Playing Tips for Omaha-5 Poker

PLAYING TIPS for OMAHA-5 (Hot Omaha) POKER

HOW TO PLAY OMAHA-FIVE Poker
(aka Hot Omaha or Hot Omaha-5)
Omaha-5 Poker is played like Omaha with this twist: Deal 5 cards down to each player. Before any betting each player must discard one hole card face down in the middle of the table, leaving them with 4 cards. The discards are shuffled or mixed together. 5 of these discarded cards are drawn and used as the flop, turn and river. Play continues exactly like Omaha with players using exactly 2 hole cards and exactly 3 cards from the board to make their hand.
May be played high, high-low split or high-low eight or better.

SUMMARY of ACTION
Deal 5 hole cards to each player.
Each player selects 1 card from their hand and discards it face down.
Gather and mix/shuffle all discarded cards.
Use these cards to deal flop, turn and river.
Bet
Deal 3 cards from discards as flop.
Bet
Deal 1 card from discards as turn.
Bet
Deal 1 card from discards as river.
Bet
High only: Showdown
High-low split: Declare
Bet
Showdown

There are an enormous number of books, articles and other information that will be very helpful in playing just about any version of Omaha, including Omaha-5. Our playing tips do not to get into any of that knowledge. What they do is point out the differences of Omaha-5 compared to "regular" Omaha and suggest how to play in a way that adapts to those differences.

PLAYING TIPS for OMAHA-FIVE POKER
In Omaha the flop, turn and river consist of random cards that come from the unseen deck. There is a equal chance that any card may appear. In contrast, the board cards in Omaha-Five poker are not random. The board consists of cards that have been seen and selected by the players. Most importantly, those cards come back into play. The board is "hot" meaning the board is more likely to contain some cards and less likely to contain others depending upon how valuable they seem to players. Predicting what those cards are is one of the important objectives in playing Omaha-Five poker.

Omaha-Five Poker strategy is essentially the same as "standard" Omaha strategy, but it also has features that can make a significant difference.
One difference with Omaha-5 is that you are dealt 5 hole cards instead of 4. You will be dealt more pocket pairs (maybe 2 pairs). There will be many more suited, connected and high ranked hole cards - hands that you and your opponents will want to at least see the flop with. It is also highly likely that several players will continue in the hand beyond the flop. Omaha-5 will typically involve multiple players and require a strong final hand in order to win.

A second difference is that you also have an important decision to make that can significantly impact the game. This decision is selecting a card to remove from your hand, but that may come back into play. For that reason, whenever possible players should discard a card that will help their hand if it re-appears on the board.

Omaha-5 should be considered a game of the nuts, meaning that it is usually the case that you will need the very best possible hand to win. This is especially true when a straight or flush is the best possible hand and for the low hand if playing a high-low version.   How coordinated the board cards are will determine the usual winning hand.

STARTING HAND SELECTION
In Omaha based games you want to start with cards that gives many possibilities for winning.  But, unlike "standard" Omaha games, starting hands like trips, 3-suited, 3-connected cards are the most desirable Omaha-5 starting hands. That is because those hands will be improved should the discarded card reappear on the board.

Trips as hole cards increase your chances of making a set or full house or even quads. But they can be variable in their strength dependent on their rank. Low sets or low full houses may be vulnerable and could cost you a lot of money before you find out if they are a winner or merely second best.

A high pair or two is a good start, provided they are also coordinated to other cards. (For example, A♣ A♦ 2♣ 3♦ or   A♣ A♦ K♣ K♦). Out of the original 5 cards, you will be dealt any 2 pair about 5% of the time and any one pair about 42%.  Should you then flop a set you now have a good draw to a full house or better. Be careful if the pair on the board is of a rank higher than your trips.  Without additional coordination single pairs alone (even aces) are not very good starting hands.

Suited high connected cards are helpful for flushes and straights.   Three hole cards of the same suit improve your chances of making a flush. Your play would be to discard the lowest ranked card and hope it reappears on the board. But, their value, or lack of value, greatly depends on the ranks. Suited aces are great as they can make the nuts. Suited to a king is OK. Anything less could be problematic. Drawing to something like a ten-high flush with
T♦ 6♦ 2♦ would be a poor starting hand decision.

To summarize, reasonable Omaha-Five Poker strategy is to favor starting hands that contain pairs, suited aces, other suited and/or connected cards or multiple Broadway cards. Your best bet is to play starting hands that can make 3 of a kind or better.   Since each player starts with 5 cards and can select the most advantageous four cards to keep you should expect that stronger and better coordinated starting hands are present. All in all, it is much more probable that players are able to combine elements of both strong starting high and low hands. Expect to see the board pair more often. As a result, expect more frequent full houses and quads resulting and fewer straights or flushes being winners.

HIGH HAND PROBABILITIES
Approximate probabilities of being dealt these HIGH hands as your 5 hole cards.

5 Card Hand
3 of a Kind
2 Pair
1 Pair

Percent/Odds Probability
2.11% (46:1)
4.75% (20:1)
42.3% (1.4:1)

PRE-FLOP STRATEGY IMPACTS THE BOARD CARDS
As explained, the cards discarded pre-flop will come back into play as the flop, turn and river. In an 8 handed game there is a 62.5% chance that the card a player discards will come into play. It is 71% for a 7 handed game. Whenever possible you will want to discard a card that will help your hand if it re-appears. For example, if you held 3 of a kind, you would discard one of them as you would love to see it back on the board. Likewise, when holding 3 of the same suit Granted, you may not have such clear-cut choices or opportunities, so it is not always easy to do. There may be contradictory pros and cons about what to keep and what to discard, but it is still the goal. It can be helpful to practice by dealing yourself hands and contemplating the best cards to keep and the best to discard.

