Omaha Hi-Low: General Outline
Posted in Omaha on 01/10/2018 03:25 pm by Luna
Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha/8 or better) is frequently viewed as one of the most complex but popular poker games. It’s a variation that, even more than normal 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 quickly.
Omaha/8 begins exactly like a normal game of Omaha. 4 cards are handed out to each player. A round of betting ensues in which players can wager, check, or fold. Three cards are handed out, this is known as the flop. Another round of betting happens. After all the gamblers have in turn called or folded, a further card is revealed on the turn. Another round of betting follows and then the river card is flipped. The entrants will have to make the strongest high and low five card hands using the board and hole cards.
This is where a number of players can get baffled. Unlike Hold’em, where the board can make up everyone’s hand, in Omaha hi/low the player has to use exactly 3 cards from the board, and exactly two hole cards. Not a single card more, not a single card less. Unlike regular Omaha, there are 2 ways a pot could be won: the "higher hand" or the "lower hand."
A high hand is exactly how it sounds. It’s the best hand out of everyone’s, it doesn’t matter if it is a straight, flush, full house, etc. It is the very same concept in just about every poker game.
The low hand is more difficult, but certainly opens up the play. When deciding on a low hand, straights and flushes do not count. A low hand is the worst hand that might be made, with the worst being A-2-3-4-5. Because straights and flushes do not count, A-2-3-4-5 is the smallest value hand possible. The low hand is any five card hand (unpaired) with an eight and lower. The lower hand wins half of the pot, as just like the high hand. When there’s no lower hand available, the high hand wins the entire pot.
Although it seems complicated at the outset, following a few rounds you will be agile enough to get the base subtleties of the game with ease. Since you have people betting for the low and wagering for the high, and seeing as so many cards are being used at once, Omaha 8 or better offers an amazing array of wagering options and seeing that you have many individuals battling for the high, along with a few shooting for the low. If you prefer a game with a plethora of outs and actions, it is not a waste of your time to play Omaha 8 or better.