Articles / Imper1um / 21 August 2009 / Leave a comment

In a recent Marcus Bateman piece we saw what a huge effect pre flop initiative has in hold'em, and why it is critical to try and take as much momentum into the flop as possible.

Many hold'em players immediately assume that this is the right strategy for every genre of flop poker, but in other flop games, and particularly pot limit Omaha, this concept is a very different animal to the one it is in hold'em, and must be adjusted to accordingly.

As we saw in the analysis of hold'em, one of the key reasons why pre flop initiative is so critical in hold'em is that most of the time players miss the flop, with the result that the best - or apparent best hand - pre flop will usually still be good post flop; with the result that the pre flop aggressor wins most pots. In Omaha however, this is no longer the case.

Omaha is a game that usually involves multi way pots, monster draws, and big flopped hands (Omaha is usually played over the big hands of poker, such as flushes, straights and full houses, unlike hold'em which is often decided over just single pairs). Pre flop initiative means much less in a game like this, simply because it is much harder to push multiple people off flops, have a monster hand without hitting something on the flop (the pre flop hand is much less likely to be good post flop than it is in hold'em), or get someone to fold a huge draw.

If anything, having the pre flop momentum can actually be a negative against astute players, as it encourages them to play back at you, safe in the knowledge that your range of hands is limited by the pre flop action. Flops like 8c7s4h look much easier to push you off if you have put in a big pre flop raise, simply because it is much less likely that you would have a set, which is not the case if you had just flat called pre flop. Although raising pre flop is still crucial in Omaha (particularly when trying to steal blinds and when you are the first to raise), isolating players and putting in big raises after a limper(s) is usually a much less successful play than it is in hold'em.

Pre flop initiative is much less important in Omaha than in hold'em, as it is a game where the money will usually be won by the players who are the best at the post flop skills of board reading, working out their opponent's likely ranges, and picking the best spots to construct bluffs and value bets. Many players who were not so good at these skills still did well in hold'em, simply because their skills at having the pre flop initiative carried them in the hold'em games. These players subsequently get eaten alive in Omaha, and it is critical to your long term success that you do not become one of them.

Get Rakeback of up to 40 percent at Betfair Poker