Omaha and Texas Hold ‘em: A Comparison

Written by Nigel

No matter how much we try to get away from Texas Hold ‘em, it seems that this variation of poker has left too strong of an impression on us.  Even those who want to start trying out other poker variations seem to get confused as to how the game really goes – Texas Hold ‘em is still in their heads.  There’s nothing wrong with that of course.  However, I thought it would be appropriate to compare these two variations a little bit more before we talk about Omaha Poker in more detail.

In the last post we talked about the number of cards you are dealt initially - 2 for Texas and 4 for Omaha.  This seemingly minor difference can actually spell huge disparity when it comes to game play.  Some may assume that knowing how to play Texas Hold ‘em automatically makes them great Omaha players.  While there is a certain truth to that – you know the basics already – it doesn’t really apply.

Just as you had to learn a set of skills when you were starting out with Texas Hold ‘em, you have to learn some new skills for Omaha.  For one, having 4 cards to choose from for your hand makes it all the more exciting.  With all the possibilities, you need to be more astute.  There is no shortage of action when it comes to Omaha (and other split pot games for that matter).  Make sure that you learn the skills in order to keep up with the action.

Play Omaha Poker

Written by Nigel

When someone says poker, more often than not it is Texas Hold Em Poker that he is referring to.  However, as most poker nuts know, there is more to the poker world than Texas Hold Em.  Of course, Hold Em is the most popular – and it has the right to be, I guess – but you would be missing out on other things if you don’t try other variations of poker.

Perhaps the next most popular type of poker would be Omaha Poker.  I could be wrong, of course, but it wouldn’t hurt to take a quick look at what Omaha Poker is all about.  Actually, it is not much different from Texas Hold Em.  The main idea of the whole game is to make the best five-card hand out of the cards you are dealt and the community cards.  Omaha is played using the standard deck of cards with 52 cards in all.  It can be played by 2 players or more, 10 being the maximum.  So far, it’s nothing different from Texas Hold Em, right?

The difference lies in the game play.  Instead of receiving only 2 cards on the first deal, you will get 4 cards in Omaha Poker.  You cannot use all the 4 cards though.  To form your best 5-card hand, you can use 2 of your 4 personal cards and 3 of the community cards.  The rest of the game is basically the same, with terms like the flop, turn, and river being utilized also.

More on the Bar Poker League

Written by Nigel

For those of you who got really interested in the Bar Poker League, I just found out that they have recently expanded their operations in Florida!  This is certainly good news for people who live in the area.  One of the best things about BPL tournaments is that there is no buy in or entry fee.  More so, you do not need to be a poker pro to play.  It is just like hanging out with friends for a night of poker.  Of course, if you want to take your game to a higher level, you would certainly find some people to play with as well.

There is also no restriction when it comes to how often you play.  You just need to visit their site to get more accurate information regarding the game nights at specific venues.  In order to get the most out of your experience, it would be a good idea to sign up with BPL in their web site.  This would mean that each time you play, you would get points.  The allocation of points is as follows:

5 points – awarded to each player in each tournament simply for playing.
100 points – awarded to 1st place in each tournament.
75 points – awarded to 2nd place in each tournament.
60 points – awarded to 3rd place in each tournament.
50 points – awarded to 4th place in each tournament.
40 points – awarded to 5th place in each tournament.
30 points – awarded to 6th place in each tournament.
20 points – awarded to 7th place in each tournament.
10 points – awarded to 8th place in each tournament.

These points are used to determine the top 200 players in each District who will qualify for the District Final Events and eventually the State/Regional Final Events.

Bar Poker League

Written by Nigel

Ever heard of the Bar Poker League? I am sure that if you have not, you are probably jumping off your chair in excitement right now, especially if you have been looking for a good group to play poker regularly with offline. To be honest, I didn’t really know much about this group until quite recently.

It does sound very intriguing and promising, doesn’t it? The Bar Poker League hosts Texas Hold ‘Em Tournaments in various bars and nightclubs. Who will not find that interesting? The thing is, their activities are mainly focused in the state of Minnesota. So if you are from out of state or worse, from another country, then you are plain out of luck.

For those who live within the area, what is in it for you? Here’s what they have to say: “Join the Bar Poker League and play seven nights a week. League members compete for $200 in nightly tournament prizes and qualify for district finals and casino-hosted state and regional championships through our poker point system. Members can win trips to Las Vegas, Tour Pro Poker Camp packages…”

Not bad. Although I am sure that there are other tournaments in many parts of the world, many poker players out there are wishing that they would have a similar set up in their area. I am going to try and look up more information on this league and share it with you if I find something.

Humans Still Superior When It Comes to Poker

Written by Nigel

Who can forget when the chess Grand Master Kasparov was defeated by the computer Deep Blue in what was dubbed the “Brain’s Last Stand?”  When Deep Blue won the match, the rest of the world commiserated with Kasparov and at the same time marveled at Deep Blue.  Last week, a similar event was held in Canada.  This time it was a match between 2 professional poker players and a computer program called Polaris.

Polaris, 16 years in the making, plays for days before a match, creating 10 different bots that each has a unique playing style.  The very concept of Polaris is enough to make anyone wonder.  Yet after four rounds of Texas Hold ‘em poker, Polaris surrendered and folded once and for all to the humans.

Interestingly enough, lest we be smug and say that poker is too complex for computers to get the hang of, we (humans) barely won that match.  According to Phil Laak (the Unabomber), “I literally felt the same feeling that you would have if you beat 500 people in a tournament and won a million dollars. We won, not by a significant amount, and the bots are closing in.”

Many others agree with the Unabomber.  It seems that it will be only a matter of time till the programmers find a way to make their machines even more powerful.  Yet for now, we can thank these two poker players for proving that man reigns supreme over machine – at least in the world of poker.

