Poker Secrets Insider Poker Secrets

Read more about the
Las Vegas 2024 Super
Bowl Streaker!

Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha 8 or better) is commonly seen as one of the most complicated but well-loved poker variations. It's a game that, even more than normal Omaha poker, aims for action from all levels of players. This is the chief reason why a once invisible game, has increased in popularity so amazingly.

Omaha 8 or better begins just like a normal game of Omaha. Four cards are given out to every player. A sequence of betting follows in which gamblers can wager, check, or drop out. Three cards are dealt out, this is referred to as the flop. One more sequence of betting ensues. After all the players have either called or dropped out, another card is revealed on the turn. Another sequence of betting happens at which point the river card is flipped. The gamblers will have to make the strongest high and low five card hands using the board and hole cards.

This is the point where a number of entrants can get baffled. Unlike Texas Hold 'Em, where the board can be everyone's hand, in Omaha hi low the player has to utilize precisely three cards from the board, and precisely 2 hole cards. No more, no less. Unlike normal Omaha, there are 2 ways a pot could be won: the "higher hand" or the "lower hand."

A high hand is just how it sounds. It's the best possible hand out of everyone's, whether that is a straight, flush, full house, etc. It is the same notion in just about every poker game.

A low hand is more complex, but certainly opens up the play. When deciding on a low hand, straights and flushes do not count. A low hand is the worst hand that might be made, with the worst being 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 five card hand (unpaired) with an eight and smaller. The low hand wins half of the pot, as does the high hand. When there's no lower hand available, the higher hand wins the entire pot.

Although it seems complicated at first, after a couple of rounds you will be agile enough to pick up on the basic subtleties of play easily enough. Since you have individuals wagering for the low and betting for the high, and seeing as such a large number of cards are being used at once, Omaha hi low offers an amazing array of betting options and because you have many individuals trying for the high, and a few trying for the low. If you like a game with a lot of outs and actions, it's not a waste of your time to participate in Omaha/8.