Made hands in Omaha
Introduction
This article explains:
- Different made hands in Omaha
- The strengths and weaknesses of different made hands
The following article will explain the different categories of made hands in Pot Limit omaha. You can find details on how to play in specific situations in the other articles (such as Flop, Turn and River play), as this one will simply go over different situations to help you assess the strength of specific made hands.
The equity calculations are made supposing a random hand, since it is very hard to attribute exact ranges to opponent's, mainly because different players will play given hands very differently.
Trash hands
Trash hands are the hands that are weaker than top two pair. They should always be folded easily, even against a small bet. They can be strong when combined with a big draw, however they are worthless alone. This category includes overpairs with no draws.
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is a very good starting hand, but loses all of its value on a:
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EQ from trashhands
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Even against two random hands with no preflop selection you have only 25% equity on this board. If we count that only hands that have you beat will play on, the scenario is significantly worse.
Top Two Pair
Top two pair is one of the biggest trouble hands in Pot Limit Omaha, but is the first made hand that can be played profitably from the flop on. Nevertheless it is important not to overplay this hand, as it will often be behind. You should fold to any reraise from your opponents, and not invest your stack with such a hand.
Two possible scenarios:
1. Dry board:
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If you are faced with heavy action, you should almost always fold easily, since you will at best split the pot, and more likely be against a set.
If we discount AA** from our opponent's range, due to preflop action, and include A3**, which is the absolute best case scenario, we have the following equity:
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Equity from top two pair
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However if we consider a more realistic range with which our opponent would play on, things are significantly worse:
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EQ more realistic range
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2. Draw-heavy board:
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This board is extremely draw-heavy. If your flop bet is only called, then you can bet again on a blank turn, especially if you have a redraw to a higher top two pair.
Here, it is rather hard to give a range to our opponent, since different players will play given hands very differently, be they sets or draws. This situation is explained further in the other articles.
Trips
Trips can be a very strong hand in some situations, e.g. pots that were raised preflop. In multiway pots however, it is important to consider your kicker, and whether there is an overcard to your trips on the board that could give a higher full house, putting you way behind.
1st case:
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On this board you can play on even against an oponent's bet. You have top trips with the best possible kicker and only 66** and T6** beat you. Even then, you have outs: 10 outs against 66 (any A, Q, 7 and the case T), and 9 outs against T6 (any A, Q, 7). You will also be ahead very often.
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EQ trips
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2nd case:
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On this board you should be very careful. There are few draws, even less so because of the pair on the board. Against KK** you have only one out, and you are as good as drawing dead against KT**. Even against AT** you are way behind. When faced with action, your trips have very little value on this flop and should be folded easily almost every time.
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EQ trips
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Set
Sets are very strong hands in Pot Limit Omaha, since they have the strongest re-draw against drawing hands. You should only be wary when you have small sets, as set-over-set situations come up relatively often in comparison with Hold'em. Sets are especially profitable in multi-way pots against several drawing hands, as your opponents will often block each other's outs.
Here are some possible situations:
Sets on dry boards:
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You hold the nuts, and there are only few straight draws.
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You should take the preflop action into account. If the pot is unraised, you can be pretty certain that no-one holds top set. However if the pot is raised, and you get considerable action from the preflop aggressor, you should be prepared to let go of your hand, since you will often be up against AA**.
Sets on draw-heavy boards:
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Here you should often fold your hand on the flop to any action, since you have no redraw to the nuts. Even if the turn comes K or Q, you can lose against a hand like top two pair + straight draw which hits the higher full house.
Sets on boards with possible straights or flushes:
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Even though you are behind a made straight, you can play profitably in this situation in multi-way pots.
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EQ sets on heavy-draw board
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We even have the highest equity here!
Straight
Straights can also be divided into categories. Generally, a nut straight on a board that is neither paired nor 3-suited, should always be played all-in. Only in some situations where you have significantly more than 100BB and are playing on the higher limits, can it be laid down. The second and third nut straights should in most cases be folded directly on the flop or turn, as long as you have no strong re-draw.
Nut straight:
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In this case you ahve the absolute best hand and are a clear favorite against any other holding. Let's look at an example where our opponent holds the lower straight with middle set:
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EQ straights
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Second Nut straight:
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EQ 2nd Nut straight
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Your opponent will only continue on this board with a hand like KK** or AQ**, and you are way behind this range, with only two backdoor flush draws to help.
Flush
Flush over flush is something that happens rather often in Omaha. Therefore it is very important to only draw to the nuts. It is seldom correct to bet anything else than the nut flush. There are situations where you can bet the second or third nut flush on the river for value, but these come up almost exclusively in shorthanded games.
A flush draw should always be to the nuts. In case you hit the flush directly on the flop, you must only invest money with a flush that is strong enough to get enough value from lower flushes.
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Turn:
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You hold the nut flush and should bet for value against sets which still have outs to full houses.
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You flopped the T-high flush. If you bet, you will only be called by better flushes. In most cases it is incorrect to invest any money here.
In flush over flush situations, the weaker hand is almost always drawing dead, so the need for an equity table is somewhat diminished. A-high flushes are a gold mine against weak opponents. K-high flushes are some of the most dangerous hands in Pot Limit Omaha. All the lower flushes should be played very cautiously, even more so in fullring PLO than in shorthanded games.
Full House
There are a lot of possible full houses in Omaha. Similarly to flushes, you should be careful to not play an under-full house, but the nut or second-nut full house, because opponents will rarely overplay trips, flushes or straights on paired boards to the point of investing a lot of money. In many cases a full house should also be strongly protected.
A very weak full house:
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Turn:
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You are drawing to quads against JJ** and JT** and drawing dead against TT** and T7**. Since no-one will overplay a straight with 98** on this board, you should be very careful with this lower full house and often fold against strong action.
A vulnerable Full House:
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Every overcard could improve a 9 with a higher kicker to the best hand, or improve an overpair to a higher full house. The following example shows this hand against a range including a 9 with 2 or 3 overcards.
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EQ full house
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A very strong full house:
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Even though your two overcards protect your hand very well, a QJ** hand can still hit a J to make a better full house. However the chances of that are very low, making this hand very strong.
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EQ full house
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The strongest full house:
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You have the nut full house and can only lose against quads.
As you can see, there are many different full houses in Omaha which should be played very differently. Anything is possible - from a slowplay with the nut full house to fast play with a vulnerable under-full house, or even a fold with a weak boat on the turn or river.
The unbeatable - Four of a kind and Straight/Royal Flush
When you get lucky enough to flop one of these monsters, there is only one question: "How do I extract most value from my opponents?". The ideal value lines are explained in the flop, turn and river play articles.
Four of a Kind:
Your hand: J
J
T T
Board: K T
T
Straight Flush:
Your hand: Q J T 9
Board: J9 8 9
Royal Flush:
Your hand:A K 3 2
Board: Q J T 2 7
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