Omaha Hi/Lo: Basic Overview
Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha/8 or better) is often times seen as one of the most complicated but favored poker variations. It’s a variation that, even more than regular Omaha poker, aims for play from all levels of players. This is the chief reason why a once invisible variation, has expanded in popularity so rapidly.
Omaha/8 starts like a normal game of Omaha. Four cards are handed out to every player. A sequence of betting follows in which gamblers can wager, check, or fold. Three cards are handed out, this is known as the flop. A further sequence of betting happens. Once all the gamblers have in turn called or dropped out, a further card is flipped on the turn. an additional round of wagering follows at which point the river card is flipped. The gamblers will have to put together the best high and low five card hands using the board and hole cards.
This is where a number of entrants often get flustered. Unlike Texas Hold ‘Em, in which the board can make up everyone’s hand, in Omaha hi lo the player has to utilize precisely 3 cards on the board, and precisely two cards from their hand. Not a single card more, no less. Unlike normal Omaha, there are 2 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 strongest hand out of every player’s, regardless if it is a straight, flush, full house. It’s the very same notion in nearly all poker games.
A lower hand is more complicated, but really opens up the action. When determining a low hand, straights and flushes don’t count. the lowest hand is the weakest hand that could be put together, with the worst being made up of A-2-3-4-5. Considering that straights and flushes don’t count, A-2-3-4-5 is the worst possible hand. The lower hand is any five card hand (unpaired) with an eight and below. The low hand wins half of the pot, as just like the high hand. When there’s no low hand available, the high hand wins the entire pot.
While it seems complex at first, after a couple of rounds you will be agile enough to pick up on the base subtleties of play easily enough. Since you have players betting for the low and wagering for the high, and seeing as so many cards are being used at once, Omaha 8 or better provides an amazing assortment of betting possibilities and seeing that you have many players battling for the high hand, as well as many trying for the low hand. If you love a game with a lot of outs and actions, it is not a waste of your time to compete in Omaha 8 or better.
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