The basics of six card Omaha

Six Card Omaha is a more complex game than most other forms of poker. The trick is that it not only requires a lot of thinking, but also fast decision-making and awareness of the situation at hand. Particular attention should be paid to the starting hand, noting its strength.

The strongest starting hand in the game

Six card Omaha is renowned for its unpredictability. That’s why it’s a bit tricky to tell which is the strongest starting hand. It all depends on the situation. To give you an example, trainer Phil Rockmore, who founded Cardquant training, cites a specific case. He bets 3-bet on the batter’s side after the regular raises and then 4-bets.

A few clarifications will help to understand which hand is stronger. Phil takes the 4 possible starting hands and prescribes equity against the top 10% of hands. It looks like this:

• ace (clubs), Ace (diamonds), King (hearts), Jack (hearts), Ten (clubs) and Nine (diamonds) – 64%;
• ace of clubs, ace of diamonds, king of hearts, queen of clubs, queen of diamonds, ten of hearts – 62%;
• ace (hearts), ace (diamonds), ace (clubs), queen (clubs), jack (diamonds), tens (hearts) – 61%.

Of these combinations, the strongest is the last one. It is the only one that ensures that the opponent’s aces are blocked. It has 60% against the best 5% of the ranks. The latter is rather short, as the blocking of cards is noted.

The combination of Ace of Clubs, Ace of Diamonds, Ten of Clubs, Ten of Hearts, Nine of Diamonds, Nine of Hearts is able to block an Ace of Clubs. This is the strongest hand, characterised by 59 equity in the preflop when the opponent 4-bets all his aces.

Although there are many example combinations, it’s hard to remember them, and in some ways, even pointless. A decision must be made based on the situation at the table. Moreover, six card Omaha lacks the simplistic patterns seen in classic omaha.

Flush in six card Omaha

This version of the game is characterized by the fact that winning a single suit hand is relatively rare. At least in comparison to the four-card version. In a lot of situations you’ll hit a three-suit combination. The value of flush draws on the flop is quite substantial. This is especially true of the Q-high flush. But there’s a nuance here, too.

A Q-hai flush in the heads-up flop can be incredibly weak. That’s why sometimes the top draw is an A-hai or Q-hai flush. From this, we can conclude that other combinations will be much more useful or stronger. For example, the straight draw provides either a clean exit or a big win. The main thing is to take advantage of the position correctly.

Game Opportunity

Six card Omaha is played in poker rooms less frequently than other variations. That said, there are no problems with limits as such. The only problem is traffic. It can make a bit of a mess with the limits, excluding the highest ones.