Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha 8 or better) is commonly seen as one of the most complicated but favored poker games. It’s a game that, even more than normal Omaha poker, aims for action from every level of players. This is the primary reason why a once irrelevant game, has increased in popularity so rapidly.
Omaha/8 begins exactly like a regular game of Omaha. Four cards are handed out to every player. A sequence of betting ensues in which gamblers can wager, check, or drop out. Three cards are given out, this is known as the flop. A further round of betting ensues. After all the gamblers have in turn called or folded, another card is revealed on the turn. an additional sequence of betting happens and then the river card is flipped. The entrants will need to make the strongest high and low 5 card hands based on the board and hole cards.
This is where some entrants can get confused. Unlike Texas Hold ‘Em, in which the board can be everyone’s hand, in Omaha hi lo the player has to use exactly three cards from the board, and exactly two cards from their hand. Not a single card more, not a single card less. Unlike regular Omaha, there are two ways a pot could be won: the "higher hand" or the "low hand."
A high hand is just what it sounds like. It is the best hand out of everyone’s, it doesn’t matter if it is a straight, flush, full house. It is the very same concept in almost every poker game.
A lower hand is more complex, but certainly free’s up the play. When figuring out a low hand, straights and flushes do not count. A low hand is the worst 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 lowest value hand possible. The low hand is any 5 card hand (unpaired) with an eight and lower. The low hand takes half of the pot, as does the high hand. When there is no lower hand available, the higher hand takes the whole pot.
While it seems complex at the outset, following a few hands you will be able to get the base subtleties of play with ease. Seeing as you have players wagering for the low and wagering for the high, and since so many cards are in play, Omaha/8 provides an amazing range of betting options and seeing that you have many players trying for the high, as well as many battling for the low. If you enjoy a game with a lot of outs and actions, it is not a waste of your time to play Omaha/8.