Omaha Hi Low: General Outline
Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha 8 or better) is frequently viewed as one of the most complicated but favored 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 obscure game, has grown in acceptance so rapidly.
Omaha hi/lo starts like a regular game of Omaha. 4 cards are handed out to every player. A round of betting follows in which gamblers can bet, check, or drop out. Three cards are given out, this is called the flop. Another sequence of wagering ensues. After all the players have in turn called or dropped out, a further card is revealed on the turn. Another sequence of wagering follows at which point the river card is flipped. The entrants will need to put together the strongest high and low five card hands using the board and hole cards.
This is the point where a few players often get confused. Unlike Texas Hold ‘Em, in which the board can be every player’s hand, in Omaha Hi-Lo the player must use precisely 3 cards from the board, and precisely two cards from their hand. Not a single card more, no less. Unlike normal Omaha, there are two ways a pot could be won: the "high hand" or the "low hand."
A high hand is just what it sounds like. It is the best possible hand out of everyone’s, it doesn’t matter if it is a straight, flush, full house. It’s the very same notion in nearly all poker games.
The low hand is more difficult, but really opens up the play. When determining a low hand, straights and flushes do not count. the lowest hand is the weakest hand that can be put together, with the lowest being A-2-3-4-5. Since straights and flushes don’t count, A-2-3-4-5 is the lowest possible hand. The low hand is any five card hand (unpaired) with an eight and below. The lower hand wins half of the pot, as just like the higher hand. When there is no low hand presented, the higher hand wins the whole pot.
It may seem complex initially, after a couple of rounds you will be agile enough to get the basic subtleties of the game with ease. Since you have players betting for the low and betting for the high, and seeing as so many cards are being used at the same time, Omaha/8 offers an amazing assortment of betting options and because you have several players battling for the high hand, as well as a few trying for the low. If you like a game with a plethora of outs and actions, it is worth your time to play Omaha 8 or better.