Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha/8 or better) is frequently seen as one of the most complicated but favored poker games. It’s a variation that, even more than normal Omaha poker, aims for action from all levels of players. This is the primary reason why a once invisible variation, has grown in popularity so amazingly.
Omaha/8 begins just like a normal game of Omaha. Four cards are handed out to every player. A round of betting ensues in which gamblers can wager, check, or drop out. Three cards are given out, this is known as the flop. One more round of wagering ensues. Once all the players have either called or dropped out, an additional card is flipped on the turn. Another round of wagering happens at which point the river card is revealed. The entrants will need to make the best high and low 5 card hands based on the board and hole cards.
This is where a number of entrants often get baffled. Contrasted to Hold’em, where the board can be everyone’s hand, in Omaha hi-low the player has to use exactly 3 cards on the board, and precisely 2 hole cards. Not a single card more, not a single card less. Contrary to regular Omaha, there are two ways a pot could be won: the "higher hand" or the "low hand."
A high hand is exactly what it sounds like. It is the strongest hand out of every player’s, whether that is a straight, flush, full house. It is the very same concept in almost every poker game.
The low hand is more complicated, but certainly opens up the play. When figuring out a low hand, straights and flushes don’t count. A low hand is the weakest hand that can be made, with the worst being made up of A-2-3-4-5. Since straights and flushes don’t count, A-2-3-4-5 is the smallest value hand possible. The low hand is any 5 card hand (unpaired) with an 8 and lower. The lower hand wins half of the pot, as just like the high hand. When there is no low hand available, the high hand takes the entire pot.
It may seem complex at first, following a couple of hands you will be agile enough to pick up on the fundamental subtleties of play simply enough. Since you have people betting for the low and wagering for the high, and since so many cards are in play, Omaha hi-low provides an overwhelming range of wagering options and seeing that you have many players trying for the high hand, and many battling for the low. If you enjoy a game with all kinds of outs and actions, it’s not a waste of your time to play Omaha hi/low.
