Omaha Hi-Lo: Basic Outline
Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha/8 or better) is frequently viewed as one of the most complicated but popular poker variations. It’s a game that, even more than normal Omaha poker, invites action from all levels of players. This is the chief reason why a once obscure variation, has increased in popularity so quickly.
Omaha 8 or better starts just like a normal game of Omaha. 4 cards are given out to every player. A round of betting ensues where gamblers can wager, check, or drop out. 3 cards are given out, this is called the flop. One more round of betting ensues. After all the gamblers have either called or folded, a further card is revealed on the turn. Another sequence of wagering ensues at which point the river card is revealed. The gamblers will have to put together the strongest high and low five card hands using the board and hole cards.
This is the point where a number of entrants get baffled. Unlike Hold’em, in which the board can make up everyone’s hand, in Omaha hi low the player has to utilize precisely 3 cards on the board, and precisely two cards from their hand. No more, no less. Unlike regular Omaha, there are 2 ways a pot may be won: the "higher hand" or the "lower hand."
A high hand is exactly how it sounds. It’s the best hand out of every player’s, it doesn’t matter if it is a straight, flush, full house. It is the identical approach in almost every poker game.
A low hand is more complicated, but certainly free’s up the action. When deciding on a low hand, straights and flushes don’t count. the lowest hand is the weakest hand that can be made, with the lowest being A-2-3-4-5. Seeing as 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 eight and below. The low hand wins half of the pot, as just like the higher hand. When there’s no low hand available, the higher hand takes the complete pot.
While it seems complex at the outset, after a few rounds you will be agile enough to get the basic nuances of the game easily enough. Seeing as you have players wagering for the low and wagering for the high, and since so many cards are in play, Omaha 8 or better provides an exciting collection of wagering choices and because you have many players trying for the high hand, and several trying for the low hand. If you enjoy a game with a plethora of outs and actions, it’s not a waste of your time to participate in Omaha 8 or better.