Omaha Hi/Lo: Fundamental Overview
Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha 8 or better) is often times seen as one of the most complicated but well-loved poker games. It’s a game that, even more than normal Omaha poker, invites action from all levels of players. This is the primary reason why a once obscure variation, has increased in popularity so rapidly.
Omaha/8 begins exactly like a normal game of Omaha. Four cards are given out to every player. A sequence of betting ensues where players can wager, check, or fold. Three cards are dealt out, this is known as the flop. Another sequence of betting ensues. Once all the players have either called or dropped out, a further card is revealed on the turn. Another round of betting happens and then the river card is revealed. The players will have to make the best high and low 5 card hands based on the board and hole cards.
This is the point where some players get flustered. Contrasted to Hold’em, in which the board can be every player’s hand, in Omaha hi/lo the player must utilize exactly 3 cards from the board, and exactly two cards from their hand. Not a single card more, no less. Unlike regular Omaha, there are 2 ways a pot could be won: the "higher hand" or the "lower hand."
A high hand is exactly how it sounds. It’s the best possible hand out of everyone’s, regardless if it is a straight, flush, full house. It’s the very same concept in just about all poker games.
The lower hand is more difficult, but certainly opens up the play. When determining a low hand, straights and flushes do not count. A low hand is the worst hand that might be made, with the lowest being A-2-3-4-5. Seeing as straights and flushes don’t count, A-2-3-4-5 is the lowest possible hand. The low hand is any 5 card hand (unpaired) with an eight and lower. The lower hand wins half of the pot, as does the higher hand. When there is no low hand presented, the high hand takes the complete pot.
It may seem complex initially, following a couple of hands you will be agile enough to pick up on the fundamental subtleties of the game with ease. Seeing as you have people betting for the low and betting for the high, and since such a large number of cards are being used at the same time, Omaha/8 offers an overwhelming assortment of betting possibilities and owing to the fact that you have many players battling for the high hand, along with a few shooting for the low hand. If you like a game with a lot of outs and actions, it is worth your time to compete in Omaha hi/low.
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