|
Play poker online at Doyles Poker Room
 |
TABLE OF CONTENTS
|
POT LIMIT OMAHA HIGH
by Lyle Berman
There was only one possible choice of a writer for the pot-limit Omaha
chapter—world-renowned businessman and the greatest pot-limit Omaha
player in the world, Lyle Berman. While his game is geared for ultra high-stakes
poker, Lyle was the first player to really crunch the numbers of the game
and has calculated statistical charts that were the first of their kind.
An all-around poker player, Lyle has won three gold bracelets at the World
Series of Poker: one each in limit Omaha, no-limit Texas hold’em,
and deuce-to-seven lowball. When Super/System first came out in 1978,
Lyle bought a copy and let it gather cobwebs until 1983, when he finally
read it. That year he won $10,000—not in poker, but in a craps game—and
decided to kick back by entering a $100 buy-in poker tournament at the
Stardust.
“I didn’t win the tournament, but I found that I enjoyed playing
poker more than shooting craps,” he told me. “And from that
point on, I was hooked.”
Always a quick study, he won the pot-limit Omaha event at the Super Bowl
of Poker at Lake Tahoe the very next year. In 2002 Lyle was awarded poker’s
highest honor when he was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame.
Ironically, as great a player as he is, Lyle’s legacy to the poker
world will not be his exploits at the table, but rather the popularity
explosion poker has enjoyed thanks to the World Poker Tour on television.
Had it not been for his backing and participation in the management of
the WPT through his company, Lakes Entertainment, a generation of new
players might never have evolved. Millions watch the innovative and exciting
poker program that offers peeks at the players’ hole cards and follows
the action through expert play-by-play commentary. Along with Benny and
Jack Binion, Lyle Berman will go down as one of the founding fathers of
the new world of poker.
INTRODUCTION
People used to think of no-limit hold’em as being the biggest game
in town, but there aren’t many high-stakes no-limit hold’em
games anymore, outside of tournaments. Today, the version of Omaha played
for high only, which is the subject of this chapter, is the highest-stake
pot-limit poker game played in the world. That alone should make this
chapter the most colorful and exciting in this book!
Big Omaha games played at fixed limits are rare, but when pot-limit poker
is played, Omaha high—often referred to simply as Omaha—is
where the action is. It’s the professional’s choice. Professionals
often choose to play at tables where a variety of different poker games
are dealt. In this environment, you might see fixed-limit Omaha played
with $1,500/$3,000 blinds during the big tournaments. These can be bigger
than the $100/$200 pot-limit Omaha games, because more money will trade
hands.
Years ago I read a chart of starting hands and I assigned points to them
according to the flop. What my point-count showed is that at the end of
the day, there are no monster favorites in Omaha like there are in other
games. For example, in hold’em, if you have two aces and someone
is playing a pair against you, your aces are a 4 to 1 favorite. In Omaha,
no hand is a 4 to 1 favorite. That’s why there is so much action
to the game and why you can take a lot more flops than you can in hold’em.
In simple terms, you’re not always getting the worst of it. If two
reasonable hands are dealt, it is rare for one to be a 60-40 favorite
over the other.
THE GAMES I PLAY
The big pot-limit Omaha games I play with my friends occupy a unique
niche in poker. We play high-stakes games with blinds from $50/$100 up
to $1,000/$2,000, with or without a cap, which is a predetermined amount
of money that a player can lose in one hand. Frequently in Omaha, great
hands come up and players have to put in all their chips. So knowing whether
or not your game has a cap will affect your strategy.
For example, if you have a substantial amount of money on the table in
a game with no cap, you have to play more cautiously. You can’t
afford to take the turn with a bottom or middle set, so you don’t
want to play the low or sometimes even the middle pairs. We don’t
often play this way, because players tend to quit the game when they’re
winning and have a pile of money in front of them. And believe me, we
don’t want people quitting, because at the stakes that we play,
the pool of players isn’t very large. On the other hand, if there
is a cap, bottom or middle sets may be worth the risk to play. So having
a cap not only makes the game less volatile, it also creates a lot of
action. We don’t want someone to lose all of his money on one hand,
so we almost always play this way.
Without the Europeans, who join us during the World Series of Poker and
the big tournaments at Bellagio, pot-limit Omaha games with $50/$100 blinds
and higher are rare. But this doesn’t mean that you can’t
find profitable games at lower limits, especially at multi-game tables.
Generally, when multi-game poker is spread, we play eight hands each of
Omaha, limit seven-card stud eight-or-better, no-limit hold’em,
and seven-card stud. At our big game during a recent Bellagio tournament,
we played seven games: no-limit hold’em, limit hold’em, no-limit
deuce-to-seven lowball, limit triple draw deuce-to-seven, limit seven-card
stud, pot-limit Omaha, and limit Omaha eight-or-better.
It’s a challenge to play multi-game poker, and it does keep some
people out of the game. Almost nobody excels at every game, but there
are specialists who are great at one game and decent at another. We’re
not looking for this type of player. We want people who will play all
the games and are great at some, just okay at some, and hopefully terrible
at others.
Sometimes we structure our multi-game sessions to fit the tastes of players.
For example, Sammy Farha, who came in second at the 2003 World Series,
doesn’t play all the games, but he does like to play a few of them.
He’ll play Omaha eight-or-better, triple draw, and pot-limit Omaha,
so when he joins us, we play the games he likes because we enjoy gambling
with him.
Whether you seek to play pot-limit Omaha at these stakes or at more modest
ones, keep in mind that you need to know about caps and that you might
find yourself in situations where you’ll need to play other games
as well.
OMAHA VS. HOLD’EM
What sets pot-limit Omaha apart from hold’em is that in Omaha,
each hand is comprised of four cards, two of which you must use in combination
with three cards from the board. If you’re playing in an eight-handed
hold’em game, there are only eight hands in play. But if you are
playing an eight-handed Omaha game, everyone has six possible combinations,
so there are literally forty-eight hands in play. So here are seven things
you need to keep in mind when playing pot-limit:
1. The Nuts
The best possible hand is often out. That is, somebody has the nuts much
more often than novices expect, especially if they are used to playing
no-limit hold’em. When a player raises in pot-limit Omaha, especially
on the end, he very often has the very best hand possible. For example,
if there’s a possible flush on the board and someone reraises at
the end, he usually has the nut flush. The same goes for straights.
2. Bluffing
There is far less bluffing in pot-limit Omaha than there is in no-limit
hold’em. Of course, players do bluff in pot-limit Omaha, but with
so many hands possible, it’s more difficult. You must be more cautious
when you bluff because it is likely that someone will have the best hand
or the best draw.
3. Starting Hands
With so many possible combinations, you can usually play more starting
hands in pot-limit Omaha, if the structure is right. And if you hit certain
hands, the payoff can be very good. You can play a little looser before
the flop if you truly understand the game, interpret the flop correctly,
and know which hands to play carefully, which to bluff with, and which
to fold.
4. Drawing Hands
You can play a lot more drawing hands in pot-limit Omaha, but you should
make sure you’re drawing to the nuts most of the time. Some classic
problems arise when you’re drawing to less than the nut flush or
the bottom end of a straight. For example, suppose there is a 10-5-4 on
board and you have the 6-3 in your hand. This is not a very good drawing
hand because you are drawing to the bottom or ignorant end. You will have
the best hand if you hit the deuce, but if a 7 hits, you face the risk
that someone has the 8-7-6-5 and has made the higher straight. Of course,
you would always like to have the wrap straight draw with the nut-flush
draw. Let’s say that the flop comes with the 10? 5? 4?. You have
the A? 8? 7? 6? in your hand. You have six hands to draw to, all of which
are pretty much in play.
As a general rule, if you are going to draw to a straight or a flush,
make sure it’s the best possible straight or flush—otherwise,
it gets too expensive. If you have two opponents and each of them has
six possible hands, you might think of it as having twelve hands out against
you, not just two.
