Problems with straights in Omaha

Pot Limit Omaha / Marcus Bateman / 10 August 2010 / Leave a Comment

One of the hands that seem to get new Pot Limit Omaha players in a huge amount of difficulty when they first start is the flopped straight. Anyone used to playing Hold'em immediately recognises this as a monster hand (which is usually the nut hand at that point if you hold the high end), and gets ready to try and get their entire stack in.

The problem with this in Omaha is two fold - firstly, it is relatively rare that by the turn and river any straight you hold will still be the nuts, which in a game so dependent on nut hands as PLO has obvious problems.

Secondly, not only will your straight not be the nuts by the river that often, it will usually be the case that any caller(s) who have given you action will probably have hands that have developed into straight beating hands, as any non drawing hands quickly fold most of the time there is a nut board out there, something which is not the case often in Hold'em (where over pairs and other weaker hands will often give you action).

Say you flop the nut straight on a 5c6c9h board with no redraws. Against someone holding the nut flush draw and another opponent holding top set, you can actually be the dog in the hand (depending on the exact cards involved) - a stark illustration of just how weak a flopped straight can be in PLO. This is a completely standard spot in Omaha, but one that would be considered a massive cooler in Hold'em, and making sure that you don't allow your preconceptions and knowledge from one game to bleed in and influence your thinking in the other.

The straight may be a nut hand, but in PLO often it has to be played as a sort of reverse drawing hand - looking to try and survive to the river and miss lots of cards rather than hit them. Particularly in multi-way pots, this hand can be much weaker than it first appears, and must be treated much more cautiously than anyone used to Hold'em would (or should for that matter) ever play it.

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