Omaha Hi Lo Poker
Omaha Hi Lo is also known as ‘Omaha Eight or Better’ or ‘Omaha High Low’ and is a game growing in popularity in both Europe and North America, thanks to the fact that it is often perceived as an ‘action’ game – a game that has more play and bigger pots. It differs from Hold’em in that players receive four hole cards face-down, but is similar to Hold’em in that there are five community cards which are dealt face-up. Players must use two of their hole cards with three of the community cards from the board to make the best five-card hand, with the pot split between the best high and low hands. This page displays the hand rankings for poker
In Omaha Hi Lo there is a requirement for the low hand, in that it must at worst an 8 low to compete for the low half of the pot. Low hands are ranked in the same way a 7 Card Stud Hi Lo.
Omaha Hi Lo Variations
The game of Omaha Hi Lo is played in the following ways:
- Limit. A betting limit is set for each game and betting round.
- Pot Limit. Players may only maximum bet the amount that is already in the pot.
- No Limit. There are no restrictions on how much a player may bet.
- Mixed. For this variation play switches between rounds of Limit Omaha Hi Lo and Pot Limit. To keep the betting consistent, every time the game alternates from, Pot Limit to Limit, the blinds are increased.
Omaha Hi Lo Rules
A dealer is selected before play begins and is signified by a disc or ‘button’, and the player immediately clockwise to the button posts the ‘small blind’. The small blind is typically half a small bet ($1 in a $2/$4 game), and the next clockwise player then posts the ‘big blind’ which is normally a full small bet, or double the small blind. Players then receive their four hole cards and betting begins with the player clockwise to the big blind and proceeds from there.
Next, three community cards, otherwise known as the ‘flop’, are dealt in the middle of the table. These cards are available to all players, and the betting round begins with the player sitting in the immediate clockwise position to the button. Bets and raises are made in increments of the small bet ($2 in a $2/$4 game).
Following the flop round, a fourth community or ‘turn’ card is dealt face-up, and there is another round of betting. This time the betting, begun by the player clockwise of the dealer, doubles to the big bet amount, ($4 in a $2/$4 game).
The fifth community or ‘river’ card is then dealt before a final round of betting, with all betting initiated by the player on the clockwise side of the button.
Following the final round of betting, the last bettor or raiser shows their cards first, and the player with the best five card had wins the high part of the pot, and the player with the best hand for low wins the other half. Players reveal their hands in clockwise order from the button if there has been no bet on the final round. Player must use two of their four hole cards to make their five card hand, and if the winners’ hands are identical, the pot is equally divided. If there is no qualifying low hand, the best high hand wins the entire pot.
Once the pot has been distributed to the winning player or players, the button transfers to the next clockwise player and a new hand is ready to be played.
Omaha Hi Lo is variation of Omaha that is becoming more and more played by poker players, leading to an increase in its popularity online. It is slightly more complicated than normal Omaha, but worth persevering with, and Texas Hold’em players in particular enjoy this variant as a change to their normal game. PokerStars puts on lots of Omaha Hi Lo poker tournaments, and also provides plenty of poker resources, such the poker rules page and the poker glossary section.