5. Volatility
Pot-limit Omaha is more volatile than hold’em. You’re going
to play bigger pots more often, and you’ll seldom be a huge favorite
in a hand. Many times, hands come up that both you and your opponent would
still put all your money in the pot with—even if the cards were
played face up. Typically, this happens when one player has the top set
and his opponent has a big wrap or a wrap with a flush draw. In this scenario,
if one player bets and the other raises, both players are going to play
the hand, no matter which side of the raise they’re on. It’s
basically a coin flip when you’re in this type of situation, because
the odds on the two hands are just about even money. You become the victim
of the cards since neither hand is a big favorite over the other. It is
harder to lay down coin-flip hands in pot-limit Omaha than it is in hold’em.
You just aren’t going to fold top set or lay down a flush and straight
draw.
6. Backdoor Hands
Backdoor hands are made more often in pot-limit Omaha than in hold’em.
And although you’re primarily playing your main hand, you might
also have a backdoor draw, because you have six hands rather than two.
Suppose you flop two pair or a set with one of your flush cards also on
the board. You and your opponent, who flopped top set, get all your money
in on the flop. Then it comes runner-runner in your suit to make your
flush and win the pot.
In other words, you have escape valves in pot-limit Omaha that you don’t
have in hold’em. In hold’em you have only two cards to start
with, and sometimes there is no escape possibility—you’re
trying to hit two specific cards and that’s it. The odds of two
of your suit coming on the turn and river are about 23 to 1. But in Omaha,
the odds are more in your favor. Let’s say that I have A? 10? 2?
2? and the flop comes J? 7? 2?. My opponent makes trip jacks and I make
trip deuces. We get all our money into the pot. I still have about a 10
percent chance to make a flush if it comes club-club or diamond-diamond
on the turn and river. Therefore my backdoor possibilities, my escape
valves, are pretty important.
7. Implied Odds
Understanding implied odds is very important in both pot-limit Omaha and
hold’em. In part, your implied odds in a hand take into account
what you are going to be paid off with.
But you often cannot count on that payoff in Omaha. For example, if you’re
drawing to the nut flush and you hit it on the river, there is a strong
chance that nobody is going to call you. Therefore, although you must
be aware of your implied odds in Omaha, you must also realize that there’s
a good chance that you may not get called on the river if you make the
nuts.
General Guidelines for Raising
Before we get into the advanced concepts, I want to give you some advice
on raising. In the early stages of a hand—before and on the flop—you
typically raise the size of the pot. Later on in the hand, you may choose
not to bet the size of the pot. Clearly, when you have the best hand,
you want to get your opponent to put in the maximum money to draw to his
hand or get him to fold so that you can take the pot. Betting the maximum
amount of money serves both these purposes quite well.
For example, suppose you have a set. The last thing you want to do is
to make it profitable for an opponent with a flush or straight draw to
call with one card to come, because he will be able to fire on the river
if the board changes. And since you don’t know for sure whether
he is on a straight or flush draw, you will be at a disadvantage. In other
words, you don’t want to give him the proper odds to call your bet.
ADVANCED CONCEPTS
When we talk about advanced concepts for high-stakes games, it should
be clear that some of these work in medium and low-stakes games as well.
No matter how high or low the stakes, you’ll profit from the pointers
in this section.
The Best Hands To Play
When you have good hands, you’re going to play most of them. I play
the hands described in this section, and so does everybody else. Players
like to debate whether A-A-K-K double-suited is a better hand than A-A-J-10
double-suited. I much prefer A-A-J-10, and I think that most other players
do too. But it really doesn’t matter which hand is better because
you should play both of them. Of course, there’s a big difference
between hands that you can bet on after the flop, and those that you can’t
bet on because you went all-in before the flop.
I also like a hand with three connected cards and a suited ace, such as
A? 8? 7? 6? or A™ J? 10? 9?. Three connected cards with one gap
and a suited ace is also fine. With a hand like this, you’re either
going to be in the hunt, or you’re going to throw the hand away.
You can flop a very good hand, like a flush or a straight, or good draws
to them. And many times you’ll pick up a monster draw, such as a
flush draw combined with a straight draw.
I like these hands because they’re not trouble hands. If they’re
very good on the flop, play them. If not, throw them away.
A double-pair hand, such as J-J-10-10, is also good. When you’re
dealt a double pair, you will flop a set about one time in four. If you
flop a set, you’ll probably be in a very profitable situation. If
you don’t flop a set, you’ll probably just fold.
You want hands in which all four of your cards are working together. If
you have Q-Q-J-10 your hand is obviously superior to Q-Q-8-6. Suited cards
look much better before the flop than after. If you don’t have the
nut flush draw, you really don’t want to play them.
But suited cards do have backdoor possibilities. Sometimes, if you turn
a set, you still have a chance to make a backdoor flush. Suited cards
also are very good from a defensive standpoint. For example, say you have
two hearts in your hand and you flop a set with two hearts on board. Your
hand makes it more difficult for an opponent to hit his hearts if he is
playing the ace-high flush draw. If you have a good hand independent of
the flush draw, your flush draw can play defense, as opposed to offense.
For example, suppose you have the Q? Q? J? 10?, and the flop comes with
the Q? 7? 4?. You have top set and a flush draw. With nine hearts to draw
to, an opponent who has the nut flush draw is 1.81 to 1 to make the flush.
However, since you have two of them, he has only seven hearts to draw
to, making him a much bigger underdog to make it. You really don’t
want a heart to hit, so I call cards like these defensive hearts instead
of offensive hearts. You already have the best hand, and you have cards
he needs.
Dangerous Hands To Play on the Flop
If you’re relying on making a flush that is lower than the ace-high
flush, you’re drawing to an inferior hand. Low suited cards may
look good before the flop, but as soon as the flop comes, they diminish
in value.
It is very dangerous to play top and bottom pair, bottom two pair, and
less than the nut straight or flush draw. With small pairs, you can flop
a set. But this can be dangerous because when you get beat with a set,
you get beat expensively. That’s why you don’t play hands
such as K-6-6-2, whether its unsuited, suited, or double-suited. You stay
away from those types of hands.
Bad Hands To Play Before the Flop
A hand like Q-Q-7-2 is not good because you’re really only playing
one hand. You just don’t have enough going for you. You might play
this type of hand in position or in special situations, but in general,
you have to play the odds. And the odds are that you need more than one
possible combination. You need a tight hand, one that fits in a box without
a dangler hanging over the edge. For example, when you hold 10-9-8-7,
you have every combination working. But when you have 10-9-8-2, you have
three combinations—10-2, 9-2, and 8-2—that don’t have
much going for them. I’m not saying that you would never play a
hand like Q-J-10-2—the hand has some substance to it—but you
wouldn’t want to play 9-8-7-2, because it doesn’t have enough
going for it.
Position
Position is incredibly important in pot-limit Omaha, maybe more so than
in any other poker game. Whether you play certain types of hands or muck
them always depends on your position. You’ll make more on your good
hands and lose less on your other hands when you play them from the correct
position.
Bluffing
There are some good bluffing opportunities in this game, though perhaps
fewer than in other forms of poker. You’ll pick up most of your
bluffing opportunities after people have checked to you, indicating that
they may have nothing. Every check represents either a lie or the truth
and your challenge is to figure out which is which.
Most of the bluffing in Omaha happens on uncoordinated flops, and they
usually are made by a player sitting in late position. Uncoordinated bluffs
are often hard to defend. There isn’t as much bluffing on the turn
and river because so many different combinations are possible.
What You’re Looking for on the Flop
In addition to completed hands, you’re looking for nut flush draws,
nut straight draws, sets, and top two pair, although the top two pair
is often dangerous.
When it comes to straight draws, you’ll probably want to play Q-J-10-9,
because you’re going to turn the top end, when you turn it. On the
other hand, if you play small cards such as 6-5-4-3, you can very easily
turn the bottom end of something. This isn’t so good, because it’s
so much easier for someone to make the top straight in Omaha than it is
in hold’em. For example, if you’re holding 6-5-4-3 and 9-8-7
or 8-7-6 on the flop makes your straight, an opponent might be holding
8-9-10-J, giving him the higher straight. This is not to say that you
never play a low sequential hand. If you’re in the correct position,
the pot has not been raised, and there isn’t much action in front
of you, you’ll probably play that 6-5-4-3.
