Skip to content

Categories:

Omaha Hi Low: Fundamental Overview

Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha 8 or better) is frequently seen as one of the most complicated but favored poker variations. It is a variation that, even more than regular Omaha poker, aims for play from all levels of players. This is the primary reason why a once obscure variation, has increased in popularity so rapidly.

Omaha/8 begins just like a regular game of Omaha. Four cards are given out to every player. A round of betting follows in which players can bet, check, or drop out. Three cards are dealt out, this is referred to as the flop. One more sequence of betting happens. Once all the gamblers have in turn called or folded, an additional card is revealed on the turn. Another sequence of wagering follows at which point the river card is revealed. The gamblers must attempt to put together the best high and low 5 card hands based on the board and hole cards.

This is where many players can get confused. Unlike Hold’em, where the board can be every player’s hand, in Omaha hi low the player must use precisely 3 cards on the board, and precisely 2 cards from their hand. No more, no less. Unlike regular Omaha, there are two ways a pot can be won: the "high hand" or the "lower hand."

A high hand is exactly what it sounds like. It is the best possible hand out of everyone’s, regardless if it is a straight, flush, full house. It’s the very same approach in just about all poker games.

A low hand is more complicated, but certainly free’s up the action. When deciding on a low hand, straights and flushes don’t count. A low hand is the weakest hand that might be made, with the lowest being made up of A-2-3-4-5. Because straights and flushes don’t count, A-2-3-4-5 is the lowest value hand possible. The low hand is any 5 card hand (unpaired) with an 8 and below. The lower hand wins half of the pot, as just like the high hand. When there’s no lower hand available, the higher hand takes the entire pot.

It may seem complicated at the start, following a couple of hands you will be able to pick up on the basic nuances of play easily enough. Since you have individuals wagering for the low and wagering for the high, and seeing as so many cards are in play, Omaha 8 or better provides an exciting array of betting options and owing to the fact that you have several individuals battling for the high hand, along with many trying for the low hand. If you love a game with a considerable amount of outs and actions, it’s not a waste of your time to participate in Omaha 8 or better.

Posted in Poker.


0 Responses

Stay in touch with the conversation, subscribe to the RSS feed for comments on this post.

You must be logged in to post a comment.