Omaha H/L: Should I play this hand?

Today we will examine some of the factors to consider when formulating our decision to fold or muck. I outlined some of the factors last time as questions we should ask ourselves. Today we will look at why we ask these questions and what do the answers mean.

A tip before we get started. When your cards are being dealt, look at your opponents. Watch the expressions on their faces and what the do with their cards and hands. This is one of the easiest ways to pick up tells. You will always have time to look at your cards before you act.

Most of the factors discussed apply to Hold-Em as well as Omaha H/L. I will concentrate on Omaha though. Lets start at the top.

How many players saw the flop? This is important in both Omaha and Hold- Em. If for nothing else it is essential for calculating pot odds. If we are looking at a draw we want enough callers to render that draw profitable. We do not want to chase a 1 in 6 shot with only one caller. Especially if we are only shooting for half the pot, or there is a chance we could be quartered.

Certain hands play well against few callers while others demand more players. In Omaha when you flop the nut high with no chance of counterfeiting you want as many players in the pot as possible. Your decision to call, bet, raise or re-raise is driven by your desire to keep your opponents in the pot. With the nut low you must be mindful of counterfeiting and getting quartered or worse.

The more callers you have the higher the probability someone already has the nuts or is drawing to the nuts. With many callers you can be assured most of the aces and deuces are out there, especially if the pot is raised and re-raised. It is also very common for a player to have a wheel with a flop containing three low cards of 5 or less. If the flop contains two or three cards to a flush you are probably looking at the nut flush. On the other hand if you are last to act and have all high cards before the flop, you may be looking good.

Lets look at a chart (below) of how often the wheel will get there with 3 cards to the wheel on the flop. Contrary to what some players may think, the chance to scoop the low goes up when an ace does not hit the board. Look at the 3-4-5 it will scoop the low 41% of the time and there will be a low over 90% of the time. The A-2-3 scoops 28% of the time with a low occurring 80% of the time. The combined Nut low is almost double for the 3-4-5, 62.3% vs. the A-2-3, 34.7%. Remember, most people play A-2 rather than 3-4. There is much more sharing when the A-2 is not counterfeited.

How many players to act after you? This has a material effect as to whether you want to call with a marginal hand. The more players to act behind you the more likely the pot may be raised. If the flop brings a made low or low draw especially if it does not include an ace or deuce and you are sitting there with a high draw it may get pretty costly real fast. You must ask yourself why did all these players call to see the flop in the first place. Is it worth pursuing a high draw with two pair, a set, a straight draw or a flush draw?

The number of players to act after you will affect the pot odds you receive as well. The key is being able to estimate how many of them will call. The earlier offered tip should be very useful.

How many players to act in front of you? If you have a hand that warrants a check raise you want few people in front of you. The more that are behind you the more likely one of them will bet. This works especially well when you have a good high, (Ace high flush) combined with the nut low, (a wheel). Another opportunity arrives when you have flopped quads. You want as many people in front of you as possible so you can watch them bet and raise while you wait to cap it.

How many players were at the table at the start of the hand? This concept is valuable in both Hold-Em and Omaha. The greater the number of players that are dealt in the more likely you will run into superior hands. The fewer opponents dealt a hand, the easier it will be to steal the pot. In Omaha high/low the value of a high hand goes up as the number of players dealt in goes down. I have written an entire article on this subject. The reason behind this is that there is always a high hand winner. There is not always a low winner. One should always be cognizant of how many players were dealt in as well as who they are.

So what have we learned? There are factors other then our own 4 cards to consider before entering a pot or calling on the flop.