[jhasper]

Lets make this thread for the newbie who wants to ask for help on their game.I will answer the question if I know it.But dont worry I know somewhere out there will answer your question If I can't do it.

[autumn]

Hi, I'm not a newbie to the forum, but I'm not too familiar with the various types of poker games, other than stud, draw, etc. What is 3-card poker? Also, what is Omaha hi-low? I read where a lot of poker tournaments and poker players play Omaha.
Thanks much!

[crazypete]

Stil no words from jhasper?Anyway I will help jhasper for this
I recently started playing Omaha Hi/Lo a bunch online and really like the game. I was talking with some friends the other night and they started asking me what is different about Omaha compared to Hold Em and what some of the tips were for playing the game. Here is what I came up with. Please let me know if you don't agree or would add anything to this list.

Top Pair - In hold em this is often worth a bet and could be the winning hand - in Omaha this is garbage

Two Pair - In hold em it's pretty good. In Omaha is not good at all, occasionaly you may win with this but about as often as you win with high card in hold em.

Trips - In hold em this is a strong hand. In Omaha it's not bad, you are hoping for a boat but don't bet the farm on this hand.

Straight - In Hold em very strong bet heavy. In Omaha you better have the nut straight with no flush draw or you can plan on losing.

Flush - In Hold em any flush will do, occasionaly two players have a flush but not often. In Omaha you better have the nut flush and if you are betting on third of fourth flush plan on losing.

Full House - In hold em plan on winning a bunch of money. In Omaha plan on other also having a boat or 4 of a kind, it happens quite a bit.

4 of a kind - This almost never happens in hold em but if you hit it mortgage the house. In Omaha this is not that uncommon though it is a great hand having two people with 4 of a kind is not unheard of.

Straight flush - These actually happen in Omaha.

Omaha requires that you know what the nuts hands are. If you are unsure what the best hand is that's possible it will hurt your game.

Starting hands. In hold em the best starting hands are pocket pairs. Followed by suited connectors. In omaha you want cards that will work together and pairs are not always better. What is a better starting hand AA23 or A234? If you look at Omaha high what is better AAKK or AKQJ? You will get much debate on that. They are all good it depends on the cards you want cards that will complement each other.

Remember you have to use 2 and only 2 cards from your hand every time. This is hard for hold em players to remember. Oh and remember you will misread your hand from time to time. It seems to happen to everyone, where you think you had one thing and bet and it turns out you didn't or you just folded the nut straight.

In playing Hi/Lo don't underestimate the importance of the low hand. You can make a decent amout of money taking the low hand especially if a couple of people are betting on the high hand. By the same token remember that the low hand gets split more often than the high hand will and you can lose money by only taking 1/4th of the pot.

Try to see flops for cheap and then bet huge when you hit your hands if you are play PL. You can bluff in Omaha but not nearly as often as you can in hold em so if you have the cards bet and if you don't get out as soon as it becomes expensive. Personally I almost never raise pre-flop because even the best starting hands can become terrible huge underdogs after the flop. In hold em if you have AA and the flop comes all hearts and you don't have one it could be bad for you but not always. If you have AA23 in Omaha and the flop comes J 10 9 with no flush draw you can pretty much toss your hand away. There is no low possible and almost certainly someone has a straight.

[autumn]

Thanks for all the great information! I must admit, however, I am not a very knowledgeable poker player, so the terminology is not second nature to me! For instance, what is a "nut hand"? And, what is a "boat"? Sorry to ask some really elementary questions, but you really seem to know a lot about it.

I couldn't add much to what you provided...I do know that a pair quite often wins in hold'em, depending upon how good the other players are at bluffing!

One other question too...what is 3-card poker, is it a separate type of game?
Thanks again..

[DeepBlue]

Nice info Pete, I had a good idea on the majority of those but not all so that's much appreciated. Are these games universal in casinos, such as can you expect the same rules for the different card games in all casinos, even all states?

Is there a standardisation for casinos or do they just all play the same games in the most popular format?

[sourcez]

lol, im new at this too, but i could suggest that you don;t google for terms like nut-hand...if you know what i mean!

From my limited experience in casinos all the games are the same, but they might be presented differently or follow slightly different limits

Hope i haven;t made too much of a fool of myself!

[DeepBlue]

Only if you've ever put "nut-hand" into google

Pete, or jhasper, have you any good online resources for odds and starting hands? I've seen a list of the percentage wins based on starting hand which are only a basic guide to the strength of hand, but I would be interested on reading more into the statistics side of Poker.

I'm particularly interested in Hold'em.