Omaha Poker Point System

1. Omaha Poker Point System Software

The World Series of Poker Player of the Year (POY) race and the formula to determine the winner, is always the topic of debate.

STEP EIGHT: Call a bet with 30 points or more, and raise or call a raise with 34 points or more. By limiting yourself to these hands you will always be playing premium cards. Monte-Carlo type simulations prove that any hand that earns 30 or more points under the first six steps of this system will win at least 17% of the hands in a ten-handed game. Omaha poker is played at a table with a maximum of ten players, but usually games are played with two players, six players, or nine players. Tables are always referred to by their betting limits - for example, a $1/$2 Pot Limit Omaha table would have a $1 small blind and a $2 big blind. However, a $1/$2 Fixed Limit Omaha table would have a. Mar 29, 2010 Step one awards a total of 6 points for the two double suits headed by nines. Under step two, the pair of nines earns 10 points and the pair of eights earns 8 points. The last step awards 8 points for the 9-8 combination. The total of 32 points, when divided by two, is the same as this hand's actual win rate of 16 per cent.

Last year, the debate fired up at the World Series of Poker as the organizer had taken the formula into its own hands after Bluff and the GPI handled the formula before. Especially Daniel Negreanu, always a vocal player in such matters, was involved, claiming the formula was profoundly flawed.

This year, the WSOP has altered their formula, loosely basing it on the WSOP Circuit points system. The most significant change between the 2017 and 2018 formula, is the ratio of points awarded for a win versus the points awarded for a min cash. Last year, this ratio could be as small as 3.25-1, or as big as 8.16-1. In 2018, a press release by the WSOP states, the ratio is always roughly 20-1.

Edward Hutchison invented the point counts for Omaha poker in 1997. He wrote an article in Canadian Poker Monthly that described a point count system which could be used for Omaha poker. Point counts have been used in card games such as bridge for many years as a method to simplify hand evaluation. Their use in poker was not common until 1997 when Edward Hutchison wrote an article in Canadian Poker Monthly that described a point count system that could be.

2018 WSOP Player of the Year Points Calculator and Example

The WSOP has a Points Calculator online for players to calculate the number of points winable in specific events. They also published the following example comparison between the 2017 and 2018 formula:

The Same 2017 Player of the Year

The overall winner from 2017, Chris Ferguson, would have remained unchanged. Ferguson's point total would have been 3,309 points from 23 cashes, including 1 bracelet (1st in the €1,650 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better for €39,289 at the WSOPE), one runner-up finish (2nd in the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship for $151,700 at the WSOP), and one additional final table (4th in the $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo - Championship for $150,929 at the WSOP).

2018 WSOP POY Key Information

The 2018 Player of the Year race will include the World Series of Poker at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas running May 29 through July 17, and the World Series of Poker Europe at King's Casino in Rozvadov running October 11 through November 2.

Cashing in The Giant and the PLO Giant nets players POY points, but those points won't be displayed on the website till the final flight of these multi-flight events has taken place since the total amount of entries is a factor in the formula.

For multi-flight events where players can cash and bust in a starting flight and reeenter, making it possible for players to cash multiple times in the same tournament, players can only earn points once per event. On the official list of results on WSOP.com, all players advancing to Day 2 will be listed in the order in which they are eliminated on Days 2, 3, and 4. Players who make the money but who do not advance to Day 2, will be listed in the order of total payout amount received, which will be the place the POY points are awarded.

When playing the Heads-Up event or one of the shootout events, players eliminated in the same round (thus with the same payout) will receive the same amount of points. The points rewarded to these players will be the average of the points those places would have earned in a regular event.

The following events are excluded from the 2018 WSOP POY race:

• Event #1: $565 Casino Employees No-Limit Hold’em
• Event #32: $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold’em
• Event #36: Super Seniors No-Limit Hold’em
• Event #55: $1,000 Tag Team No-Limit Hold’em
• Event #57: $1,000/$10,000 Ladies Event
• Event #78: $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop

There's no (physical) prize for winning the WSOP 2018 Player of the Year race. A banner with the photo of the winner will go up the next year.

World Series of Poker Player of the Year Since 2004

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The Hutchison Point System for Texas Holdem is an excellent beginners guide to starting hand selection. While learning this system will not make you a favorite at next year's World Series of Poker, it will most definitely give the new Texas Holdem player an idea of the value of the pocket cards he or she is holding.

Why is this important? The main reason players lose money in poker is because they play too many cards. This system limits the number of starting hands to cards that have a much better than average chance of winning. While this guide will not help you with many aspects of Holdem, including flop, turn and river play, it will simplify the process of which cards to hang onto and which to dump before the flop. This, in my opinion is the biggest challenge for players new to the game, and thusly a good edition for the general strategy section.

The Hutchison Point System

After being dealt your pocket pairs, assign the following values:

Ace = 16 points

King = 14 points

Queen = 13 points

Jack = 12 points

Ten = 11 points

All other cards are worth their “face value.” (ie. 5 of hearts is worth 5 points, etc)

Additional Qualifiers:

Pocket Pair = +10

Same Suit = +4

Connected = +3 (ie. 9-10, or Jack-Queen. No gaps.)

One Card Gap = +2 (ie. Jack-King)

Two Card Gap = +1 (ie. Jack-Ace)

What the numbers mean:

If your total is:

30+ Premium cards, that can be played from any position, if there are no raises.

27+ These cards can be played from Middle or Late position, provided there are no raises.

25+ Should only be played from late position, if there have been no raises.

To raise or call a raise, you should have a point total of:

34+ In early position

31+ In middle position

29+ In late position

Examples

Ace-Ace: That would be 16+16 for the two aces, and an additional +10 for their being a pocket pair. Thats a total of 42 points. Obviously strong and playable!

Queen-Jack suited: 13 + 12 for the cards, +4 for suited, +3 since they are connected. A total of 32. You could call the big blind with this hand in any position, but if there is a raise, you should only call the raise in middle or late position.

10-6 suited: 11 + 9 for the cards, +4 suited = 24 points. Fold them! This is a perfect example of a hand that many beginning players will call with, hoping for a flush or miracle straight draw. They will almost always lose, and even when the straight or flush is made, there is good chance that a higher straight or flush will take the pot.

Hutchison Statistics

The creator of this formula states that in simulations, only playing 30 point hands yielded a win rate of 17% in a 10 handed game where every hand is played to the river. Obviously, if you played every random hand, you would have an average win rate of only 10%. Thats a 70% increase.

In conclusion, one should note that the game of Texas Holdem is extremely complex, and a simple formula such as this certainly does not do justice to all of the other variables that determine winning and losing players. But even given the complexity of the game, it cannot be emphasized enough that the #1 mistake that beginners make is playing too many hands. If you have only lost money so far in Holdem, this is almost certainly at the root of the problem!

The Hutchison Point System makes starting hand choices much easier to decide upon and should result in a much healthier bank roll for the beginner in low limit holdem.

Omaha Poker Point System Software

For the full article and disclaimers by Edward Hutchison, click the following link: