.  This is not a wise way to play your cards especially if you are a PLO novice.  As you play more and more omaha you will see how important it is to either hold the nuts or have a draw to it.  This goes out the window heads up but right now we are focusing on 5+ handed. 

Generally you’re going to want 3-4 cards that go together one way or another.  Ultimately 4 is best but we can’t fold every hand.  An example of a very powerful hand would be suited or double suited like shown.  This hand is a monster because we are often going to flop one of the following:  a big straight or straight draw, top set, and decent flush draws.  You always have to play a flush draw safely that is not the nut flush draw however on a flop of with a straight and queen high flush draw we can happily jam our chips in the middle as quickly as possible.  If we are up against the nut-flush draw we have more than enough straight outs to get all our chips in the middle especially when the  overpair might even be in the lead against their holding.  If we’re up against a set that’s good for us as well, we are a favorite and all the chips are going to get in the middle with us having the advantage.  Sometimes that board might pair on the turn and you’ll regret sticking it in but with that big of a hand on that big of a flop you have to get it all in if possible.  Another important reason to get it in is that scare cards that complete your hand will cause that set to fold on the river.

Race situations are very common so playing hands that give you the higher end of straight draws and the top set on the board will give you a long term advantage and result in you getting it in on boards where you dominate more often.  I can not even begin to tell you how many times I have seen set over set and flush over flush.  You need to play hands that will result in the best hand out there when you hit.  Hitting a set of 3’s in omaha is not a favorable hand that can easily be dominated by a bigger set.  That’s not to say you should fold but in a multi-way pot on a board you are going to have a world of problems.  The 8,9 can be out there, a set of 10’s or J’s as well as a big straight and flush draw can all leave you wondering where you went wrong when you stack off.  We are looking for top set, nut-flush, and nut-straight draws particularly in multi-way pots.

Having runs of cards such as the or have big time value in PLO.  Flopping straights, straight draws, and wraps are all very common and we have the best chance at hitting one of these hands by having 3-4 straight cards.  It’s ok to have gaps in your straight cards preferably at the end, for example:  or   While hands like are very playable we are going to see some flops that give us the bottom end of straight draws which can be dominated by bigger and better straight draws.  On flops like these we have to give up immediately:    As well if we hit a 6 high flush draw and nothing else with that hand we can’t fold quick enough.

Even though we are looking for nut-flush draws we should not play every suited ace we see.  Hands like have little value outside of that suited Ace.  You are not going to flop a nut-flush draw often enough to justify calling raises out of position with hands like that.  Keep in mind you are not always going to complete that nut-flush either. 

Playing x,x is very difficult in omaha.  People generally loose a lot of money with these hands when they miss the top set.  If you are going to play aces aggressively pre-flop it is good to have something to go with it such as a nut-flush draw or a couple of big cards like or   This will lead to you hitting the flop harder and being more willing to proceed on most flops.  If you can get close to half your stack in pre-flop by re-potting a raise and a couple callers then get the pot heads up you can stick it in on any flop.  If your beat, your beat.  You do not want to raise and get 1/8th or less of your chips in preflop and proceed to stack off against a flopped set.  When you flop the nut-flush draw with your aces against a set your atleast off to the races slightly behind about 60/40 or maybe 2/1 depending on how many off your flush outs they may or may not be holding.

Hopefully this article has given you a little bit of insight as to what starting hands should consist of and what type of flops we are looking for.