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Omaha Hi Lo: Basic Overview
Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha 8 or better) is commonly viewed 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 main reason why a once obscure game, has grown in acceptance so quickly.
Omaha hi lo begins exactly like a normal game of Omaha. 4 cards are dealt to every player. A round of wagering follows where gamblers can bet, check, or drop out. Three cards are dealt out, this is called the flop. Another round of wagering happens. After all the gamblers have in turn called or dropped out, a further card is flipped on the turn. Another sequence of betting happens and then the river card is revealed. The players will have to make the best high and low five card hands using the board and hole cards.
This is where many players often get flustered. Contrasted to Texas Holdem, where the board can be everyone’s hand, in Omaha hi/low the player has to use precisely 3 cards on the board, and precisely two cards from their hand. Not a single card more, not a single card less. Unlike normal Omaha, there are two ways a pot could be won: the "high hand" or the "lower hand."
A high hand is exactly how it sounds. It is the best possible hand out of every player’s, whether that is a straight, flush, full house. It is the very same concept in almost every poker game.
A lower hand is more complicated, but certainly opens up the action. When determining a low hand, straights and flushes do not count. the lowest hand is the weakest hand that could be put together, with the lowest being made up of A-2-3-4-5. Considering that straights and flushes don’t count, A-2-3-4-5 is the worst possible hand. The lower hand is any five card hand (unpaired) with an eight and lower. The low hand takes half of the pot, as does the higher hand. When there is no low hand available, the high hand wins the complete pot.
Although it seems complex at the outset, following a couple of rounds you will be agile enough to get the basic subtleties of the game with ease. Seeing as you have players betting for the low and wagering for the high, and seeing as so many cards are in play, Omaha High-Low provides an amazing assortment of wagering possibilities and owing to the fact that you have numerous players battling for the high, and a few shooting for the low hand. If you like a game with all kinds of outs and actions, it is not a waste of your time to participate in Omaha/8.