Why Hold'em And Omaha Are Perfect Poker Partners

Are you a no-limit hold’em (NLH) player looking to expand your horizons? Do you envy mixed game players but aren’t sure where to start? Pot-limit Omaha (PLO) and NLH make perfect poker partners.

NLH and PLO are, at base, similar games. Both start with hole cards and employ a board of five common cards. The games are much more similar than, say, NLH and Stud, Razz or Badugi. If you have a solid understanding of NLH, PLO is easier to learn, and vice versa.

However, the differences between NLH and PLO keep things interesting and make learning one game complementary to developing skills in the other. Key differences between the two include:

• In NLH you are dealt two hole cards, while in PLO you are dealt four. In NHL, you could end up playing both, one or none of your hole cards. In PLO, you must play both of your hole cards at showdown. Learning how to choose, and assign relative value to, four hole cards strengthens your decisions when you are only dealt two.

• Position is even more important in PLO than in NLH. PLO teaches you (the hard way) not to be over-eager when you are playing out of position. In PLO, it seems everyone has a draw. If you hang around too long from early position with vulnerable hands, you will go broke fast. Increased positional awareness developed playing PLO will translate to a more disciplined NLH game.

• Suitedness is nice in NLH, but king in PLO. If you are one of those NLH players whose eyes light up when your hole cards are the same suit, PLO will be attractive to you. All of the top PLO hands are double suited. However, non-nut flushes lose more frequently to nut flushes in PLO than NLH. Attending to those dangers in PLO will help you avoid over-committing your whole stack with a weak flush in NLH.

• You need stronger hands in Omaha to win at showdown. Because PLO players start with four cards, rather than two, there are more opportunities to mesh with the board than in NLH. This simple fact means that two pair is rarely a winner in PLO, and a single pair almost never is. Understanding how relative hand strength changes with evolving board texture in PLO, given a wider range of opponent holdings, is very challenging. If you master that skill in PLO, applying it in NLH will become much easier.

Advanced Poker Training has long been the leader in NLH poker training. It’s the world’s no. 1 poker training site with over 60,000 members. This spring, we, the creators of APT have launched Omaha Poker Training Advanced Poker Training. OPT is the only PLO training site which allows you to learn by playing the game.

Both sites feature:

• Virtual opponents of various skill levels, who adjust to your game and try to beat you.
• Advisers to watch over your shoulder while you play and give suggestions.
• Your own personal database of every hand you’ve played and detailed reports on how to improve.
• The ability to view your opponent’s ranges and test your skills at hand reading.
• Daily live tournaments against other members!

Each site offers a variety of resources for beginners, including basic strategy articles and videos, a variety of training options, and the ability to focus on training step by step to improve your game.

To start your NLH training, just visit Advanced Poker Training and click the “Start Training” button.

If you are interested in learning PLO, visit Omaha Poker Training and click the “Start Training” button.

Whichever game is your current focus, we have you covered.

And for a very limited time, you can use the offer code CARDPLAYER25 on either site to get up to 25 percent off any membership package!

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