Omaha Strategies

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Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha/8 or better) is commonly seen as one of the most difficult but favored poker variations. It is a game that, even more than regular Omaha poker, invites action from all levels of players. This is the chief reason why a once irrelevant game, has increased in popularity so rapidly.

Omaha hi/low starts exactly like a regular game of Omaha. 4 cards are dealt to each player. A round of betting follows where gamblers can bet, check, or fold. Three cards are dealt out, this is known as the flop. One more sequence of betting ensues. Once all the gamblers have in turn called or dropped out, an additional card is revealed on the turn. a further round of betting ensues at which point the river card is flipped. The entrants must attempt to make the strongest high and low 5 card hands using the board and hole cards.

This is where many players can get baffled. Contrasted to Holdem, in which the board can make up every player’s hand, in Omaha hi/low the player has to use precisely 3 cards from the board, and exactly two cards from their hand. Not a single card more, no less. Unlike regular Omaha, there are 2 ways a pot could be won: the "higher hand" or the "low hand."

A high hand is exactly what it sounds like. It is the best possible hand out of every player’s, regardless if it is a straight, flush, full house, etc. It is the very same approach in just about every poker game.

The lower hand is more complex, but certainly opens up the action. When determining a low hand, straights and flushes don’t count. A low hand is the worst hand that could be made, with the worst being A-2-3-4-5. Seeing as 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 smaller. The low hand wins half of the pot, as just like the higher hand. When there is no low hand available, the high hand wins the complete pot.

Although it seems difficult at the start, after a couple of rounds you will be able to pick up on the basic subtleties of the game easily enough. Seeing as you have players wagering for the low and wagering for the high, and since such a large number of cards are being used at once, Omaha 8 or better offers an exciting collection of betting possibilities and seeing that you have several players trying for the high hand, and a few trying for the low hand. If you love a game with a lot of outs and actions, it’s not a waste of your time to play Omaha/8.