by Matthew Hart

Of all the great money making opportunities online these days I think that Omaha probably offers the best possibilities. It is a relatively easy game to play in comparison to stud or hold em. In my opinion it is the easiest game to multitable, which can greatly add to you profit. It is a game that offers fairly low variance. Many players do not seem to understand the fundamentals of good play and that makes the games often very profitable. A good hourly rate with low fluctuations can be achieved and that's what its all about, right?

Omaha, in all its forms, is a more mechanical game than hold em or stud. Inexperienced Omaha players claim that with all the cards dealt, and the many possibilities therefore available that Omaha is a more complex game than hold em. This is simply not true. Limit omaha8 is in my opinion, one of the easiest (perhaps i should say straightforward) games to play, and learn to play well. At the lower limits the games tend to play very loosely. This makes the best strategy to be an overall tight approach. There is less room for bluffing, blind stealing, and generally an unimaginative straightforward play gets the money. A good deal of edge is obtained by playing the right hands, in the right position, and the hand selection errors your opponents make. Once you understand the game these decisions are fairly straightforward and easy to make quickly.

This makes Omaha a great game to multi-table online. There just is not that many situations where you need to make player dependent plays(the higher you play the less likely this is to be true). Good hold em play requires manipulating you opponents where good Omaha play usually involves turning over the best hand at the end of the deal. Omaha8 hands tend to play themselves. The correct line to take on many of your hands will be more automatic than many decisions at hold em. Handling many tables at the same time therefore is much easier. Even at a fairly low limit a very respectable hourly rate is achievable.

Many players prefer to play multiple tables at a lower limit rather than one higher limit table. Multiple tables of Omaha 8 will allow you to obtain a much lower standard deviation. Playing 2-6 tables simultaneously, will get you into the long run a lot faster. The more hands you play, the less likely it is that a bad run of cards will be responsible for a loss. Sometimes you will run bad on all of your tables and the losses can be sizable but all in all your swings will be much more manageable. You will give up a little per table but overall will make a lot more money by multitabling. The smaller swings you will face will allow you to obtain a much larger hourly rate on given bankroll than you could obtain playing one larger game with much less risk of ruin (going broke).

Although when playing Omaha many decisions are less player dependent, it is still important to keep good notes when multitabling. It is important to know the players who will draw to, and pay off with non-nut low hands so you can get maximum value in the pots you play against them. It is also important to know the players, although they are the minority, that play very tight and draw only to the nuts. You will often be getting quartered against them and should give no action without a monster. Poker Tracker does not work for Omaha so you will have to be observant while playing. Pay attention to what players turn over at the end of the hand whether you are involved in the pot or not, and make notes on what they play and will draw to. It is more difficult when playing many tables but is still just as important as ever. With diligence you will find that you have notes on many of your foes and that will make up for the fact that you will miss some things that go on when multitabling.

When you are a serious poker player, either professionally, or recreationally, playing more than one game is important. It is easy to get burned out playing just hold em every day. Playing different games not only makes sense from a financial perspective, but it can make your poker a lot more fun. Playing different games also gives us more game selection options, although that is probably more of a factor when playing live (there is always a good hold em game on line). We should not forget that poker is a game, and even if we play for a living it is important to enjoy ourselves.

While this article is intended to help you make more money playing Omaha8 online, it is not intended to teach you how to play the game. If you are new to the game Ray Zee's book on Omaha and seven stud hi-low is a must read. Any serious Omaha player who has not read this book is doing themselves a great disservice. There are other good books on Omaha but Zee's book is the only one I consider a must read.

There are many fantastic money making opportunities online these days and there is no reason to not take advantage of them all. The low variance and ease of play at multiple-tables make Omaha8 a great choice. Anytime you can make a lot of money with small swings, you can count me in.