It isn’t as important for your low cards to be suited as it is for
your high cards, but suits are still good. Remember, you want suited cards
for two reasons: (1) they have backdoor flush possibilities; and (2) they
have defensive possibilities as blockers that make it harder for your
opponent to make a flush.
Playing Big Pairs with No Connecting Cards
Even with the big pairs, like pocket aces or kings, you should care about
your connecting cards, because you want something working with them. A
player might easily throw away a hand such as K-K-7-2 before the flop,
since there’s no possibility of making the connecting cards work
for him. I often play that hand, but tighter players will fold it without
thinking twice. However, even I would not play K-K-7-2 for a big raise.
There are times when you might like to play a smaller hand such as 6-5-4-3
if the pot is raised in front of you. With small connecting cards, you
can turn a straight or two pair. And two small pair becomes a monster
when your opponent indicates that he has two aces or two kings and didn’t
hit the flop.
Don’t Raise from Up Front
Never raise before the flop from a front position. This is a cardinal
rule of Omaha. When you have to act first on subsequent streets, you’re
at a tremendous disadvantage. The better your hand, the bigger the disadvantage,
because you’ll want to protect it. Suppose you raise from up front
with a very good hand that contains a pair of aces or kings. You don’t
hit the flop, but it looks innocent. Be careful here—there still
are many possible draws to even the most innocent of flops. You’re
first to act and you want to win the pot, so you make a bet at it. Then
somebody comes over the top with a raise. You’ve put enough money
in the pot that you almost have to call. See the problem?
Pot-limit Omaha is a game that you don’t like to play from up front.
You’re going to take flops with good hands, but you don’t
want to raise with them from a front position. One problem with raising
is that you’re advertising that you have a good hand. Typically,
players don’t want to raise with a low hand, so your opponents will
have the tendency to put you on a high hand. Of course, you can be somewhat
deceptive and raise with a drawing hand, but you must be prepared to call
a reraise behind you. Also, when you raise from up front in pot-limit
games, you’re giving the other guy twice the ammunition to fire
back at you. This can be particularly dangerous if you don’t have
a really top hand.
So here is a general rule: do not raise before the flop from under the
gun or from the two blind positions, because you’ll be over-committing
yourself to your hand. It’s much better to be committed from the
backside, because players tend to check to the raiser on the flop. More
often than not, when you have a big hand up front, you should limp. Most
of the raising in pot-limit Omaha is done from the late seats. If you
raised from behind and the flop is scary, you can take off a free card
if you feel like it, whereas if you raised from the front, you have to
declare what you’re going to do before anyone else acts. The bottom
line is that you’re simply putting too much money at risk when you
raise from up front.
Here’s a situation where you might think about making an exception
and raise from up front. Say you’re playing $50/$100 blinds and
each player has $100,000 in front of him. If you raise $200 from up front,
an opponent can call $200 and raise $500. That isn’t too terrible.
You have $700 in the pot and you still have $100,000. Or if you’re
playing $50,000 cap, you still have $49,300 to go.
We have one player in our game—I’ll call him Joe—who
plays a different brand of Omaha than anyone else. Joe literally raises
eight of nine hands. It’s unbelievable. But we have a small structure
in the game that Joe plays. It’s $50/$100 or $100/$200, and he’s
raising $500. Even if somebody comes back at him, they’re only going
to raise him $2,000, and since he still has a long way to go to reach
the $50,000 cap, he doesn’t mind the action.
The point is this: before you raise, remember that you could get closed
out of a hand if somebody with aces came back at you, although aces generally
are never more than about a 3 to 2 favorite over any other hand.
Reading the Board on the Flop
Reading the flop is critical in Omaha. You have to know what is the best
possible hand and what is the best possible draw. This is an elementary
concept for experienced players, but it’s quite easy to miss a straight
possibility on the board or to think that you have the best straight draw
when a higher one is possible. It’s also important that you be able
to identify the cards that your opponent needs in order to call the flop.
Ask yourself, “What are the possibilities out there, and what might
my opponent have?”
Suppose the flop comes Q? 10? 7?, and you have two black queens in your
hand. If you bet and someone only calls, you can pretty much infer that
your opponent has a straight or flush draw. If he had both, he would probably
raise. And if he had an underset, he would probably reraise. So, if you
have a set or top two pair and somebody calls your bet, there is a high
probability that he is on a draw. Your job is to guess what hand might
have made him call your bet.
Now let’s take a look at another situation in which reading the
flop is critical. Suppose you have pocket threes, and the flop comes J-7-3
rainbow, giving you trip threes. You raise and someone reraises. Most
people would not reraise you with an inside straight draw such as 10-9-8-x
or 6-5-4-x. So, if there isn’t much out there and you get reraised,
you can pretty much infer that your opponent has the top set, unless he’s
bluffing. If there isn’t a big draw possibility on board, then it
is more likely that the raiser has top two pair or a set. So, this might
be a good time to fold your bottom set.
Here’s an example from a hand that actually happened in a big pot-limit
Omaha game with a $75,000 cap. The pot was raised and reraised before
the flop. Five players—David Grey, Chip Reese, Johnny Chan, Jay
Heimowitz, and I—put in $15,000 each to see the flop, a very rare
occurrence.
The flop came Q-7-5 rainbow. I had the 8-6-4-x, so I had the bottom straight
wrap. I bet $60,000 to try to pick up the pot, and David called with essentially
the same hand that I had, the low straight wrap. Chip was next and he
called with the 9-8-6-x, the high wrap, much better than mine. Johnny
had raised the pot before the flop with two aces, and with three of us
already in on the flop, he called, thinking he could still win the hand
if he caught an ace. I think he also had a backdoor flush draw.
Then it was Jay’s turn. He had pocket queens and made top set on
the flop. Now he has all these guys in the pot with him and he’s
sitting there with trip queens! The next card off was a 6, which gave
David and me the bottom end of the straight and Chip the top end. When
a blank came on the river, Chip won the hand and $375,000.
To this day, that is one of the biggest pots we’ve played in our
game. And it’s a good example of why you don’t want to put
your money in with the bottom end of the straight. This reminds me of
the old saying about a guy who owned four farms: He lost three of them
drawing to inside straights and lost the fourth one when he made it.
Another interesting hand came up a few years ago in a tournament. I’ve
got two aces in my hand, and the flop comes A-10-10. A fellow leads at
the pot, and I call. At this point, I don’t know what he has. He
could have a hand or he could be bluffing.
A blank comes on the turn, he leads at it again, and again I call. Now
I know he’s not bluffing—he has a hand. And there are only
two hands he could have: quad tens or tens full of aces.
Another nothing card comes off on the river and he leads at it a third
time. Now I know for a fact that he either has 10-10 or A-10. Since there
is only one way that he could have 10-10 and two ways that he could have
A-10, it’s 2 to 1 he’s got A-10. I just call with my case
chips, because I’m thinking that if he had 10-10, he would not have
led at the pot. Usually it’s an automatic check when you flop four
of a kind, because you want to let somebody catch up. But not this time.
He had 10-10. And I had a very nice view from the rail.
Picking Up the Pot on the Flop
Most of the bluffs in pot-limit Omaha come on the flop rather than on
the turn or river. It’s usually easier to pick up the pot on the
flop from behind—that is, from late position—although you
can also pick it up when you’re in the lead or early position. In
fact, it is even easier to bluff on the flop from late position in Omaha
than it is in other games because with four cards in your hand, you’re
more likely to flop something. When there are few possibilities on the
board—that is, no flush draws and no wrap straight draws—it
is easier to bluff than if the board were coordinated in some way. Flops
like J-7-3 and Q-5-2 make it easy to pick up the pot.
But sometimes the opposite is true. When there’s a very scary board,
you can sometimes pick up the pot because nobody wants to commit. Let’s
say that the board comes with three diamonds, and everybody checks to
you. You might take a stab at it, representing a made flush. If nobody
else has anything, they’ll often just give it up.
