Omaha Hi Lo Poker

Playing Omaha Hi/Lo is like riding a rollercoaster in the darkness: you never know what is in store till it's gone. But that's why people play it. The game is gaining more and more popularity, which means a constant flow of new players. That alone is already a good reason to give it a try. Become an Omaha Hi/Lo pro and teach all those new players how to live.

The game is played with the usual 52 card deck. During the game each player is dealt 4 hole cards (face down). The dealer also places 5 cards in the centre of the board. These cards are called community cards.

There are some certain peculiarities of Omaha Hi/Lo you need to know before you can actually play. Make sure you are well aware of them.

The first thing to mention here is that the pot in Omaha Hi/Lo is split between the highest and the lowest qualifying hand. A player may try to create both these hands at the same time, but please mind that a hand may only be created of any 2 of your hole cards and any 3 of the board cards. Aces can be included both into the low and into the high hand. It is still to be remembered that the low hand should not consist of cards higher than 8. A good example of a low hand could, thus, be A, 2, 3, 4, 5. This is actually called the nut low hand. The second best one is A, 2, 3, 4, 6.

In order to get better, or even the best winning chances, advanced players usually try to create a hand that could qualify for both high and low hand. You are only allowed to make 1 hand at a time, therefore, it does make sense to aim at the two ends at the same time. Do not raise unless you can make the best chances for one and a decent shot at the other.

Mind that there is always the best possible high hand, but it is not always that somebody qualifies for the low hand. That can be explained if we consider the way players create their hands. As 3 community cards should necessarily be used for this purpose, this means that at least 3 cards on the board should be no higher than 8, for the players to be able to qualify for the low hand, which is not always the case. If no one does, the whole pot goes to the best high hand owner.