Posted in Poker January 12th, 2010
Variation of Texas Hold’em: Omaha Hold’em
One wonderful thing about poker is that there is always something new and exciting surrounding it. New to the world of poker is Omaha hold’em, a variation of Texas hold’em where four cards are dealt instead of two.
The extra two cards open up a whole new avenue of possibilities while playing poker. The main idea behind Omaha is to offer you the extra two options to obtain the best hand possible. Essentially it boils down to which two of all four of your cards will best fit with the community cards that are down on the table. In normal hold’em you only have the two cards you are dealt and you have to use them as best as possible, and in Omaha you at least have a choice.
The result is that you get to play more hands and have more opportunity to win. What many people don’t realize is that poker isn’t only about the cards. If that was the case, then you\’d probably have more fun playing bridge, but because of the betting involved it adds a new dimension to the game and forces you to keep your wits about you.
The rules and play of Omaha are the same as for other hold\’em games. Each player is dealt four cards to use in the round. At this point, if your cards are such that you wish to continue the play, an initial bet is placed. This bet is called the big blind. You determine from your hand whether to call, raise or fold.
With round one of betting completed the first group of community cards is dealt to the table, the flop. Once again a round of betting ensues and you must decide from the cards in your hand whether to raise, call or fold. Once betting is over, the next community card, the turn, is dealt to the table and another round of betting takes place.
Once the last card is dealt (the river), the final round of betting begins and here is the card that will make you either a winner or a loser. Either way, you are ready to start all over again to either win back a loss or add to a win. The rounds of betting allow you to judge the strengths of your opponents’ hands and with experience and developing your skill at perception and insight, you will know when to bet and how much.
All forms of poker involve the challenge of playing against people rather than just the cards. Most of the time a person is unpredictable, until you begin to learn their playing style. If you can pick up on how they play, then you can predict what a person will do based on how you play.
The more you play, the better you will get at putting your opponent on a hand and the easier it will become to beat them; the rest as they say is all up to luck!
The author is a successful limit cash game player. He plays poker online and receives Fat Bet Poker Rakeback as well as Rakeback at Minted Poker.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 12th, 2010 at 5:39 pm and is filed under Poker. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.
