Poker players who have been playing other variations, such as Texas Hold’em for a while and become proficient often look to other types for a change of scene. They often try out Omaha poker in the belief that it is similar to what they’ve already been playing, then wonder why they are losing heavily.

Therefore the best strategy initially is to make sure you are fully versed on all aspects of Omaha, as it will put you head and shoulders above most Omaha players who make the mistake of thinking that just because they are an expert at another variation of poker, they will automatically be an expert at Omaha. While it is no more difficult than any other form of the game, Omaha does have some tactical differences that you should know about to ensure you’ll be a winner.

The first of these is the realisation that you have more hole cards to play with than in Texas Hold’em. This creates more possibilities for you to make a good hand, but what many players fail to note is that is also means every other player on the table also has the potential to make better hands, so you will most likely come up against more hands of higher ranking.
This knowledge will serve you as you will be less likely to be overconfident with a seemingly good hand and be able to play it closer and watch for signs that another player is also holding strong hole cards.

Also with this knowledge comes the tactical ability to know what to do with certain combinations of hole cards. In the next chapter, we have some very useful tips when it comes to making the most of high pairs and supporting cards which can potentially produce winning hands with the flop.