Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha/8 or better) is often times seen as one of the most difficult but well-loved poker games. It is a variation that, even more than normal Omaha poker, aims for play from every level of players. This is the primary reason why a once obscure variation, has expanded in popularity so amazingly.
Omaha 8 or better begins exactly like a normal game of Omaha. Four cards are dealt to each player. A round of wagering follows where players can bet, check, or fold. Three cards are handed out, this is referred to as the flop. Another sequence of wagering ensues. Once all the gamblers have in turn called or dropped out, an additional card is flipped on the turn. Another round of wagering happens at which point the river card is revealed. The entrants will have to put together the strongest high and low 5 card hands using the board and hole cards.
This is where a number of players get confused. Contrasted to Texas Hold ‘Em, in which the board can make up every player’s hand, in Omaha Hi-Lo the player has to utilize precisely 3 cards from the board, and exactly two cards from their hand. Not a single card more, not a single card less. Contrary to normal Omaha, there are two ways a pot can be won: the "higher hand" or the "lower hand."
A high hand is exactly what it sounds like. It’s the strongest hand out of every player’s, it doesn’t matter if it is a straight, flush, full house, etc. It’s the very same concept in almost every poker game.
The low hand is more complicated, but really opens up the action. When determining a low hand, straights and flushes don’t count. A low hand is the worst hand that could be put together, with the worst being made up of A-2-3-4-5. Seeing as straights and flushes don’t count, A-2-3-4-5 is the lowest possible hand. The lower hand is any 5 card hand (unpaired) with an 8 and smaller. The lower hand takes half of the pot, as does the high hand. When there’s no low hand presented, the high hand wins the entire pot.
It may seem complicated at the start, after a couple of rounds you will be able to get the fundamental subtleties of play easily enough. Since you have people betting for the low and betting for the high, and seeing as so many cards are in play, Omaha/8 provides an amazing collection of betting possibilities and owing to the fact that you have many players shooting for the high hand, along with several battling for the low hand. If you love a game with a lot of outs and actions, it is not a waste of your time to play Omaha High-Low.
This entry was posted on March 24, 2016, 10:21 am and is filed under Omaha. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.