Most players get started with poker by playing Texas Hold’em. Some find their niche and stay there, but others sometimes find that other poker variants better suit their temperament or skill set.
Whatever game you’re considering, PokerStars School is ready to help you make the transition to your new pursuit as smooth as possible.
This week:
• Avoiding common Omaha mistakes
• 6+ Hold’em quick start guide
Avoiding common Omaha mistakes
Pot-limit Omaha, or PLO as it’s known to aficionados, is one of the more common alternatives to Hold’em. It’s an action game at its core, one that draws a special type of player.
Avoid common mistakes and you’ll save a lot of chips in the long run
With four cards in the hole, Omaha offers more ways to make strong hands than Hold’em– but on the flip side, it also opens up more potential pitfalls that can cost you your stack if you don’t know to watch out for them.
A good place to start is Dave Roemer’s PLO introduction, Five Common Mistakes. If you can avoid poor starting hands, overvaluing AAxx and KKxx combinations, and getting involved out of position, you’ll be off to a good start. Then just avoid going broke with non-nut hands or stacking off vulnerable nut hands with no redraws, and you should find yourself in a pretty good position more often than not.
Once you have all that under your belt, Pete Clarke has some great advice specific to hand selection. With so many cards in the hole, lots of Omaha hands look a lot better than they really are — especially to new Omaha players more familiar with Hold’em. His list of Over-Rated Starting Hands in Pot-Limit Omaha includes bare medium-high pairs, ace-king-nothing, three Broadway cards, and a few other categories of fancy-looking trash.
Get a firm handle on these two articles and you’ll find yourself in good position to perform well in PLO.
Getting off to a quick start with 6+ Hold’em
Just like PLO, 6+ Hold’em is an action game that holds lots of appeal for players who are already familiar with Texas Hold’em. And also just like PLO, 6+ features lots of potential trouble spots if you rely too much on your past experience with other games.
6+ Hold’em is trickier than it looks to players already familiar with Texas Hold’em
Good thing the OP Poker crew is on the scene! They’ve been playing lots of 6+ across its various incarnations and they’ve come up with an excellent video on some of the most important considerations when you’re new to the game. It’s just a touch over five minutes long, so it’s the kind of thing you can come back to repeatedly as you play.
Click through to watch the OP Poker 6+ Hold’em Quick Start Guide.
Other PokerStars School content you might enjoy
• Promotion: PokerStars School Community Tournament
• Question of the Week: What’s your thought process when playing in a poker hand?
• Strategy: Spin & Go – Take It Slow
• Article: Luck or Skill?
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