by Hillary LaClair, Senior Editor
February 28, 2009
Omaha Hold’em Poker is quickly becoming a favorite style in online poker rooms. Any online poker player worth his weight should know how to play both formats of Hold’em poker, as many reputable players are known to challenge an opponent to an Omaha tournament. Omaha Hold’em poker is not much different from Texas Hold’em, structurally speaking, and so it is not difficult to pick up on. However, there are dramatic differences between these two styles of poker when it comes to winning strategy. Knowing these differences and understanding your own weaknesses and strengths in each style of play when making a game selection are the keys to success in online poker.
The biggest difference between Omaha and Texas Hold’em is that players must use two of their hole cards combined with three from the board to make the hand. The small and big blinds, like Hold’em, are the first and second players to the left of the dealer, respectively. Cards are dealt clockwise and each player receives four cards before the first round of betting. The board players exactly like Texas Hold’em; a round of betting ensues, the three card flop is revealed followed by another round of betting, the turn, another round of betting and the river.
Because you are dealt four cards in Omaha, rather than two, and are forced to use two of those cards with the board, it is an entirely different strategy used in the game. Great Omaha players, unlike Texas Hold’em players, are not able to play as many hands just based on their skill. While 7,8 may be playable in Texas Hold’em, 7,8,2,4 is a junk hand in Omaha. Even while playing with an amateur, it can be much more difficult to bluff your way out of this hand. At an eight player table, there are already 32 cards dealt on top of the board. The chance that a much needed card will be dealt on the river is significantly lowered, as twice as many cards are out to the other players before the flop.
It is said that for every hand played in a land casino of Omaha poker, two hands of Texas Hold’em poker have already been played. Texas Hold’em moves at a much faster pace and essentially comes down to having a small advantage over your opponents, whereas Omaha moves slower than molasses in January and comes down to having a huge edge over your opponents. Texas Hold’em is about gambling – it’s about deceit and luck and cunning. Omaha is much different, in that it has little to do with gambling or luck; rather, it involves math, statistics and probability.
And while Texas Hold’em hands move faster, Omaha players make more money per hour than their equally skilled Texas Hold’em players even though. A fish loses most Texas Hold’em games, but wins more in Omaha. If a weak player takes 40/60 worst of it in Texas Hold’em, it’s more likely to be 10/90 in Omaha.
So how do you know which game suits you better? From experience, Omaha better suits those who think logically. Right-brainers with concrete thought will have an easier time with Omaha, whereas the abstract-thinking, left-brained, eccentric type will more enjoy Texas Hold’em. While many online poker players think of poker strictly as a man’s sport, with the pungent stench of cigars and beer and testosterone attached to it, I’d surmise that Texas Hold’em is more of a woman’s game, and Omaha is a man’s. After all, which gender is more known for deceit than women?
Neither game is better than the other, although one may be more suited for you. Omaha is easier money and it allows less skilled players to win once in a while. That being said, more traffic is found in online Texas Hold’em tournaments, with more opportunities to win because there is more variance to each hand.
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