Poker – Omaha Hi/Lo

Description

Omaha hold ’em (also known as Omaha holdem or simply Omaha) is a community card poker game similar to Texas hold ’em, where each player is dealt four cards and must make their best hand using exactly two of them, plus exactly three of the five community cards. It is often said that Omaha is a game of “the nuts”, i.e. the best possible high or low hand, because it frequently takes “the nuts” to win a showdown. It is also a game where between the cards in their hand and the community cards a player may have drawing possibilities to multiple different types of holdings. For example, a player may have both a draw to a flush and a full house using different combinations of cards. At times, even seasoned players may need additional time to figure what draws are possible for their hand.

In Omaha hi-low split-8 or better (simply Omaha/8), each player makes a separate five-card high hand and five-card ace-to-five low hand (eight-high or lower to qualify), and the pot is split between the high and low (which may be the same player). To qualify for low, a player must be able to play an 8-7-6-5-4 or lower (this is why it is called “eight or better”). A few casinos play with a 9-low qualifier instead, but this is rare. Each player can play any two of their four hole cards to make their high hand, and any two of their four hole cards to make their low hand. If there is no qualifying low hand, the high hand wins (scoops) the whole pot. This game is usually played in the fixed limit version, although pot limit Omaha/8 is becoming more popular.

Format: Pot Limit