It’s possible to pick up the pot with a bluff on the turn and river,
but that’s much harder to do than picking it up on the flop. If
a player calls on the flop with a drawing hand, he will usually call on
the turn as long as the board doesn’t change dramatically—that
is, as long as it doesn’t pair or show a third suited card. Suppose
the flop comes K-10-7. You bet, someone calls, and a deuce comes off on
the turn. If you bet again, you can be pretty sure that you will be called
again.
Draw Only To the Nuts
This concept is incredibly important in Omaha: When you’re drawing
to a straight or a flush, draw to the nuts or don’t draw. Although
this isn’t true 100 percent of the time, it is at least a 98-percenter.
Even if you’re drawing to the nut flush, you’re only going
to make it approximately one out of three times anyway, so why draw to
the non-nuts? It’s simply a bad play.
Of course, there are times when you might draw to a non-nuts flush, but
only when you have other possibilities working for you, for example, when
you have other cards in your hand that might help you win the pot even
if you don’t make the flush. Suppose you have the K? J? 10? 8?,
and the flop comes 10? 7? 2?. You have the second-nut flush draw, a gutshot
straight draw, plus the possibility of making trips or two pair. You aren’t
100 percent sure where you’re at in the hand, but the hand has enough
value to warrant taking a card off.
If you hit your draw, you don’t want someone else to hit it bigger.
Suppose the flop comes 10-6-5 to your 7-4-x-x. If an 8 comes, you will
make your straight, but someone with 9-9-8-7 will make a higher one. Nor
should you draw in the hopes of making two pair if most of the cards that
will make a second pair for you could make a straight for someone else.
If there is a flush draw possibility on the board, putting too much money
in the pot is dangerous when you are drawing to a straight, because the
possible flush takes away 25 percent of your cards. Three bad things could
happen: (1) you miss your straight; (2) you make the straight with a card
that gives your opponent the flush; or (3) you make a straight on the
turn with one card to come and your opponent makes the flush on the river.
Of course, there are always minor exceptions, times when you might think
about drawing to the non-nuts. For example, suppose a guy raises before
the flop, and you know that he only raises with big pairs. You flop the
bottom wrap straight draw. You have clear insight into the type of hand
that your opponent has, so you have good reason to think that a small
straight draw might be good. Since you’re pretty sure that he doesn’t
have the top wrap, you might draw to the lower straight. But if you don’t
have a clear read in heads-up action like this, you draw to the nut flush
or the best straight—or you don’t play the hand.
Playing the Nut Straight from Late Position
Here’s a hand that I played some time ago that illustrates an important
concept. I was sitting on the button with 9-6-x-x, and the flop came 8-7-5.
A player led into me and I just called, for two reasons:
(1) His bet implied that he had a made straight.
(2) If the board paired on the next card, I could probably take the pot
away from him by betting, thus representing a full house.
Equally important, if he had the second-nut straight, as I suspected,
raising on the flop would have told him that I had the best hand, and
he might have folded. But, if I just called on the flop, he checked the
turn, then I bet, he’d have no idea what I was holding. Do I have
the nut straight? The second-best straight for a tie with him? Do I have
two pair or a set that I’m betting because I don’t think he
has the straight? As it turned out, he checked on the turn, I bet the
pot, and he called with all the money he had on the table. As I suspected,
he had the 6-4, and I won the pot. Judging from the way he played, I knew
that this particular player would have folded if I had raised him on the
flop.
When you play with strong players, they will often bet at the pot with
less than the nuts. If you have the best hand and raise behind them, it’s
very easy for them to throw their hands away. In other words, top players
are not reluctant to fold a hand if they think they are beaten. Here’s
an example: I was playing in a game with David “Devilfish”
Ulliot. I bet, he called, and off came a card that made the second-best
straight for me. I checked, and he also checked behind me. Had he bet,
I think I would’ve thrown my hand away. Nothing came on the river
to change things, and again I checked. This time, he bet. I had a very
hard time putting him on the nut straight since he’d let a free
card come off with one to come. After all, I could have had a set or two
pair, in which case he was giving me an absolutely free draw to a full
house. So, I paid him off. Turns out, he had the nut straight. I lost.
You can make a similar play with the nut flush. Let’s say that the
flop comes with three hearts, giving you the ace-high flush. An opponent
checks, you bet, and he calls. On the turn, nothing significant comes
off. Now’s your chance to make a sophisticated play: If he checks,
check right behind him. That way, he’ll think that his king or queen
flush is good. On the river he might bet right into you, or if he checks
again and you bet, it might appear to him that you don’t have the
nuts and he might call. This strategy gives you a way to get paid off
on the hand.
When playing against very good players, it is occasionally wise to check
on the turn with the absolutely best hand. In essence, you delay betting
in order to make more money at the end.
Playing Cautiously with the Nuts
When I first started playing back in the ‘80s, I lost my first big
pot in a game where I flopped the best possible hand. It was against Bobby
Baldwin, and we both had the nut straight, but he also had a heart draw.
When a heart came on the river, he won a very large pot. This taught me
the lesson that in Omaha having the best hand at the moment doesn’t
always make you the favorite.
Omaha is one of those rare games in which you sometimes need to exercise
caution when you’re holding the absolute best hand on the flop.
One of the most perilous situations you can get into is when you flop
the nut straight with a flush draw on the board, and somebody raises you.
Let’s say that the board comes 8? 7? 6?, you have a 10-9-x-x in
your hand, and your opponent raises you. Two bad things can happen:
(1) At the very least, your opponent has also flopped the nut straight
with perhaps an overcard that could make a higher straight. If he has
the J-10-9, and a 9 or 10 falls, you will lose the hand to a superior
straight.
(2) You might be up against the same straight—in which case you
might win very little by splitting the pot—not to mention a flush
draw, two pair, or a set, and you’ll lose a great deal of money
if your opponent hits.
The point is that experienced players in big-limit poker would be very
cautious about reraising with only a naked nut straight. They need more
than that in order to raise. So when you bet and a good player raises,
there’s a good chance that he has you tied and also has outs to
a better hand.
Here’s an example from a $50,000 cap game I played a while ago with
Joe and another player that I will call Bill. Bill had been killing the
game, winning a lot of pots. Two deals before this particular hand was
played, Bill had showed his cards on the river. He had a hand that was
the second-best possible, a hand that almost anybody would have bet in
this scenario. But Bill elected to just show it down, thus telegraphing
to everyone how cautiously he was playing.
Now, two hands later, the flop comes Q-J-10 with two clubs. Bill checks,
Joe bets, and Bill raises. If I had been Joe, I would have thrown my hand
away at that point and lost about $4,000, because there was no question
that Bill had the nut straight with a flush draw. But not Joe—he
raised the $50,000 cap. Off came a club on the turn, and Joe lost his
$50,000. This is another example of how a previous hand can affect your
play as the game goes forward, and again why you should be very observant
of your opponent’s play at all times.
One interesting point to make about the play of this hand is that it shows
how a very good player can make money against a mediocre player. I would
have lost $4,000 playing this hand, but Joe lost $50,000 and thought he
had been very unlucky. He wasn’t unlucky at all—he simply
played the hand horribly. If the flop comes Q-J-10 with two flush cards,
giving you the nut straight and you get raised after you’ve bet,
it is almost an automatic fold. Why? Because very few players in our high-stakes
game would put in a lot of money with a naked A-K on that flop. Perhaps
at lower limits, less advanced players would play differently.
I once had the same type of hand in a tournament, except that the flop
came 9-8-7. I bet with the nut straight, and there was a raise and a reraise
behind me. “This straight can’t be any good,” I said
to myself as I threw it away. As it turned out, however, one guy had a
flush draw and the other one had a set. Neither one of them got there,
so I would have won a humongous pot. But the point is that in Omaha there
are situations when throwing away the nuts is obviously the proper thing
to do—usually when you have the nut straight and it’s pretty
clear that an opponent has the same hand, plus a draw to a flush or a
bigger straight. This doesn’t happen when you have the nut flush
because nobody can make a better flush.
