Playing on the Flop in Fixed Limit Omaha
If you will allow me, I would like to go ahead and make a rather bold prediction. Naturally, if you have been reading the voluminous articles on many aspects of poker written by your humble scribe, Floyd Manning, you realize that this particular author is not averse to putting his reputation on the line when it comes to making fearless prognostications.Well, the fact of the matter is I have always been a gambler at heart, which should be as about as surprising as learning that Elizabeth Taylor owns stock in the Hostess Snack Pie Corporation.
For those who all are interested to know more in details about history of omaha poker.
Anyway, on to my bold prediction: in the next decade or so, the professional poker circuit will be overtaken by a new type of game. Texas Holdem, which currently stands head and shoulders above the rest of the competition and has unquestionably earned its title as the “king” of all popular variants of poker, will be toppled by a rising contender. What might this contender be? Well, if you want my opinion on the matter, we are talking about the game of Omaha.
All across the country, in professional gambling halls and casual backyard parties, more and more poker aficionados are discovering the elevated levels of skill, risk and excitement that go hand-in-hand with Omaha. Oftentimes, people will approach me and ask if it is better for them to begin their journey into this new game in the fixed limit or pot limit format. As a rule of thumb, I generally advise folks to start out with fixed limit.
The reasons for this recommendation are not complicated. When the amount of wagering is limited per hand, novice players have the freedom to give a greater amount of attention to the cards they are holding and what may be occurring with their opponents around the table. There is enough to worry about in a game of Omaha without being continually concerned with the betting.
But how should a novice player handle the flop in a game of fixed limit? This is a decision which should be to a large extent determined by the four hole cards you possess. In Omaha, you must use exactly two of those four cards in conjunction with three cars from the board when assembling your final hand. Therefore, the strength of your starting hand plays a massively critical role, but in a more sophisticated way (I would argue, at least) than in Texas Holdem.
If you’re not holding consecutive running cards in a game of Omaha, should you proceed into the flop with caution? This may be the area of strategy which is most likely to cause debate among knowledgeable players. Personally, I do not hold to the opinion that a strong starting hand is necessary in order to proceed in an aggressive fashion. Having said that, for new players it is probably safer to move forward into the flop at a more cautious pace, unless a strong (which is to say consecutive and/or double-suited) collection of hole cards is in play. But the best way find out what works is to simply play for yourself.