It is not uncommon that you do not have a card to discard that will help you were it to come back into play. When faced with this uncertainty a player should consider what cards the other players are most likely to keep and try to discard one that is less likely to help an opponent's hand. Predicting what specific cards your opponents might keep is difficult, but it typically follows a trend.

Cards that players will most likely keep are any ace, very high cards, pairs, suited and unsuited connected cards. Players are far more likely to keep their highest cards and discard low cards unless paired or suited to an ace or king. The cards they are most likely to discard are low to middle ranked cards and any other card that is not well coordinated with their other four.

Ace: As the highest card an ace will almost always be kept. May consider discarding only if not paired, not suited, not connected with other high cards (KQJT), they hold another pair. Even in those circumstances discarding an ace will almost certainly help another player if it reappears on the board.
Playing high-low split further reduces the chance of an ace being discarded.

Broadway cards (Ten through King): Will typically be kept if suited, connected (including gapped) or paired. The higher the rank, the more likely it will be kept.

Medium ranked cards (9 through 5): - Will often be discarded unless suited to ace or another high card, is paired or suited-connected. The lower the rank, the more likely it will be discarded.

Low ranked cards (4 through 2): Will discard unless suited to ace or another high card, paired or suited connected. The lower the rank, the more likely it will be discarded. Of course, if playing High-Low split, low cards become very desirable to retain. More about that later in the section Playing High-Low Split.

There will often be contradictory pros and cons about what to keep and what to discard, but it is still the goal. Some examples may help.

Example: Your 5 hole cards are 77889. At first thought it may seem that it is the 9 that should be discarded since it is not paired. But what is its value if it re-appears? It has only minor value by being connected to 78. If another player holds a pair of 9's discarding your 9 helps him enormously. He will have trips higher than any trips you can make. If he makes a full house 9's full will be higher than any full house of yours. What if you discarded a 7? If it re-appears you have your pair back. No one else is likely to hold the other pair of 7's or 8's. And since unpaired middle cards are the ones most other players will discard it is likely additional 7's, 8's or 9's will appear.

On the other hand, if your cards were 78899 it makes sense to discard the unmatched 7. Now it is you who have the draw to the higher trips and full houses.

REMEMBER THE CARD YOU DISCARDED
It is important to remember the card you discarded exactly by both rank and suit. Let's say you are dealt a hand that contains trip sevens - 2 red and 1 black. You discard the black 7 knowing that you have a very good chance of it coming back to give you trips. The flop comes with the 7 of clubs and there you are! Was that the black 7 you discarded? What if you discarded the 7 of spades? Wouldn't you love to know for certain that the 4th seven was still out there? The only way you can know that is to remember exactly what card you discarded, so make sure you do. (If you are dealt trips 2 of them will always be the same color. Discard one of those rather than the odd colored card. It will be easier for you to remember. e.g., "red 7")

PLAYING OMAHA-5 AS HIGH-LOW SPLIT 
Playing High-Low Split will result in players wanting to see a flop with the very lowest combinations, like A2 or A3. When suited these add a possible nut flush draw and so are very strong starting hands that have the potential of scooping the entire pot.  It is not uncommon for 1 or more players to be starting with the best low. Playing high-low split greatly reduces the already small chance of an ace being discarded.

A2 is the nuts from the start. You just have to hope it is not counterfeited by the board. But, since other players rarely discard aces, that is not likely unless someone throws away a deuce. For that reason, a protected low like A23 or A24 is a far better hand. Whenever you hold one of these low hands with an ace, you'd prefer the ace to be suited to one of your other cards.   A23 can be played strong from the start. The absolute perfect low starting hand is A234X (X = any card 5 to king). You would discard the odd (X) card, leaving you with A234. This hand is an almost certain winner as it can only be counterfeited if 3 of those 4 ranks appear on the board.   In an eight handed game if you are not dealt A2 there is a better than 60% chance someone else was.

Even though A3 or 23 are only a one card draw to the nuts, the nature of the game makes it hard for them to become the best. Not only must you dodge being counterfeited by the board, but you also have to hope to catch a perfect card to make the nut low. With A3, the second best low, there is a chance that a deuce may be discarded so it's a starting hand worth playing. It could also win by itself without improvement, though it can be very tough to bet it. It also has about an equal chance of being ruined by someone discarding a three.

23 is also only a single board card away from making the nut low. That is less likely to happen. Since aces are rarely discarded, 23 stands little chance to make the best low hand. The same goes for any low hands that are 2 cards from the nut low, like 24 or 34. A4 suited is worth playing primarily for the nut flush possibility, although there is also some slim additional hope it might make the nut low.

Playing high-low split tends to polarize the cards players are most likely to retain. That is, they tend to keep the highest and lowest ranks of cards. As a result, the cards they are more likely to discard are middle (4 - 9) ranked cards.

LOW HAND PROBABILITIES
Approximate probability of being dealt these low hands as your 5 hole cards.

5 Card Hand
A2 XXX
A3 XXX or 23 XXX

A23 XX
A24 XX or A34 XX or 234 XX

A234 X

Percent/Odds Probability
12% (7:1)
24% (3:1)

2.4% (40:1)
7.2% (13:1)

0.45% (221:1)