Best Omaha Starting Hands

Here are some important probabilities in Omaha that returns in different situations. Knowledge about probabilities will help you to better evaluate situations in poker. You will , for example, know when you should call and when you shouldn't, and, vice versa, know when to fold and when the odds are in your favor.

Choosing the best Omaha Hi Lo starting hands is a very important skill for a successful player. The whole further strategy depends on the game on the first street. The strategy for Omaha poker starting hands with King and Queen Pairs have similar rules as ace pairs. In other words, starting hands with kings and queens are as good as having ace starting hands. The best starting hands here are those clubbed with another big pair like Kd-Ks-Qd-Qs, which is.

Table 1. Playing situations
Drawing hands probabilitiesOddsPercent
Double wraparound straight draw (e.g. hand: 9-8-5-4, flop: 7-6-x)0.48-168%
Wraparound straight draw (e.g. hand: 8-5-4-x, flop: 7-6-x)0.67-160%
Straight flush draw0.84-154%
Hitting a full house with three pairs 3-124%
Hitting a full house with two pairs5.1-116.5%
Hitting quads with a set21.5-14.5%

In Omaha the best starting hand (A♥ A♠ K♥ K♠) is only 33% to win (41% to tie) against the second-best starting hand (A♦ A♣ T♦ J♣). There is only a 6% edge for the best Omaha hand to win against the second-best Omaha hand, versus the 66% edge in Hold'em. So many combinations of hands in PLO have an extremely similar change of winning pre-flop, for example a hand like a a k k is a very marginal favourite to win pre-flop against a hand like q j 10 9. We've listed the best 30 starting hands in Pot Limit Omaha below, all of which are Double Suited.

OmahaBest Omaha Starting Hands

Top 100 Omaha Starting Hands

Starting hands

There are many starting hands in Omaha (16.432 if not all suit combinations are counted), which makes it difficult to get an overview. Table 2 will hopefully increase that overview a bit.

Table 2. Starting hand versus average hand
SituationPercent
A-A-K-K double suited to win against average hand73%
A-A-K-K rainbow to win against average hand68%
A-A-7-7 double suited to win against average hand72%
A-A-7-7 rainbow to win against average hand67%
A-A-J-T double suited to win against average hand76%
A-A-J-T rainbow to win against average hand71%
J-T-9-8 double suited to win against average hand56%
J-T-9-8 rainbow to win against average hand49%

Comments

Exemple of a double suited hand: Q♥ A♥ 2♦ K♦
Exemple of a rainbow hand: Q♥ A♣ 2♠ K♦
The best Omaha hands are less bigger favorites against an average hand compared to Texas Hold'em.
In Texas Hold'em, common knowledge is that A-A is very big favorite against all other hands. In Omaha, A-A as a part of a hand is far from that strong. In general, an A-A-x-x hand versus a random four-card hand is a 70-30 favorite in average (if all the starting hands that are normally folded are excluded, the A-A-x-x hands will be even less favorites).

Made hands versus draws

A typical feature in an Omaha Hi game is a set against a hand with several drawing possibilities. The made hand will not be a very big favorite (sometimes it is an underdog), so the recommended strategy is to play fast and bet/raise the pot in these situations.

Table 3. Made hand versus drawing hand
SituationPercent
Top set against flush draw70%-30%
Middle set against flush draw70%-30%
Top set against flush draw + two pairs68%-32%
Set against wraparound straight draw52%-48%
Set against double wraparound straight draw53%-47%
No decimals are used. The numbers are only approximal.

Comments

Best omaha 8 starting hands

Factors that can affect the odds are for example blocking cards.

Flush draws versus straight draws

In Omaha, hands with flush draws are often more likely to win than straight draws.

Table 4. Drawing hands
SituationPercent
Flush draw against wraparound60%-40%
Flush draw against double wraparound55%-45%
No decimals are used. The numbers are only approximal.
Omaha

Comments

Since that many cards are in action, there are often combined possibilities, which makes it hard to give general percentages. A hand with a flush draw has mostly something else, like a pair or a straight draw as well.

