Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha/8 or better) is often times viewed as one of the most complex but popular poker variations. It is a variation that, even more than normal Omaha poker, invites play from every level of players. This is the main reason why a once irrelevant game, has grown in popularity so amazingly.
Omaha 8 or better starts like a regular game of Omaha. 4 cards are dealt to each player. A round of betting follows where gamblers can wager, check, or drop out. 3 cards are dealt out, this is referred to as the flop. One more sequence of wagering happens. After all the gamblers have in turn called or dropped out, an additional card is flipped on the turn. Another round of betting follows at which point the river card is flipped. The gamblers must attempt to put together the best high and low 5 card hands using the board and hole cards.
This is the point where a number of entrants often get confused. Contrasted to Hold’em, in which the board can be everyone’s hand, in Omaha Hi-Lo the player must use exactly 3 cards on the board, and exactly 2 hole cards. No more, not a single card less. Unlike regular Omaha, there are two ways a pot could be won: the "high hand" or the "low hand."
A high hand is exactly what it sounds like. It’s the best possible hand out of everyone’s, it doesn’t matter if it is a straight, flush, full house, etc. It is the very same notion in almost all poker games.
The lower hand is more complicated, but really free’s up the play. When deciding on a low hand, straights and flushes don’t count. A low hand is the worst hand that might be put together, with the lowest being A-2-3-4-5. Considering that straights and flushes do not count, A-2-3-4-5 is the worst possible hand. The lower hand is any 5 card hand (unpaired) with an eight and below. The lower hand takes half of the pot, as just like the high hand. When there’s no lower hand presented, the higher hand wins the whole pot.
It may seem complex at the start, after a few hands you will be able to get the basic nuances of the game easily enough. Since you have people betting for the low and wagering for the high, and seeing as so many cards are being used at the same time, Omaha/8 offers an amazing range of wagering options and owing to the fact that you have many players trying for the high hand, as well as a few 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 hi/lo.