There are always two sides to a story. Any fact can be a truth for a one and very well be a myth for the other. Poker is one such game, which is always surrounded by some controversy or the other.
Although there are no two sides to the fact that Poker is clearly a game of skill. We have seen it evolve as a competitive sport over the years. But there are other variants of Poker in which, quotient of luck involved is a bit higher, as compared to the most popular variant of Poker, Texas No Limit Holdem.
In this Article, we will talk about the second most played variant of Poker, PLO Omaha. Pot Limit Omaha or as it is better known as PLO Omaha is a bit more complicated version of Poker. Every player is dealt 4 Hole Cards Face Down and just like Holdem, the Dealer unleashes the Flop, Turn and River, Community Cards Face Up. The huge difference though is that you cannot use all of these cards and have to exactly use 2 Hole Cards out of the 4 and 3 Community Cards out the 5.
As there are more cards dealt, there are so many more likely possible combinations as the Flop, Turn and the River opens up. A guy with the top pair, top kicker on the Flop can be way behind with his opponent drawing to an open ended straight and/or a Flush. The Hand Hierarchy stays the same but the way you play hands is so much more different than Holdem.
Now comes the Myth! ‘Omaha is a game of chance’. Well here is the fact, it is not. There is a complete possibility that luck does play a part in deciding your fate, but only to a certain degree. Let me put it in simple words, imagine a game of Roulette or Baccarat, where you place a bet and the outcome is not in your hands. In these games you cannot win or lose by choice and it entirely depends on your luck if the outcome is in your favor or not.
In Poker though, be it Omaha, you can both win or lose with the level of skill you posses and even though you may get lucky or the other way around, but in the long run your skill will get 100% credit for your results.
So lets imagine a hand, where you have a Deuce (Hearts) and Five (Hearts) and the Community cards are King (Spades), Jack (Spades), King (Diamonds), Nine (Clubs) and 10 (Spades). You are still alive on the River and opponent 1 bets 2000 and opponent 2 raises it to 8000 All-In, now if you choose to call here there is a 100% chance you will lose this hand. This is the skill that is involved, your decision will decide if you save that money or lose it deliberately. Unlike in other games of chance like Roulette, Slots and more, where you can neither win nor lose using your skill.
To conclude, the more hardworking, disciplined and focused you will be while playing the game of Poker, whether it is Texas No Limit Holdem, Limit Holdem or Omaha, it will always be skill that will come to your rescue and not luck in the long run. Thus Omaha is not a game of chance.