When Omaha first arrived on the scene, I was taught by some “sound” players that you should fold after the flop unless you had trips, two high pair, or at least four cards to a high flush or straight. Even though all Omaha players have OFTEN tasted disaster on the infamous last card, many still do not realize the significance of the fact that over one third of your Omaha wins should be coming from last card draws. In order for you to be a consistent winner at Omaha, you must take aggressive efforts to win your share of last-card back-ins. (more…)

When you find yourself in an ultra loose game, for example, when the betting before the flop is usually raised or “capped-out” (all three raises), does this affect your basic strategy? Of course it does. And when the before-the-flop betting has been capped, does this effect your stay-in-after-the-flop strategy? Of course it does. It seems clear that when there is an abnormal amount of money in most of the pots, your normal strategic criteria should change. (more…)

Last week I successfully executed a rare counter-counter bluff while playing in a typical firehouse game in Prince George’s County, Maryland. The game was ten-handed two-five-ten-ten high, alternating one round of holdem and one round of four-card Omaha. There were several good players in the game, as the ten-twenty game had not yet started. (more…)

While venturing to put the world of Omaha poker in proper perspective, let us take a closer look at the exciting action game high-low Omaha. High-low Omaha, or Split Pot Omaha, is where the player with the lowest five non-paired cards, EIGHT or lower, gets half the pot. Like most high-low variations, high-low Omaha is substantially different in philosophy from straight high Omaha. (more…)

Almost 3 years ago, in the June 29, 1990 Card Player, I wrote an article entitled “The Most Skillful Form of Poker” , wherein I concluded that the most skillful form of poker would be “some hybrid of no-limit and limit (but generally slanted toward no-limit)”. (more…)

Perhaps the ultimate gauntlet thrown at the bridge table, usually as a result of friction between two players, is “get a partner”. Often these challenges are further colored with remarks such as “Get a partner, and I will rent a slow boat to China…”, or, even more serious, “Get a partner, and we will play for my business against your house”. Most often these people are just making noise, but over the years I have been the “partner that was gotten” three different times, always on very favorable terms (such as loss reimbursement). (more…)

What are the main objectives of a poker tournament, aside from drawing in business for the host? People play poker for entertainment and to win money . A poker tournament should be a vehicle for providing entertainment and redistributing money according to some fair method. Although using pure luck would be one fair method of determining a winner, if that were really our objective, we could simply have a raffle. (more…)

I have had a number of inquiries about raising before the flop in four-card high limit Omaha. The two most important strategic reasons to raise before the flop are to “reduce attendance” and to “loosen up the game” (see my book Cappelletti on Omaha, Quartet and Trio Straight Holdings). Please note that getting MORE MONEY into the pot is NOT always an important objective! It is nice to have more money in the pot, only if you happen to win it. But extra money in the pot makes the pot harder to win! (more…)

Time out from Omaha. Instead let’s join the hue and cry. I was reading Steve Fox’s article about the “Scary Death of Colorado Poker”, and I couldn’t help thinking of Matt Goerning’s bumper sticker, “Life’s a bitch and then you die?”. Most of us “Poker Players of America” have generally had to put up with a lot of hassle during this past century. But things do seem to be looking up for the next century. (more…)

In a recent article (Quartet and Trio Straight Holdings) I summarized the odds and Break Even Pot size (BEP) of what I called trio, quartet and eye-card straight holdings in four card Omaha. Some related observations should be made regarding how certain additional cards affect these holdings and the number of “outs” involved. In the following discussion, the term “outs” refers to the number of “outstanding cards” in the remaining deck which would complete your straight. (more…)