One wonderful thing about poker is that there is always something new and exciting surrounding it. New to the world of poker is Omaha hold’em, a variation of Texas hold’em where four cards are dealt instead of two.

A surprising number of possibilities spring up with the extra two cards. They offer two more options to play your hand but also add to you decision making process. You must decide which two to keep in your hand based on the community cards dealt to the table. In Texas hold’em, the same circumstances prevail but you don’t have to decide which of the cards in your hand to keep, you play them all. Omaha offers that extra challenge of which cards to choose for play.

The result is that you get to play more hands and have more opportunity to win. What many people don’t realize is that poker isn’t only about the cards. If that was the case, then you’d probably have more fun playing bridge, but because of the betting involved it adds a new dimension to the game and forces you to keep your wits about you.

The rules and play of Omaha are the same as for other hold’em games. Each player is dealt four cards to use in the round. At this point, if your cards are such that you wish to continue the play, an initial bet is placed. This bet is called the big blind. You determine from your hand whether to call, raise or fold.

After the first round of betting the first set of community cards are dealt onto the table, the flop, where you can then assess the strength of your hand. Another round of betting will then commence and once again you can call, raise or fold your hand. After everyone has completed their betting the next community card, called the turn, is then dealt onto the table and there is another round of betting.

Once the last card is dealt (the river), the final round of betting begins and here is the card that will make you either a winner or a loser. Either way, you are ready to start all over again to either win back a loss or add to a win. The rounds of betting allow you to judge the strengths of your opponents’ hands and with experience and developing your skill at perception and insight, you will know when to bet and how much.

All forms of poker involve the challenge of playing against people rather than just the cards. Most of the time a person is unpredictable, until you begin to learn their playing style. If you can pick up on how they play, then you can predict what a person will do based on how you play.

Experience is the answer to making the unknown play of your opponents into something you can figure out and use. Keep at it. Keep challenging yourself and good luck.

The author is a successful limit cash game player. He plays poker online and receives Rakeback at Victory Poker and Rakeback at Players Only.