Winning Hands In Omaha Poker
For your reference we have organized poker hands by strength so that you are never wondering who is the winner of any poker hand at the table. Note that the poker games Pot Limit Omaha and Texas Hold’em both share the same hand rankings format. Poker Hand Rankings Guide. Does a straight beat a flush? Does 2 pair beat a set? Poker hand rankings As you have enlightened your knowledge about how to play Texas Hold’em poker, the five-card combination is determined to be the best based on the hand ranking. To fathom the hand ranking better we have fabricated a few frequently asked questions (FAQ) from which you can understand the hand ranking with live game scenarios.
Getting the Edge in Omaha Hi Lo Poker
In order to play consistently profitable Omaha Hi Lo, you have to have an edge; and the best edge to have is to be respected as a solid Omaha Hi Lo poker player who is unreadable.
Becoming a solid Omaha Hi Lo poker player requires discipline and the ability to calculate a hands´ outs in relation to the pot odds of winning the hand. However, if you develop this table persona too rigidly, every other player in a game of Omaha Hi Lo poker will fold any time you raise a pot and you will never have the opportunity to take down the really big pots that make Omaha Hi Lo such a profitable game for good players. Therefore, Secret #1 is to deliberately get caught bluffing.
When you get caught bluffing it is important that you follow the betting actions that you would if you have a good starting hand. If you try to get caught bluffing by limping into a pot, that will become a ‘tell’ that other players will use against you – one that will be very expensive in the long run. Therefore, although you may lose a little money when you get caught bluffing, it will encourage other players to remain in hands when you have the best hand – rather than fold their cards at the first sight of a raise.
Secret #2 is to bet heavily during the pre-flop and post-flop action when you have a good starting hand. Whereas there is often a considerable amount of luck involved in Texas Hold´em, the best starting hand often prevails in Omaha Hi Lo poker, and provided you are getting value from the pot each time you bet, over a period of time that value will translate into profit.
Secret #3 has already been mentioned on our ‘Omaha Hi Lo Strategy’ page, but it is so important that it is worth mentioning again – Don´t get carried away with A2xx when the “xx” cards have no real chance of winning a hand by themselves. A2xx is the equivalent of AQ in Texas Hold´em – acknowledged to be the most expensive hand you can be dealt.
If the flop is dealt with none or one Lo card, there is little chance of there being a qualifying Lo hand and, unless you have been lucky and the board has connected with your other two cards, you will be wasting all the money you put into the pre-flop action when you muck your hand.
Secret #4 is to play above your Texas Hold´em bankroll. Many players making the transition from No Limit Texas Hold´em to Omaha Hi Lo will head for the tables with the same buy-in as they have been used to. However, with many Omaha Hi Lo pots having a relatively greater value than those played for in Texas Hold´em, and many of those pots being split between two winners, you can double the stake limit at which you play Omaha Hi Lo.
As we mention on our ‘Home Page’, one of the best reasons for playing Omaha Hi Lo Poker is that each hand often has two pots, which enables players to collect ‘Player Points’ at a faster rate to clear poker bonuses quicker and take advantage of online poker sites VIP programs (or increase your rakeback). If you play on an Omaha Hi Lo table with double the stakes of a Texas Hold´em table, you will clear a poker bonus or reach higher status levels in the sites VIP program in half the time.
What Are The Best Hands In Omaha Poker
The Best Online Poker Sites to Play Omaha Hi Lo Poker
It is no secret to anyone that PokerStars is the best online poker site to play Omaha Hi Lo Poker as there is always plenty of action at the biggest poker site in the world, whereas on others it can be difficult during off-peak times to find a few tables to play on.
However, everybody already has a PokerStars account, and players looking for some free poker money for opening an account elsewhere should look at 888 Poker – which has a strong Omaha Hi Lo community – or Poker 770, where there is usually tables open at all stake levels throughout the day.
Players from the States should have a look at Carbon Poker, who host a number of Omaha Hi Lo poker tournaments with guaranteed prize money, or those with deeper pockets might like to apply their poker skills at Lock Poker – where much of the action takes place at higher stake levels.
Knowing your poker hands is crucial to playing a solid game at the table, and regardless of whether you’re playing Texas Hold’em, or Omaha, you’ll always want to know the value of your hand. When you have this knowledge at your disposal, you’ll be able to make an informed decision on whether to raise, check, call, or fold your hand when it matters most.
