Starting Hands
For a starting hand to be good you need all four cards to be working in combination with each other. The following hands are the sort of hands you want to play and why.
Two high pair e.g. A-A-K-K down to J-J-T-T
With these hands you are looking to flop top set i.e. you want to make the highest possible three of a kind (or the highest possible full house). Unlike in hold’em a pair of aces on its own will almost definitely not win without improvement so if you don’t flop top set and there is a bet, just fold. It is possible to win with a set that is not top set but when you are just getting a feel for the game it is safest to only play top set; you will still win money playing this way. When you do make top set you want to bet or raise the maximum right away because you do not want to give any free cards - in Omaha a set is always vulnerable to a straight or a flush draw. Even if you flop a full house e.g. you have Q-Q-T-T and the board comes Q-5-5, you want to bet right away as you want anyone with a 5 to call you all the way down to the river.
A high pair and two other well coordinated cards e.g. J-J-T-9
Once again with the pair you are looking to flop top set, but with these types of hands you can also make nut straights (remember you only want to play or draw to the nuts).
Four connected cards e.g. K-Q-J-T down to 7-6-5-4
These types of hands are looking to flop the nut straight or the nut straight draw. In Omaha you can have a lot more outs to a straight draw with four connected cards like this than you can in hold’em. For example, if you have K-Q-J-T the flop comes 9-8-2 off suit, any 7, T, J or Q will give you the nut straight i.e. 13 cards will make you the best hand. However, if the board pairs, a straight will almost certainly not win, so check and fold it. The higher the connected cards, the better, because you can make more nut straights. A hand like 2-3-4-5 should not be played because it will often only make the bottom end of a straight which will lose to a higher straight. Three connected cards with one gap e.g. K-Q-J-9 is also a good hand and is played in much the same way.
Three connected cards with a suited ace e.g. A -7-6 -5
This hand can make nut straights and the nut flush. An important note on flushes: you would be surprised how often even a king high flush gets beat by an ace high flush, for this reason only ever draw to the nut flush. It can often be very dangerous to play anything other than the nut flush. Anything less than a king high flush should be folded without hesitation if someone bets.
Just a pair of aces or kings e.g. A-A-8-2
The only good thing about this hand is the pair of aces, meaning that to win you need to flop a set. This will happen about 1 in 8 times. For this reason this sort of a hand can be played, but only if you can see the flop very cheaply i.e. if it just costs you the big blind to call. You only want to make this play with a pair of aces or kings. Any other pair e.g. queens, can make a set but can still be easily beaten by a higher set.
Final note on starting hands
By strictly following these starting hands, you will not be playing many hands but you will make money on those you do play, so don’t be worried if you haven’t played a hand in a while.
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