Given four hole cards rather than Texas Hold’em’s two, it’s much rarer for the winner of a hand of Omaha poker to sneak through with a high card, or something lower value.
As such, much of a player’s success will come from the starting card selection that they’re dealt. Below we’ve listed some of Omaha poker’s stronger starting hands – if you’re lucky to be dealt any of the below, we recommend playing that hand aggressively.
A-A-K-K or A-A-J-10 Double Suited to the aces
In a “double suited” hand, two cards belong to one suit, and the other two belong to a different suit. These are considered the best starting hands possible, and should always be played aggressively. It is the multiple ways to make the nuts which makes these hands stand out – as well as their high card strength.
A-K-J-Q (or similar suited Broadways)
Once again, you have a shot at the nut straight, and preferably two flushes. Against opponents prone to overplaying smaller straights, these hands can be excellent – they also remove key cards from the deck, making it harder for opponents to have aces or kings.
K-K-8-8 or Q-Q-9-10
These are examples of high pair hands with either an additional pair or some coordinated side cards. These can make nut hands, though keep in mind that it is hard to win a big pot with an unimproved over-pair in Omaha.
6-7-8-9 or 7-8-9-10
Known as rundown hands, you can make a lot of different straights. For example, on a board of 4-5-8, any 3, 6 or 7 gives you the nuts with 5-6-7-8. Suited combinations are valuable as a backup with this type of hand.