Omaha Strategy

Read more about the
Las Vegas 2024 Super
Bowl Streaker!

Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha 8 or better) is commonly seen as one of the most complicated but favored poker games. It’s a variation that, even more than normal Omaha poker, aims for action from all levels of players. This is the chief reason why a once irrelevant game, has grown in popularity so quickly.

Omaha/8 begins exactly like a normal game of Omaha. Four cards are handed out to every player. A sequence of wagering ensues in which players can wager, check, or fold. 3 cards are handed out, this is known as the flop. Another sequence of betting happens. After all the players have either called or dropped out, an additional card is revealed on the turn. Another round of wagering follows at which point the river card is flipped. The players will have to put together the best high and low five card hands using the board and hole cards.

This is where a few players can get baffled. Unlike Hold’em, where the board can be everyone’s hand, in Omaha hi/lo the player has to use precisely 3 cards on the board, and exactly 2 cards from their hand. Not a single card more, no less. Unlike normal Omaha, there are two ways a pot might be won: the "high hand" or the "low hand."

A high hand is exactly how it sounds. It is the strongest possible hand out of every player’s, regardless if it is a straight, flush, full house, etc. It is the same notion in just about all poker games.

A low hand is more difficult, but really free’s up the action. When determining a low hand, straights and flushes don’t count. the lowest hand is the weakest hand that could be put together, with the lowest being A-2-3-4-5. Seeing as straights and flushes do not count, A-2-3-4-5 is the worst possible hand. The low hand is any five card hand (unpaired) with an eight and lower. The lower hand wins half of the pot, as just like the high hand. When there’s no lower hand presented, the higher hand takes the whole pot.

Although it seems difficult at the start, following a few rounds you will be able to pick up on the fundamental nuances of play with ease. Since you have players betting for the low and wagering for the high, and since so many cards are in play, Omaha hi lo provides an exciting assortment of betting options and because you have several players battling for the high hand, and several shooting for the low. If you like a game with a lot of outs and actions, it’s worth your time to play Omaha/8.