Omaha Secrets

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Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha 8 or better) is commonly seen as one of the most complicated but favored poker variations. It’s a game that, even more than regular Omaha poker, invites play from all levels of players. This is the main reason why a once obscure variation, has grown in acceptance 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 players can bet, check, or fold. Three cards are dealt out, this is referred to as the flop. One more sequence of wagering ensues. After all the players have either called or folded, a further card is flipped on the turn. Another sequence of betting ensues at which point the river card is revealed. The players will need to make the strongest high and low 5 card hands based on the board and hole cards.

This is where many entrants often get baffled. Contrasted to Holdem, in which the board can make up every player’s hand, in Omaha hi/lo the player must use exactly three cards on the board, and exactly 2 cards from their hand. No more, no less. Contrary to normal Omaha, there are 2 ways a pot could be won: the "high hand" or the "low hand."

A high hand is just how it sounds. It is the best possible hand out of everyone’s, it doesn’t matter if it is a straight, flush, full house. It is the same approach in nearly every poker game.

A lower hand is more complex, but certainly opens up the action. When figuring out a low hand, straights and flushes don’t count. the lowest hand is the weakest hand that might be made, with the lowest being A-2-3-4-5. Considering that straights and flushes don’t count, A-2-3-4-5 is the smallest value hand possible. The low hand is any 5 card hand (unpaired) with an 8 and smaller. The lower hand takes half of the pot, as does the high hand. When there is no low hand available, the high hand takes the whole pot.

Although it seems complicated at the outset, after a couple of rounds you will be agile enough to get the basic nuances of play easily enough. Seeing as you have individuals wagering for the low and betting for the high, and since such a large number of cards are in play, Omaha 8 or better offers an amazing range of wagering possibilities and seeing that you have many individuals trying for the high, as well as several trying for the low. If you love a game with all kinds of outs and actions, it’s not a waste of your time to participate in Omaha 8 or better.