Omaha Strategies

Read more about the
Las Vegas 2024 Super
Bowl Streaker!

Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha 8 or better) is commonly viewed as one of the most difficult but favored 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 obscure game, has grown in popularity so quickly.

Omaha hi lo starts just like a regular game of Omaha. Four cards are given out to each player. A round of betting follows where players can bet, check, or drop out. 3 cards are dealt out, this is called the flop. A further round of wagering happens. After all the players have either called or dropped out, a further card is flipped on the turn. an additional sequence of betting ensues at which point the river card is revealed. The entrants will have to make the strongest high and low 5 card hands based on the board and hole cards.

This is the point where a number of players can get flustered. Unlike Texas Hold ‘Em, where the board can make up everyone’s hand, in Omaha hi/lo the player has to use exactly 3 cards from the board, and exactly two cards from their hand. No more, no less. Unlike regular Omaha, there are 2 ways a pot might be won: the "higher hand" or the "lower hand."

A high hand is just how it sounds. It’s the best possible hand out of every player’s, whether that is a straight, flush, full house. It is the same concept in just about every poker game.

A low hand is more difficult, but really opens up the action. When deciding on a low hand, straights and flushes do not count. A low hand is the weakest hand that could be put together, with the lowest value being A-2-3-4-5. Seeing as 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 eight and below. The lower hand takes half of the pot, as does the high hand. When there’s no lower hand available, the high hand wins the complete pot.

Although it seems complicated at the outset, following a few hands you will be agile enough to get the basic nuances of play easily enough. Seeing as you have people betting for the low and betting for the high, and since such a large number of cards are being used at the same time, Omaha/8 provides an amazing range of wagering possibilities and because you have several players shooting for the high, and many trying for the low hand. If you prefer a game with all kinds of outs and actions, it’s not a waste of your time to compete in Omaha hi-low.