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. |
