Omaha Hi/Lo: Fundamental Outline
March 22nd, 2016 at 21:21
Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha 8 or better) is commonly viewed as one of the most difficult but favored poker games. It is a game that, even more than normal Omaha poker, aims for play from all levels of players. This is the main reason why a once obscure variation, has increased in popularity so quickly.
Omaha/8 starts just like a normal game of Omaha. 4 cards are handed out to each player. A sequence of betting follows in which gamblers can bet, check, or drop out. Three cards are given out, this is known as the flop. One more sequence of betting happens. After all the players have in turn called or dropped out, another card is flipped on the turn. Another sequence of wagering happens at which point the river card is revealed. The players must attempt to make the best high and low 5 card hands using the board and hole cards.
This is where many players often get baffled. Contrasted to Texas Holdem, where the board can make up everyone’s hand, in Omaha hi/low the player must utilize precisely 3 cards from the board, and precisely 2 cards from their hand. Not a single card more, not a single card less. Contrary to regular Omaha, there are two ways a pot can be won: the "higher hand" or the "low hand."
A high hand is just what it sounds like. It’s the best hand out of everyone’s, it doesn’t matter if it is a straight, flush, full house, etc. It’s the very same concept in almost all poker games.
A low hand is more difficult, but certainly free’s up the play. When determining a low hand, straights and flushes do not count. A low hand is the worst hand that could 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 possible hand. The lower hand is any five card hand (unpaired) with an 8 and lower. The low hand takes half of the pot, as does the high hand. When there is no lower hand presented, the high hand takes the whole pot.
It may seem complicated at the outset, after a couple of hands you will be agile enough to pick up on the basic subtleties of play simply enough. Seeing as you have individuals betting for the low and wagering for the high, and seeing as so many cards are in play, Omaha 8 or better provides an amazing assortment of wagering choices and owing to the fact that you have many players battling for the high hand, as well as a few shooting for the low hand. If you prefer a game with a considerable amount of outs and actions, it’s worth your time to play Omaha 8 or better.