Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha/8 or better) is commonly seen as one of the most complex but well-loved poker games. It is a game that, even more than regular Omaha poker, invites play from all levels of players. This is the chief reason why a once obscure variation, has grown in acceptance so rapidly.
Omaha 8 or better starts just like a normal game of Omaha. Four 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 known as the flop. Another round of betting happens. After all the gamblers have either called or dropped out, an additional card is flipped on the turn. Another round of wagering ensues at which point the river card is revealed. The gamblers will need 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 entrants can get flustered. Contrasted to Hold’em, where the board can be everyone’s hand, in Omaha hi-low the player has to utilize precisely three cards on the board, and precisely 2 cards from their hand. No more, not a single card less. Unlike normal Omaha, there are two ways a pot may be won: the "higher hand" or the "low hand."
A high hand is exactly how it sounds. It is the strongest possible hand out of everyone’s, whether that is a straight, flush, full house. It’s the same notion in almost all poker games.
The low hand is more complicated, but certainly opens up the play. When deciding on a low hand, straights and flushes don’t count. A low hand is the worst hand that can be made, with the worst being made up of 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 five card hand (unpaired) with an eight and lower. The lower hand takes half of the pot, as just like the high hand. When there’s no low hand presented, the higher hand takes the entire pot.
It may seem difficult at the outset, after a couple of rounds you will be agile enough to get the basic nuances of the game easily enough. Seeing as you have players wagering for the low and betting for the high, and since so many cards are being used at once, Omaha 8 or better offers an amazing array of wagering choices and owing to the fact that you have many players battling for the high hand, along with a few trying for the low. If you like a game with a considerable amount of outs and actions, it’s not a waste of your time to play Omaha/8.
