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Original article found at:
http://www.poker-strategy.org/default.aspx?tabid=184
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Recommended Starting Hands
If you follow this list of suggested starting hands, you’ll seldom get into
trouble, or find yourself involved in a hand where you’ll be confused about
whether you ought to continue playing or fold your hand.
Ace-ace combinations: Any hand containing a pair of aces is a terrific starting
hand, though some are much stronger than others. Obviously a hand like As-Ad-Ks-Kd
is about as good as it gets. You’ve got the two best pair, and if you flop a set
it will be the highest possible set and therefore any full house that may be
derived from this holding would also be the highest possible full house. In
addition, you can make the nut flush in either diamonds or spades, and if you
make a straight it will be the highest possible straight.
Consider the difference in quality between this hand and a pair of “dry aces,”
such as As-Ad-9h-5c. Although this hand is favored against any other individual
hand except a better hand containing a pair of aces, it lacks flush potential,
straight potential, can only flop one set rather than two, and can easily be run
down by a group of opponents. Nevertheless, this hand would be favored against
any other single opponent who does not hold a pair of aces in his hand, so it’s
as important — and perhaps even more important — to raise with this hand in
hopes of reducing the field than it is to raise with a higher quality hand
containing a pair of aces.
Other good hands involving a pair of aces would include such holdings as
A-A-Q-Q, A-A-J-J, A-A-T-T, A-A-9-9, and any pair along with a pair of aces.
Obviously, if one of the aces is suited to another of your cards so much the
better, and if both aces are suited that’s better yet.
But aces are valuable even if they’re not accompanied by another pair, and a
hand like A-A-J-T, A-A-K-Q, A-A-Q-J, A-A-K-T, and A-A-K-J are all terrific
starting hand combinations, and can be played very aggressively before the flop.
After all, no one can have a bigger hand before the flop than one containing a
pair of aces. The difference between incredibly good hands, such as A-A-K-K
double suited and A-A-8-4 is that the former has so much more potential for
making big hands over and above it’s pair of aces, that it is a far superior
holding.
King-king and Queen-queen combinations: Just as any hand containing a pair of
aces is a good starting hand, so are hands containing a pair of kings and a pair
of queens. The quality of each particular holding that includes either a pair of
kings or queens is similar to those hands containing a pair of aces.
In the best of these hands, the big pair is supported by another big pair and
is double suited. Thus Kd-Ks-Qd-Qs is a better hand than Kd-Ks-9d-9s. While all
the flushes will each be king-high, the former can make bigger sets and
therefore bigger full houses than the latter hand and K-K-Q-Q can make bigger
straights too.
Next in desirability are hands that are single suited. Once again, a hand
like Kd-Ks-Qd-Qh is a better hand than Kd-Ks-9d-9h, for the same reasons.
A single pair of kings or queens, supported by straight cards is also very
desirable, and a hand such as Kd-Ks-Qd-Js offers a big pair, a draw to a very
big set and full house, as well as the second best possible flush draw in two
suits and a variety of very big straights.
Wrap Music: Wrap hands can be incredibly strong, with the strongest of them all
being J-T-9-8 double suited. Double suited hands are better than similar hands
that are single suited, and a single suited hands is more desirable than one
that’s unsuited, but the strength of these hands is not so much the flush
potential –— which can easily be beaten by queen-high, king-high, or ace-high
flushes — but in all of the straights that can be made with these cards.
Wrap hands need not be as tightly bound as this holding, and a hand with a gap
in it can also provide a draw to a straight that can be completed by any of 20
outs. Since bigger is better, the higher the starting cards, the more likely
yours will be nut straight. So what’s the difference between this hand and one
like A-K-Q-J, which is also a terrific holding? You can make more straights with
the jack-high grouping because it can meld with cards above as well as below it
in ranking. Although you won’t make as many straights with the ace-high
grouping, all of the straights you manage to make will be the nut straight.
Since higher hands are generally better than lower ones, small wraps, such as
6-5-4-3 are much worse than they might first appear. Yes, everything we’ve said
about making straights with this hand and others like it are just as true as it
is with hands like J-T-9-8, the big difference lies in the quality of the
straight you make when the flop hits you. If you make a straight with 6-5-4-3,
one of your opponents might have made a bigger straight, and even if he hasn’t
there may be one or more opponents lurking in the weeds with a draw to a bigger
straight. Hands like these can cost most or all of your chips in pot limit
games, and quite a few chips in limit poker games too. Good Omaha players have
the discipline to release these weaker wrap hands and save their time, chips,
and energy for bigger holdings.
