You’re in a $5/$10 Omaha game in online poker. You hold Js 9d 8s 7h, a wraparound draw with a flush possibility. The flop comes Jd 9s 8d. There is a bet and three callers. You decide to call and see the turn card. It’s the 7d. What now? How do you handle turning four pair in Omaha?



The first thing you must realize is that the only way you can possibly win this hand is if the board pairs on the river. Omaha is a game of big draws and big hands, and with the number of cards out there against you, it is a virtual certainty that one or more of your opponents holds a straight or a flush. In a limit Omaha game, you will have to decide if the pot odds are favorable. You have eight outs, the two remaining jacks, nines, eights and sevens, out of 44 cards you have not seen. There are 36 bad cards to 8 outs, which is 4.5 to 1. If there’s a $10 bet to you and $70 in the pot, you’re getting 7 to 1, which would make the call correct.









However, complicating matters is the fact that you could hit your full house and still lose. You have the 9d in your hand making the straight flush impossible, but if someone should have the remaining two jacks or nines in their hand, a 7 or 8 could give them a bigger full house. This is unlikely, but it means your odds are not a perfect 4.5 to 1. In any event, it is probably correct to call one bet. However, if there is a bet and a raise before it gets to you, you are now looking at $20 to win $80, or 4 to 1, which is no longer favorable. Furthermore, even if the bet is only $10, you have to consider that players behind you may raise and reraise, forcing you to abandon the hand and your $10 bet.



In a pot-limit situation, one of your opponents will probably bet the pot, and you should fold. Not only are you beaten and getting bad odds, but the implied odds you enjoy in Texas Holdem do not apply here, as most savvy Omaha players will realize their flush or straight is no longer good if the board pairs and throw their hand away. Furthermore, if you are in a situation where you make a full house and someone does make a bigger full house, you will lose a massive pot on the river.



Four pair may look nice, but it’s really not a very strong hand in Omaha. Next time you crush the Omaha tables at Poker Stars, for example, you should save your money to invest in hands that are the nuts or the nut draw, and look to get away from speculative hands like four pair.

By: Graham Bond

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Graham is the owner of www.thepokerbuzz.com
His web site is dedicated to providing the information every poker player needs from poker site reviews to poker tips and poker strategy articles.