The Importance of Re-draws in Omaha

Everything you read about Omaha Hi-Lo should be rooted in two basic points. The first is the importance of having a two-way hand, having a possibility of sweeping the entire pot. The second point is the importance of having the nuts or a draw to the nuts. These two factors form the basis of the “Omaha Hi-Lo Starting Hand Guide”. If you have had a chance to look over the article “Playing the Nut Low”, you will have seen that sometimes even the nuts is not a bettable hand because of the chance of getting quartered when someone else also has the nuts. The point, that not all nut hands are created equal, is the subject of this article too.

A player has a “redraw” when he or she has a made hand and also has a draw to an even better made hand. Here’s a simple example: you hold AK77 and the flop is QJT. You have the nut hi (the broadway straight), but you also have a draw to the ace-high heart flush. You might wonder what the value of having a draw is when you’ve already got the nuts. There are two elements to consider: first, someone else may also have AK for the nut straight, putting you on a free roll (more on this in a moment) and second, if you have the draw that means someone else doesn’t. Even if you didn’t hold the nut flush draw, as in the example above, flush draw cards can still be useful as blockers against someone drawing to a higher flush. Having blockers simply means having some of your opponent’s outs. It’s significantly harder for your opponent to make his flush when you’re holding two of his cards (with 9 outs and two cards to come he has a 34.97% chance of hitting, whereas with 7 outs he only has a 27.84% chance).

The Freeroll

If, following our example above, we have both the nut straight and the nut flush draw, and our opponent has only the straight, we are on a freeroll. This means that the worst we can do is win half of the pot (half of the hi pot anyway, although there’s no lo possible in our example), but we also have a chance to win the whole thing.

It is often incorrect to get into a raising war (multiple raises and re-raised) with the nuts unless you also have redraws. This point is equally important, if not more so, in Pot Limit Omaha. If, in the example above, you did not also have a flush draw, it would be incorrect to cap the flop if you got three bet by anyone who isn’t a maniac.

Low Redraws

The importance of redraws is just as important on the lo end of things as on the hi. With regard to a lo hand, a redraw is protection against being counterfeited. Take the following example: two players are competing for the low and each players has A2 in their hand. The board read K865. Each player has the nuts, but one player, call him Player A also has a 4 in his hand (Player B has no other low cards). Player A has the nuts with redraws because if an A or a 2 comes on the river (an 8.7% chance), Player A will take the entire lo half of the pot.

In general, when playing Omaha, recognize the value of having a redraw, and the danger of not having one. When you’ve got the nuts with redraws, push without fear. When you don’t have a redraw and someone else may have the nuts as well (i.e. you don’t have four of a kind or the nut full house) you must proceed with caution against aggressive betting.