Are you planning to try your hands on a unique variant of Poker game? Get to know all about Irish Poker in this post!
While Omaha Poker is a great casino game, it can be swinging at times. Same goes for Texas Hold’em, where it can be irritating not to get a decent card for a pre-flop. There’s a game with all the action and options of Omaha, known as Irish Poker, which is basically a mix of Omaha Poker and Texas Hold’em. In this game, players must discard a couple of cards after flop, starting with 4-hole cards. Rest of the hands is played like a standard Texas Hold’em hand.
Action Pre-Flop
Just like the standard hand of Omaha Poker, action pre-flop is exactly the same. Small blind is posted by the 1st player to the left of dealer, while the big blind is posted by the second one. 4 cards are dealt to each of the players, starting with small blind. Action continues around the layout beginning to the left of the big blind.
The flop is dealt in the same manner as in Texas Hold’em or Omaha poker, with 3 community cards face up. Another betting round starts with the active player close to the left of button. The rest of the players have to discard two cards, once betting action is concluded. From this point onwards, the rules of Texas Hold’em comes into play.
Tips For Pre-Flop
In the game of Irish Poker, you should enter with a mindset similar to that of Omaha poker. You should be looking for a starting hand with a number of possibilities. Some of these are enlisted below:
- QQ109, KKJ9, KKJT or any high pairs with middling or high connectors.
- 10987, J1098, KQJT or any wraps
- Double Suited Hands
- QQJJ, KKJJ, KKQQ or any double big pairs
Look for a better hand in case all the 4 cards do not augur well together in the hand pre-flop.
What Should Be Discarded Post-Flop?
The decision to make regarding which cards to discard will largely depend upon flop action and board texture. You may be facing an opponent with a nut draw or a flopped set, if you face strong resistance on flopping top pair. It is assumed to be a weaker hand in Irish Poker, so stay away from it. Hold your best kicker and work with your pairs, when a draw fails to generate on the flop. One should also avoid sucker straight draws or low draws, if a draw hits the board. In this case, someone probably started with a better pre-flop hand. All in all, Irish Poker is an exciting variant of the standard version, without being too swingy or action-less. In comparison to Texas Hold’em, it may give you a comparatively higher swing, but not adequate enough to sweep your poker chips and your bankroll with them. One of the biggest poker rooms in the world, Full Tilt poker used to offer this version from the year 2013, until it was closed in 2016. However, many reputed online casinos have this game in their inventory, open to players of all abilities. Always play for fun, and never for chasing losses!
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