Now many players are discovering Omaha poker, partly because it seems it is the game of choice for the top high stakes pros, players are deciding they want to try their hand at the Omaha tables. So now we have the Omaha tables full of players who have a background in hold’em and try to use what they know and apply it to their Omaha game. If players think that they can approach the four card game of Omaha the same way they do Hold’em, they will most certainly lose money.

Don’t let the differences in strategy put you off playing Omaha, it’s the differences that make Omaha exciting and profitable. As no-limit hold’em is the most popular form of hold’em, the pot-limit variation is the most popular form of Omaha.

Both games have a set of community cards, the 5 cards that make up the flop, turn and river, but it is the 2 extra hole cards and how a hand is made that sets Omaha apart. You are dealt 4 cards in Omaha and from the 4 cards you must use only 2 and no more. Then to make your hand you must use only 3 of the 5 community cards that are available.

The Rule to Remember is

Two common remarks that are often made about Omaha are, “Omaha is a game of the nuts” and”Omaha is a drawing game”.Both of these statements are very true in that you will often commita lot of money to the pot without a made hand as you will very good pot odds for your draws, and if you do commit chips to the pot, you really need to be drawing to the best hand.

Starting hand selection in Omaha is not as straight forward as in hold’em, mainly because there are not many starting hands that have a big advantage over other starting hands in Omaha, whereas a starting hand in hold’em can have a big advantage over another.

Your table position is vital when playing Omaha, even more so than in hold’em. Being in late position at the table will not only let you see how your opponents act, but also control the betting, so if someone bets into you, you can come over the top if you are holding a strong draw.

It was back in early January that online poker wonder kid Tom”durrrr”Dwan set out his challenge to the rest of the online poker world. Dwan is to put up $1.5 million to any challengers $500,000, playing four heads-up tables at a time at Full Tilt Poker , with stakes at a minimum of $200/$400. The challenge would be played over 50,000 hands and whoever finishes in profit wins the bet.
So, if the challenger ends up at least $1 in profit from what they started with, they would win Dwans $1.5 million, but if Dwan ends up in profit, he would win their $500,000. On top of the money in the bet, the players will also get to keep whatever they win at the tables.

The rules for the challenge are;

• NL Hold’em or PL Omaha
• Minimum stakes of $200/$400
• The stakes must stay the same once they are decided on
• Players must reload if their stacks fall below 75BB at any time
• Challenge open to all players, except Dwan’s buddy Phil Galfond

The poker pros that have accepted the challenge so far include Team Full Tilt pro Phil Ivey, David Benyamine and Patrik Antonius who is the first player to step up to the challenge.

There are four “durrrr challenge” pot-limit Omaha tables that have been set up at Full Tilt Poker, and if you want to follow the action as it happens, the Full Tilt rail is the place to be and they have a durrrr challenge stats page set up as well.

So far Dwan and Antonius have played Ten sessions of the challenge since they started, playing a little over 7,000 hands of the 50,000 to be played.

The durrrr challenge, the story so far…

1. Dwan takes an early lead. After 1,541 hands played, he leads Antonius by $134,912.
2. A quick 15 minute session sees Dwan take another $46,000.
3. Antonius wins $227,000, giving him a $56,177 overall lead.
4. Dwan retakes the lead in style and is now $149,978 ahead.
5. A short session, Antonius takes a small win, but Dwan still leads by $140,380.
6. Over 5,000 hands played and Antonius cuts Dwan’s lead to $52,657.
7. Antonius wins $161,00 to take a $107,455 lead.
8. Session lasts for 80 minutes, time for Dwan to win $123,849, and retake the lead by $15,238, before falling asleep at his pc.
9. Dwan builds on his lead to make it $67,162.
10. Dwan built on his lead, only for him to lose it all and Antonius take a $92,000 profit.

So that is the durrrr challenge to date. There is still a lot of hands to be played so we will keep you updated on the challenge and all the other High Stakes Omaha action.

Chances are that if you play poker at home, online or down your local casino/cardroom or just enjoy watching the pros on “Poker After Dark”, you will be aware that there is more to poker than just Texas Hold’em. While hold’em is the game that most people know, more and more poker players are looking at other games at which to get their poker fix. Whether it is just for a bit of variety or they are finding that the online hold’em games are getting harder, as more players are improving their game by reading books or joining the various training sites that are available.

The game that more poker players are turning to is Omaha. Omaha is a game that offers players a lot of action at the tables and because of the two extra hole cards, the strategic side of the game is more important.Future posts will include the differences between hold’em and Omaha, the various forms of Omaha games and then we will give you tips and strategy on the most popular and exciting game of Pot-Limit Omaha.

One of the reasons for the growing popularity of pot-limit Omaha(PLO), is the fact that it is the game of choice for a lot of the worlds top poker pros, with sites like Full Tilt Poker hosting ring games and exclusive heads-up tables where the pros battle it out at the $500/$1000 limits. Pot-Limit Omaha is also one of the games being played during the “durrrr challenge” that has caught the attention of the poker media.

We will be covering all the latest news from the High Stakes games and bringing you the latest updates from Tom Dwan’s “durrrr challenge”. We hope you enjoy reading the blog and that you learn more about the fascinating game of pot-limit Omaha and maybe one day find yourself playing at the high stakes tables.