How To Win

Introduction to omaha

There's no doubt Texas Hold'em is the game of choice for those new to poker. It's what they've seen on television, the basics are easy to pick up and it's the game with the greatest choice of tables to sit down at.

Given the popularity of Hold'em the Big Slick has, over the last few issues, covered many of the key strategies players need to master to become long-term winners.

But, of course, Hold'em is not the only type of poker you can play at Holiday Poker. More and more players are easing themselves into seats at Omaha tables and discovering it's an action-packed game with far greater possibilities for better hands.

With Omaha's popularity continuing to grow the Big Slick has prepared a basic introduction to the game followed by a few important differences between it and Hold'em. We'll take a look at more advanced ideas and strategies in later articles and issues.

Simple! There's more action and more excitement and that makes it a more compelling game. Once a player knows how to play Hold'em learning Omaha is also very easy. There's still a flop, a turn and a river, the same hand ratings apply and the betting structure is the same.

In addition an average Hold'em player can become a great Omaha player as the skills that can give a Hold'em player an edge are less important in Omaha. Given the same stakes, and the same skill, an Omaha player will make more money than a Hold'em player.

• The hole cards
  In Omaha each player gets dealt four cards. That means each player has six possible starting hands. Players must use two, and only two, of their hole cards in their final hand.

• Hi and low hands can win
  Depending on the table they sit down at players can either aim for the highest hand, the lowest hand, or both! We'll cover the variations at a later date but as most Hold'em players find it easier to play straight Omaha and leave the High Low variation until they've got used to the game that's what we're concentrating on.

• Winning hands
  As each player effectively has six starting hands, instead of one in Hold'em, it means it's easier to make better hands. Think about it this way. When playing Omaha on a Victor Chandler table with nine players there are effectively 54 starting hands out there instead of nine in Hold'em. This means it's easier to make premium hands. Whereas top pair with a good kicker will often win in Hold'em in Omaha most players would have thrown the hand before they even got to a showdown. Omaha is a game of nuts – you'll need the nuts more often than not to win a pot. With 54 starting hands out there the question to be asked is not “Is a player likely to have the nuts” but “How can anyone not have the nuts?”

• Pots are bigger in Omaha
  As players have more starting hands it's more likely they will hit a good hand or draw on the flop and continue in the hand where they would fold in Hold'em. As more people stay in the hand the pot grows giving the correct pot odds to stay in with many drawing hands, thereby growing the pot further. In Omaha players can justify seeing more flops, call more bets and raises on a draw, get more chips into the action and win bigger pots. Omaha is more of an action game – though remember it's always preferable to be drawing to the nuts.

• Bluffing, tells and guessing hands
  Being proficient at these can help give a top Hold'em player an edge over an average one. But all three are less important in Omaha. Bluffing by opening the betting plays a smaller part in Omaha than Hold'em. Remember, there are more hands - the chances are someone has the nuts. And you can't bluff someone who has the nuts! It's similar with guessing the hands of your opponents. As someone is likely to have the nuts, or very close to it, an Omaha player can look at the board and pretty much figure out what a persistent raiser is holding. And as it's more likely someone at the table is holding the nuts reading the tells of a bluffer is less important as there's less bluffing going on.

Of course, there's much more to Omaha than this basic introduction and we'll be looking at playing strategies in later issues of the Big Slick . But the most important lesson at this stage is the addition of two extra hole cards makes Omaha a true action game.

And if there's one thing poker players love it's action!

Playing poker tournaments

Poker tournaments can be great fun offering huge payouts and the chance for amateurs to pit their wits against some of game's biggest stars.

As Chris Moneymaker and Greg Raymer have proved by winning the World Series of Poker, internet players really can take on the best and win. All it takes is a little luck!

But to be a consistent winner in tournaments players have to master some very different skills from a standard ring game. For although they may look similar there are many different strategy adjustments necessary in order to consistently make it to the final table in tournaments.

Many books have been written on the tactics tournament players need to master in order to excel. TJ Cloutier and Tom McEvoy's excellent Championship No-Limit & Pot Limit Hold'em is a great introduction while David Sklansky's Tournament Poker for Advanced Players gives a more analytical summary – and even includes discussion on where it is correct to muck AA preflop!

Going broke

You don't have to be the sharpest tool in the box to realise losing all your chips in a tournament is far worse than in a cash game. Unless you're in the early stages of a rebuy tournament you can't just stick your hand in your pocket. You're out. Game over. So protecting your chips is a key skill in tournament play.

Close gambles

It's a common scenario. Say you're holding 55 and you suspect someone has two over cards. The correct play really boils down to how you rate yourself compared to your opponents.

An average player should rarely turn down the slight edge they have. Sure, they could bust out in one hand, but also double up with a little luck. Weighing up the tournament situation will often determine how a player handles this situation.

If, however, you consider yourself one of the best players in the tournament your strategy should often be different. In a cash game you'd take the edge and play the hand. But in a tournament it can be correct to preserve your stack and wait for a better opportunity.

The question to be asked in these circumstances is do you really want to risk busting out by losing an all in coup or would you rather wait for when the odds are more in your favour? Are you willing to take that 50/50 chance of it being your last hand? Do you need to at this stage?

Of course, when you're short stacked moving in probably would be the correct play.

Your opponents

Many of your opponents will be playing more cautiously in a tournament than they would in a cash game as they are wary of going broke. This is great news and can be used to your advantage! Top tournament players use this to aggressively try to win small pots – knowing their opponents fear going broke – but will back off if an opponent shows strength.

The conundrum

Hang on a minute! So you're saying you should both preserve your stack and be aggressive? Yes! Impossible as it sounds this is what many top tournament players aim for.

To explain the apparent contradiction in advice Sklansky came up with a name for it – The Gap Concept. He believes it's the single biggest winning strategy adjustment a top tournament player has over a cash game player. And as he's one of the world's top poker theorists who are we to argue?!

He defines the concept as you need a better hand to play against someone that has already opened the betting than you do to open it yourself. The difference between the two hands is the “gap” – and the size of it depends on how tight or loose your opponents play, and the stage of the tournament you're at.

The concept doesn't apply to the very early rounds of a no-limit Hold'em tournament where the blinds are tiny compared to stack sizes. But players should be bear this theory in mind from a fairly early stage and understand the “gap” should become bigger in the later stages as the prize money increases.

Limping

Players who simply call preflop are often rather derogatorily branded limpers. So it's surprising to learn that while limping is not a great play in a limit tournament the better players in a no-limit Hold'em event should be doing a lot of limping in the early stages.

Why? Because better playing skill and favourable implied odds can make limping very profitable when others are carefully protecting their stacks.

Of course there's far more to being a winning tournament player than we've covered here. Avoiding confrontations with other large stacks, a good knowledge of the best hands to move all in with and strategy variations when the prize money is approaching are among many other important skills.

But the basics we've covered here provide a good solid basis to follow when you next sit down at a tournament and will help you on your way to the final table!