Omaha Strategy

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Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha/8 or better) is commonly viewed as one of the most complicated but popular poker games. It’s 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 game, has expanded in acceptance so rapidly.

Omaha hi/lo starts like a regular game of Omaha. 4 cards are dealt to each player. A round of wagering follows where players can bet, check, or drop out. 3 cards are given out, this is called the flop. One more round of betting ensues. After all the players have either called or dropped out, an additional card is revealed on the turn. Another sequence of wagering follows at which point the river card is flipped. The gamblers will need to put together the best high and low 5 card hands based on the board and hole cards.

This is the point where a few players often get confused. Contrasted to Texas Holdem, in which the board can make up everyone’s hand, in Omaha hi low the player has to utilize exactly three cards from the board, and exactly two hole cards. No more, no 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 is the strongest possible hand out of everyone’s, it doesn’t matter if it is a straight, flush, full house. It’s the very same concept in nearly every poker game.

The lower hand is more complicated, but certainly opens up the play. When determining a low hand, straights and flushes do not count. the lowest hand is the worst hand that could be put together, with the lowest value being A-2-3-4-5. Since straights and flushes do not count, A-2-3-4-5 is the lowest value hand possible. The low hand is any 5 card hand (unpaired) with an eight and smaller. The lower hand takes half of the pot, as just like the higher hand. When there’s no lower hand available, the higher hand takes the entire pot.

Although it seems complex initially, after a few rounds you will be able to pick up on the basic subtleties of the game easily enough. Seeing as you have individuals betting for the low and wagering for the high, and seeing as so many cards are in play, Omaha 8 or better provides an amazing collection of wagering choices and seeing that you have numerous players shooting for the high, and a few trying for the low hand. If you like a game with a plethora of outs and actions, it’s worth your time to play Omaha 8 or better.