Omaha Hi Low: General Summary
Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha/8 or better) is frequently viewed as one of the most complex but favored poker variations. It’s a variation that, even more than regular Omaha poker, invites action from all levels of players. This is the main reason why a once irrelevant variation, has grown in popularity so rapidly.
Omaha 8 or better begins exactly like a regular game of Omaha. Four cards are handed out to each player. A sequence of betting ensues where gamblers can bet, check, or fold. Three cards are dealt out, this is referred to as the flop. One more sequence of betting happens. Once all the gamblers have in turn called or dropped out, a further card is flipped on the turn. Another sequence of betting happens at which point the river card is revealed. The players will need to make the strongest high and low 5 card hands using the board and hole cards.
This is where a few players often get baffled. Contrasted to Texas Holdem, in which the board can make up everyone’s hand, in Omaha Hi-Lo the player has to utilize precisely 3 cards from the board, and exactly two hole cards. Not a single card more, no less. Unlike regular Omaha, there are two ways a pot could be won: the "higher hand" or the "low hand."
A high hand is just what it sounds like. It is the best hand out of everyone’s, regardless if it is a straight, flush, full house, etc. It’s the same notion in just about all poker games.
The lower hand is more complex, but really opens up the play. When figuring out a low hand, straights and flushes don’t count. the lowest hand is the worst hand that could be made, with the lowest being A-2-3-4-5. Since straights and flushes do not count, A-2-3-4-5 is the lowest value hand possible. The low hand is any 5 card hand (unpaired) with an 8 and lower. The low hand takes half of the pot, as just like the high hand. When there is no low hand presented, the higher hand takes the whole pot.
It may seem complex at first, following a few hands you will be able to get the base subtleties of play easily enough. Since you have people betting for the low and betting for the high, and seeing as such a large number of cards are being used at once, Omaha High-Low offers an amazing assortment of betting possibilities and because you have several players battling for the high hand, as well as several battling for the low hand. If you like a game with a considerable amount of outs and actions, it’s not a waste of your time to play Omaha/8.