Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha/8 or better) is frequently viewed as one of the most complicated but favored poker variations. It’s a variation that, even more than normal Omaha poker, invites play from every level of players. This is the chief reason why a once invisible variation, has expanded in popularity so quickly.
Omaha/8 starts like a normal game of Omaha. Four cards are given out to each player. A round of betting follows where gamblers can wager, check, or drop out. 3 cards are given out, this is referred to as the flop. One more round of betting happens. After all the players have either called or dropped out, a further card is flipped on the turn. Another sequence of betting follows at which point the river card is flipped. The gamblers will need to make the best high and low five card hands using the board and hole cards.
This is the point where some players get baffled. Contrasted to Hold’em, where the board can be every player’s hand, in Omaha hi/lo the player has to use precisely three cards on the board, and precisely two hole cards. No more, no less. Contrary to regular Omaha, there are 2 ways a pot can 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 everyone’s, it doesn’t matter if it is a straight, flush, full house, etc. It is the same concept in nearly every poker game.
A low hand is more difficult, but really opens up the action. When determining a low hand, straights and flushes do not count. A low hand is the weakest hand that can be made, with the lowest value being A-2-3-4-5. Seeing as straights and flushes don’t count, A-2-3-4-5 is the lowest value hand possible. The lower hand is any 5 card hand (unpaired) with an eight and lower. The lower hand wins half of the pot, as does the high hand. When there is no lower hand presented, the high hand wins the whole pot.
It may seem difficult at the start, after a couple of rounds you will be able to pick up on the fundamental nuances of the game simply enough. Since you have players wagering for the low and wagering for the high, and since so many cards are being used at once, Omaha/8 provides an amazing collection of betting options and because you have numerous players battling for the high hand, and several shooting for the low hand. If you like a game with all kinds of outs and actions, it’s worth your time to play Omaha High-Low.
