Holdem Manager 1.08 with Omaha Beta (Build 2) Impressions

Many would say that the future of poker, both online and live, is Omaha, where four cards (instead of two) are dealt to all players. The game is all about getting the right draws to the nuts and the right price for every street, so it tends to have much bigger pots and action than traditional Texas Hold’em. As the general poker playing public gravitates towards Omaha for its action and big pots and away from Hold’em because it’s too nitty, most are left in the dark for software with a HUD for Omaha. The only thing in the past that players could use is PokerTracker 2 Omaha Edition, which is many years old, archaic, and outdated.

For many of us who play Hold’em online, we’ve been using Holdem Manager regularly. A lot of poker players anticipated a version of Holdem Manager Omaha. A few months ago, the folks at Hold’em Manager released their 1.08 patch that brought Hold’em Manager up to speed to support both cash game and tournament play. After that exciting release, they said they had another Ace up their sleeve – support for Omaha in an upcoming add-on for the program.

We were fortunate enough to be included into the private beta for “Hold’em Manager 1.08 with Omaha Beta” that was released this week, with future updates coming for this beta edition every few days. The public beta announcement is pending, but is expected within a couple of weeks.

Installation
Although they recommend that you start a new database, it isn’t necessary and if you don’t mind a little risk, the installation is extremely easy. We tested it with our existing Hold’em Manager database and have received no errors or complications. Simply double click the 10MB patch file, let it do its thing, and you are all done. Double click your regular Hold’em Manager startup link icon, it’ll load up, and be ready to go.

The HUD
The HUD for this Beta edition that supports Omaha play works identically to the HUD in the regular Hold’em edition. In fact, if you don’t do any fancy configuring or change the default HUD setup, you’ll simply use the exact same HUD you’ve been using all along for Hold’em. Although some stats don’t mean as much in Omaha, it’s very convenient to be able to jump right into a game.



Reliability / Stability
After using the program for a couple of 45 minute sessions playing four tables of $10nl full ring Omaha High on PokerStars, we experienced zero issues with importing, stability, or accuracy of reporting the statistics. The HUD popped up after the first hand was grabbed and the layout was just as it would have been for Hold’em. There was no lag for importing the hands and HEM worked like it always has. There are no bugs, extra lag time, crashes, or other errors to report in this early beta build.

Report Tabs
The tabs work the same and, by default, HEM will find your Hold’em stats first and display them. What you need to do is hit the small drop-down menu selector near the duration button and pick the option for the game you want stats for. You can select from the following:

• Hold’em
• Omaha High
• Omaha High/Low
• All Omaha
• All Games



The stats that you get are the most comprehensive for any Omaha tracking program. Everything you need to know and keep records of is all within the regular Hold’em Manager tabs. Basically, the program is the same, only it now works and reports for all things Omaha. Whether you want to see your cash game graph, game play stats, or replay hands in the replayer which works for Omaha, everything is set up and ready to go.

Overall Impressions For This Build
The highlight was using the program in the game and seeing the HUD work perfectly. For the old program we used to track Omaha with, we would have to run through two different programs in order to get all of the stats and a graph and there was never an HUD available. Now, HEM with Omaha gives Omaha players the full experience they’ve been dying for. This build looked very solid and light-years ahead of where we thought it would be, so when the public beta is announced, players should definitely give it a spin.