Starting Hands

[Holdem Freak]

I know there are some of you out there, after a recent game we had, that are very good at Omaha. What I would like to discuss is good starting hands. If you feel your starting hands are better tell us why. I know there are those out there, including myself, who would really like to learn this game and understand it better. Texas Holdem is fine but it is getting old and knowing how to play other games correctly would be a very nice thing.

[CaliNaughti]

Lets see..Good starting hands for me would be AAKK suited. Now if your playing the low then AA22 would be my best low..Actually either one of these I like. I know that when I have lets say 8QQ6 I dont like to play it to a raise because chances are I am beat already. I do enjoy Omaha H/L alot. We should all jump in a 1 table SnG sometime and play together.

[skippy76]

AA23 is better than AA22, it gives you a wheel wth flops of 245 and 345 where you are locked to 345 with AA22
i like any hand with doubled suited connectors.. 5s6s8d9d

[GiJoeValdez]

more hands please lol

give me some folding hands now.

[Adaon]

Starting hands have a night and day difference if you are talking about normal PL omaha vs hi/lo

Hi/lo, any hand without a suited ace and a 2 or 3 is just about unplayable. Your hand must have a chance to scoop or it's value is too low.

PL Omaha, there is debate as to the best hand being AAKK DS, or AATJ DS. I lean towards the later. Being a math guy it's easier for me to playing drawing hands and work out my odds then it is to try and read if my made hand is good.

Getting started, just look for hands that you can make the nuts with. A high set, top 2 pair, nut flush, or the high part of a straight draw. Double suited Aces always play well, and a pair of Aces are ahead preflop (important: NOT BY MUCH).

A suited king is a trap card, Kings will be good only as a set, top of 2 pair, or possibly over cards (not likely) .

[ooze]

I find Cloutier's basic holdem hand selection rule to be the most effective; avoid the dangler. Regardless of the format (Omaha, o8, limit or PL), you do not want to play hands which have one useless card (the dangler). The four cards need to work together in some way, and depending on the game and the format, those details may change. As a basic rule though, muck any hand that doesn't have four working cards. It's difficult to come back from the disadvantage of effectively playing Omaha with only three hole cards. My other basic o8 suggestion is to not overvalue aaxy nor a2xy. If the xy cards include danglers or otherwise provide little additional value, these hands should often hit the muck. As pretty as your first two cards may look, the situation (your position, opponents, etc) will often dictate that these hands are not worth playing.

[Holdem Freak]

You see I knew there were some of you out there. I would like to hear more on how this game is played. I never was much for this game and would like to learn more as there may come a day when I may play poker again and this is one of the games I would really like to play. Excellent comments by all.

[Sick Fish]

Good post ooze. When I first starting playing o8 it was REALLY hard for me to release some hands like AAxy, KKxy etc. Once I learned that you really need four working cards in that game my play, and my ROI for that matter, got much better. Those types of hands look so good, but you have to remember that all of your opponents have four cards to work with as well and one big pair usually isn't going to take down a pot.

[Kat]

The info in the following link is decent altho if you prefer books the one by Hwang is definitive IMO.

Omaha Hi-Lo Starting Hands Guide (http://www.omahaplanet.com/omaha_high_low/Omaha_Hi-Lo_Starting_Hands_Guide.html)

- Kat

[Yoda]

The info in the following link is decent altho if you prefer books the one by Hwang is definitive IMO.

Omaha Hi-Lo Starting Hands Guide (http://www.omahaplanet.com/omaha_high_low/Omaha_Hi-Lo_Starting_Hands_Guide.html)

- Kat

wheres the Link?

[Kat]

wheres the Link?

Click on the thing that says Omaha Starting Hands... it's live

sorry still getting used to the lay-out etc

[Jersey]

use the force yoda you will find it the link

[Yoda]

use the force yoda you will find it the link

Yoda didnt know where it was at first...got it now

[DiRtYScOtT]

i play mostly 40k preflop omaha play $$$. to me my best hand is A2 anything, but in hi/low u want to cover both ends, hi is always differ and harder to catch but low is always the same(A2345) so as long as i got a hand wit 2 of the low ill play it, to me its just easier to go after the lesser 2, every1 plays differ and most is trial and error so pick the best way thats suits u and have sum fun, gl and see u at the tables

[apaintn]

I have to add some thoughts here. By all means starting are VERY important, one needs to understand that even though one may have AA23 ds and will play the shit out of it, your hand really isnt good unless it matches the flop turn and or river. Omaha 8 is a game of finesse. An making your opponent awar of your hand can be the trick part, or vice versa. How you play the hand on the flop determines how good it really is.

For ex: AA23 on a flop of QJ9 is really a bummer of a hand, one cant really expect to call all the way to the river.

Another ex:AKKQ with a low flop of 234. same senerio. ALmost always in a hand like this the flop doesnt match and you must get out the way and move on to the next.

Once a player gets familiar with the game, one can learn to play hands of these types, 2345, 2235, 3456, and these hands are what i like to call nut busters. I call them these because if you are against a player the has the AA2x type hand and you hold 2345 and the flop comes a A36, you are now freerolling for the high and 2 cards to come to bust his nuts.

So remember most of the time when making a move with the cards you hold, if not all in, evaluate the flop and determne if you can proceed.

Hope this helps some.

[Kat]

Excellent points.

Something NLHE players find very difficult to adjust to is the fact that in O8 you can start with a monster and the flop destroys your hand. That hardly ever happens in NLHE. If you start AA in HE there are very few flops that you hate, at least until the action tells you you're beat. Basically unless a 3-flush or 3-straight comes off you figure you're ahead until someone tells you otherwise, and even then a c-bet might win you the pot. In O8, as apaintn says, the AA23 (which is harder to get than AA by a LOT so you really love seeing it pre-flop) is THE monster hand, but a significant fraction of flops turn it into cheese. And what's even more frustrating, is that on a flop like KJ9 say, you may have the best hand on the flop, and there is NO WAY you can call a bet.

[DiRtYScOtT]

i understand ur point, but wit so many posibilities who to say any hand is best starting, u wont know till fop comes, but odds tell me to pick the lesser of 2 evils,

[Kat]

i understand ur point, but wit so many posibilities who to say any hand is best starting, u wont know till fop comes, but odds tell me to pick the lesser of 2 evils,

That's why you apply the miracle flop test.

One thing you can say about staring hands is "is it possible for this hand to make the nut low"? If the answer is "no" the hand better be a hi-only monster or it simply isn't worth playing.

[Melina 07]

I Played play money 500k races and 40k in Omaha h/l for 3-4 years
and its so not the same thing . I know a lot of 40kers and racers when i see them in a plo8 tourney I smile cause those are the ones Imma quarter to death...going with the low in bingo is all good that's what I do also when i play fake but in real $$$ that's where and how I cash in plo8 tourneys by quartering people that play just low including racers and 40kers.

[stlouisray]

Omaha high is all about hitting draws to the nut straight or flush. When you think about it, at a full table, there are only 16 live cards after the deal. 'Random' distribution tends to discount the possibility of the board pairing. Having said this, on pokerstars, I notice that full houses and quads always seem to be possible.

The idea is to start with four connected cards by rank and suit, and the strategy is bet and raise your draws. A pair of dry aces means little, and are usually overplayed and defeated.