Omaha high sit-n-go tournaments, often called Omaha single table
tournaments, are challenging, especially if you play a lot of
Texas holdem.
Since most of us learn Texas holdem first, becoming a
good Omaha player first involves learning the difference in starting
hand values.
Starting Hands in Omaha High
SnG Tournaments
High pairs are good, but not nearly as strong as they
are in Texas holdem. It is important to play hands that have many
possibilities to improve.
Hands with flush and straight
possibilities are the best. For example:
A A Q T with at least one suited Ace.
J J T 8
The keys to becoming a successful Omaha high sit-n-go player are:
Patience.
Aggression in the late rounds.
Made hands with redraws.
Early in the Tournament
As in all sit-n-go tournaments, the correct strategy is to play only
the very best starting hands in the early rounds. The blinds aren’t
very big at this point and many of your opponents will play
themselves out of contention by playing poor hands. This allows you
to advance by not playing marginal hands and showing patience. This
will also lead many of your opponents to believe that you are very
tight, which can be beneficial in the later rounds.
Later Rounds
As the tournament progresses to the later rounds and the blinds go
up, you need to remain patient, but play very aggressively when you
do enter the pot. If your remaining opponents have been paying
attention, they will know that you haven’t played many hands and
will respect your raises, especially pre flop. This will often allow
you to steal the blinds a few times and any chips that you blinded
off earlier will be replaced. The other point about aggressive play
is that when you bet and/or raise, it forces your opponents to make
decisions. Every time they must make a decision, they may make a
mistake.
A made hand with a redraw is having a hand after the flop that may
be the best hand, but has a chance to improve to the best hand if it
is not. Here is an example. You have Jh Th 7s 6d and the flop is 8h
9h 5c. You have the best hand, but even if a bad card for you hits,
like a Queen, you can still improve to a flush, and possibly win.
Complete strategy would require hundreds of pages, but by
considering the advice above and gaining experience at the tables,
you can quickly become a winning Omaha sit-n-go player.
Thanks to
Pokermonger for this article.
Also be sure to read about
Omaha/8 qualifying low hands and
Omaha/8 SnG strategy before you go. And if you're interested in
other games, we also have a great guide to
Texas holdem SnG strategy.
This page was last updated on January 5, 2006.
