Omaha is sometimes presented as a quite complicated variant of poker based on the extra possibilities that occour then the starting hands includes four cards. It is of course a rather complex game but I will argument that Texas hold’em is some worser in a comparing.
If you only look at the rules you can say Omaha is some more complicated than Texas hold’em. In Omaha there is some specialities concerning the combination of the card on hand and the card on the board.
But the rules will be learned in a relative modest time and there after this is subject can be dismissed. It is in a comparing of the strategical diversities I will point out Texas hold’em as the more complicated game.
Poker is a game of imperfect information and the difficulties is about making good decisions in hard situations. If you look further on this circumstance you can determine that the most difficult decisions are made when it’s many close possibilities to choose from. In Texas hold’em is this circumstances true more often than in Omaha.
In my opinion are the decionsions harder as the ranks of the hand getting lower – with the exception of obvious junk hands. A pair is harder to play than two pairs, two pairs are harder to play than trips, trips is harder to play than a straight and so on. And I don’t mean that it’s harder to play worser hands because they had bad chances to win, but that it’s a fact that this hands have more possibilities that must be analysed.
Let’s say you have K♠-J♥ and the flop comes 8♣-T♠-K♣. You bet and all players fold except one player that raise. Let’s say you play a tournament and it’s an early stage and therefore you know nothing about your opponent. Your alternatives is to fold, call and re-raise. This is not an easy decision as I see it. But it’s a common situation in Texas hold’em.
In Omaha on the other hand you will not face these situations especially often – in avoiding getting to generalization I will here mainly focus on Omaha Hi in a longhanded table. I will argument that Omaha “begins” with two pairs, before you get two pairs ther’s seldom a good reason to get seriously involved in the hand.
Because of this will you automatically get away from many situations there the possibilities are the most and the decisions the hardest.