Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha 8 or better) is frequently seen as one of the most complex but favored poker variations. It is a game that, even more than normal Omaha poker, aims for play from every level of players. This is the main reason why a once irrelevant variation, has expanded in acceptance so rapidly.
Omaha/8 starts just like a normal game of Omaha. Four cards are handed out to every player. A round of betting ensues in which gamblers can wager, check, or fold. 3 cards are dealt out, this is known as the flop. One more sequence of wagering ensues. After all the players have either called or dropped out, another card is revealed on the turn. an additional round of betting follows at which point the river card is flipped. The gamblers must attempt to make the strongest high and low 5 card hands based on the board and hole cards.
This is the point where many entrants get flustered. Unlike Hold’em, in which the board can make up every player’s hand, in Omaha hi/lo the player has to utilize exactly three cards on the board, and exactly 2 hole cards. Not a single card more, not a single card less. Unlike normal Omaha, there are 2 ways a pot might be won: the "higher hand" or the "lower hand."
A high hand is just what it sounds like. It’s the best possible hand out of everyone’s, it doesn’t matter if it is a straight, flush, full house. It’s the very same notion in nearly every poker game.
The low hand is more difficult, but certainly free’s up the action. When deciding on a low hand, straights and flushes do not count. A low hand is the weakest hand that might be made, with the lowest value being A-2-3-4-5. Seeing as straights and flushes do not count, A-2-3-4-5 is the smallest value hand possible. The lower hand is any five card hand (unpaired) with an 8 and lower. The low hand takes half of the pot, as just like the high hand. When there’s no low hand presented, the high hand takes the complete pot.
Although it seems difficult at the start, following a couple of rounds you will be agile enough to pick up on the basic nuances of the game easily enough. Since you have individuals betting for the low and betting for the high, and seeing as so many cards are being used at once, Omaha 8 or better provides an exciting assortment of wagering possibilities and owing to the fact that you have several players trying for the high hand, as well as several battling for the low. If you like a game with a considerable amount of outs and actions, it is worth your time to play Omaha hi-low.