Omaha Hi-Lo Rules
Omaha is similar to Texas Holdem in using a three-card flop on the board, a fourth boardcard, and then a fifth boardcard. The primary difference between Omaha and Holdem is that in Omaha each player is dealt four holecards, rather than the two in Holdem. In order to make a hand, a player must use precisely two holecards with three boardcards. The betting is the same as in hold'em. At the showdown, the entire four-card hand should be shown to receive the pot. Generally, this is considered a more difficult game than holdem because of the added two holecards per player.
The best possible five card poker hand, using exactly two hole cards and three community cards, wins the pot.
As in Texas Holdem, the following betting rounds take place in Omaha:
1.The dealer deals each player their own four cards face-down (pocket cards) |
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2.1st betting round |
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3.The dealer burns a card then turns over three community cards face-up
(the flop) |
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4.2nd betting round (3rd Street) |
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5.The dealer burns another card then turns over 1 more community card (the turn,4th street) |
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6.3rd betting round (4th Street) |
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7.The dealer burns another card then turns over 1 final community card (the river,5th street) |
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8.Last betting round (5th Street) |
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9.Showdown (Every remaining player shows hand with bettor showing first) |
All remaining players must use their two pocket cards and the three community cards to make the best possible Omaha Hi hands.
In Omaha High Low, which is often called Omaha/8, half the pot is split when someone has a qualifying low hand. If there is no qualifying hand for low, the best high hand wins the whole pot. To have a qualifying low hand, you must be able to make a five card hand with an 8 or lower as its highest ranked card. Straights and flushes do not count against you when determining a low hand though, although pairs and trips do count against you. Any pair is considered a higher (and therefore losing) hand to a hand made without a pair.
To determine who has the best low hand, you start by comparing the highest card in the hand. So a hand with its highest card being an 8 would not be as good as a hand with its highest card being a 7. These hands would be referred to as an "8 low" and a "7 low" respectively. If the two hands have the same high card, you then compare the next highest card. And if those cards have the same ranking, then you compare the next highest card, until you've compared all the cards.
The worst possibly low hand you could have would be 8-7-6-5-4, and the best possible low would be A-2-3-4-5. To determine the best possible low hand in a game with community cards, you would take the 3 lowest cards (8 or below) on the board (the shared cards), then determine what the lowest 2 cards someone could have in his or her hand that wouldn't pair the board. A lot of times this will be A-2, but not always.
You shouldn't need to memorize the chart of low hands below, but with any luck, it will be illustrative and interesting at the same time. The table is in order of best low hand to worst low hand.
Qualifying Low Hands Chart from Best to Worst
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1 |
A-2-3-4-5 |
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2 |
A-2-3-4-6 |
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3 |
A-2-3-5-6 |
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4 |
A-2-4-5-6 |
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5 |
A-3-4-5-6 |
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6 |
2-3-4-5-6 |
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7 |
A-2-3-4-7 |
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8 |
A-2-3-5-7 |
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9 |
A-2-4-5-7 |
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10 |
A-3-4-5-7 |
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11 |
2-3-4-5-7 |
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12 |
A-2-3-6-7 |
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13 |
A-2-4-6-7 |
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14 |
A-3-4-6-7 |
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15 |
2-3-4-6-7 |
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16 |
A-2-5-6-7 |
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17 |
A-3-5-6-7 |
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18 |
2-3-5-6-7 |
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19 |
A-4-5-6-7 |
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20 |
2-4-5-6-7 |
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21 |
3-4-5-6-7 |
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22 |
A-2-3-4-8 |
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23 |
A-2-3-5-8 |
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24 |
A-2-4-5-8 |
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25 |
A-3-4-5-8 |
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26 |
2-3-4-5-8 |
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27 |
A-2-3-6-8 |
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28 |
A-2-4-6-8 |
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29 |
A-3-4-6-8 |
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30 |
2-3-4-6-8 |
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31 |
A-2-5-6-8 |
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32 |
A-3-5-6-8 |
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33 |
2-3-5-6-8 |
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34 |
A-4-5-6-8 |
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35 |
2-4-5-6-8 |
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36 |
3-4-5-6-8 |
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37 |
A-2-3-7-8 |
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38 |
A-2-4-7-8 |
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39 |
A-3-4-7-8 |
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40 |
2-3-4-7-8 |
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41 |
A-2-5-7-8 |
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42 |
A-3-5-7-8 |
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43 |
2-3-5-7-8 |
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44 |
A-4-5-7-8 |
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45 |
2-4-5-7-8 |
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46 |
3-4-5-7-8 |
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47 |
A-2-6-7-8 |
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48 |
A-3-6-7-8 |
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49 |
2-3-6-7-8 |
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50 |
A-4-6-7-8 |
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51 |
2-4-6-7-8 |
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52 |
3-4-6-7-8 |
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53 |
A-5-6-7-8 |
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54 |
2-5-6-7-8 |
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55 |
3-5-6-7-8 |
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56 |
4-5-6-7-8 |
Many sites have Omaha Hi-Lo, but considering our overall reviews, and factoring in this games availability on each site, we recommend Omaha Hi-Lobe played at either Pacific Poker or Party Poker.
At peak hours, there are 800 players enjoying Omaha Hi-Lo at Party Poker. You can use the banner at the top or bottom of this page to go direct to Party Poker, or use this link to read the complete Party Poker Review.
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