Omaha Hi Lo: Basic Outline
Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha 8 or better) is commonly viewed as one of the most complicated but favored poker variations. It’s a game that, even more than regular Omaha poker, aims for action from all levels of players. This is the main reason why a once obscure game, has increased in popularity so rapidly.
Omaha 8 or better starts exactly like a regular game of Omaha. Four cards are dealt to each player. A sequence of betting ensues where players can wager, check, or fold. 3 cards are dealt out, this is called the flop. A further sequence of wagering ensues. After all the players have either called or folded, an additional card is revealed on the turn. a further round of wagering ensues and then the river card is flipped. The gamblers will have to make the best high and low five card hands based on the board and hole cards.
This is where many players often get baffled. Unlike Texas Holdem, in which the board can make up everyone’s hand, in Omaha hi/lo the player must use exactly 3 cards on the board, and exactly two cards from their hand. Not a single card more, not a single card less. Unlike regular Omaha, there are 2 ways a pot may be won: the "high hand" or the "lower hand."
A high hand is just how it sounds. It is the strongest hand out of every player’s, it doesn’t matter if it is a straight, flush, full house. It’s the very same approach in nearly every poker game.
A lower hand is more complicated, but really opens up the action. When deciding on a low hand, straights and flushes do not count. the lowest hand is the weakest hand that could 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 value hand possible. The lower hand is any 5 card hand (unpaired) with an eight and smaller. The lower hand takes half of the pot, as just like the high hand. When there is no lower hand presented, the high hand wins the entire pot.
Although it seems complex at first, following a few hands you will be able to get the basic subtleties of play with ease. Since you have players betting for the low and wagering for the high, and since so many cards are being used at once, Omaha/8 offers an exciting assortment of betting choices and because you have numerous individuals trying for the high hand, as well as a few trying for the low hand. If you like a game with a lot of outs and actions, it’s not a waste of your time to participate in Omaha hi-low.
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