In four card high Omaha, when certain flops hit the table, you actually need a computer and some time to accurately evaluate your hand. Since this is impractical (impossible?), we have to do the best we can at estimating our various equities in order to decide whether we belong in this pot or not. Just about everyone plays the usual “good comes” (eg. four flushes, multi-way straights). But relatively few players are able to accurately add up the winning potential of some of the lesser holdings. Advance knowledge and familiarity with various types of holdings and the related percentages gives you a big edge in post-flop hand evaluation.

For example, most draws that require two cards (ie. BOTH the fourth street AND last card are required to complete) are considered “long shots” and hence are avoided. We certainly cannot afford to pay money to persue a three-card “backdoor” flush draw (odds against making 21 to 1) by itself, or a three-card straight draw (about the same odds as three flush IF you get to “follow through” and draw for inside straights on fifth street). But, in four card Omaha, if we have several of these “long shots”, they may well ADD UP to a playable “combination hand”.

There is one Omaha two-card-draw type holding which gives relatively good odds, which only a few experts seem to be aware of. I call these “eye-card holdings”. Eye-card holdings are straight comes consisting of either three consecutively numbered cards missing one (the “eye-card”) or four consecutive cards missing one. Thus, there are “three card” and “four card” eye-card holdings. For example, you hold a five, six, eight and nine. If the flop hits with a seven (the “eye-card”) and two non-related cards (let’s say the flop contains a seven, deuce and queen), this is the four-card eye-card holding. With this same flop, if you hold a five, six and eight or a six, eight and nine, these are examples of the more frequent three-card eye-card holdings, also referred to as the “low-eye” (5,6,8) and the “high-eye” (6,8,9) holdings, respectively.

The overall odds of making a straight from the four-card eye-card holding (requiring BOTH the fourth street and last cards) are about fourteen percent (not counting last card inside straights). The overall odds of straightening the three- card eye-card holding are about nine percent (again not counting last card inside straights). But these overall odds, which are not that bad, do not adequately portray the big picture, since monetarily the (half price) FOURTH STREET CARD is a sine qua non (ie. if you do not hit, you simply get out at a small enough investment). But if you do hit the fourth street card, you are suddenly a serious contender indeed, and get to enter the infamous Omaha last-card roulette with a premium come hand.

This is particularly true in the four-card eye-card holding. If the (cheaper) fourth street card is bad (TWENTY of the remaining deck forty five cards are good! - NOT including the mere inside straight tail-card draws which you occasionally will get to see for free), you simply fold. But if you turn one of the good cards, then you get either a THIRTEEN (”outs”) card draw or a SEVENTEEN card draw (in the above example the six or eight gives seventeen outs)! In other words, all TWENTY of the good fourth street cards give you an excellent last card come.

In the quite frequent three-card eye-card holding, there are seventeen “good” fourth street cards, eight of which give you a thirteen “outs” last card straight draw, and nine give you an eight card (two-way) straight draw. Although the “low-eye” holding may produce a non-nut straight when completed with high end cards, with this kind of flop usually the low-end straight is adequate, since most of the straight competition folded after the flop.

Note that in the above example, a two and a queen were flopped to go with the eye-card seven. In real life, either (or both) of those cards might well be a more proximate working card adding still more potential to your hand. Again, as in most poker situations, the exact percentages may be difficult - but, exactness is probably not that necessary. In these post-flop judgement situations, just being aware that the eye-card situation exists AND is quite favorable, might help you with your hand evaluation next time it comes up.