Omaha Vs Holdem

The two most popular poker variants of the modern era are Texas Holdem and Omaha. But what are the differences between the two formats? Omaha vs Holdem - The Difference between Omaha and Texas. Free poker - free online poker games. 247 Free Poker has free online poker, jacks or better, tens or better, deuces wild, joker poker and many other poker games that you can play online for free or download. On the surface Pot Limit Omaha and No Limit Hold Em’ are very similar games: in fact summarising the differences in their rules takes only a few words: You get 4 hole cards instead of 2, you must use. Omaha Is Often Played “Hi-Lo” In Texas Hold’em, the showdown determines who wins the pot.

Omaha vs Texas Hold’em

Omaha and Texas Hold’em are the most popular poker games in the world. Texas Hold’em is still the most popular (by some way). But as the game has got tougher, and there is far more material on Texas Hold’em, more players have been moving over to Omaha.

Texas Hold’em Questions is 99% focused on Texas Hold’em but that’s not to say there isn’t any value in learning the other games. In fact, we have coaches in the mixed games as well as Texas Hold’em. In this article, we are going to look at the core differences between Omaha and Hold’em so you can decide whether to invest time and energy in one or the other, or both. Let’s begin Omaha vs Hold’em.

Number of Cards

First of all, the biggest difference between Omaha and Texas Hold’em is the number of cards you start with. Texas Holdem is played with just 2 whilst Omaha is played with 4. This is a massive difference as you’re now playing with 9 cards instead of the 7. It’s also worth noting that whilst Texas Holdem permits you to use as few or many as your starting hand, Omaha requires you to only use 2 of your 4 cards. This means a hand like A-A-A-7 goes down in value as it’s better to having 3 in your hand is of no use to you.
Having more cards significantly changes the mindset and strategy as relative hand strength in Omaha is reduced. In Texas Hold’em, a flush is a powerful hand. In Omaha, it’s far weaker as there is a much greater chance of someone having a higher flush or full house. The difference here can’t be understated – as many Omaha players are weak enough to pay off bets that they would in Texas Hold’em then moan after citing it as a cooler. In reality, this is just the game of Omaha and something you must adapt to.

What’s the Edge Differences Between Omaha and Texas Hold’em?

Texas Hold’em has bigger edges, on any given hand. If you get your money in on the flop with a set against a top pair hand, you’re virtually assured of the pot. If you’re all in before the flop in tournament poker with a higher pair than your opponent, you’re around 80-20. Edges like this do not exist in Omaha. You will have a much smaller edge with an at best maths advantage of around 60-40. These smaller edges mean you can expect bigger swings, more variance and need to exercise even stricter bankroll management rules. Otherwise, even if you have an edge, you could see yourself moving down stakes fast.

An important thing to understand is that Omaha is a drawing type game. Having more cards in your hand makes for more straights, flushes and “wraps” (multiple straight draws). This means even with a hand as strong as top set, you have to fade a lot of outs to win the pot.
On the plus side, the apparent small edge in Omaha masks the deficiencies of poor Omaha players games. This means there are lots of players thinking they play well when they are actually the fish in the games. It’s also worth highlighting that many Omaha players are playing it as they play Texas Hold’em. Remember to read a poker tutorial before playing Omaha.

Reads and Bluffing

In Texas Hold’em, you can sit with a player an hour and have a read on them. You know the types of hands they play, in what positions and their tendencies. This information is invaluable as it means you an exercise bluffs and adjust your value bets accordingly. In Omaha, you’re not going to be making soul reads. The game is too complex with the possible holdings that you can only play the game.
Bluffing is also much harder in Omaha. This can be a good thing as you want fishes to pay you off. The downside is that you need the best hand to win – something you don’t have control over. This is contrary to Texas Hold’em where you can often have a weaker hand, but a good 3 bet or flop continuation bet may see you win the pot. As a coach and mentor, I can’t stress the value of this skill enough. It is something that separates the weaker and better players. P.S check out our recently launched continuation bet course for more information.

Stakes and Competition

Another difference between the two games is the betting. Texas Hold’em is almost exclusively played in the no limit format. There are some fixed limit and pot limit games around, but they are far less popular. Some sites do not even offer this function. Omaha is played in the pot limit format. This is logical to me, otherwise the games would be even more insane and people would go broke all the time! The side effect of this is the inability to over bet the pot – another reason why Texas Hold’em is the Cadillac of poker.

Competition is softer on the Omaha tables though. This is because Omaha is years behind Texas Hold’em and has not yet gained enough popularity amongst the recreational players. Its also softer. There are players that transition from Texas Hold’em that have not been properly educated on how to play Omaha well. Even the bad players at Texas Hold’em are ok at it but the bad players at Omaha are truly terrible. This is somewhat negated by the edges difference mentioned earlier but with good bankroll management, there is a lot of money to be won at Omaha if you are patient and not susceptible to tilt.

