Omaha

Read more about the
Las Vegas 2024 Super
Bowl Streaker!

Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha/8 or better) is commonly viewed as one of the most complex but well-loved poker variations. It’s a variation that, even more than regular Omaha poker, aims for play from all levels of players. This is the chief reason why a once obscure game, has increased in popularity so rapidly.

Omaha/8 starts exactly like a normal game of Omaha. 4 cards are handed out to every player. A sequence of wagering follows in which players can wager, check, or fold. 3 cards are dealt out, this is known as the flop. A further sequence of betting happens. After all the gamblers have in turn called or folded, an additional card is revealed on the turn. an additional sequence of wagering follows at which point the river card is flipped. The gamblers will have to make the best high and low five card hands using the board and hole cards.

This is the point where a number of entrants get confused. Contrasted to Hold’em, where the board can be every player’s hand, in Omaha Hi-Lo the player must use precisely 3 cards from the board, and exactly two cards from their hand. Not a single card more, not a single card less. Unlike normal Omaha, there are two ways a pot may be won: the "higher hand" or the "lower hand."

A high hand is just how it sounds. It’s the best hand out of everyone’s, it doesn’t matter if it is a straight, flush, full house. It is the very same approach in almost every poker game.

The lower hand is more complex, but really opens up the play. When deciding on a low hand, straights and flushes don’t count. A low hand is the worst hand that can be put together, with the lowest being made up of A-2-3-4-5. Seeing as straights and flushes don’t count, A-2-3-4-5 is the lowest value hand possible. The low hand is any 5 card hand (unpaired) with an 8 and below. The lower hand takes half of the pot, as just like the high hand. When there’s no low hand available, the higher hand wins the whole pot.

While it seems complex at the outset, following a couple of hands you will be able to get the fundamental subtleties of play with ease. Seeing as you have players wagering for the low and betting for the high, and since such a large number of cards are being used at the same time, Omaha/8 provides an overwhelming collection of wagering options and owing to the fact that you have numerous individuals trying for the high hand, and a few shooting for the low. If you like a game with a considerable amount of outs and actions, it’s not a waste of your time to play Omaha 8 or better.