Omaha Poker

• #50 in Best Poker Books

10 Reviews

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As the poker craze continues to grow, it has amazed me that there are so few books on Omaha poker. This is why I was excited to receive the new edition of Bob Ciaffone's "Omaha Poker", expanded from the 1987 edition. It did not disappoint. In 124 pages, the author has covered Omaha masterfully.

It begins with the popularity and origins of Omaha and then goes on to betting structures and reading the board. He then asks the interesting question whether you should even learn Omaha, followed by differences and similarities with holdem.

Then there is a large section on general strategy for all Omaha games from opening hands to post-flop play. Quizzes which are fun are included. Limit Omaha High is covered in this section.

There follows a detailed description of Omaha Hi-Low. This happens to be my best game, and I was happy to see there is plenty of information, some of which was new to me. If you learn this section, I believe you can compete successfully in low and intermediate level games, even if you know nothing else about Omaha Hi-Low. Well okay, hours of experience are a must.

The next section is on Pot Limit Omaha, which the author has extensively expanded from the prior edition. I am a novice at this game, and I was particularly interested in it. Let's face it; this is big bet poker. You want to get it right. I thought the section was well written, concise and clear. Whether I can take it to the table and win, time will tell. So far, at low stakes, it goes well. But it is one tough game, and mistakes are very costly. I trust the author, and if worse comes worse, he is approachable over the Internet.

The final two sections are on tournament play and miscellaneous topics.

How can you go wrong with this book? It is terrific!

Bob Ciaffone has done it again. This time, he has presented a succinct and insightful guide to playing winning Omaha poker. Like most of the books he has written, the book is composed of short essays that deal with principles of thinking like a solid poker player, and considerations that a professional would make in playing a hand. This book presents guiding principles of how to play and think like an experienced poker player, as well as an analysis of specific starting hands and how they play with specific flops. This book is especially good if you are interested in learning how to play pot-limit Omaha High. It is not as detailed regarding Omaha Hi-Lo, but it is a decent introduction. As with most great poker books, the more experience you have playing, the more you will come to appreciate the lessons provided in this text.

Bob Ciaffone's classic is a must-read for any player serious about learning to play Omaha proficiently. If the book seems a little light at first glance, just remember that it was originally written over two decades ago, and its place in poker literature is secure. I think the strength of the content will also surprise you a bit at times, as even seemingly mundane topics such as "Community Card Poker" and "Betting and Blind Structure" have surprising value.

Frankly, everything the man writes is golden. And coming from hold'em, this was the book that really changed the way I thought about Omaha and got me on the right track. For those familiar with my work, I should note that it was Bob's original section on the straight draws that I built upon.

For players new to Omaha, Bob Ciaffone's Omaha Poker is as good a place as any to start.

-- Jeff Hwang

Pretty decent book. It gives a really good introduction to Omaha and for those trying to learn already having a decent amount of knowledge of other poker games, it isn't boring or full of useless information. It's pretty straight foward and well organized. For those looking to learn the game, it'll get you off on the right foot.

If you are looking to learn how to play Omaha High Limit game then this book will help you with the basics. If you already know how to play or have some experience with any other type of poker game, such as, Hold'em, then this book will disappoint you. It does teach a point count system for Limit type of game. The author talks about game selection and you should play against players who are lesser calibre than you. Overall, it is a very basic poker manual and it teaches only the basics of Omaha, reading the board and do not get sucked in draws unless you are drawing to the nuts.

If you have experience in holdem and know the rules of omaha, you'll find this book is really an introduction. After discounting the "about the anuthor", "history of omaha" and the other space-filler pages, only about 90 page remains... I wish I'd spend the reading time on-line with g..gle and then throw the price on a poker site where I can practice. I'd have learned more with this way.

This is a dated product. You might be able to pick out a few pieces of interesting (and still applicable) insight. But the bulk of this is either old news, or about Omaha limit, which no one plays. Good omaha books are hard to find!

If you are going to play Pot-Limit Omaha Poker (PLO), then this is probably the best book to learn with. it covers starting hands, how to play in different situations and so forth.

Again, it's a good foundational book for learning a complicated game. If it were expanded (and how could you not have MANY example hands to go over in Omaha?!?!) it would be a great book.

But much of the information is hypothetical about blind structures he prefers (we get it, Ciaffone, you're the godfather of Omaha). The author is a great player, and what's written is WELL written, just not enough of it for the fourth star.

The book was written in fairly easy to read format. The book did a very good job of explaing PLO and I would recomened this to anyone who is looking for a good book on PLO.

There was not much technical writing in the book so it was nice to read.