Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha/8 or better) is frequently viewed as one of the most difficult but popular poker games. It’s a game that, even more than normal Omaha poker, invites action from every level of players. This is the chief reason why a once invisible game, has grown in popularity so quickly.
Omaha hi/low begins exactly like a regular game of Omaha. 4 cards are given out to every player. A sequence of wagering follows in which players can wager, check, or drop out. Three cards are given out, this is called the flop. One more sequence of betting happens. After all the players have in turn called or dropped out, another card is revealed on the turn. Another round of wagering follows and then the river card is revealed. The gamblers will need to put together the strongest high and low five card hands using the board and hole cards.
This is where many players often get confused. Contrasted to Holdem, where the board can make up everyone’s hand, in Omaha Hi-Lo the player must use exactly three cards on the board, and exactly two cards from their hand. No more, not a single card less. Contrary to 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’s the best possible hand out of every player’s, regardless if it is a straight, flush, full house. It’s the same concept in almost all poker games.
A low hand is more complex, but really free’s up the play. When determining a low hand, straights and flushes do not count. the lowest hand is the worst hand that might be put together, with the worst being A-2-3-4-5. Since straights and flushes do not count, A-2-3-4-5 is the lowest possible hand. The lower hand is any five card hand (unpaired) with an 8 and smaller. The low hand takes half of the pot, as just like the high hand. When there is no low hand presented, the high hand wins the whole pot.
While it seems complicated at the start, after a couple of hands you will be agile enough to get the fundamental nuances of play simply enough. Since you have players betting for the low and betting for the high, and seeing as such a large number of cards are being used at the same time, Omaha/8 offers an exciting collection of betting choices and because you have many players trying for the high, along with several trying for the low. If you enjoy a game with all kinds of outs and actions, it’s not a waste of your time to compete in Omaha 8 or better.
