In order to know how to play your Omaha starting hands, you need to acquire the ability to evaluate you Omaha starting hand. Omaha is different from other online poker games, because the hand ranking are much more complicated. You cannot determine who has the best hand before the flop, because five cards are still not known, and the four cards each player has, can change from best to worst or vice versa in just one round.
Omaha Starting hands you should play - Having said that, there are some hand that are good enough, and that should usually be played. We will not cover all of the Omaha starting hands you should continue with, because the combinations are endless. Nevertheless, we will cover the more typical types of Omaha starting hands, and from those hands you can learn basic starting hand evaluation.
The recommended Omaha starting hand - In hi lo Omaha, if you get a [2 3 A A, double suited] Omaha starting hand, you should consider yourself very luck. With this hand it is possible for you to reach the highest and the lowest hand on the table. The ace and the 2 have the same suit for this hand, as well as the 3 and the other ace. The rules of Omaha poker state that you have to create your hand from 2 of the 4 starting hand cards you begin with, and this is why there is the option of playing both for the worst and best poker hand at a time.
Deciding between different Omaha starting hands - To decide between Omaha starting hands it takes more than a list of hands you memorize to keep. A more efficient approach is to try and understand the game, and add value to the chances of playing your hand, according to the cards you hold. Different cards have different values in the Omaha starting hands. If you get a pair of picture cards, right at the start, it will probably be wise to continue to the next round. The picture cards have an order of rank, when the pair of aces is of the highest ranked pair, followed by the kings, queens and jacks.
The aces are much higher in rank than the other picture cards. When you see a picture pair on your Omaha starting hand, you should add this to the final equation for your complete hand. If you also have another pair of 2's, for example, you should also add this to your hand equation.
Two consecutive cards, or two cards with a one card gap, also add to the Omaha starting hand value, because it adds the probability of your getting a straight of some sort. Unpaired aces and kings, even though do not add substantially to the hand, should also be taken into account, when evaluating your Omaha starting hand.