Winning Strategy with a Set in Omaha Poker

Draws are good but we cannot rely on them fully. When we get a set on the flop, we should not get too excited.

Many players get disappointed with sets derived from the flop. They tend to hope too much on sets to the extent that they misplay them in the end. And when they place too many expectations on sets from the flop, they lose their big bets. In Omaha poker, when we flop a set we actually flop a draw hand. An example is having a king, a pair of queen, and a jack while the flop says queen, jack, and say, a 3. We flop a draw here, and that's what causes our woes in Omaha.

It's not any advantage to have a pocket pair in Omaha. Pocket pairs are poor hands in Omaha because we have to spike our set card in this case, and we also are obligated to pair the card on the community board. But if we're so good at hand play we can then get rid of some players out of the pot and get to see some black cards in the process, too. But it's mere drawing, just the same. Maybe, we get to draw a full-house or something—like the blank cards, perhaps.

We cannot expect much from a draw in Omaha. And frankly, we can't get any assurance that our draws would win, or that we can draw the card we need for a win. A draw is no better than casting dice. There's no poker strategy to control a draw. Thus, when flopping a set, we may often get beat. However, the consolation here is that once a flopped set wins, we usually win big.

Flopped cards of different values have different effects on our hand play. This is also true with face cards of three- of a kind. Flopping three of a kind face cards is of course a lot better than flopping three of a kind cards with numeric values. Flops that give us a good chance of completing a draw straight or flush should always be played in an aggressive manner. Omaha set cards on the flop are worth the risk, especially when they're face cards. But these draws must be played well with several considerations.

Winning in Omaha poker with a set draw is a strong win, but it must be played with caution. Many Omaha poker players tend to misread the hand and misplay it as well.