Aces in Omaha

[Div]

Yeah, not dominated in the sense of being outkicked, but he certainly had better options than me.

If I got into the same situation again, I think I'd take a flop rather than reraising all in. At least then I *might* have got away from it when it came down with co-ordinated high cards and no flush draw for me.

How often do you guys like to raise pre-flop in Omaha? I read Stewart Reuben's book and that preaches a really aggressive style. The only problem with that is raising to reduce the field is pretty pointless at the low limits, as they just call anyway!

I tend to go for lots of min raises, especially when I have position, as it builds a decent enough pot to give me some leverage when I hit the flop and want to make a big bet, and also disguises the true monsters. Presuming we are talking pot limit!

[snoopy1239]

AAKQ v AAxx is not dominated. He has had to get very lucky to beat you. Omaha is a game where you need to be a strong player throught the streets IMO. I prefer to protect my hand on the turn when it makes it -EV for people to call with their draws. If I flop nut str8 or bodd trips I tend to not get all my money in if I can avoid it. My favourite hands in omaha are 4 card str8s to be honest, you get paid a lot more and they are far easier to get away from if you miss the flop. Gimme 789T over AAxx any day.

When I said dominated, I mean in terms of your chances of winning the hand. - which is slim to none.

In the games I play, a reraise is rare. What's even rarer is that they won't have aces.

[ariston]

Depends on the level you are playing but raising preflop is meant to build pots rather than thin the field. If the table is very passive and shorthanded I may raise a very high percentage of hands. If your opponents let you control the table you will be surprised how many pots you win with junk hands. They will slow play their big hands trying to set traps and let you hit your garbage, added to this is the fact then when you do have the nuts nobody will believe you and you can get paid. The other way to play small stakes omaha is to see plenty of flops and wait for the lock. If you are playing less than 5/10 pl you will not thin the fields with raises so build the pots and raise with more than just AAxx or you will be crucified. If you only ever raise with aces dont complain when I get you with my 3456 hand  

[Junior Senior]

thanks everyone. - of course i knew all this myself but needed to hear it from other players and in writing 

excellent analysis - even ariston helped out with some intelligent poker comments!  - thanks big fella, perhaps we should get another heads up challnge played at the forthcoming blackpool event? - see if you've improved any 

[ariston]

Like all good managers I resigned after Blackpools loss to you earlier in the year. A rematch would be good but I think the new Blackpool team captain may not even select me  If burnley John is kind enough to include me I will be up for this match with no distractions.

[Junior Senior]

your on!

[Gamblor21]

What a dealer you to had!

And at the time you did not even know he was a celebrity...

(had to cprrect grammar and spellings for ariston)

[ontilt]

Good topic. It took me ages to get the hang of Aces in Omaha. I agree with most of what Ariston says here.

If I can get most of my chips in before the flop, then I will, you have to watch out for (AA v AA v something like 5678ds), but it will almost always be a lot more favourable situation than that.  If you make a big raise or reraise before the flop in most games up to lowish stakes (2-5 is as high as I go but its true there) players will put you on AAxx about 90% of the time. This is very useful when making min reraises with other hands or limping or calling with with Aces, which is what I recommend unless you can make a huge reraise and bet almost any flop. If you don't think you are winning on the flop give them up. My other favourite trick here is that if I make a small reraise with 6789 and no one goes over the top of me, then when the flop comes A x x, I can represent the AA knowing that no one else has it.

I have experimented with the super agressiive position raising style, but it only works in very specific games where you can isolate players and steal a lot of pots. Otherwise you find you just get 8 callers to your junk hand. I prefer to do something like play that way for a round and then revert to normal, opponents will still put you on junk. I raise generally to control pot size and to disguise my hand.

Not exactly the question you asked, but I think a very key thing to think about is playing against Aces as you can make a lot of your money in this situation by taking a flop against 'obvious' Aces and either pushing them off or busting them if you flop well.