In all cases, double suited hands are superior to those that are single suited,
and single suited hands are superior to those that are unsuited. All of these
selections support the construction of big full houses, big straights, and when
suited or double suited, they also support building big flushes too — the kinds
of hands that usually win pots in Omaha games.
The hands that follow are emblematic of good starting hands for Omaha. They are
not nearly as good as those hands based on pairs of aces, kings, queens; nor are
they as strong as big suited connectors, such as K-Q-J-T, but they are playable.
This list is certainly not exclusive. But these hands provide examples of entire
groups of analogous hands that are playable.
Very Good Hands
Qh-Js-8h-6s: Call. You can flop flush and straight draws with this hand.
Qs-Qh-6c-3s: Call if the pot has not been raised. Your two smaller cards are
essentially worthless. With a hand like this you want to either flop a set of
queens get packing.
Kh-9h-6s-5s: Call if the pot has not been raised. You’ve got some draws that are
possible with this holding, though it’s unlikely you’ll ever make the best
possible hand.
Ad-Jc-Th-8s: This hand is significantly weaker than the very best hands, but it
has high card potential for a straight, and can be played if the pot has not
been raised before it’s your turn to act. If the pot has been raised, someone
probably has a bigger hand than yours and you ought to save your money for a
better opportunity.
9h-9c-8c-8d: You have potential to build a straight, a flush, and you might flop
a set too. This is a playable hand.
All of these hands are playable because they offer numerous possibilities, such
as sets, straights, and flushes. The time to play hands like these is when the
pot has not been raised before it’s your turn to act. Hands like these have
difficulty growing into the nuts, and facing the prospect of having to call a
raised pot is a strong indication that the raiser is starting out with a bigger
hand than yours. This puts the double-whammy on you: Not only are you an
underdog to the better hand, it will cost also you two bets instead of one just
to see the flop.
The following chart contains examples of hands you probably shouldn’t play from
any position, even at the small cost of one bet. These hand s are either weak or
tend to lead you into costly traps. We’ll explain why.
Unplayable Hands
7s-7c-4c-2d: All of your possibilities are weak. A set of sevens is no
guarantee of winning the pot and making a seven-high flush or a straight using
either your four-deuce or seven-four combinations will produce hands that can
easily be bested by others.
Qs-Js-6h-5h: Many hold’em players gravitate to hands like this: two fair hold’em
hands that are completely uncoordinated for Omaha. Neither the five nor the six
work in any way with the queen or jack, and two playable hold’em hands don’t
always add up to a playable Omaha hand. There are lots of hands that fit into
this category. Examples are As-Th-5c-5d, Jh-8h-5c-4c, and Ah-Kh-3c-3h. You
should be able to think of a few others with some practice.
4c-4h-3d-3s: Low sets and baby straights can doom you to a second best hand that
costs a lot more than you are apt o win if you get lucky. Just dig up the
discipline to say “No” to hands like these.
As-2h-3h-4c: While you’d raise with this hand in Omaha/8, you shouldn’t even
call with it in Omaha-high. Any straight you make can be bested by a bigger one,
and winning the pot with a three-high flush qualifies as a modern miracle. If an
ace falls, your pair of aces will lose to any other ace because your kicker is
so low.
Kh-Qd-7s-6c: Two straight possibilities with nothing else is another example of
two hold’em hands that look nice adding up to a lot less than one good Omaha
hand. Save your money.
These recommend hands are not the only hands you can play before the flop, but
if you are learning the game and stick to these hands and hands like them, you
should be able to avoid the tragic flaw of playing too many of them. In addition
to avoiding the downfall of many Omaha players, you’ll seldom find yourself
trapped in hands that are confusing if you follow these suggestions. Releasing
hands that do not catch part of the flop will by easy, and less costly too. And
when you do play, the quality of your hands will be quite high. Since most
people play Omaha because it offers an easy rationale for playing more hands,
our recommendations will allow you to take advantage of that propensity and
profit from it.
Article by Lou Krieger
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