Omaha Hi-Lo: General Summary
Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha/8 or better) is often times viewed as one of the most difficult but favored poker games. It is a variation that, even more than normal Omaha poker, aims for play from all levels of players. This is the main reason why a once invisible game, has grown in acceptance so rapidly.
Omaha/8 begins exactly like a normal game of Omaha. 4 cards are dealt to each player. A sequence of wagering follows in which players can wager, check, or fold. Three cards are handed out, this is known as the flop. One more round of betting happens. Once all the gamblers have either called or dropped out, a further card is flipped on the turn. a further round of betting ensues and then the river card is flipped. The players will need to make the best high and low five card hands using the board and hole cards.
This is the point where many players often get flustered. Contrasted to Hold’em, where the board can be everyone’s hand, in Omaha Hi-Lo the player has to utilize exactly 3 cards from the board, and precisely 2 hole cards. No more, no less. Unlike regular Omaha, there are two ways a pot can be won: the "higher hand" or the "low hand."
A high hand is just 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 is the same notion in nearly every poker game.
A low hand is more complex, but really opens up the play. When figuring out a low hand, straights and flushes do not count. the lowest hand is the weakest hand that could be put together, with the lowest value being A-2-3-4-5. Considering that straights and flushes don’t count, A-2-3-4-5 is the smallest value hand possible. The low hand is any 5 card hand (unpaired) with an eight and below. The low hand wins half of the pot, as does the high hand. When there is no low hand available, the higher hand takes the entire pot.
Although it seems difficult at first, following a couple of rounds you will be agile enough to pick up on the basic subtleties of the game with ease. Since you have players wagering for the low and wagering for the high, and seeing as such a large number of cards are being used at the same time, Omaha/8 offers an overwhelming range of betting possibilities and owing to the fact that you have several players battling for the high, along with a few 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 compete in Omaha/8.