Omaha

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Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha 8 or better) is often times viewed as one of the most difficult but favored poker variations. It’s a game that, even more than regular Omaha poker, invites action from every level of players. This is the main reason why a once obscure game, has grown in acceptance so quickly.

Omaha 8 or better starts exactly like a normal game of Omaha. Four cards are given out to each player. A sequence of wagering follows where players can wager, check, or drop out. 3 cards are handed out, this is known as the flop. One more round of wagering happens. After all the gamblers have either called or dropped out, an additional card is flipped on the turn. Another round of wagering follows and then the river card is revealed. The players will have to put together the strongest high and low 5 card hands using the board and hole cards.

This is where a few players can get baffled. Unlike Hold’em, in which the board can make up everyone’s hand, in Omaha hi-low the player must utilize exactly three cards from the board, and exactly two hole cards. Not a single card more, not a single card less. Unlike regular Omaha, there are 2 ways a pot could be won: the "high hand" or the "lower hand."

A high hand is exactly how it sounds. It’s the strongest possible hand out of every player’s, it doesn’t matter if it is a straight, flush, full house. It’s the same notion in just about every poker game.

A low hand is more complicated, but really free’s up the play. When figuring out a low hand, straights and flushes don’t count. A low hand is the weakest hand that might be put together, with the worst being A-2-3-4-5. Seeing as 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 eight and lower. The lower hand takes half of the pot, as does the higher hand. When there’s no low hand presented, the higher hand takes the complete pot.

It may seem complex initially, after a couple of rounds you will be able to pick up on the base nuances of the game simply enough. Since you have players wagering for the low and betting for the high, and since so many cards are being used at the same time, Omaha 8 or better offers an exciting assortment of wagering options and owing to the fact that you have several players shooting for the high hand, along with several battling for the low hand. If you love a game with a plethora of outs and actions, it is not a waste of your time to play Omaha 8 or better.