You
will receive FOUR cards face down in this game but it is as far
as possible from Texas Hold'em with four cards. This
game is much more difficult and tricky. You don't want to play
this if you are a beginner. Omaha is always played with only blinds
and almost never with antes. After each player receives their
four cards there is a bet session but you NEVER discard any of
your cards. Next, three cards are placed face up in the center
of the table called "The Flop". These are known as 'community'
cards. Everyone uses these cards. Now the tricky part about this
game is you can only use TWO and you MUST use two of the four
cards in your hand plus the three on the flop to make your hand.
After the flop there is another bet session. From here a fourth
card is placed face up for everyone known as the "TURN". Now your
hand consist of the best 3 out of four on the table plus 2 in
your hand. It may be the same as before or not. After the turn
there is another bet session before last and final card is placed
face up called "THE RIVER". Finally, the last bet session occurs
after the river. If you haven't folded through all the bet sessions
your final five card OMAHA hand will be the best 3 out of 5 on
the table PLUS 2 of the four in your hand. Now of course you can
change you mind as to which two you are using in your hand during
any bet session since your cards are always face down until the
very end.
Below is what you will
have to get use to if you go through every Omaha bet session.
 |
This player
entered the hand with a pair of eights and a suited ace-five of
spades. Lets examine what happened. The flop did not come all
three spades nor did it have an eight. So far this player cannot
have a three eights or a spade flush, but what does she have?
Well the ace of the flop and the one in her hand makes a pair
of aces but he HAS to use TWO cards in his hand. Since the eights
are higher than the five she must pick either eight (which eight
is of no relevance) and the Ace. So her hand up to now is a pair
of aces with an eight, a nine, and a six. Now comes the turn improving
the players hand. Here it is very important not to misread your
hand. The player does NOT have a full house (AAA88). Remember
you can only use two cards in your hand even if using more would
give you a better hand. You need to have this down PERFECT before
you play this game against others in a casino, and this game is
not hard to find in card rooms like 5 card draw ...it's VERY common.
So on the turn our player has THREE ACES with her eight and the
NINE on the flop. Why the nine? Only because it's higher than
the six on the flop. So the bets 3 out of 4 on the turn plus two
in her hand becomes ... (AAA98). Now here comes the RIVER. Try
to see what happened before you read on. Notice that this player
actually has to change her mind from even using her ace at ALL
thus forgetting about all three aces! Why? Well because a straight
is better to have than three of a kind. So now with the 7 on the
river, the 6 and the 9 on the flop and the 5 and either 8 in her
hand, this player has a 5,6,7,8,9! A straight and no need for
the ace. So as you can see before you play this game for real
you need to MASTER making your hand completely since not only
do the cards you think are your best cards change but you will
also be changing your mind as to which cards on the table you
want to use.
|
|
