💪 Starting hand strength: what really makes a hand strong
Connectedness, suits, rank — and why rainbow AA72 is worse than it looks · Beginner
In Omaha a hand's strength isn't "a pair of aces" — it's how the four cards work together. This lesson breaks down how the chart rates hands by type, why two suits change a UTG opening frequency from 3% to 91%, and why unsupported aces lose their edge in multiway pots.
Four cards — one team
A strong Omaha hand is one where all four cards work together. Three questions for any hand:
— connectedness: can you make a straight without gaps, and in how many ways;
— suits: double-suited (ds) gives two flush draws, single-suited (ss) one, rainbow (rr) none;
— rank: do you make the nuts, or the "low end" of a straight and a non-ace flush.
A♠K♠Q♥J♥ answers all three questions perfectly. A♠A♥7♦2♣ is a pair of aces, but the other two cards help nothing: no straight, no flush. Such a "spare" card is called a dangler, and every dangler noticeably weakens the hand.
Suits matter more than you think
Our chart (100 bb, PL200 rake) splits all hands into 76 types. Compare how often the same type is opened from UTG with different suits:
— connected hands (rundowns like 10♠9♠8♥7♥): double-suited — 91%, single-suited — 40%, rainbow — 3%;
— pairs of kings and queens: double-suited — 87%, single-suited — 42%, rainbow — 10%;
— aces with "gapped" cards (like A♠9♠5♥4♥): even from the button, double-suited — 88%, single-suited with the ace — 22%, rainbow — never.
The same "picture" by rank turns from an open into a fold purely because of the suits. Suits aren't decoration — they're equity you get on flops where you'd otherwise have nothing to chase.
Aces vs. a rundown: surprising numbers
Our engine computes equity by exact enumeration or a large sample. Here are matchups that surprise even experienced players:
— A♠A♥7♦2♣ vs. J♦10♦9♣8♣ — 50% vs. 50%. Naked aces against a good rundown is a coin flip;
— K♠K♥Q♠J♥ vs. A♦A♣7♠2♥ — 43% vs. 57%. Good kings lose to aces by less than you'd think;
— A♠A♥K♠K♥ vs. J♦10♦9♣8♣ — 61.4%. Even the best hand in the game is far from 80%.
Now a multiway pot. Against three random hands: A♠A♥K♠Q♥ — 42.0%, J♠10♠9♥8♥ — 32.8%, and naked A♠A♥7♦2♣ — only 29%, close to the "fair" 25%. In multiway pots naked aces lose almost all their edge, while connected double-suited hands don't.
How to use the categories
In the club every hand gets a label based on its opening frequency from UTG and the button:
— premium — opened from UTG almost always (95% or more): pairs of aces with any cards, connected double-suited broadways with an ace, most two-pair hands;
— strong — opened from UTG most of the time (60–95%): double-suited kings and queens, double-suited rundowns;
— speculative — rarely from UTG, but almost always from the button (80% or more): double-suited aces with gapped cards, single-suited or rainbow kings and queens;
— marginal — not always even from the button (30–80%): single-suited or rainbow rundowns;
— weak — a fold from almost everywhere: for example, K♠8♦4♣2♥, with no connectors and no suits.
The main point of the lesson: a hand's strength is how well it will play after the flop. Unsupported aces are a strong hand heads-up, but mediocre multiway.
Practice: 10 hands — name the category. All 76 hand types and their labels are in "Tools → Hand strength".