Omaha-8 Post Flop Play

Play after the flop in Omaha/8 is usually straightforward. You either have the best hand, a draw to the best hand or have a hand that is not worth continuing with. The strongest hands are ones that have a good chance to be the best hand but also have a chance to improve to an even better hand. An example of a strong hand with redraw possibilities is Ac 2c Qd Ks with a flop of 9c Tc Js. You have the best possible hand with a straight, but if one of your opponents also has a straight, you have a chance to improve to a flush. The best way to put you in these powerful situations is correctly choosing starting hands (discussed in the Omaha-8 Starting Hands discussions article).

Other than the above information, betting when you have the best hand and being able to determine if you are receiving the correct pot odds to draw to a better hand when you are behind, there aren’t many other things that you must do to become a good Omaha/8 poker player. There is however a few things you should not do. Here are a couple of important ones.

One of the biggest mistakes made by Omaha/8 players is not folding to a bet on the flop when it doesn’t fit their hand. Chasing two cards on the turn and river is a large drain on your profits. Examples are when you have a high hand (four cards nine or higher) and two low cards hit on the flop, and don’t give you four to a flush or better and when you have a low hand and two or three high cards hit on the flop. There is absolutely no reason to continue with these hands, as even calling the smaller bet on the flop will add up to a great deal over time. In other words, you won’t be receiving the correct pot odds to continue in the hand. Take my advice and fold these types of hands. You will be money ahead in the long run, and there will be another hand dealt in just a minute.

The other big mistake I often see is players drawing to half the pot. For example, with a starting hand of Ac Tc Qh Jh and a flop of 2c 3c 8d, one of your opponents surely has a low hand and you are on a draw to a Club flush, that even the times you hit will only win you half the pot. This creates a drain on your profits and alone could turn you from a winning player into a losing one. Once again, just fold these hands when faced with a bet and find a better situation to get your money into the pot with.

The last thing I feel is important is realizing when you may get quartered, or have to split the low half of the pot. Often when there are many players seeing a flop, two of them may have A2. This is even more critical in a pot limit game because the bets can escalate quickly. If you find yourself in the situation of holding A2 as part of a low hand with no hopes of a high hand facing a great deal of action from two or more opponents, you will likely get quartered. If there are four players, this will be a break-even proposition, so it is not bad. If there are only three players, you are losing money every time you put more money in the pot. Just checking and calling in a limit game in this situation is probably profitable over the long run, as you will not get quartered every time, but calling raises and re-raises or doing this in a pot limit game should often be avoided.