In this post, we’re going to look at the winning poker hands structure of two different games; Texas Hold’em, and Omaha – and we’ll begin by taking a look at a poker hands chart, followed by the best and worst starting hands. We’ll also show you a list of poker hands to help you make the right decisions in your game.
Texas Hold’em Winning Poker Hands Ranking
In this guide, you’ll see that there are a total of 10 hands in Texas Hold’em poker (or 9 if you don’t count ‘no pair’ as a hand), and we’ll detail these below. (The winning poker hands chart below shows a list of poker hands, ranked best, to worst).
Royal Flush: Ten, Jack, Queen, King, Ace, all of the same suit.
Straight Flush: Any 5 cards of the same suit, in consecutive order. (I.e. 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 of spades).
4-of-a-kind: 4 cards of the same value (i.e. the 5 of spades, the 5 of hearts, the 5 of clubs, and the 5 of diamonds).
Full House: A full house consists of one 3-of-a-kind hand, and one pair, so for instance, a full house could be the 2 of spades, the 2 of diamonds, the 2 of clubs, and a pair of Aces.
Flush: Five cards of the same suit (i.e. 2, 3, 7, 8, and 9 of hearts).
Winning Hands In Omaha Poker Results
Straight: Five cards in consecutive order (i.e. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, off-suit).
3-of-a-kind: Three cards of the same value (I.e. 3 of clubs, 3 or spades, and the 3 of hearts).
Two Pair: Two pairs in one hand – i.e. a pair of 2’s, and a pair of 3’s.
One Pair: One singular pair – i.e. a pair of Aces.
No Pair: A no pair hand is when you don’t have any of the above. In this instance, you have what is known as a ‘high card hard’.
Use the poker hands chart above to ensure you’re always in full control of your game!
Omaha Poker Hands Ranking
Omaha Hand Calculator
Omaha uses the exact same hand-ranking process as Texas Hold’em does, and while it may seem as though that’s a little ‘odd’ at first, remember that Omaha is almost identical, aside from the fact that players have four cards, and that betting is usually pot-limit.
This means that a Royal Flush is the best possible hand in a game of Omaha, and high-card (while incredibly unusual due to the 4 cards each player holds) is the lowest possible hand.
For a full guide on playing Omaha, be sure to check out our How to Play Omaha guide.
Best Starting Poker Hands
Knowing your winning poker hands is crucial if you want to play a solid game of poker – and below, we share how to determine whether or not you have a winner on your hand!
Texas Hold’em: The best starting hand is a pair of Aces. A pair of aces (also known as pocket rockets) are a favourite pre-flop over any other starting hand and is almost always one of the best winning poker hands. The second, and third best starting hands are a pair of Kings and Queens respectively, followed by Ace-King suited, pocket Jacks, pocket Tens, and then Ace-Queen suited. The 10th best starting hand is Ace-King Offsuit – which is actually still a very strong hand.
Omaha: Working out winning poker hands in Omaha is a little more complex than Texas Hold’em, when looking at the best starting hands, although mathematically, the best starting hands can be determined.
For example, the strongest hand is AAKK, followed by AAJT, AAQQ, and AAJJ. It’s worth noting however, that the best possible hand in Omaha holds little value against a full-ring of players, hence the need to play aggressively, pre-flop and post-flop; see our poker hands chart for more details.
Worst Poker Starting Hands
Determining the worst starting hands in poker is a little more challenging – largely due to the fact that most players simply have knowledge of the better starting hands – yet knowing what the worst starting hands are is just as important, as it allows you to know when to throw away your hands pre-flop. Below, we look at the worst starting hands for both Texas Hold’em and Omaha.
Texas Hold’em: 2-7 offsuit (this is well-known as the worst starting hand in poker, due to the fact that it’s often used as side-bets in games.) 7-2 offsuit is followed by 8-2 offsuit, 8-3 offsuit, 7-3 offsuit, 6-2 offsuit, 9-2, 9-3, and 9-4 offsuit.
Omaha: Unfortunately, with Omaha, there isn’t an ‘official’ list of worst poker hands – purely due to the fact that there would be too many to list. However, most professionals and poker experts agree that any starting hand that combines any of the worst starting hands in Texas Hold’em generally constitute a very poor starting hand in Omaha too – so it’s worth throwing these away most of the time, pre-flop. If in doubt, consult the list of winning poker hands ranking above.