PLAY AFTER THE FLOP

Let’s consider out play against various flop when we hold Q♥-9♣-7♦. Nothing much, but it cheap to come in and we have good poker position.

1. Flop 10♥-5♥-2♣. Under no circumstances call any when bet with this hand. How can we put it? If you intend to call, rather send us the money; we have better use for it. You are calling to make a hand which may be beaten in the making, a cardinal sin. If everybody has checked to you, by all means bet if you want to. Then switch to passive no matter what later transpires in the pot. It is unwise to carry bluffs through to the bitter end in Omaha.
2. Flop 10♥-6♥-2♣.This is more like it. Now you have seven nut outs; two 9’s, three 8’s and two 7’s. A call is in order, facing on bet. A bet if everybody has checked, still a bluff, is much better than before. The problem now comes when an opponent check-raise. You must pass, and yo9ur own action has lost you the chance of an out-draw.
3. Flop 10♥-6♥-5♣. Now you have risen to ten nut outs and can genuinely enter into the fray. If there has been a bet and two callers before you, this hand should probably still be junked. One player may have trips and another thee nut flush draw. You must not only improve, but also have the hand stand up. As like as not somebody has some of your straightening cards as well.

THE OUTS

The drawing cards with which a player can make the winning poker hand are known as the outs. It takes 13 of these to be a favorite to improve with two cards to come. However, the opponent may make a full house in the meantime. Thus a draw needs at least 18 outs against trips to become the favorite.
Let us consider some Omaha poker hands against the action flop of J♥-10♥-4♠. We assume we are up against trips when drawing. Is has been assumed that if you hit the nut flush, no opponent will have a straight flush.

card can come which might beat you.

I don’t think I have ever had Number 2, but I still wouldn’t want to fall in love with it for my entire bankroll. Well, that’s true of any hand.
Take a look at what misery might await Number 7. Imagine the disaster if you are up against Number 2. Now the only way you can win money is with a blank 6; or to hope for a split. Your Q-9-8-6 is an abomination, despite an amazing 17 outs.
Number 8 is a peculiar poker hand; apart from the nuts, you don’t know you want to hit, and you may be winning. I want to go all-in heads-up with this. Otherwise, I’ll only get a headache trying to figure out what’s happening. Thus the ultimate premium hand is hand number one with 211 outs. What if it is up against K♥-Q♥-J♣-J♠? Well, now you have 19 outs, of which 6 split the pot. Consider this to be 16 and the hand is still even money.
Hand 2, 3, 6 and 8 all hold out the possibility of killer cards. These are straight flushes, four of a kind, or over-trips, which may leave your opponent with at best one out.
Number 3 has an added attraction. If you are up against an opponent holding J-10, then pairing a four will win you the pot.
The ultimate drawing hand is different. Flop A♥-5♣-4♣. You hold A♣-A♠-6♣-7♥. Now you have 21 outs on the flop, ad 23 with a card to come if fourth street is a blank. This assumes your opponent holds 3 2 ? ? The best defense is 7♣-6♥-3♣-2♣, and even then you are a 7-3 favorite. This is because all your nuts are killers. Interestingly, 7♣-6♥-3♣-2♣ is favorite against any hand which includes only the straight; yes, even A-A-3-2.
When you first play Ohmaha, you should train yourself to know at a glance how many possible outs there are on the flop and how many you hold, if drawing.

Several of the hands shown hold another attraction; the presence of a back-door flush draw. This comes up only 3% but that is not to be sniffed at. Hand 3 provides the best example. Fourth street J♥ 10♥ 4♠ 2♠. Now you hold 22 nut outs (assuming the 6♠, 5♠, or 3♠ doesn’t give opponent a straight flush) and are a favorite against nut trips with no defense
It is rare to have a drawing hand which is a favorite against trips, even with two cards to come. And then, it is difficult to be more than a 5-4 favorite. The great attraction is the “macho” (even for a woman) one of dumping your money into the pot without a made hand.

When heading for an all-in coup against the nut trips, you may be able to shade the odds in your favor. The pot stands at $1K. He bets $1K, you raise $3K, and now he raises $9K with $10K left. You are certain you are up against trips. Then it is best to call. If an open pair emerges, you can pass. If a blank hits the table, you still have pot odds. If your hand comes up, he must call. There is $37K in the middle, and thus he is getting 3.7 to 1 for his money. The only possible loss is where the river would have brought you a killer card when an open pair breaks out on fourth poker street.

Sometimes you must be careful not to second-guess yourself. I had A♠-Q♥-10♣-4♣ with a flop of A♥-10♥-9♣. This flop is extremely explosive; there are more drawing possibility than you can shake a deck at. There had been little action before the flop, and pretty soon the hand was down to two of us, with $3K in the middle. Fourth street brought (A♥-10♥-9♣) 3♠. I checked, and he bet $3K with only $1K left, exuding power. I just called, reasoning that I would pass if a heart came on the river and he bet. Either he had me beaten or he was on an even-money draw. The last card was (A♥-10♥-9♣-3♠) 4♠. I checked, he bet $1K all-in, and I called. He proved to hold Q♣-J♠-8♥-7♦, a 20-card draw. Of course, he could and should have saved the last bet, but I might conceivably have been on a draw as well. I should have set him in on fourth street. My reasoning was a major mistake. Had a non-straightening heart been delivered at the river, I would have thrown away $$10K.