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Omaha Hi-Lo: General Summary
Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha/8 or better) is often times seen as one of the most complicated but popular poker games. It is 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 increased in acceptance so amazingly.
Omaha/8 begins just like a regular game of Omaha. Four cards are dealt to each player. A round of wagering ensues where gamblers can wager, check, or fold. 3 cards are handed out, this is called the flop. A further round of wagering ensues. After all the players have either called or folded, another card is flipped on the turn. a further sequence of wagering ensues at which point the river card is flipped. The entrants will have to put together the strongest high and low 5 card hands based on the board and hole cards.
This is the point where some players can get baffled. Unlike Hold’em, where the board can be everyone’s hand, in Omaha hi-low the player has to use precisely three cards from the board, and exactly two hole cards. Not a single card more, no less. Unlike regular Omaha, there are 2 ways a pot could be won: the "high hand" or the "low hand."
A high hand is exactly what it sounds like. It’s the strongest possible hand out of everyone’s, regardless if it is a straight, flush, full house, etc. It is the very same approach in almost all poker games.
The lower hand is more complex, but certainly opens up the play. When figuring out a low hand, straights and flushes do not count. the lowest hand is the weakest hand that might be put together, with the lowest value being A-2-3-4-5. Considering that straights and flushes do not count, A-2-3-4-5 is the lowest possible hand. The lower hand is any 5 card hand (unpaired) with an 8 and lower. The lower hand wins half of the pot, as just like the higher hand. When there is no low hand available, the higher hand takes the whole pot.
It may seem complicated at first, after a couple of hands you will be agile enough to pick up on the basic subtleties of play simply enough. Since you have players wagering for the low and wagering for the high, and since such a large number of cards are being used at the same time, Omaha 8 or better provides an amazing range of betting choices and seeing that you have many players battling for the high hand, along with a few shooting for the low. If you prefer a game with a plethora of outs and actions, it’s not a waste of your time to play Omaha High-Low.