Omaha Hi Lo: Fundamental Overview
Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha/8 or better) is often times viewed as one of the most difficult but popular poker games. It is a variation that, even more than regular Omaha poker, aims for action from all levels of players. This is the primary reason why a once invisible game, has grown in popularity so amazingly.
Omaha/8 begins like a normal game of Omaha. 4 cards are given out to each player. A sequence of wagering ensues in which gamblers can wager, check, or fold. Three cards are given out, this is referred to as the flop. One more sequence of betting ensues. Once all the gamblers have either called or folded, another card is revealed on the turn. Another round of betting ensues and then the river card is revealed. The entrants will have to make the best high and low five card hands based on the board and hole cards.
This is the point where many entrants can get baffled. Contrasted to Hold’em, where the board can make up everyone’s hand, in Omaha hi-low the player must utilize precisely 3 cards on the board, and precisely 2 cards from their hand. Not a single card more, no less. Contrary to normal Omaha, there are two ways a pot can be won: the "high hand" or the "low hand."
A high hand is just how it sounds. It’s the strongest hand out of every player’s, it doesn’t matter if it is a straight, flush, full house, etc. It is the same notion in just about all poker games.
The lower hand is more complicated, but really free’s up the action. When figuring out a low hand, straights and flushes do not count. the lowest hand is the worst hand that can be put together, with the worst being A-2-3-4-5. Considering that straights and flushes do not count, A-2-3-4-5 is the worst possible hand. The low hand is any 5 card hand (unpaired) with an eight and lower. The lower hand takes half of the pot, as just like the higher hand. When there’s no low hand available, the higher hand takes the entire pot.
It may seem complicated at the outset, following a few rounds you will be agile enough to pick up on the base subtleties of the game with ease. Since you have players wagering for the low and wagering for the high, and seeing as so many cards are in play, Omaha/8 provides an overwhelming assortment of betting choices and because you have many individuals battling for the high hand, as well as several trying for the low. If you like a game with a plethora of outs and actions, it is not a waste of your time to play Omaha 8 or better.
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