Omaha Hi Lo: General Outline
Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha/8 or better) is often times viewed as one of the most complex but well-loved poker games. It’s a game that, even more than regular Omaha poker, invites play from all levels of players. This is the chief reason why a once obscure game, has increased in popularity so rapidly.
Omaha/8 begins just like a regular game of Omaha. Four cards are dealt to every player. A sequence of wagering follows where players can wager, check, or drop out. 3 cards are handed out, this is known as the flop. Another round of betting happens. After all the gamblers have either called or folded, an additional card is flipped on the turn. a further round of wagering 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 few players get confused. Contrasted to Texas Holdem, where the board can make up everyone’s hand, in Omaha hi/lo the player has to use exactly 3 cards on the board, and exactly 2 cards from their hand. Not a single card more, not a single card less. Unlike regular Omaha, there are two ways a pot might be won: the "higher hand" or the "lower hand."
A high hand is just how it sounds. It’s the best possible hand out of everyone’s, whether that is a straight, flush, full house, etc. It’s the identical approach in just about every poker game.
The lower hand is more complicated, but certainly opens up the action. When determining a low hand, straights and flushes do not count. A low hand is the weakest hand that might be made, with the worst being A-2-3-4-5. Considering that 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 8 and smaller. The low hand takes half of the pot, as does the higher hand. When there is no low hand available, the high hand wins the whole pot.
Although it seems complicated at first, after a couple of rounds you will be agile enough to pick up on the base nuances of the game easily enough. Seeing as you have players betting for the low and betting for the high, and seeing as so many cards are in play, Omaha 8 or better offers an exciting range of betting possibilities and seeing that you have several individuals shooting for the high, along with a few shooting for the low hand. If you love a game with a lot of outs and actions, it is not a waste of your time to play Omaha hi lo.
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