The question of risk versus reward is very relevant in this type of situation.
In the hand that Bill and Joe played, Joe had very little money invested
in the hand, only about $4,000, and he had to either make it $50,000 or
fold. Now that’s a big difference—put in $46,000 more or fold!
The risk-reward ratio just wasn’t there. The question is, “Is
it worth the risk of going broke to the hand?”
Most of the time when you bet, you make a small commitment to the pot,
but you may have to put in ten times that amount to see the hand through.
Obviously, you don’t just routinely throw away the best hand, but
many times you might want to check the nut straight on the flop when a
flush draw is possible and wait to bet it on the turn if the board doesn’t
change. This strategy is more typical of an un-raised pot, because there
isn’t a lot of money in it yet. If there’s been a substantial
raise before the flop, you have a little more incentive to play the hand
because there’s more money in the pot.
Everything in poker is risk versus reward. Suppose you’re playing
in our game with $500/$1,000 blinds and a $75,000 cap. Three people have
limped in, so there’s three or four thousand in the pot. The flop
comes Q-J-10 with two clubs. You have the A-K with nothing else. Everyone
checks to you, and you bet $4,000. Then somebody comes over the top and
raises $12,000. You know that on the very next card, he’s going
to bet $36,000. And then the board might change on the river, and you
won’t know where your opponent is at in the hand. Do you want to
risk $71,000 more in order to split—at best—an $8,000 pot?
The answer is no.
Chess is the ultimate think-ahead game. Top chess players think seven
or more moves ahead. In poker you must similarly think two or three moves
ahead. Sometimes you’re even thinking two or three hands ahead,
laying the foundation for a play you’re going to make in a future
hand. Knowing this, think back about the hand I described between Bill
and Joe, when Joe lost $50,000 to Bill when he only needed to lose a few
thousand on the flop and ask yourself if you would have folded Joe’s
hand.
Implied Odds
The concept of implied odds is important in all types of poker. Implied
odds is a ratio that weighs the amount of money risked by betting against
the amount of money that can be won if you hit your hand and get your
opponent to pay you off. For example, if you bet $10,000, hit your overfull,
and figure to win $90,000, your implied odds would be 9-1 (betting $10,000
to win $90,000).
So when deciding whether to call, bet, raise or fold, you make a risk-reward
calculation based on your odds of winning, how much you will get paid
back, and how big the pot is relative to that sum. That is, you look at
the implied odds of the situation. In limit poker, it’s a lot easier
to calculate your implied odds because of the structure of the game. For
example, suppose you’re playing $1,000/$2,000 limit and you have
a flush draw on the turn. You know that it’s about 4 to 1 against
making the flush. The pot is already $12,000, and your opponent bets $2,000.
You’re getting 7 to 1 odds to make a flush, so it’s a slam-dunk
to call the bet. Your $2,000 bet could turn into $14,000 or even $16,000
and up if the pot is raised on the river.
Pot-limit is much different, because many times you’ll put your
money in, even though the current pot odds aren’t in your favor;
but you do so hoping that the odds will improve later in the hand. For
example, let’s say that with one card to come, you have the nut
flush draw. Again, the odds are 4 to 1 against your making it. If there’s
$5,000 in the pot and somebody bets $5,000, you’re only getting
2 to 1 pot odds if you call. You can’t possibly call unless you
believe that you’ll get called for a $15,000 bet if you make the
flush on the river. If you think all this will happen, you’ll be
getting 5 to 1 implied odds (betting $5,000 to win $25,000) on your money
in a 4 to 1 set up, so that’s a good reward. For this play to work,
though, you have to know your opponents and really believe they’ll
call.
Generally speaking, if someone bets and you call, your opponents will
put you on a draw. Then if the board changes and you make that draw, it’s
harder to get paid off because they’ll suspect that you’ve
got it. It’s what we call the reverse-play odds, meaning you can’t
necessarily expect to get paid off. You have to know your opponent and
his frame of mind at the time. Is he winning or losing? Is he frustrated?
All of these variables go into the formula of how you play implied odds.
And that’s why they can be deceptive. In fact, implied odds can
be deceptive in two ways. (1) They can fool you into thinking that you
are going to get paid off, and that you therefore should call; and (2)
they can fool you into thinking there’s no way you’ll get
paid off, so you shouldn’t call. You’re simply making an educated
guess.
How important are implied odds in tournament play? They’re important,
of course, but they aren’t always as important as they are in cash
games. In tournament play, even if the implied odds are good enough to
bet, you might bomb out of the tournament if you lose the hand. Therefore,
even if the implied odds are in your favor, you might not want to risk
taking a draw when someone makes a large bet that would require risking
the last of your money. On the other hand, you have to win some money
to stay in the tournament, so it’s a dilemma.
Playing with a Pair Showing on the Board
When the Board Pairs on the Flop
It’s Omaha 101: When a pair comes on the flop, everybody plays very
cautiously. I think it is almost a cardinal rule that when a pair appears
on the flop in Omaha, you’re not going to try to make a flush or
a straight.
In hold’em, when there is a pair showing on the board, chances are
slim that one of your opponents has a full house, so drawing to a flush
or straight isn’t always bad. But when there’s a pair on the
board in Omaha, it’s all too likely that someone has flopped a full
house or has a good chance of making one with the same card that you need
to make your straight. If the flop comes 8-7-7, for example, and you have
J-10-9-x, the person who has a 7 in his hand may very well also have an
8, 9, 10, or jack, which are connecting cards.
The one exception to this rule comes into play when you feel strongly
that your opponent is playing aces or kings, and you have either the nut
flush draw or the nut wrap to a straight. Suppose your opponent raised
before the flop, and you’re almost positive that he raised with
aces, which often happens—this is another reason why you don’t
want to tell people that you have aces by raising before the flop. Then
the board comes 8-7-7, and you have J-10-9-x. Your opponent bets into
you. What do you do? If you can’t guess what he has, you’ll
probably have to throw your hand away. But if he reraised before the flop—and
most reraises come from players who have pocket aces or big cards—you
might very well play the hand.
The Overfull. When there’s a pair on board, you can also make an
overfull house or an underfull house. If the flop comes A-7-7 and you
have pocket aces, you have the overfull. Naturally, this is the best position
you can be in. Furthermore, you should bet, looking to catch someone who
has a seven in his hand or even better, an A-7, the underfull.
Or suppose the flop comes 8-7-7 to your pocket eights or
K-7-7 to your pocket kings. In either case, you want to bet or raise immediately,
trying to get as much money in the pot as you can. You’re looking
for someone who has a 7 in his hand to give you some action. You could
also check, hoping that someone with a 7 will bet, allowing you to reraise
him.
The Underfull. It’s hard to make money with an underfull. If you
have pocket deuces, for example, and the flop comes
7-7-2, you’re in jeopardy. If someone plays with you, chances are
he has a 7. You have a wonderful hand on the flop, but unless a deuce
comes off on the turn, you’re in a lot of trouble. If you can raise
and get a lot of money in early, you’re justified in playing the
hand. But if you raise and there’s still a whole lot of money left
to play, you’ll have trouble even calling one big bet after another
card comes off. In Omaha, many people, including me, play small connectors
such as 4-3-2-2. While small pairs can make you a lot of money in the
right situation, they aren’t particularly good hands to play in
Omaha, and they can get you into a lot of trouble. Of course, it always
depends on what hand you put your opponent on.
When the Board Pairs on the Turn or the River
When the board pairs on the turn or the river, there’s a good chance
that someone has made a full house. You must be cautious about playing
an underfull in these scenarios. Suppose the board comes Q-8-7 and you
have a pair of sevens in your hand; someone bets and you call. Off comes
an 8 on the turn, so the board now reads Q-8-7-8. You have the underfull,
and you’re in jeopardy. When you make an underfull on the turn or
river, you have a hand that is very hard to get paid off with, especially
on the river.
