Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha 8 or better) is often times viewed as one of the most complicated but popular poker variations. It’s a game that, even more than normal Omaha poker, invites play from all levels of players. This is the chief reason why a once irrelevant variation, has increased in popularity so amazingly.
Omaha 8 or better starts exactly like a normal game of Omaha. Four cards are dealt to each player. A round of betting follows in which gamblers can wager, check, or fold. 3 cards are dealt out, this is called the flop. One more sequence of wagering happens. Once all the gamblers have in turn called or dropped out, another card is flipped on the turn. Another round of wagering ensues and then the river card is flipped. The entrants must attempt to make the best high and low 5 card hands based on the board and hole cards.
This is where some entrants often get flustered. Contrasted to Hold’em, in which the board can make up everyone’s hand, in Omaha hi low the player must use exactly 3 cards from the board, and precisely two hole cards. Not a single card more, not a single card less. Contrary to regular Omaha, there are two ways a pot might be won: the "higher hand" or the "low hand."
A high hand is just what it sounds like. It’s the best possible hand out of everyone’s, whether that is a straight, flush, full house. It is the same approach in almost every poker game.
The lower hand is more complex, but really opens up the play. When figuring out a low hand, straights and flushes don’t count. A low hand is the worst hand that could be made, with the lowest value being made up of A-2-3-4-5. Considering that straights and flushes do not count, A-2-3-4-5 is the lowest 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 does the high hand. When there is no lower hand presented, the higher hand takes the whole pot.
It may seem complex at the start, following a couple of hands you will be agile enough to pick up on the basic subtleties of play with ease. Seeing as you have individuals betting for the low and wagering for the high, and seeing as such a large number of cards are being used at once, Omaha Hi-Lo provides an overwhelming array of betting choices and owing to the fact that you have many individuals shooting for the high hand, and several shooting for the low. If you like a game with a plethora of outs and actions, it’s not a waste of your time to participate in Omaha High-Low.
