Questions about Moving from Hold Em to Omaha

[baztalkspoker]

My main game is no limit texas hold em but I believe you need to be feeling sharp for this and my biggest winning days are over the weekend when I am fresh but I like playing after work too but tiredness is affecting my game during the week.
I have been dabbling with Pot Limit Omaha recently and I have read up on it and have a grasp of the basics of it.

I have read it is a more mechanical game once you get used to it and the profit tends to come from horrible mistakes from your opponents. I think this might suit me better on the nights that I'm tired - don't get me wrong I mean I'm not so tired that I'm going to make daft mistakes - it's just hold'em is full of borderline decisions which I'm more likely to get wrong than I would do when fresh.
Now you could say don't play during the week then which is fair enough but if I'm going to play is it worth my while to try to get more proficient in Pot limit Omaha and pursue thisinstead of hold'em as my game of choice during the week - I am confident enough in my ability that I can crack the game but am unsure of timescales.

So basically my questions are do people think it's worthwhile for a reasonable hold em player to learn Omaha?
What timescale would people think it would take a player like myself who is prepared to learn and approaches poker in a professional manner to become a winning player in pot limit omaha if at all?
Is my assumption correct that Omaha is more a black and white game than hold'em and this may suit me when feeling a little tired as decisions will be more clear cut?
One last question - Are there any other types of games that may fit the bill for what I'm looking for better than Pot Limit Omaha?

Thanks for any advice

[Mempho]

Limit is more mechanical.

[cmyr]

you *can* play very mechanical PLO at low-stakes and be a winning player, but if you're playing at a level where your opponents aren't idiots, this stops being true. If you want a mechanical game, why not play full-ring LHE?

[Chimichonga]

or full ring LO8

[MediaPA]

Just my opinion from small stakes play

Omaha is pretty much a math problem. You generally have a strong made hand going up against a big draw (if there's money going into the pot). There are more opportunities to bluff if you choose to use them because of this.

Just play LO8 if you want something really mindless to play (provided you have patience)

[baztalkspoker]

Cheers for the replies so far, yeah good point about Limit Hold'EM poker full ring being mechanical - I have played a fair bit of limit hold'em - was the first game I played online and I can beat the game at the medium levels i.e. $5-$10 or below by playing the standard tight aggressive approach but there's only so much limit poker I can play without getting bored of it. I will usually multi-table on a limit game if I play it all - but again the mid-week tiredness factor deters me from doing this and anyway I am also looking to broaden my poker horizons.

I will be looking to play omaha online probably in the range of $.5-$1 to $2-$4 blinds, from what I've played so far these games seem quite loose to me and $2-$4 can turn into a pretty big game with huge pots getting scooped.
To be fair $2-$4 is probably a bit too high for my current level of knowledge and experience in omaha.

I mean don't get me wrong it does not need to be totally mechanical - I just wanted a game that was a bit more straightforward than NL Hold'em for the times when I'm not totally into my poker groove, when I'm at my best i.e. over the weekend I am happy to multi-table any form of hold'em, during the week this is a no-no for me more often than not.

But maybe you guys are right and maybe it's limit omaha I should be looking at.
Any other game suggestions welcome
Thanks,
Baz.

[kaunman24]

Youre willingness to take PLO in a serious professional manner is important, and the quick simple answer to your questions would be "sure why not". I wouldnt be suprised if you have plenty of early success. Your problem is likely to come later. I would see your problem comming when you get comfortable with omaha and have a good idea with what you are doing. Your assumption of the black and whiteness of Omaha in my opinion is incorrect. Unless you are a nut peddler, you are faced with as many if not more borderline tough decsions as NL holdem. Just like any game you become acustomed to, you become more fancy and try different plays when you gain more experience. There is nothing wrong with that if you are alert and can pick when this would be the best time. Comming home tired from work one night a naked NFD might look good on the flop against a couple players, or bluffing with any single suited ace on a flush board when you know the person is comming with you. So PLO is a great game to learn and you could probably get away with it in the beginning due to your own excitement for a new game, but when it becomes the ordinary you may struggle with the tiredness.
-I would say playing LHE is another option (only because of the available soft lucrative games), but if you are a NL player youd probably end up pulling out your hair.

[TheRempel]

$2/$4 PLO generally seems to be the first level where I don't believe you can nut peddle and win any decent amount. You need to be able to make big bluffs and catch them to win anything more than tiny pots and the occasionally giant monster draw vs set shovefest.

[beset]

the rempel speaketh the truth.

I'd reccomend full ring limit hold em or full or even short-handed omaha hi/lo split.

[glass_onion]

if you like black/white decisions and playing tired and autopilot, its O8. No question about it. I'd fall asleep though, if I was already tired