Omaha Hi/Lo: Fundamental Outline
Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha 8 or better) is often times viewed as one of the most difficult but favored poker variations. It’s a game that, even more than normal Omaha poker, aims for action from every level of players. This is the main reason why a once obscure game, has grown in popularity so amazingly.
Omaha hi/lo starts just like a regular game of Omaha. 4 cards are dealt to every player. A round of wagering follows in which gamblers can bet, check, or drop out. Three cards are dealt out, this is known as the flop. A further round of wagering ensues. Once all the gamblers have either called or dropped out, a further card is flipped on the turn. Another sequence of wagering happens at which point the river card is revealed. The entrants must attempt to put together the best high and low five card hands using the board and hole cards.
This is the point where a number of entrants can get confused. Unlike Texas Holdem, in which the board can be every player’s hand, in Omaha hi-low the player has to utilize precisely 3 cards on the board, and exactly 2 hole cards. Not a single card more, no less. Unlike regular Omaha, there are 2 ways a pot might 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 every player’s, whether that is a straight, flush, full house, etc. It’s the same concept in just about all poker games.
The low hand is more complicated, but certainly free’s up the play. When deciding on a low hand, straights and flushes don’t count. the lowest hand is the worst hand that can be put together, with the lowest being A-2-3-4-5. Because straights and flushes do not count, A-2-3-4-5 is the lowest value hand possible. The low hand is any five card hand (unpaired) with an 8 and lower. The lower hand wins half of the pot, as does the higher hand. When there’s no lower hand available, the high hand takes the complete pot.
It may seem complex at first, following a couple of hands you will be agile enough to pick up on the fundamental nuances of play with ease. Since you have individuals betting for the low and betting for the high, and seeing as such a large number of cards are being used at once, Omaha Hi-Lo provides an overwhelming array of betting options and seeing that you have several players trying for the high, and a few battling for the low. If you like a game with a lot of outs and actions, it’s worth your time to compete in Omaha/8.
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