Omaha, or Omaha Hi, is a pretty similar game to Texas Holdem. It's not as commonly played as Holdem however, but you should have absolutely no problem finding a game at the casino or an online poker room such as Carbon Poker.
The winning hands are usually better in Omaha Hi and it does take some getting used to if your game of choice has been Texas Holdem in recent times. With that being said, it can be very worthwhile learning this game. You have to realize that many people who play Omaha are not very good and if you like to make big hands instead of relying on bluffing so much, then this may just be the perfect game for you.
The rules are not that hard and for regular games, the highest hand wins. You get four hole/pocket cards. You can ONLY use two from your hand. There are five cards on the table and they are known as community cards, the same as in Texas Holdem. There is a flop of three, a turn and a river in which you bet after each round, just like in Texas Holdem. The main difference is you can only use three cards from the board.
You are only allowed to use two cards in conjunction with three from the board. So, if you have Ad Kh 10d Qc and a Jd, Kd, 3h, Qd, 9s come up on the board, you have a Royal Diamond Flush using the Ad and 10d from your two cards and the J, K and Q of diamonds from the board.
Contrary to popular belief, Omaha is not very difficult to learn. Most decisions will come down to calculating your "outs". In other words, the number of cards needed to make the best hand. If you can figure out what you have and what you need to make the nuts, well, then you can – and should – play Omaha. A background in Holdem will definitely help because you are constantly figuring out what outs are needed to make the best hand, when you expect that you do not currently have the winning hand.
A good basic strategy for Omaha Hi is that if you have a really good Texas Holdem starting hand such as pocket AAxx, KKxx, then you should see the flop. Of course, be prepared to throw it away post-flop if you don't have a strong draw or, at the very least, a 2-pair hand. Ideally it would be good to have 2 pair and a draw on the flop, although this can be a bit rare. It's also best to not see 2-pair down through to the river since with Omaha players always drawing to the nuts, makes it a common hand to lose with in Omaha Hi.
A few other important Omaha strategy points I would like to make are:
1) If there are 3 cards of the same suit on the flop, then the likelihood that someone probably has a flush is extremely high. If you have the flush card, make sure you are as close to the nuts as possible, ideally the nut flush in a multiway pot.
2) While flopping quads is extremely rare, and you should slow play the hand when you do make it. With that being said, you will see full houses a lot more often in Omaha Hi ; more so than in Texas Holdem.
3) The aim is to build big pots with big hands in Omaha Hi. If a player is betting big and you don't have the nuts, just fold. They likely have you beat.
If you follow these simple rules and strategies, you can win big at Omaha Hi. You will be head and shoulders above at least 50% of your competition. So, get amongst the action and play some Omaha Hi games. I can strongly recommend Carbon Poker for your Omaha needs as they have many tournaments and ring tables available. You may find you like it better than that other Holdem game, old what's its name?
