Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha/8 or better) is commonly viewed as one of the most difficult 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 main reason why a once obscure game, has expanded in popularity so rapidly.
Omaha/8 starts exactly like a regular game of Omaha. 4 cards are given out to each player. A round of betting follows where gamblers can bet, check, or drop out. Three cards are dealt out, this is called the flop. One more round of wagering ensues. Once all the players have either called or folded, a further card is flipped on the turn. an additional round of betting happens and then the river card is flipped. The entrants must attempt to put together the strongest high and low 5 card hands using the board and hole cards.
This is where a few entrants get confused. Unlike Holdem, in which the board can make up everyone’s hand, in Omaha hi/low the player has to use precisely 3 cards on the board, and exactly 2 cards from their hand. Not a single card more, no less. Contrary to normal Omaha, there are 2 ways a pot can be won: the "high hand" or the "lower hand."
A high hand is just how it sounds. It’s the best possible hand out of everyone’s, it doesn’t matter if it is a straight, flush, full house. It is the very same notion in nearly every poker game.
A lower hand is more complex, but certainly opens up the action. When deciding on a low hand, straights and flushes don’t count. A low hand is the weakest hand that might be made, with the lowest value being A-2-3-4-5. Because straights and flushes do not count, A-2-3-4-5 is the lowest possible hand. The lower hand is any five card hand (unpaired) with an eight and lower. The low hand takes half of the pot, as does the high hand. When there is no lower hand available, the high hand wins the whole pot.
It may seem complex at first, following a few rounds you will be agile enough to pick up on the basic nuances of play simply enough. Since you have individuals wagering for the low and wagering for the high, and seeing as so many cards are in play, Omaha 8 or better offers an overwhelming collection of betting choices and seeing that you have several players battling for the high hand, and many battling for the low hand. If you enjoy a game with all kinds of outs and actions, it’s not a waste of your time to compete in Omaha hi lo.