If the board pairs on the river, you should rarely if ever raise with
an underfull. It’s okay to bet, but if you get raised, you’re
beaten unless your opponent is on an absolute bluff. Essentially, if you’re
99 percent sure that you have the best hand but the only hand that you
know your opponent will call with will beat you, then you should not bet.
An underfull is a hand you can bet for value, but if you get raised, be
aware that the only hand you can beat is a bluff. A good Omaha player
won’t raise with straights or flushes on the river when there’s
a pair on board. If he thinks you’re bluffing, he might call with
a straight or flush, but he won’t raise.
I’m not saying that you shouldn’t bet an underfull. If a man
bets on the turn with a straight or flush possibility on board, then he
checks to you when the board pairs on the river, you’re probably
going to bet your underfull. Just be cautious about calling a raise on
the river. I have laid down many an underfull on the river against a raise.
Playing Two Pair
In general, the only two pairs that are any good in Omaha are the top
two. Top and bottom pair, and bottom two pair are extremely vulnerable.
It is very difficult to win a lot of money with them, but it’s easy
to lose a lot. As a rule, they aren’t worth playing for two reasons:
(1) You can easily be beat by top two pair or a set, in which case you
have very few outs.
(2) Even if you have the best hand, it may not look very good as soon
as another card comes off.
In Omaha, an important question to ask yourself when you are holding
two pair or just about any hand, for that matter, is, “What card
do I need to help my hand, and how much will it help somebody else?”
For example, in a recent shorthanded game, the flop came 10-6-2. With
sixes and deuces, I was
90 percent sure that my hand was good at the time, but as soon as one
card comes off, what good would it be? Unless I caught a 6 or a 2, any
card that came off the deck would have put me in jeopardy. So, I threw
it away.
In Omaha, playing even the top two pair can be less profitable than you
think. Here’s an example from a game I played. I had tens and nines
on a flop of 10-9-2. A player I’ll refer to as “Al”
led at it, and another player called. I wasn’t willing to raise
with my top two pair because it would have put me in too much jeopardy
against this type of board. I called, but I was still very leery because
if any card from a 6 to a king came off, my hand would be vulnerable.
The turn card was a 5, which probably helped no one. I checked, and Al
bet $11,000. The third man called the bet with all the money he had left
on the table. I still thought that I had the best hand, so I raised $30,000,
thinking that Al was on some type of draw and I had the best of it. Al
folded. When we turned our hands up, the third man had the same hand I
did and we split the pot.
Top and Bottom Pair
When hold’em players come into an Omaha game, they often think that
top and bottom pair is a very good hand, as it is in Texas hold’em.
But it’s a very poor hand in Omaha, except when you believe your
opponent has aces. In Omaha games, a reraise—not the original raise—generally
means pocket aces. Generally, a player with anything less than aces won’t
reraise, because he realizes that he will be vulnerable if he runs into
aces and might wind up looking at a bet that he can’t even call.
Therefore, when you know that a player has reraised with aces (as in the
example below), top and bottom pair look fantastic.
I rarely raise with aces, but I have been known to make exceptions to
my rule. In a side game that my friends and I played during a recent World
Poker Tour event, somebody raised $8,000, and Chip Reese called. I thought
he had raised $10,000, so I tried to reraise $35,000 with my A-A double-suited.
As it turned out, I could only raise about $28,000, and Chip called my
reraise. The flop came K-J-8. Chip flopped jacks and eights and moved
in. Had I not reraised before the flop, Chip would not have called after
the flop with just jacks and eights. But he knew for a fact that I had
aces—I might as well have shown it. There was a slim chance that
I could have had A-K-K-Q double-suited or a similar hand, and with a king
on the board, he was taking a little risk. But the point is that his jacks
and eights became a very big hand exactly because he could put me on aces.
And that’s why it’s usually best not to raise with aces in
Omaha.
Top Two Pair
Top two pair is playable in many situations, but it’s still a dangerous
hand. Flopping top two pair against a board like Q-7-2 is best, because
there aren’t many hands that could be drawing to that board. With
a hand like A-K-Q-7, that flop doesn’t look so bad, since your queens
and sevens have a chance to improve. This is much better than flopping
top two pair on a board of 10? 9? 2?, because you are vulnerable to straight
and flush draws.
Or suppose the flop comes K-J-8, as it did in an earlier example. If you
have kings and jacks, you have a vulnerable hand because the next card
off could complete a straight for an opponent. A lot of people will call
a bet on the flop with a straight or flush draw, so two pair must be played
very carefully.
A two-pair hand plays better from a late position because after the cards
come off, you see what your opponent does in front of you without having
to commit yourself. So you can duck a scare card if you want. On the flop,
your opponent won’t know where you’re at in the hand, so if
he checks, you can check behind him. Or you could get most of your money
in before the turn card comes so that you don’t have to make any
guesses.
Playing Double Pairs: My 25 Percent Rule
I mentioned earlier that I like to play hands such as A? 9? 8? 7?, with
the ace suited, because they don’t get me into a lot of trouble.
I also like to play two-pair hands, and sometimes I’ll raise with
them, even if they’re smaller pairs like nines and sixes or eights
and fives. The rationale behind raising before the flop with two small
pair is that you have a lot of deception going for you. When you raise,
people put you on big pairs or big cards. If the flop comes something
like J-8-5 and you have pocket fives, they don’t put you on trip
fives because you raised before the flop, so they’re going to play
their two-pair hands.
Not only is this type of hand deceptive, it has the potential for making
a little more money if you make your set. Obviously, it’s easier
to make money with good hands in raised pots than in unraised pots. However
you can’t carry things to the extreme—deuces and threes aren’t
particularly good hands. You could flop a set and still not be happy about
it.
My 25 percent rule is simply a reminder that you will flop a set one out
of four times when you start with two pocket pair. It’s pretty much,
“No set, no bet,” unless an accidental straight combination
leaves you in contention. Your raise represented a big pair, so if the
flop comes J-6-2 unsuited, you might take a stab at the pot if you miss.
Playing Aces
I think that more money has been lost with a pair of aces in Omaha than
has been won. Unlike in hold’em, where they hold up more than 50
percent of the time, aces generally have to improve to win in Omaha. If
a straight is possible on the board, anything less than a set of aces
is a tough hand to play. If you raised before the flop and then a pair
flops—it comes 7-2-2, for example—you’re vulnerable
because you’re almost forced to bet. Anyone who has a deuce knows
that you probably have pocket aces, and he is going to come over the top
of you, so you’re already playing a big pot. However, if you didn’t
raise before the flop and it comes 7-2-2, you can make a stab at it. Then
if you get reraised, you can throw your hand away. It’s harder to
do that when you’ve committed to the pot before the flop.
There is a downside to raising before the flop. Even if your opponents
know that you’re aggressive and might have raised with any four
cards, you’re still putting yourself in jeopardy because you’re
forcing yourself to bet marginal hands on the flop that you normally wouldn’t
bet. If you raised before the flop with pocket aces, you would have to
bet on the 7-2-2 flop because there’s just too much money in the
pot to leave it laying out there.
Now suppose the flop comes 7-2-2 in an unraised pot and everyone checks
around to you. You might make a small stab at it, and if you get raised,
you would probably throw it away. Or you might want to let one more card
come off for free and see what happens. But remember that since every
player has six hands, it’s very easy to hit gutshots or make a set
with a small pair, so it’s extraordinarily dangerous to give free
cards.
To recap, unless you’re an extraordinarily aggressive player who
raises all the time, you should not usually raise with aces before the
flop. One could even make an argument that you should never raise before
the flop with aces, because even if you’re a good player and your
opponents can’t put you on aces, the fact that you put so much money
in the pot forces you to defend your aces over very risky flops.
Put simply, a reraise with aces almost screams at your opponents, “I
have aces!” And once you’ve told people that you have aces,
bottom two pair and top and bottom pair look good to them, and any set
looks like a monster on the flop. Almost as important, a hand that flops
one pair with nine cards to make two pair looks pretty good to your opponents.
