Omaha Strategy

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Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha 8 or better) is often times seen as one of the most complicated but favored poker games. It’s a game that, even more than normal Omaha poker, aims for play from every level of players. This is the chief reason why a once irrelevant game, has expanded in popularity so rapidly.

Omaha/8 begins like a normal game of Omaha. Four cards are handed out to every player. A sequence of wagering ensues where players can bet, check, or drop out. Three cards are handed out, this is known as the flop. Another sequence of betting happens. Once all the gamblers have either called or dropped out, another card is flipped on the turn. Another sequence of wagering happens and then the river card is flipped. The entrants must attempt to make the best high and low five card hands based on the board and hole cards.

This is the point where many players often get flustered. Unlike Hold’em, in which the board can be everyone’s hand, in Omaha Hi-Lo the player must utilize precisely three cards from the board, and precisely 2 cards from their hand. No more, no less. Contrary to regular Omaha, there are two ways a pot might be won: the "high hand" or the "low hand."

A high hand is exactly what it sounds like. It’s the best hand out of everyone’s, regardless if it is a straight, flush, full house, etc. It’s the identical concept in almost every poker game.

The low hand is more complicated, but certainly 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 worst being made up of A-2-3-4-5. Because straights and flushes don’t count, A-2-3-4-5 is the worst possible hand. The lower hand is any five card hand (unpaired) with an 8 and smaller. The low hand wins half of the pot, as just like the high hand. When there is no low hand presented, the high hand wins the complete pot.

It may seem complicated at the start, following a few hands you will be agile enough to pick up on the base nuances of the game easily enough. Seeing as you have people wagering for the low and wagering for the high, and seeing as so many cards are being used at once, Omaha 8 or better provides an amazing range of wagering choices and seeing that you have numerous individuals battling for the high hand, and several shooting for the low. If you love a game with a lot of outs and actions, it is not a waste of your time to play Omaha 8 or better.