Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha 8 or better) is frequently viewed as one of the most complex but well-loved poker games. It’s a game that, even more than normal Omaha poker, aims for play from all levels of players. This is the chief reason why a once invisible game, has grown in acceptance so rapidly.
Omaha Hi-Lo begins like a normal game of Omaha. 4 cards are handed out to every player. A round of betting follows where players can wager, check, or fold. 3 cards are dealt out, this is known as the flop. One more round of wagering ensues. After all the gamblers have in turn called or dropped out, a further card is revealed on the turn. a further round of betting follows and then the river card is revealed. The players must attempt to put together the strongest high and low 5 card hands based on the board and hole cards.
This is where a number of players often get confused. Contrasted to Hold’em, where the board can make up everyone’s hand, in Omaha hi/lo the player must use exactly 3 cards on the board, and exactly 2 cards from their hand. No more, no less. Contrary to normal Omaha, there are two ways a pot may be won: the "higher hand" or the "low hand."
A high hand is exactly how it sounds. It is the strongest possible hand out of everyone’s, regardless if it is a straight, flush, full house. It’s the same notion in almost all poker games.
A lower hand is more difficult, but certainly free’s up the play. When deciding on a low hand, straights and flushes do not count. A low hand is the weakest hand that can be put together, with the lowest being A-2-3-4-5. Seeing as straights and flushes don’t count, A-2-3-4-5 is the smallest value hand possible. The low hand is any five card hand (unpaired) with an eight and below. The low hand wins half of the pot, as just like the higher hand. When there’s no lower hand available, the higher hand wins the entire pot.
While it seems complicated at the outset, after a couple of hands you will be able to pick up on the basic subtleties of the game easily enough. Seeing as you have people wagering for the low and betting for the high, and seeing as such a large number of cards are in play, Omaha/8 offers an exciting assortment of wagering choices and owing to the fact that you have many players battling for the high, along with many battling for the low hand. If you like a game with a lot of outs and actions, it’s not a waste of your time to compete in Omaha 8 or better.
This entry was posted on March 13, 2009, 1:42 pm and is filed under Omaha. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.