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Playing the "wrap" straight draw in Omaha October 29, 2004

The significance of a "wrap" in Omaha

As we all know, a flush draw is better than a straight draw for two reasons. One: it's a better draw. If you hit your flush and somebody else hits a straight, you win! Two: a flush draw has nine outs and a straight draw (open-ended) has only eight outs.

The odds of hitting a straight in Omaha when you flop an open-ended draw does not change from other forms of poker. However, often your straight draw will consist of more than two cards and when this occurs, you will have many more than eight outs. In the best case scenario, you will have a staggering 20 outs! (that's more than twice the outs needed to complete a flush). If you are reading your opponent for pairs or sets then you can assume that you have half the deck going in to the river since 12 cards are already out and 20 out of the 40 cards in the deck will give you a straight.

In Omaha, being able to effectively play a wrap is a crucial skill of the game. You must understand that a wrap is extemely powerful and in many cases is a favorite over a made hand on the flop. On the other hand, you want to be able to "read" your opponents well and know what kind of hand they are holding. Are they playing pairs, a flush or a straight? Obviously, when you have the wrap you don't want to be up against a straight draw for that not only decreases the number of outs remaning in the deck but it will often force you to split the pot or even lose if you hit the wrong kind of straight, one that gives you the second nut and gives your opponent the nuts.

In this article we will discuss various kinds of wrap straight draws. The four basic categories are: a connected wrap, a single-gap wrap, a double-gap wrap and an inside wrap. You must hold at least three cards to the straight in your hand in order for you to have a wrap draw.

Connected Wrap (JT2 on the flop)

When the two straight cards on board are connected, there are four kinds of wraps, top three (AKQ), top two/one bottom (KQ9), bottom two/one top (Q98) and bottom three (789). The most desirable of these is top two/one bottom because you will have the maximum outs with the most number of nut draws. The other draws do not offer as many outs or as many nut possibilities.

The Super Wrap (JT2 on the flop)

You can have a very good wrap draw with three straight cards in your hand, but it's not a "super wrap" unless you have four straight cards, all working in concert to give you the absolute maximum number of outs possible for a straight draw in poker. If you are holding KQ98 then you have six different ranks that will give you a straight (A,K,Q,9,8,7) for a total of twenty outs! It doesn't get any better than this.

As you can see, some of these wrap draws are extremely powerful while others are fairly mediocre. For exampe: the 789 is a nice wrap but only 3 cards will give you the nuts. All other straights will be second or third nut. If you are in a multi-way pot, you should not play this hand since you can hit your hand and still easilly lose. However if you are heads up and you are reading your opponent for a set or two pair, then you can play this hand and you will hit it half the time (although you should be mindful that your opponent will occasionally make a full house to beat your straight - so it's really less than 49% - but we'll keep it simple here).

Single-gap Wrap (J92 on the flop)

When there is a gap between the two straight cards on board, straight possiblities are just a bit less potent than when the two cards are connected. As with a connected wrap, you must have three straight cards to qualify for a wrap draw. Ideally the three cards should be the inside card and the two immediate outside cards, which in our example would be QT8. we call this a "sandwich". If you are holding the rank above the outside card in additon to the three sandwich cards, then this will not increase the number of outs for your straight but it will make all of your draws nut-draws.

The inside wrap is technically a wrap but -as you can see- you only have nine outs, making this the weakest possible wrap with only one out more than a regular open-ended straight draw.

The Significance of a Wrap

If you flop a strong wrap draw such as those in the connected or single-gap category, you can play it even in a multi-way pot and even when there's a flush draw on the flop. Every good poker player knows that the standard advice is "don't play a straight draw when there's a flush draw on board", but this rule does not apply here since the straight draw has many more outs that the flush draw. So the rule here is simple: play it as long as the flush card does not hit. If the straight card is a flush card, then you will have to evaluate the situation and you will often be forced to fold.

If the flop is a rainbow (three different suits) then your hand is even stronger. Consider playing it aggressively by betting, raising and reraising as long as the pot is multi-way. You are hoping that your opponents are playing pairs; therefore, as long as the board does not pair up you will hit the straight and win more than half the time

A super wrap against a set on the flop in Omaha-high: Who is favored?

Say we have a KQ98 up against a JJxx on a flop of JT2. Who is the favorite? This is a tough question! So let's do the math:

ways to choose the two remaining cards (turn and river) : 45c2 = 990

number of outs for the wrap draw: 20

ways to choose the two remaining cards so that they do not contain one of the 20 outs: 45-20 = 25. 25c2 = 300.

ways for the super wrap to hit the straight: 990-300 = 690

ways for the board to pair up with a jack ten or deuse AND for the straight to hit: 7x20=140

ways for the board to pair up with runner runner ace or seven: 4c2 = 6. 6x2 = 12.

ways for the board to pair up with runner runner 8,9,Q or K: 3c2 = 3. 3x4 = 12.

adding all the full houses together: 140+12+12 = 164.

deducting the full houses from the number of outs: 690-164 = 526

divide the net number of outs by the total combinations for the last two cards: 526/990 = .5313 making the wrap draw a slight favorite over the set by winning 53% of the time.

Note that this calculation assumes that the wrap does not have any sort of flush draw and the set does not have any flush draw or straight draw. If one or both of them do have any additional draws, then the figures will change.