Omaha vs Texas Hold’em – The Conclusion

Omaha is a great, fun game to play. There are lots of fishes playing it and there are always games available on the major sites. There is a lack of material and training on the subject available which means you can crush low stakes games, if you put in the work.
Texas Holdem is still the most popular poker format around. The attention it draws from recreational players is what makes it the most profitable game to play. The wide array of skills necessary required to get to a high standard may seem daunting. However, when you are dealing with much bigger edges, you learn to appreciate why it’s worth investing the time to become good.
I always say that it’s better to be really good at something than average at lots. If you own a niche or dominate at one thing, you will have success. If this rings true for you, then focus one game and master it. As long as you are confident spreading yourself across multiple games and have the time too, go for it.

For many no-limit hold'em players, pot-limit Omaha is a logical next game to try.

On the surface, PLO plays similarly to NLHE. It's also a 'flop' game with five community cards, the same number of betting rounds, and small and big blinds.

Unlike other fixed-limit variants, PLO is also considered a 'big bet' game like no-limit hold'em, although the size of your bet is limited by how much is in the pot (hence 'pot-limit').

However a big, obvious difference between the games is the fact that in PLO you are dealt four hole cards instead of two, and you must make a five-card poker hand using exactly two of your hole cards and three of the community cards. That difference greatly affects hand values and the importance of draws in PLO. Indeed, oftentimes having the nuts on the flop isn't enough in PLO — you also want to have redraws to better hands should the action continue onto further postflop streets.

But that's just scratching the surface of the differences between pot-limit Omaha and no-limit hold'em. Here are five important ones:

1. No huge favorites preflop in PLO

If you go all in before the flop in no-limit hold'em with and get called by a player holding , you're a huge favorite to win the hand (better than 4-to-1). In fact, with pocket aces you're a big favorite over any other hand in a preflop all-in situation. There are many other situations in NLHE where one hand dominates another, too.

Such is usually not the case in pot-limit Omaha, where even the best starting hand is often only 60-65% to win versus even mediocre four-card starting hands.

2. You have to make better hands in PLO

With four cards each player has six different two-card combinations from which to choose in PLO in order to make a five-card poker hand. That changes hand values dramatically, since all of those combos mean there are many more hands to beat than is the case in no-limit hold'em.

Making two pair or a straight often is going to be the best hand in NLHE, but in PLO such hands can be vulnerable to better ones. Especially if the board pairs or three cards of the same suit appear among the community cards, you can often count on someone having better than two pair or a straight.

3. Drawing hands can be favorites over made hands in PLO

Omaha Vs Hold'em

Perhaps one of the least obvious differences between NLHE and PLO to those who are new to pot-limit Omaha is the fact that drawing hands can sometimes be overwhelming favorites over made hands after the flop. You might even flop the current nuts and be an big underdog with two cards to come.

Say you have and the flop comes , giving you a queen-high straight. You shouldn't get too excited, though, as a player with a flush draw and draw to a better straight might actually have you crushed. Someone with would be nearly 63% to win against you if the two of you got all the chips in on that flop!

4. Pot-limit betting means more postflop poker

Another significant difference between PLO and NLHE has to do with the pot-limit betting format. Unless a player is short-stacked, no one can simply open-push all in before the flop in PLO. Rather there often has to be at least a raise and reraise first — and perhaps even more raising — before anyone can get all in.

As a result, you'll find a lot of players sticking around before the flop, willing to call a raise and see what develops. NLHE players accustomed to playing with short stacks and not having to make many postflop decisions can find PLO challenging since so many hands demand players have postflop skills. The increased complexity caused by the four-card hands also makes it harder to narrow ranges in PLO for some NLHE players.

5. Position is more important in PLO

Because of all the factors listed above, position is often more important in pot-limit Omaha than in no-limit hold'em. Having position gives you extra information when acting — namely, knowing what your opponent has chosen to do first. It's an advantage in most forms of poker, but especially so in PLO.

The pot-limit betting makes it harder for a player acting first to push opponents out of pots, while it also helps the in-position player control the size of the pot that much better. The player who has position can check behind or call bets with medium-strength hands that have the potential to draw to better ones. Thus can the in-position player often lose less and win more. Many experienced PLO players are much less willing to call raises from the blinds or get involved from early position even with strong starting hands when compared to NLHE.

A few summers back, we asked Daniel Negreanu at the World Series of Poker what advice he would give no-limit hold'em players wanting to jump into a PLO event. Hear what he had to say:

There are still more important distinctions between PLO and NLHE, including how the games tend to play (PLO can be a lot looser) and the difference in variance (greater in PLO).

For those of you who play both no-limit hold'em and pot-limit Omaha, what are the biggest differences between the games in your opinion? Let us know in a comment below.

Omaha Poker Rules

Be sure to complete your PokerNews experience by checking out an overview of our mobile and tablet apps here. Stay on top of the poker world from your phone with our mobile iOS and Android app, or fire up our iPad app on your tablet. You can also update your own chip counts from poker tournaments around the world with MyStack on both Android and iOS.

Winning Hands In Omaha Poker

• Tags

  cash game strategytournament strategypot-limit Omahastarting hand selectiondrawing handsequitypreflop strategypostflop strategyno-limit hold’emDaniel Negreanu

• Related Players

  Daniel Negreanu