For example, let’s say that I just call an opponent’s pre-flop
reraise with
10-9-8-7 and the flop comes 7-5-2. I know that he has aces, but I figure
that I have a pretty good hand. In order to beat him, I need to catch
a 10, 9, or 8 to pick up a second pair, a 6 to make a gutshot straight,
or a 7 to make trips. There are four sixes and two sevens, plus nine other
cards—fifteen outs total—that I could catch to beat him, so
I’m about even money to win. My opponent’s aces are vulnerable
in this situation. Of course, if I didn’t know that he had aces
and he bet on the 7-5-2 flop, I would be more careful.
Any time you advertise that you have aces, unless you can get three quarters
or more of your money in the pot, just call and wait to see what happens
on the flop—even if you’re normally an extremely aggressive
player.
Playing a Drawing Hand
Drawing hands are a big part of Omaha. You can turn monsters that are
favorites over sets. It’s easy to turn nut flush draws, nut flush
draws with a straight draw, or a wrap with a flush draw, all of which
are dangerous hands for your opponents to draw against. If somebody bets
into them, many players, including me, will raise with big draws such
as a flush draw with a straight draw or maybe two pair with a flush draw.
If you have a drawing hand and you’ve been given a free card, it’s
dangerous to bet on the turn, especially from late position. If you bet
it, you’re giving someone the opportunity to come over the top for
all his money. If you get most of your money in on the flop, it’s
fine; but if you make a small bet on the flop and get called, and nothing
happens on the turn, then it’s a good idea to check and wait to
see what happens on the river.
Another reason not to bet a good draw from a late position is that you
can be a little more deceptive. Let’s say that you have the nut
flush draw with one card to come. You bet from the late position with
a club draw and get called. Then a club comes on the river, giving you
the nut flush. Your opponent is going to put you on a flush because the
board looks dangerous. In other words, it will be harder for you to get
paid off. Now, suppose you check the turn and a club comes on the river.
Your opponent might check and call when you bet. The point is that you
can be a little deceptive by checking a big drawing hand rather than betting
it.
Don’t Give Free Cards
In hold’em, when you have a big hand, you want your opponent to
catch up a little, so you’ll get paid off. Therefore, if you are
far ahead in the hand, you don’t mind giving away a free card. In
Omaha you rarely want to give your opponent a chance to improve and catch
up with you. For example, if the flop is A-7-7 and I have pocket aces,
I would bet because I’m trolling for a 7. This means I make a bet
and hope someone with trip sevens calls. I’m setting a trap. If
none of my opponents has a 7, I’m not going to make any money. But
if somebody has one and takes the bait, I stand to make some pretty good
money.
When you give free cards, there’s a chance that an opponent with
a pair will catch a two-outer to beat you or that he’ll make a gutshot
straight, which happens often. Also, remember that a lot of backdoor hands
are possible in Omaha. Backdoor flushes, in particular, don’t always
have to be the nuts to win the pot. So, if you have a hand on the flop,
you should usually bet it.
Also, sometimes you have to be prepared to throw the hand away. Let’s
say that the flop comes J-8-2 and you have top and bottom pair. Everybody
checks around to you, and you bet it, mainly because you don’t want
to give a free card. You want to pick up the pot right there. If you get
raised, it’s pretty easy to throw it away. If you get called, you
have to be cautious from that point onward.
This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t bet this type of hand;
you’re still trying to pick up a pot with a little bit of something.
If you just sit there and say, “I can’t bet these marginal
hands,” you aren’t going to win in Omaha. You take stabs at
pots, but you’re also prepared to fold if you get raised. Another
factor to consider if you’re betting these hands as well as your
good hands, such as top set, is that your opponents may not be able to
put you on just two pair.
Betting When You Can’t Call
Many times you make bets in Omaha that you cannot call if you get raised.
This often happens when you make a bet in order to avoid giving a free
card. But you should still go ahead and bet because if you don’t,
you’re just too vulnerable and you’re not going to pick up
many pots. To win at Omaha, you must pick up some small pots.
Raising To Protect a Hand
Suppose you have top two pair or a set, and you want to get some money
into the pot. The flop comes 10? 9? 2?. You have the A? 10? 10? 4?. Even
though you have top set and the nut flush draw, your hand is still vulnerable
to a straight draw. Suppose an opponent has a K-Q in his hand, you let
a free card come off, and he catches a jack. Many times, he’ll have
a wrap and call your bet, and you’ll lose. It’s one thing
to lose when you’ve put money into the pot, but it’s something
else to give him a free card and lose.
Playing the Turn
If you’re going to call on the river, you might as well raise on
the turn—this is a fundamental concept in pot-limit and no-limit
poker, especially when your game has a cap. Let’s suppose a person
bets into you on the turn. Although you have a calling hand, you don’t
know if it’s the best one out there, but you’re planning to
call on the river with your last money anyway. In this case, you might
as well raise, because if you just call, you’re giving him a free
shot. For example, let’s say that there’s a possible flush
on board, you have the king-high flush, and someone bets into you. If
you’ve made up your mind that you’re going to call him on
the river, don’t wait for him to bet it again, because he might
not—go ahead and raise. He might have two pair or three of a kind,
and he’s probably going to call the raise. With this play, you’re
going to make more money if you win at the river, and if you lose, you’ll
still only lose the same amount. There are two exceptions to this rule.
If you are planning to call on the river, you should not automatically
raise the turn if:
(1) you think he’s bluffing and you have such a good hand that
you want him to bluff into you again; or
(2) you have a powerful hand that is far better than his good hand, so
you don’t want to scare him off.
By just calling in these situations, you’re inducing your opponent
to bet at the river.
Sometimes by raising on the turn you might even get people to lay down
better hands than yours. Let’s say that with a jack-high flush,
you know that you’re going to call on the river, and your opponent
bets into you on the turn. If you move in on him in this situation, he
might lay down a king-high flush.
Here’s another story that illustrates this point: In a hand that
I played with David Sklansky, the flop came K-Q-J-x. David bet on the
flop, and I called him with three kings. On the turn, after no help came,
he bet again. I had made up my mind that I was going to call him on the
river, so I raised him. Well, guess what? He didn’t have the A-10
for the nut straight; he had the 10-9—and he threw it away. By raising
I told him that I had the best hand.
Playing the River
Playing the river is a very interesting aspect of Omaha. Here are a couple
of pointers that may help you win more or lose less on the river. If you
have the nuts, it isn’t always the best idea to bet the size of
the pot, because you’re forcing people to play good poker. You’re
saying to them, “I have the best hand and I’m gonna bet all
this money, so I suggest you drop.” Well, guess what? They do just
what you expect. If the pot is $40,000 and you have the best hand, there’s
nothing wrong with betting only $15,000 or $20,000. This is called selling
the nuts. You make a moderate bet so you’ll get paid off.
This play also sets up bluffs for you. If your opponents know that you’ll
sell the river with the best hand because they’ve seen you do it,
a $15,000 bet on the river with a bluff has the same impact. In this sense,
it’s win-win. When you bluff and get called, you lose less. And
you get paid off on your good hands a lot more often. Many people just
can’t stand the idea of throwing a hand away for a small amount
of money—and that notion allows you to sell the nuts. In general,
there is no reason to always bet the size of the pot on the river when
you have the nuts, unless you’re pretty sure that your opponent
will call. A while ago I played a hand against a man I’ll call Nate.
There was a Q-J on the board, and I had an A-K-x-x in my hand. Nate made
a big bet on the flop and then he checked on the turn. On the river came
a 10, giving me the nut straight. My hand didn’t look like the nuts
to him because he knew that I would have raised him on the flop with a
wrap. I bet the pot, about $40,000. Nate thought for a long time and then
threw his hand away. In retrospect, I regretted betting that much—I
wish I had bet about $20,000 to make it look more like a bluff, in which
case he may have called.
Here’s a play that works better against average players than top
players: Let’s say that you have the second or third best hand,
like a straight that’s not the best available, and you don’t
know where your opponent is at in the hand. Or maybe you make a queen-high
flush on the river, but again, you’re not sure where he’s
at. Don’t make a full bet—toss in something small. You can
throw the hand away if he raises, because he’s probably got the
nuts, and of course, you still might get paid off if he calls. But if
you check and he bets, you won’t know where he’s at. If you
try this play against good players, be aware that it can work the other
way—they’ll know what you’re doing and will reraise
you, knowing that you’re going to throw your hand away.
