PLO4
The second most popular type of poker, which has won the hearts of millions due to its unpredictability and constant active actions on the part of poker players. You definitely won’t be bored at the table here, and you will also need more concentration in the game.
Rules and combinations, differences from hold’em
The rules of betting are the same as in Hold’em, but the rules for collecting combinations are different. In classic Omaha, the dealer deals 4 cards each (there is a variation where there are 5 of them). However, you must use only 2 cards from your hand to collect.
General – 5, as in hold’em. The exit order is also the same: flop, turn, river. To collect a hand, it is mandatory to use 3 community cards.
For example, starting hand AAAA5 is not four of a kind. She has no chance of strengthening post-flop.
Due to 4 (or 5) cards, each new street changes the balance of power at the gaming table. This dynamic appeals to both amateurs and professionals.
Key points
It is due to the increase in the number of pocket cards that many beginners in this game find it difficult to assess their strength. The strength of the hand is overestimated, hence the first difficulties arise. Do not forget that your opponents have the same number of cards, which means that in Omaha, Straights, Full Houses and Flashes are not so rare.
This leads to the conclusion that the mass of low pairs, with which in ordinary Hold’em they often reach the showdown or even go all-in even preflop, is much less valued in Omaha. The variance in Omaha is higher than in Hold’em. A typical situation is when you have the first nut on the flop, you are the underdog on the turn and you again have the best hand on the river. In hold’em, this is almost impossible.
Choosing a starting hand in Omaha is much more complicated than in Hold’em. Even the best hand here will only have a 61% chance of winning preflop, compared to 81% in hold’em, and the process of classifying hands and building charts is many times more complicated.
