Yes, good Omaha poker players can play purely by feel and instinct, but you know what never hurts your play? Knowing the actual numbers. Omaha’s not as simple as Hold ‘Em, though, when it comes to math and before you can learn the odds, you have to know which hands you’re talking about. To keep this piece a manageable length, we’re going to focus on just a few specific hand types that you’re likely to see with some examples.
The Wraparound
When you’re holding a wraparound straight draw, you’ve got two cards above and one below the two cards connected on the board (or vice versa.) For example, you’re holding QhJh8d2c. The flop reads 10h9s3d. Between your hand and the connected board cards, you have 8-9-10-J-Q. To make a straight, you’ll need one of the following: 7, 8, J, Q, K, 4. There are four 7s, three 8s, three Jacks, three Queens and four Kings that aren’t in your hand that you need to make the straight, which gives you 17 outs to play with.
The Double Wraparound
A double wraparound draw is when you have two cards above and two cards below the two connected cards on board. Let’s use a similar setup as before to illustrate this. Your hand is 10hJh8h7h7c. The flop is 10h10s3d. Between your hand and the connected board cards, you have 7-8-9-10-J-Q. To make the straight you need to hit one of the following: 6, 7, 8, J, Q, K. Like before, some of these cards are in your hand, but you’ve still got 20 outs: four 6s, three 7s, three 8s, three Js, three Qs and four Ks.
The 13-Out Straight
A 13-out straight draw is when your hand holds three cards above or below the two connected board cards. Let’s look at a similar setup as before. Your hand is KhQsJh4s. The flop is 10h9s3d. Between your hand and the connecting cards you have 9-10-J-Q-K. There are thirteen outs that you need to make a straight in this scenario. Can you identify them? Remember some of them are already in your hand.
Stumped? In this case, you’ve got 13 outs. Four 8s, three Jacks, three Queens and three Kings.
Hopefully, this will help you look at outs on your hands and now they work in Omaha poker. Remember: you always have to play two cards from your hand and three from the board, so you can’t play more than two cards in your hand, even if you’re loaded for bear.