Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha/8 or better) is commonly seen as one of the most difficult but popular poker variations. It is a variation that, even more than regular Omaha poker, invites action from every level of players. This is the chief reason why a once irrelevant variation, has increased in popularity so rapidly.
Omaha 8 or better begins just like a regular game of Omaha. 4 cards are dealt to each player. A round of betting follows where gamblers can bet, check, or fold. 3 cards are dealt out, this is known as the flop. A further round of wagering ensues. Once all the players have either called or dropped out, a further card is flipped on the turn. Another sequence of wagering happens and then the river card is revealed. The gamblers must attempt to put together the best high and low five card hands based on the board and hole cards.
This is where a number of entrants often get flustered. Contrasted to Hold’em, where the board can be everyone’s hand, in Omaha hi/lo the player must use exactly 3 cards from the board, and precisely 2 hole cards. Not a single card more, not a single card less. Unlike regular Omaha, there are two ways a pot might be won: the "high hand" or the "lower hand."
A high hand is just what it sounds like. It’s the strongest possible hand out of every player’s, it doesn’t matter if it is a straight, flush, full house. It is the very same approach in almost all poker games.
A lower hand is more complicated, but certainly opens up the play. When determining a low hand, straights and flushes don’t count. the lowest hand is the worst hand that can be made, with the lowest being made up of A-2-3-4-5. Because straights and flushes don’t count, A-2-3-4-5 is the smallest value hand possible. The lower hand is any five card hand (unpaired) with an 8 and below. The low hand wins half of the pot, as does the high hand. When there’s no lower hand presented, the high hand takes the entire pot.
It may seem complicated at the outset, after a few hands you will be agile enough to get the base nuances of play easily enough. Seeing as you have individuals betting for the low and betting for the high, and seeing as such a large number of cards are being used at the same time, Omaha hi lo offers an exciting array of betting choices and owing to the fact that you have several individuals trying for the high, along with a few trying for the low hand. If you enjoy a game with a considerable amount of outs and actions, it’s worth your time to compete in Omaha 8 or better.