Making an Educated Guess About
Your Opponents’ Cards
You can sometimes figure out exactly what your opponents’ holecards
are through inductive logic. Several years ago, Doyle, Roger Moore, and
I played an interesting hand that illustrates this point. Doyle had A-A-x-x
in his hand, Roger had a 10 with connecting cards, and I had an A-10-x-x.
The flop came A-10-10. Doyle bet, I called, and Roger called.
At this point, I had no idea what Doyle had. He may have had a good hand
or he could have been bluffing, but I knew Roger wouldn’t call without
a reasonable hand. Roger must have had either two aces or a 10 to have
made the call.
Doyle led at it again on the turn, so I knew that Doyle wasn’t bluffing—the
flop was just too dangerous to bluff into again with two people calling.
At that point, I should have thrown my hand away. Why? Because even if
Doyle didn’t have two aces, I thought Roger did. Unfortunately,
I called. When Roger threw his hand away, I knew for sure that Roger had
a 10, I absolutely knew it, because he called and then folded. At that
point, I also knew that Doyle could not have a 10, since Roger had one
and I held another, so he obviously had two aces.
On the river Doyle bet for the third time. There was just no hand in the
deck that he could have other than two aces. Even though Doyle’s
last bet was relatively small, I showed him my hand of tens full of aces
and threw it away. He made some unflattering remarks as he showed me his
two aces. This hand clearly shows how good players are able to decipher
an opponent’s hand.
Although not as cut-and-dried as this example, a similar hand came up
in a recent World Poker Tour no-limit hold’em tournament. I played
my A-10 badly, but this time I won a big pot with it. Sitting in middle
position, I raised before the flop with an A-10, Billy Grey called on
the button, and an elderly player who was short-chipped called from the
big blind. The flop came A-A-3. I bet $1,500, and Billy raised $3,500
more. I thought that maybe Billy had an A-8 or A-9 and was testing me
to find out where he was at in the hand. But then the senior moved in
with his last $7,000. At that point, I should have given credit to either
player and thrown my hand away. What could I beat? Maybe I was just being
naive in thinking that Billy had an A-8 and was probing the strength of
my hand, and that the elderly gentleman had two kings. Of course, it just
wasn’t possible that the senior had moved in with his case money
if he didn’t have at least A-K or A-Q. I called anyway.
But as badly as I played it on the flop, Billy played it even worse on
the turn when a 10 slid off the deck. I bet $10,000 with my full house,
and he moved in $15,000 more. What did he think I was betting? Did he
think that I would bet an A-K or A-Q at that point? Give me a break—this
was a dry pot! The third man was all-in, and it was obvious that he had
sent all his chips in with a good hand, so there was no point in my bluffing
at the pot. What was I going to do, try to get Billy out so that I can
lose to the third guy? Billy should have figured out pretty quickly that
he had the worst hand.
As it turned out, Billy had 3-3 and the senior gentleman had A-3. True,
I played it badly when I called on the flop, but they should have known
that I wouldn’t put $10,000 in on the turn if I didn’t have
something. If I hadn’t hit my kicker, I would have checked and Billy
would have bet. Then, realizing that Billy was betting into a dry pot,
I would have given credit to the third man for an A-K or A-Q, and I would
have folded.
In retrospect, I think that Billy may have been very tired after playing
tournament poker for so many days in a row. In order to play poker well,
you need to think well. I’ve found that when I get tired, I don’t
play cards well, I let the cards play me. If I’m just looking for
a good hand, not out there thinking about everything, it’s time
to go to bed. Over the course of a week’s play at poker, each simple
mistake can cost you tons of money. Three of those mistakes during a trip
can mean the difference between winning and losing.
FINAL NOTES
Playing Shorthanded
Shorthanded pot-limit Omaha is quite a different game than a ring game
and requires different skills. A lot of people who play very good ring
game Omaha can’t play shorthanded, and vice versa. A friend of mine
from Houston who plays super-aggressive is a much better shorthanded player
because he raises virtually every pot. In a shorthanded game, that works
because you aren’t always up against quality hands. But if you continually
raise in a ring game, you will often find yourself up against superior
hands and will be taking the worst of it.
People bluff a lot in shorthanded play because, generally speaking, no
one flops a good enough hand to call with. Additionally, the nut hand
isn’t out there nearly as often. I find that playing shorthanded
is more fun than playing in a full game: You play more hands, and it isn’t
boring because as soon as you drop, another hand starts. Just remember
that shorthanded Omaha requires a different set of skills.
What Separates Average Players
From Top Players
I think that what separates average players from good players is the amount
of money average players lose with pocket aces before the flop and with
full houses. If you overplay your aces before the flop, and if you’re
not capable of laying down a full house—especially an underfull—when
it’s pretty obvious that you’re beat, you’re going to
lose big pots playing Omaha. If you play enough Omaha, these big hands
will mean the difference between winning and losing, so you have to play
them in such a way that you won’t lose a lot of money. And when
you play an underfull, you must be careful not to over-commit to the pot,
even in shorthanded games.
Let me tell you a little story just to show you how dangerous these hands
can be. In a shorthanded game, a player I’ll call “Don”
and I each had a little bit of money in before the flop. The board came
K-K-10, and although I had a king in my hand, I just checked. Don bet
around $3,000. I thought he was bluffing, but as it turned out, he had
two tens. I called, off came a four on the turn, and I made kings full
of fours. He bet $10,000, and I raised him his last $10,000 to put him
all-in. Since we were playing shorthanded, it was more difficult for Don
to get away from his hand. He called, showed down his tens full of kings,
and lost all his money.
This example just shows you how easy it is to lose a big pot with an underfull.
Don couldn’t have won as much money with tens full as he could have
lost if I made kings full.
In this example, if I’d held something like K-Q-5-4, I still would
have seen that flop. That’s not an absolutely premium starting hand
of course, but when you’re playing three- or four-handed, you can
play almost any four cards. That is, you’ll have a little more latitude
in your starting hands as long as you play well on the flop, turn, and
river. Again, it’s risk-reward—for example, if you’re
playing $200/$400 blinds and there is $50,000 or $60,000 on the table,
you can take a lot of flops for $400 if the payoff might be $20,000 to
$30,000.
Lyle Berman’s Killer Cards Chart
In the late 1980s, I was twiddling my thumbs in my condo in Vail, forced
by the crummy weather to stay inside all day. Sitting in front of the
fireplace, I started to wonder what a killer card is worth in Omaha. For
example, suppose you have a set or two pair and your opponent is drawing
to a straight or a flush. If he makes his straight or flush on the turn,
you could still kill him on the turn or the river by making a full house
for the best hand. Or, you could make your full house on the turn, and
he would be drawing dead.
I knew that killer cards were very valuable, but I didn’t know exactly
what they were worth. All I had with me was a calculator, but I was able
to come up with a formula that generated the chart below, which has never
before appeared in print. If I were given just a basic calculator today
and forced to stay put in a room for a week, I wouldn’t bet that
I could recreate this chart. I believe it is perfect.
The chart shows how many wins you have, assuming that you’re the
dog, the person who does not have the best hand. When you have a set,
you actually have two calculations to consider—one on the turn and
one on the river. You have seven cards to kill with on the turn. In other
words, you have seven cards that will make a full house or four-of-a-kind,
and if you don’t make it, you have three more because the river
can pair that card as well. So you have seven and then ten, for seventeen
outs or killers.
The chart shows the 41-card percentages for Omaha. We are concentrating
on the 41-card percentages, and the eight killer columns to the right
apply to Omaha. The fourth column shows what each killer card is worth
in Omaha (it’s very similar in hold’em) and extrapolates from
there. Basically, the chart shows that in order to be 50-50 against a
set, you really need seventeen outs twice. This is significant for Omaha,
because most people think it’s thirteen or fourteen, as it is in
hold’em.
|
