Omaha Hi/Low: General Summary
Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha 8 or better) is often times seen as one of the most difficult but popular poker games. It’s a variation that, even more than normal Omaha poker, aims for action from every level of players. This is the main reason why a once obscure variation, has grown in acceptance so quickly.
Omaha 8 or better begins like a regular game of Omaha. 4 cards are dealt to each player. A round of betting follows where players can wager, check, or drop out. Three cards are dealt out, this is known as the flop. A further round of betting ensues. Once all the gamblers have either called or folded, an additional card is flipped on the turn. Another sequence of betting follows at which point the river card is flipped. The gamblers will need to put together the best high and low 5 card hands based on the board and hole cards.
This is where a few entrants can get confused. Contrasted to Holdem, where the board can make up everyone’s hand, in Omaha Hi-Lo the player must utilize exactly 3 cards from the board, and precisely 2 cards from their hand. Not a single card more, not a single card less. Unlike normal Omaha, there are 2 ways a pot could be won: the "higher hand" or the "low hand."
A high hand is just how it sounds. It’s the best possible hand out of every player’s, whether that is a straight, flush, full house, etc. It’s the identical approach in nearly all poker games.
The low hand is more complicated, but certainly opens up the action. When deciding on a low hand, straights and flushes don’t count. the lowest 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 do not count, A-2-3-4-5 is the worst possible hand. The low hand is any five card hand (unpaired) with an 8 and below. The low hand wins half of the pot, as just like the higher hand. When there is no low hand available, the higher hand wins the complete pot.
It may seem complicated at the outset, following a few rounds you will be agile enough to pick up on the fundamental subtleties of the game simply enough. Seeing as you have players betting for the low and betting for the high, and seeing as such a large number of cards are being used at once, Omaha/8 offers an amazing assortment of betting possibilities and seeing that you have many players trying for the high hand, and a few battling for the low hand. If you prefer a game with all kinds of outs and actions, it’s not a waste of your time to play Omaha/8.