Go Omaha, Young Man

If Horace Greeley were alive today, he might well recommend Omaha high-low as the best opportunity in poker. Why? Because large numbers of Omaha high-low players can actually win at it (or lose very little). Note that I am referring to the vast majority of Omaha high-low games spread in this country, which are of the "loose" variety (especially those at the lower stakes, $10-$20 and lower). I am not referring to the (usually higher-limit) "tight" Omaha high-low games, in which the play is quite different! My definition of loose ("Cappelletti's Rule") is any game in which more than five players are seeing the flop, on average. In loose Omaha high-low games, there is loose (extra) money in most pots, which means that the better hands will show extra profit in the long run.

Is Omaha high-low a very skillful form of poker? Quite the contrary! Most Omaha high-low experts understand that their edge over good medium-level players is rather thin in loose Omaha high-low games. But both experts and medium-level Omaha high-low players have a considerable edge over the weaker players! That is probably one reason why loose Omaha high-low games are becoming so popular with the vast population of medium-level players. The weaker players love loose Omaha high-low games because there is so much action that it is very engrossing and entertaining. For a fuller discussion of these fish vs. fisherman concepts, see the opening "Perspective" of my book Cappelletti on Omaha.

The two most significant reasons why medium-level players do so much better at Omaha high-low than at hold'em or seven-card stud are that the basic strategy of Omaha high-low is relatively easy to understand and apply, and medium-level players win much more from the weaker players than they surrender to the better players.

The basic strategy (or "formula") for playing Omaha high-low is essentially to play only good starting hands, continue after the flop only with high-percentage holdings, and not get caught in big betting on the last two rounds, which are double bets. For more on basic strategy, see Cappelletti on Omaha. Because this basic strategy is straightforward and relatively easy to apply, almost anyone can win at Omaha high-low.

Why do experts have less advantage in loose Omaha high-low games? In most forms of poker (including high Omaha, hold'em, and seven-card stud), much of the expert's edge results from the expert's ability to make accurate and sophisticated judgments. But in Omaha high-low, because of the game's bidirectional nature, many critical judgments must be based on ambiguous and less accurate information, such as what your various opponents are likely to be holding. Less accurate information yields less accurate judgments, and less skill advantage.

Although there often are significant bluffing possibilities in straight Omaha high pots (when there are two or three high cards in the flop), there are very few bluffing opportunities in two-way pots (especially when well-attended). Also, in well-attended pots in Omaha high-low, it is not always clear whether a check, bet, or raise (push vs. pull) is the most effective action. (But very skillful players can more accurately read hands and better decide which act is correct.) Otherwise put, Omaha high-low has a lot of randomness to it – which, of course, lessens the impact of an expert's skill.

But here is the really good news. Those of us who bother to keep records have noticed that our hourly win rate while playing this Omaha high-low nonsense just happens to be about two to three big bets per hour!

That is roughly double what is widely held to be a good hourly win rate in hold'em (one to one-and-a-half big bets per hour – although it's somewhat greater in many low-level loose games)!

Thus, if a good medium-level player averages two big bets an hour in Omaha high-low and only one big bet an hour in hold'em, for any given session, he rates to win as much playing Omaha high-low as he does playing hold'em at twice the stakes. And because he is playing for lower stakes with less variance, he needs less bankroll, since he loses less often and his occasional big loss is less than half as much.

Notwithstanding all of this good news, there is also some bad news! Is Omaha so frustrating at times that you might lose your sense of humor? Yes! But, is Omaha fun to play? Again, yes! Why is that bad? Because it's dangerously addictive! You too may become an "Omaholic"!