How to Play Omaha Poker Hi Lo

Omaha Poker Hi Lo Rules

Omaha Hi/Lo is one of the most exciting poker games that you could participate in. It is also one of the most profitable poker games you could ever play in. If you are going to get in on that action, you must be willing to learn the rules. Jumping right into it will be the best way to really get started, but you have to have at least a basic knowledge of the rules before doing so. Once you get a good understanding of the rules, you will be ready to really dive in and learn the concept of winning at Omaha Hi/Lo.

Overview

If you are familiar with regular Omaha, then you will have no problem adjusting to this game. Even if you are at least familiar with Texas Holdem, you will have something to base Omaha Hi/Lo off of. If you have never played either, you are really going to have to concentrate hard on learning the basic rules.

The game is played with up to 10 different players at one poker table. Each player will get dealt a total of 4 hole cards face down. Throughout the hand, a total of 5 different community cards will get dealt to the board for everyone to use. The idea of the game is to use your hole cards and the community cards together to make the best five card poker hand. In this game however, there is a twist. In Omaha Hi/Lo (also known as Omaha 8) there is going to be 2 different ways you can win. Half of the pot will be awarded to the player with the highest poker hand, while the other half will be awarded to the player with the lowest poker hand.

Betting

There are three different betting variations: fixed limit, pot limit and no limit. The most common type of Omaha Hi/Lo is Pot Limit, meaning that you would only be able to bet as much as what is in the pot. To the left of the dealer there would be a small blind and to the left of the small blind would be the big blind. In a $2/$4 game the small blind would be $1 and the big blind would be $2.  Following the small blind, each player going from right to left would get a chance to act. The betting would go around the table until it got back to the big blind again.

There are a total of 4 different rounds of betting. To limit confusion, just keep in mind that the betting will go around the table like mentioned above, each time that new community cards are dealt. The first round of betting is done before any community cards are dealt. After that, each time additional cards are dealt, there will another round of betting.  The betting rounds are known as Pre-Flop, Flop, Turn and River.  These rounds should be very familiar for those of you that have played Texas Holdem.  In a $2/$4 limit game the bet would be $2 Pre-flop and flop and $4 on the turn and river. In pot limit Omaha Hi Lo the minimum bets would be $2 Pre-flop and flop and $4 on the turn and river but the maximum bet would be the current amount of the pot.  In no limit the minimum bets would be $2 Pre-flop and flop and $4 on the turn and river and the maximum bet would be your chips stack.

Hi/Lo

In Omaha, you must use two of your hole cards to make your five card poker hand. You also cannot use any more than two cards. So for a high hand, you must use two cards to make that hand play. Unless there is no low hand that was qualified, you would win half of the pot with the high hand. If there is no qualifying low hand; you would win the whole pot with a high hand.

As for the low hand, you must keep a few different things in mind. First of all, a low hand is just that – the lowest possible hand. The lowest five card hand possible is A,2,3,4,5. In order to qualify for a low hand you must have five cards that are 8 or lower. So if the board has three or more cards that are higher than 8, there would be no qualifying low hand. The player with the lowest hand would win the other half of the pot. 

Summary

There would end up being a total of five community cards dealt in three different rounds. The first time any community cards are dealt, there will be 3 of them. After that, there will be two rounds that will call for more community cards, each dealing only 1 at a time. At the end of all the rounds of betting and dealing, the players that are still in the hand would have a showdown. Each player would show their cards and the players with the highest hand would win half the pot while the players with the lowest hand would win the other half.

The best way to really learn the game is to play it. You can play Omaha Hi/Lo on just about any online poker room. It is recommended that you go to a free game and play for some experience. Use what you have learned here and evaluate the game. From there, you will be able to get a very good understanding of the game from start to finish. It seems very complicated on paper, but when you get the hang of it – Omaha Hi/Lo will be like second nature.