Absolute Poker Beats the Bad Beat

Written by Nigel

Every poker player knows how it is like to have a bad beat.  As much as any poker player would do almost anything to avoid one, it is also a known fact that there are just times when you do get a bad beat – there is no escaping it, at least once.  So how do you behave and react when you get a bad beat?  Some just ride the tide and let it blow over.  Others get sucked in and lose even more.

Absolute Poker has come up with something new for players who get a bad beat – something to turn the tables around somehow for them.  The new Bad Beat Jackpot from Absolute Poker adds a very interesting twist to their already popular Texas Hold ‘em version.  With the Bad Beat Jackpot, players who are losing immensely just might feel Lady Luck blowing her kisses upon them.  “We’re taking away the pain delivered by bad beats by throwing money at the victims,” stated David Clainer, senior vice president for Absolute Poker.  So how does it work?

Remember, if you are having a bad beat, your hand is supposedly favored to win but you still lose.  At the Bad Beat Jackpot table, if this happens to you, you can take home a piece of the Jackpot.  To start things off for the Bad Beat Jackpot, Absolute Poker is putting $100,000 into the jackpot.  If someone hits a qualifying bad beat (four twos or better), he gets a large part of the jackpot together with the other players at the table.  Interesting, I must say.

Kids Down Under Getting Hooked On Poker

Written by Nigel

Here’s the latest bit of news from Australia – one in five high school kids is playing card games.  A large number of these kids favor Texas Hold ‘Em Poker.  This can be attributed largely to media exposure such as Casino Royale and the World Series of Poker.  So what is the issue here?

For some concerned people, there is the fear that the youngster might fall into the trap of unregulated gambling and find themselves in financial trouble.  “They play poker with a mate over a six pack and say ‘This is easy, I’m good at this’,” Uniting Care’s Mark Henley said. “Then they see celebrity poker and the next thing you know they’re on dodgycasino@vanuatu.com and they’re in a bit of financial strife.”

It seems that people are getting stirred up in Australia about this potential problem.  What do I think about this?  I say it is a good thing that poker is getting more popular, whichever country it is.  I do have to agree, however, that unregulated gambling might do more damage than good.  I love poker – with or without money.  Then again, I am at least a decade older than those high school kids and I have my own means of income.  Those kids need to learn that poker does not have to be all about money. That is, at least until they gain some measure of control.  I suppose this would fall under the parents’ area of responsibility.  It is up to instill values in their kids.

Sharing Texas Hold ‘Em

Written by Nigel

The other night I went with some friends to their home town in the outskirts of the city.  Not really knowing anyone there, I was quite apprehensive that I would be bored or feel out of place.  Anyway, I went down there not expecting much.  It turned out to be an unfounded fear as the people were very friendly and accommodating.  More than that, they loved to play cards.

Unfortunately, the kind of card game they were playing was alien to me.  After a few hands, they asked me to join in so I took the chance and asked them if they have ever played Texas Hold ‘Em.  Believe it or not, they had never heard of it!  So I got pretty excited and asked them if they would like to learn.  It all began there…

We started off a bit awkwardly, with me having to explain every little thing to each of them (there were four of us initially).  After several hands, though, they got the concept well.  We did not really play for money but we used coins as chips.  As a testament to the “funness” of this game, after an hour or so, we had about 6 players at the table!  The funny thing is that I found myself losing quite more than I normally do.  Call it beginner’s luck or whatever but I had fun anyway.

Now I am not one to dwell much on things but that night reminded me of something.  Playing poker can be fun with out having to put real money at stake.

Simplifying Things

Written by Nigel

Just like many other activities we engage in, sometimes, being successful in poker is all about simplifying things.  What do I mean by this?  Let’s take a specific variation of poker, say Texas Hold ‘em.  As a beginner, you would probably feel a bit overwhelmed at some point and not get everything about the game.

You have to know the rules, the basics, the strategy, and all that stuff.  Terms, betting, folding, calling, raising, odds, etc. – if you try to process all these factors all at once, the chances are that you are going to go crazy trying to make the best out of your situation.  Hand after hand you just might not get all the points and end up being frustrated.  Add to that the statistics, the math, and things can get really complicated.

This is not to say that you should not take the time to learn all these things, though.  There is no doubt about it, the person who knows the statistics and different strategies will have an edge over the person who does not study anything.  However, there are times when gut feel and simple thinking is all you need.

Basically, all the decision making processes happen during betting rounds.  There are countless different situations in poker of course.  Yet always remember, when things get tough, maybe it is not the time to over analyze the situation.  Maybe you would be better off making simple decisions.  Think about it and try it the next time you play poker.

Community Poker

Written by Nigel

One very common poker variation is community poker, which actually encompasses the very popular variation, Texas Hold ‘em.  The basic idea behind community poker is for each player at the table to be dealt with a certain number of face down cards.  These cards are then used in conjunction with the community cards, which are dealt face down in the middle of the table, to be used by all the players.

Variations of community poker usually depend on how the community cards are laid out in the center of the table.  The most common layouts for the community cards are the line, the cross, and the circle.  As you might have surmised by now, Texas Hold ‘em Poker falls unader the first variant – the line.  The cross, obviously, lays out the community cards in the form of the cross.  The circle, again obviously, has the community cards in a loop.  This last one is not as common as the first two forms.

Depending on the specific game, the community cards can be flipped over one at a time or all at the same time.  In some games, the decision depends on the dealer.  Some people say that the only difference between one community poker game and another is how the community cards are laid out.  As such, different community poker games are usually made more exciting by adding stipulations.  Again, these stipulations would depend on the players and the dealer.

In our next post, let’s take a look at some of the most common variants of community poker.

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