Ciaffone's Omaha book

[Jim Brier]

I am not an Omaha player but I have read Bob's book and in all fairness, Bob is trying to cover a lot of ground. You have Omaha-high which can be played limit or pot limit. These are very different games. Then you have Omaha-8 or better which is usually played limit. (If played pot limit there would probably be too much business going on). But Omaha-8 or better is really a very different game, requiring a book on its own.

I think Bob is trying to give players an introduction to the overall game of Omaha. To do this, he has to devote some time to the basics like the importance of using precisely two cards in your hand and precisely three cards on the table (which sometimes confuses even experienced players many of whom have a hold'em background). Also being able to evaluate an Omaha hand plus read the flop while understanding the phenomnena of "wraparounds" and other things unique to Omaha is something an author has to spend some time on in order to discuss the game with beginners.

With regard to limit Omaha-8 or better, Ray Zee has a book which discusses this game. Next year, Mark Tenner and Lou Kreiger will be publishing a book on Omaha-8 or better.