Omaha's Book Club
Friday, November 06, 2009
I love the 8-game SNGs. Last night, I took my last buy-in at PokerStars to a 6-person, 8-game, turbo SNG. I took 2nd, which was good enough to double my meager bankroll and give me enough to waste on another game shortly.
I've been thinking a lot about Omaha lately. When I first learned the game, I took to it like wildfire. My love of poker is really a love of games, and Omaha was another fun new game to learn. I felt I had a better intuitive grasp on the game than most because of the way my brain thinks (gamesmanship, mostly), but I've come to learn that as I acclimated myself to the game before moving on to others, a large portion of the online poker world (and bloggers) kept learning and probably know way more about the game than I ever did.
This was a humbling realization, but it spurred my next thought. I need to learn Omaha better. And what better way to learn Omaha (besides playing it) than to read up on the game. That's where hopefully you come in...
Can anyone recommend a good Omaha book? I'd like to cover all variations, including limit, pot limit, high only and 8 or better.
It's been a long time since I read a poker book. The last one was Gus Hansen's Every Hand Revealed, which I read about a year ago (highly recommended, by the way). So, I guess it is time, and if I act now, I'll hopefully ingest the book well in advance of my December to Remember poker tour.
And while I'm at it, if anyone else has a non-Omaha poker book they'd recommend, feel free to share. It'd help, though, if you gave a brief description of why the book is worthwhile. I like all sorts of poker books, including the biographies and narratives.
Until next time, make mine poker!
posted by Jordan @ 9:32 AM,
7 Comments:
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At 11:48 AM,
Hammer Player a.k.a Hoyazo said...
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Any of the Cloutier / McEvoyr Omaha books are great. Bob Ciaffone's is also top-notch in my view. I even enjoyed Farha on Omaha, one you won't hear recommended much. And of course the Omaha chapters in Super/System and Hellmuth's "Playing Poker Like the Pros" are also great reads for basic strategy and intermediate thoughts.
Omaha is a seriously fun game, and there are plenty of nights when I don't feel like playing any nlh but when Omaha just hits the spot.
Best of luck with it. -
At 1:21 PM,
BLAARGH! said...
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HOP -
http://www.amazon.com/Pot-Limit-Omaha-Poker-Jeff-Hwang/dp/0818407263
this is the one I see recommended the most for PLO. Sorry, but can't give my own review as I haven't started playing omaha yet and haven't read the book, but I read so many damn blogs reviews for it that it must have something good in it... -
At 1:51 PM,
edgie212 said...
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There are two books by Bruce Chen that I think are probably the best. The second one is really really dense and advanced, though.
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At 3:14 PM,
Shrike said...
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Ciaffone and Hwang are authors I recommend for Omaha. Rolf Slotbloom has a good book on how to shortstack PLO, but the time of the PLO short-stacker has probably passed.
-PL -
At 6:00 PM,
Matt Sokol said...
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Jeff Hwang's previously linked book is excellent and I highly recommend it, having read it previously. It is a thorough, logical, and knowledgeable approach to the game and it's really the best text on omaha that I've seen. Granted, I'm no omaha master myself.
It even covers both high-only and 8-or-better, so it seems perfect for what you want. -
At 4:18 PM,
Unknown said...
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Anything by Hwang is good. Ray Zee's books are a bit too passive for today's game.
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At 4:44 PM,
BWoP said...
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You can read Hwang's books and then play $1/$2 PLO with him in Vegas :-) He was pretty instrumental in getting the PLO at the Venetian up and running.
