Counterfeit (poker) - Omaha Hold 'em

Omaha Hold 'em

The more common occurrence of counterfeiting in Omaha is when a person's best possible low hand, called the "nut low", is counterfeited. As an example, say Alice has A♠ 3♣ J♦ Q♦ while Bob holds A♣ 2♦ 9♦ J♠ and Carol holds 9♥ T♥ K♥ A♥. If the flop comes 6♥ 7♥ 8♥, Carol has a lock on the high hand with her 10-high straight flush, but Alice and Bob are still competing for the low half of the pot. Bob holds an 8-7-6-2-A, ahead of Alice's 8-7-6-3-A. In fact, Bob currently holds the nut low hand; no one can have a better low hand.

However, if the turn card is 2♣, Alice and Bob's fortunes have changed. Alice now has the nut-low of 7-6-3-2-A, while Bob must still play the A-2 from his hand for a low of 8-7-6-2-A. The turn card did not make Bob's hand worse, but it did make Alice's hand better. Bob's only chance at the low pot now is if a 3 comes on the river, counterfeiting Alice's hand and giving both Alice and Bob a 7-6-3-2-A to split the low half of the pot. (If a 3 does come on the river, the nut low hand becomes A-4 to make 6-4-3-2-A.)

On the other hand, on a flop of 8-7-6, a hand containing A-2-3-4 is considered counterfeit-proof, because it currently is the nut low (8-7-6-2-A), and even if an A or a 2 arrives on the turn, it will remain the nut low (7-6-3-2-A) and will remain protected from counterfeiting on the river. A player with this type of protection can be bolder in betting.