Omaha

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Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha/8 or better) is commonly viewed as one of the most complicated but popular poker games. It’s a variation that, even more than regular Omaha poker, invites action from every level of players. This is the chief reason why a once irrelevant game, has expanded in popularity so quickly.

Omaha/8 begins just like a regular game of Omaha. Four cards are handed out to each player. A sequence of wagering follows in which players can wager, check, or fold. Three cards are given out, this is known as the flop. Another round of wagering happens. After all the gamblers have in turn called or folded, another card is revealed on the turn. an additional sequence of wagering follows and then the river card is revealed. The players will need to put together the strongest high and low five card hands using the board and hole cards.

This is where a few players often get baffled. Unlike Hold’em, in which the board can make up every player’s hand, in Omaha Hi-Lo the player has to use precisely 3 cards on the board, and precisely 2 hole cards. No more, not a single card less. Contrary to regular Omaha, there are 2 ways a pot may be won: the "high hand" or the "lower hand."

A high hand is just what it sounds like. It is the strongest possible hand out of everyone’s, it doesn’t matter if it is a straight, flush, full house. It is the same approach in just about every poker game.

A lower hand is more difficult, but certainly opens up the play. When determining a low hand, straights and flushes don’t count. A low hand is the weakest hand that could be made, with the lowest being A-2-3-4-5. Since straights and flushes do not count, A-2-3-4-5 is the lowest value hand possible. The lower hand is any 5 card hand (unpaired) with an eight and smaller. The lower hand takes half of the pot, as does the high hand. When there is no low hand available, the high hand takes the whole pot.

Although it seems difficult at first, after a couple of hands you will be agile enough to get the base nuances of the game easily enough. Since you have players wagering for the low and betting for the high, and seeing as so many cards are in play, Omaha/8 offers an overwhelming assortment of betting choices and seeing that you have numerous players shooting for the high, as well as a few shooting for the low. If you enjoy a game with all kinds of outs and actions, it is not a waste of your time to play Omaha High-Low.