Related article:Omaha strategy

By Pot Limit Omaha Strategies, on December 23rd, 2010

“What is the best starting hand in Pot Limit Omaha?” is something I get asked a lot and unlike in No Limit Hold Em the answer isn’t actually as immediately obvious, this is because in Omaha hands almost always see a flop and so their absolute pre-flop equity is not nearly as important; additionally hand values run a lot closer together in general, meaning however strong a starting hand you have it’s a lot easier for your opponent to out flop your holding. With that said it is generally agreed that AAKK double suited is the best hand you could hope to get dealt in PLO:

That said, the key to a great starting hand in Pot Limit Omaha is floppability, a clumsy term, I know, but forgive me for a moment. It’s important to realise the *reason* why AAKK double suited is the best starting hand. It’s not because it has AA in it, that’s really only a big advantage if you can get most of your money in pre-flop, no the reason it’s the best hand is because it can flop either the nuts in lots of different ways or it can flop draws to the nuts.

Here are a few flops that As Ks Ad Kd could hit where you’d usually be super happy to get your money in even when you’re playing with a deep stack and the pot is small on the flop:


  • You’ve flopped top set, if you can get it in here you’re almost always going to be a favourite.

  • you have two overpairs the nut flush draw and a gutshot, getting all in on this kind of a board is always going to be good for you. Even in a worst case scenario and you’re against QQxx you’re going to be roughly a coinflip. In all other situations you’ll range from a clear favourite to a huge favourite. In spots like this the value of having the nut flush draw is extremely important. You’ll often get it in against a hand like 89TJ with the same flush draw, in this spot you are a massive (for PLO) 75% favourite to win the pot, however if you were to get all in against the very same hand holding AA52 rainbow (all different suits) you’d actually be a 29% underdog! This should clearly demonstrate the value of “Good aces” versus “Bad aces”, with a hand like AAKKds you will flop opportunities to get lots of money in with great equity far more often!

  • Again you’ve flopped an overpair and the nut flush draw. In situations like this you will normally be very happy getting money in, especially against an aggressive opponent. Just imagine he is holding Q875 for top two pair, he excitedly gets all his money in, putting you on an overpair, well in this situation you’re actually a 54% favourite, against other hands he might be shoving, like top pair + a lower flush draw you’ll have your opponent absolutely crushed!

What I’m trying to illustrate here is that by reraising pre-flop and playing AAKKds fast and aggressively you will flop a lot of good situations to get a lot of money in, on the other hand consider the following:

Although this is still a premium hand in the right circumstances it’s actually extremely difficult to make a lot of money with if you’re playing a cash game with deep stacks. Why? Because unless you flop top set it’s going to be almost impossible to play. Take this hand up against the 3 situations I posted above, only the the 1st situation (flopping the top set) will this hand play well, in the other two you will likely get money in a huge underdog. Secondly in the first situation you are twice as likely to flop top set because you have KK as your backup, with 8d 2h as your backup cards you’ll be rooting for a miracle to improve your hand.

If you can get 40% of your total stack in before the flop with any AAxx hand then you should do so and stack off on most flops, if however you are playing with deep stacks, either in a tournament or a cash game, you should understand the value of coordinated hands that will make you draws to the nuts.

So with that theory out of the way I hope you have a better idea of what kinds of hands you should consider the crème da la crème of pot limit omaha and why. Here are the complete top 10 omaha starting hands, as you look at them consider the many flops where they can flop big draws to the nuts or 2nd nuts and how coordinated the hands are. Remember Tc Jc Qd Kd is much, much, much stronger than Tc Jc Qd 4h:

Top Ten Starting Hands In Pot Limit Omaha
Ace Ace King King Double suited
Ace Ace Jack Ten Double Suited
Ace Ace Queen Queen Double Suited
Ace Ace Jack Jack Double Suited
Ace Ace Ten Ten Double Suited
Ace Ace Nine Nine Double Suited
Jack Ten Nine Eight Double Suited
King King Queen Queen Double Suited
King Queen Jack Ten Double Suited
King King Jack Jack Double Suited

Best Omaha Starting Hands Hi-lo

From this I’m sure you can begin to formulate in your mind what the next 20 or 30 strongest hands might be. Remember to get AAKKds in PLO is much rarer that getting dealt AA in No Limit Hold Em. Because of this you’ll usually be seeing a flop with at least the top 50 or so hands you could be dealt if you’re playing a ring game and a much wider range again in a heads up match.

I hope this has been of help and I’ll see you next time!