Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha 8 or better) is often times viewed as one of the most complicated but popular poker games. It’s a game that, even more than normal Omaha poker, invites action from all levels of players. This is the chief reason why a once obscure game, has expanded in popularity so rapidly.
Omaha 8 or better begins like a normal game of Omaha. Four cards are handed out to each player. A sequence of betting ensues in which players can bet, check, or fold. Three cards are given out, this is called the flop. Another round of wagering ensues. Once all the gamblers have either called or dropped out, another card is revealed on the turn. a further sequence of betting follows at which point the river card is revealed. The players will have to make the best high and low five card hands using the board and hole cards.
This is the point where some entrants can get baffled. Contrasted to Texas Hold ‘Em, in which the board can be every player’s hand, in Omaha hi-low the player has to use exactly three cards on the board, and precisely two hole cards. Not a single card more, not a single card less. Unlike normal Omaha, there are two ways a pot can be won: the "high hand" or the "low hand."
A high hand is just what it sounds like. It’s the best possible hand out of everyone’s, regardless if it is a straight, flush, full house, etc. It’s the very same notion in nearly all poker games.
A low hand is more complex, but certainly free’s up the play. When figuring out a low hand, straights and flushes do not count. the lowest hand is the weakest hand that can be put together, with the lowest being A-2-3-4-5. Seeing as straights and flushes don’t count, A-2-3-4-5 is the lowest possible hand. The low hand is any 5 card hand (unpaired) with an eight and smaller. The lower hand wins half of the pot, as just like the higher hand. When there is no lower hand presented, the higher hand wins the complete pot.
While it seems difficult initially, following a couple of hands you will be agile enough to pick up on the basic subtleties of the game with ease. Since you have individuals wagering for the low and betting for the high, and seeing as such a large number of cards are in play, Omaha hi-low offers an overwhelming assortment of wagering choices and because you have many individuals trying for the high hand, and a few shooting for the low. If you like a game with all kinds of outs and actions, it’s not a waste of your time to compete in Omaha/8.
