Happy New Year everyone, good luck and good cards for 2009!

My good friend Sam, pulled me aside at our New Year’s gathering, and wanted to know more about Omaha poker. He had started out playing Texas Holdem a year ago. Then, last month he decided that he needed a new challenge so he switched to Omaha. He was getting knocked down…

“Mike, I don’t get it, what is a good starting hand in Omaha?” he asked. “I used to make a bit of money playing Holdem, but I’m getting slaughtered at Omaha”.

Players that are converting to Omaha, often forget that the four hole cards have a huge affect on the odds. There are a lot more cards in play, so there are a lot more chances of making winning hands. The difference between a good hand and a weak hand is much smaller in Omaha compared with Texas Holdem poker.

So to answer Sam’s question – take a look at my website if you want to know a good starting hand. But don’t put too much emphasis on starting hands because a seemingly weak hand before the flop, can very quickly turn into a winning hand.

Starting out at Omaha is tough, you get knocked down often. But hang in there because once you get the hang of it there are rich rewards. Good Omaha players take advantage of weaker players after the flop.