Omaha Hi/Low: Fundamental Overview
Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha/8 or better) is commonly viewed as one of the most difficult but popular poker games. It’s a variation that, even more than normal Omaha poker, aims for play from all levels of players. This is the primary reason why a once invisible variation, has increased in popularity so amazingly.
Omaha 8 or better begins like a normal game of Omaha. Four cards are dealt to each player. A round of betting follows where players can bet, check, or fold. Three cards are dealt out, this is known as the flop. Another round of wagering happens. After all the players have either called or dropped out, a further card is revealed on the turn. Another sequence of wagering ensues and then the river card is revealed. The entrants will have to make the best high and low 5 card hands based on the board and hole cards.
This is where many players get baffled. Unlike Texas Hold ‘Em, in which the board can be every player’s hand, in Omaha hi/lo the player has to use exactly 3 cards from the board, and exactly 2 cards from their hand. No more, no less. Unlike normal Omaha, there are 2 ways a pot may be won: the "higher hand" or the "low hand."
A high hand is exactly how it sounds. It’s the best possible hand out of everyone’s, regardless if it is a straight, flush, full house, etc. It is the very same notion in just about every poker game.
The lower hand is more complicated, but certainly opens up the action. When figuring out a low hand, straights and flushes don’t count. A low hand is the weakest hand that might be put together, with the lowest being made up of A-2-3-4-5. Considering that 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 below. The low hand takes half of the pot, as just like the higher hand. When there is no lower hand available, the high hand wins the entire pot.
Although it seems complicated at the outset, after a couple of hands you will be agile enough to pick up on the base subtleties of play with ease. Seeing as you have players betting for the low and betting for the high, and since such a large number of cards are in play, Omaha/8 provides an amazing collection of betting options and owing to the fact that you have numerous players battling for the high hand, and many shooting for the low hand. If you like a game with all kinds of outs and actions, it is not a waste of your time to play Omaha 8 or better.