Omaha Poker Popularity Boom

by Bodog Poker | Dec 16 2008

The poker boom that was ushered forth by Chris Moneymaker’s big WSOP win and the televised hole cards from the WPT coverage could really be better described as a No-Limit Texas Holdem boom. While it has become the most popular form of poker, increasingly, Omaha, specifically Pot-Limit Omaha and Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha 8-or-Better), has been growing in popularity. (In fact, Omaha hands have recently been breaking records for pot sizes!)

Omaha Holdem is very similar to Texas Holdem except that players are dealt four hole cards. Of those cards exactly two (no more, no less) must be used to make a hand along with exactly three cards from the board.

Omaha Hi/Lo is the same except that the pot is split and half is given to the player (or players) who make the lowest hand possible with cards below eight. The best low hand possible would be A-2-3-4-5 and the worst low hand possible would be 4-5-6-7-8. If no one qualifies for the Lo hand then the whole pot goes to the Hi hand. Hi-Lo makes for a significantly more complicated game that will often leave even veteran poker players mulling over the possible draws they could make.

So we will take a look at the great game of Omaha and shine some light on why it’s growing in popularity and how you can take advantage of the new players picking it up.

Bigger Hands Made

To a player who has done nothing but play Texas Holdem, getting introduced to Omaha can feel like a breath of fresh air. Suddenly you’re making straights, flushes and full houses on every second hand. It’s an exciting change from Texas Holdem where even just making two pair is often enough to get you excited.

Obviously it’s an even playing field with everyone being on equal ground with four hole cards, but there is a sense of satisfaction that comes with making bigger and more varied hands.

Poker players who are new to Omaha often have the disadvantage of having a residual thought process left over from their time playing Texas Holdem. They will often over play a hand like three of a kind or a straight since in Texas Holdem those will almost always be enough to take down the pot.

You may have heard of Omaha being called a game of the nuts since that’s exactly what it will often take to win a pot. So don’t be fooled into assuming that the wheel you made on the turn is a sure thing. Omaha players have to be constantly reassessing what they are drawing to and what opponents may be drawing to. A classic mistake is over playing a flopped flush. If the board pairs on a later street there is a good chance that someone out there had a set and now has a full house.

More Aggression

With all of these big hands getting made it’s no surprise that in lower-limit games (or anywhere you might expect to find inexperienced players) there’s a lot of money being pushed around. Combined with the fact that most Omaha Poker games are Limit games, you will often see players calling to the river when they shouldn’t.

As Omaha goes through its own boom, it’s a great time to get in there, identify who is over-playing their hands and play a tight game against them. Head over to the Bodog Poker Room and play some online Omaha poker to try it out yourself.

For a better understanding of how the ranking for Low actually works, check out our handy-dandy Poker Hand Rankings cheat sheet.

Play Omaha Poker online in the Bodog Poker room.