Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha/8 or better) is commonly viewed as one of the most complicated but popular poker games. It’s a game that, even more than regular Omaha poker, aims for action from all levels of players. This is the main reason why a once invisible variation, has increased in acceptance so amazingly.
Omaha/8 begins exactly like a regular game of Omaha. Four cards are given out to every player. A round of wagering ensues in which gamblers can bet, check, or drop out. Three cards are given out, this is called the flop. A further sequence of wagering ensues. Once all the gamblers have in turn called or folded, a further card is flipped on the turn. Another round of betting ensues at which point the river card is flipped. The gamblers will need to make the strongest high and low 5 card hands using the board and hole cards.
This is the point where a few players often get flustered. Unlike Texas Hold ‘Em, where the board can make up every player’s hand, in Omaha hi/low the player has to use precisely three cards on the board, and exactly two cards from their hand. Not a single card more, no less. Unlike regular Omaha, there are 2 ways a pot can be won: the "higher hand" or the "lower hand."
A high hand is just how it sounds. It is the best possible hand out of everyone’s, whether that is a straight, flush, full house. It’s the same approach in almost every poker game.
The low hand is more complicated, but really free’s up the action. 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 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 worst possible hand. The lower hand is any 5 card hand (unpaired) with an eight and smaller. The low hand takes half of the pot, as just like the higher hand. When there is no low hand available, the high hand wins the complete pot.
It may seem complex initially, following a couple of hands you will be agile enough to get the basic subtleties of the game with ease. Since you have individuals betting for the low and betting for the high, and since so many cards are in play, Omaha High-Low offers an amazing assortment of betting possibilities and owing to the fact that you have numerous players shooting for the high, as well as many trying for the low. If you love a game with all kinds of outs and actions, it’s not a waste of your time to compete in Omaha/8.