Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha/8 or better) is often times seen as one of the most complex but popular poker games. It is a game that, even more than normal Omaha poker, invites action from every level of players. This is the primary reason why a once irrelevant game, has expanded in acceptance so rapidly.
Omaha/8 starts exactly like a regular game of Omaha. 4 cards are dealt to each player. A sequence of betting follows where players can bet, check, or fold. Three cards are dealt out, this is known as the flop. Another sequence of betting ensues. After all the players have in turn called or dropped out, an additional card is revealed on the turn. Another sequence of betting ensues at which point the river card is flipped. The players will have to make the best high and low five card hands using the board and hole cards.
This is the point where some entrants often get baffled. Unlike Holdem, where the board can make up everyone’s hand, in Omaha hi low the player must utilize exactly 3 cards on the board, and precisely two hole cards. Not a single card more, not a single card 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 how it sounds. It is the strongest possible hand out of everyone’s, regardless if it is a straight, flush, full house. It’s the same concept in nearly every poker game.
The lower hand is more complicated, but certainly free’s up the action. When deciding on a low hand, straights and flushes do not count. the lowest hand is the weakest hand that might be put together, with the lowest being A-2-3-4-5. Because straights and flushes do not count, A-2-3-4-5 is the smallest value hand possible. The low hand is any 5 card hand (unpaired) with an eight and smaller. The low hand takes half of the pot, as just like the high hand. When there is no low hand presented, the higher hand takes the entire pot.
It may seem difficult at the start, following a few hands you will be agile enough to pick up on the base subtleties of play with ease. Since you have players wagering for the low and wagering for the high, and since so many cards are being used at the same time, Omaha 8 or better provides an amazing assortment of wagering options and owing to the fact that you have many individuals battling for the high hand, along with several battling for the low. If you love a game with a lot of outs and actions, it is not a waste of your time to play Omaha/8.
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