Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha/8 or better) is commonly viewed as one of the most complicated but favored poker games. It is a game that, even more than normal Omaha poker, invites action from every level of players. This is the main 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 handed out to every player. A round of betting ensues in which gamblers can wager, check, or drop out. Three cards are handed out, this is known as the flop. A further sequence of wagering ensues. Once all the players have either called or folded, a further card is flipped on the turn. Another sequence of wagering follows and then the river card is revealed. The gamblers will need to make the strongest high and low 5 card hands based on the board and hole cards.
This is where many players often get flustered. Contrasted to Texas Holdem, in which the board can make up everyone’s hand, in Omaha hi-low the player must utilize precisely 3 cards from the board, and exactly two hole cards. Not a single card more, no less. Unlike normal Omaha, there are two ways a pot could be won: the "higher hand" or the "low hand."
A high hand is just how it sounds. It’s the best possible hand out of everyone’s, regardless if it is a straight, flush, full house, etc. It’s the very same concept in nearly every poker game.
A low hand is more complicated, but really free’s up the play. When determining 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 made up of A-2-3-4-5. Because straights and flushes do not count, A-2-3-4-5 is the lowest possible hand. The low hand is any 5 card hand (unpaired) with an eight and smaller. The low hand takes half of the pot, as does the higher hand. When there’s no low hand available, the higher hand wins the entire pot.
It may seem difficult at the outset, following a couple of rounds you will be agile enough to get the base subtleties of play simply enough. Since you have players wagering for the low and betting for the high, and seeing as so many cards are in play, Omaha/8 provides an amazing assortment of betting choices and owing to the fact that you have many individuals battling for the high hand, and many battling for the low hand. If you enjoy a game with a considerable amount of outs and actions, it’s not a waste of your time to compete in Omaha 8 or better.