Is Omaha thriving or dying?

Just a random thought.

Is Omaha going to gain in popularity over the coming years, or is it in decline?

I don't claim to know, but have heard many say it's th game of the future. I just want to know either way. Do I start to include it in my daily regimen to learn or stick to the grind at NLHE. Watching the tables and the amount of people playing at the larger sites will probably be a big indicator.

I think it has a lot of potential (both Omaha hi and Omaha hi-lo) to be a popular game, and from my little experience with new people at my home game people who do not know poker and learn both games tend to like Omaha and Omaha hi-lo more then holdem

I think it will gain in popularity. There really is a lot of luck and action in Omaha, with huge swings in both directions. It's also a lot more like Hold'em than games like triple draw and stud, since it uses community cards. It seems like a pretty logical step for players to go from Hold'em to Omaha when they get tired of Hold'em.

When I see the first televised event, on regular TV or Sportschannel I think I will start watching the Vids on CR.

been on plenty. Rizen was on this years WSOP Omaha Hi Final Table on ESPN.

I think omaha will get more popular, although I don't think it will pass holdem.

Isn't it harder to pull bluffs? That will turn some of the gamboolers away (although if they were smart the calling station types would switch and the agro bluffers wouldn't)

from everything i've read the past three days, i see people saying both.

some argue that omaha is NOT gambling because there is such a discrepancy between the strong hands and mediocre ones that if you just stick to those, you win.

some others argue that there is a large luck factor, and with the split O8 will surge because it keeps people in a pot longer.

if the fish get eaten up super quick, which is also a common idea, then i doubt it will hold on long.

personally, i think that we will see a surge in players "testing it out." and, for those of us that KNOW how to play the game...that oughta bring a quick boom of fish. so long as we can get ahead of the curve.

coincidentally, thats what i'm banking on, and why i want to learn the game asap. i feel that when everyone learns pf strategy in HE, the games will get so friggin tight that players will look for wild action somewhere else. stud, triple draw, omaha may all get their shot at an influx of bored HE players.

wheres the emoticon for "crossed fingers?"

Bluffing is so easy in Omaha against the right ppl.

Obv the nutcampers, the fake flush is my fav. play against these people. Or the player that bets the flush card then checks the board pairing on the end, love to just slam the bet pot button on their ass.

I think there will still be more fish in Hold'em. Reason: every idiot can play hold'em. You can learn to play hold'em in 5 minutes, while for Omaha, you need to know how to read the board. This is not so easy to learn as it is in Hold'em. This is the reason why Omaha doesn't seem so attractive when you watch it on TV, if you are an idiot who doesn't know anything about poker. To us, it is interesting, of course. Fishes might just say: Go to hell, I am too stupid for this game!

Originally Posted by bigspenda73

Bluffing is so easy in Omaha against the right ppl.

Obv the nutcampers, the fake flush is my fav. play against these people. Or the player that bets the flush card then checks the board pairing on the end, love to just slam the bet pot button on their ass.

I totally agree with this. You cant bluff proper fish in omaha but once you start to come up against nut campers you will often find that they will bet a hand on the flop or turn, and then check/ fold a scarecard that would have come more than 50% of the time.

at 50NL this is true, but what about higher stakes?

micro limit games will always exist and have bad players

Originally Posted by salsa4ever

Just a random thought.

Is Omaha going to gain in popularity over the coming years, or is it in decline?

PLO will continue to be popular in big games and limit O8 will stick around as a third tier game. Limit omaha high and PLO8 are effectivly dead in the casino world. PLO is the only one that's growing.

I noticed the same thing about bluffs at PLO50 as well. It's so easy to read people. If they check/call the flop on a non-paired board and the turn blanks, you take it like every time on the turn.

I don't know if they are on draws, weak pairs, whatever, but it makes it look like you have something strong that is afraid of a scare card while at the same time showing you their hand. People are scared to death of getting sucked out (rightfully so) in PLO that you can usually tell with one bet on the flop if they're strong or weak.

Naked ace bluffs and board pairs are easy steals too if you have decent timing. But I am also one of those people who folds way too many scare cards.

Personally I prefer Omaha to Hold "em and it seems like it's the game of choice for the highest limit games on Full Tilt. For years I've been predicting the rise of this great game and I hope it does get more popular because I would rather spend my day playing Omaha than Hold 'em.

Originally Posted by bigspenda73

Bluffing is so easy in Omaha against the right ppl.

Obv the nutcampers, the fake flush is my fav. play against these people. Or the player that bets the flush card then checks the board pairing on the end, love to just slam the bet pot button on their ass.

I like the fake flush when you miss a straight but what are you calling with in the 2nd situation? The only thing i can think of would be a medium flush that you're not sure where you stand, or possibly 2 pair and betting small when you fill up and betting big when you get counterfeited?

If you're calling just to bluff a scare card and hypothetically it works every time ( like they'll never have a set or 2 pair with their flush ) you are calling with 12 outs and no implied odds ( obv you don't want a call ), so any more than a 3/5 pot bet on the turn and you're losing money.

Any game where my value bets aren't getting paid off I'm always looking for ways to make up for it with bluffs but the problem with Omaha is that you need a good reason to stay in the pot so the good bluffing spots aren't as frequent.

I also don't like to bet the pot when I bluff, it's not nessesary a 1/2 or 3/5 pot bet will get the desired effect just as often if not more because it looks less suspicious. This bet doesn't have to work as often to be profitable either. When I make the nuts in Omaha i generally bet 1/2 pot or less if it's an ovious nut hand. I'll only pot it if I put my opponent on a hand that can call it.

Another bluff i like is pot raising the turn or even river with the bare ace when the flush comes, if they're only calling with the nuts YOU WIN!! I think it's most effective vs. a tight player on the turn when you both have allot of money behind because he doesn't want to be put all-in on the river with the 2nd nuts.

I think Bluffing in PLO has allot of potential because of the amount of folding on the river. When I bet 1/2 pot with the nuts on the river i get called less than 1/2 the time so it's oviously a good bluffing situation but you also have to be careful and pick your spots. I wouldn't mind exploring this in a seperate thread.