How To Play Omaha Hi Lo Poker

Omaha Hi Low 8 or better is a popular poker game with many poker enthusiasts.

It’s a variation from normal Omaha Poker with the difference being that two players can win on the same hand.

Omaha Hi Low 8 or better is played in the same format and betting structure as Omaha. Each Player receives four hole cards face down. The dealer will deal out a total of five community cards face up through out the hand onto the table.

The pot in each hand is split into two, one pot is won by the player with the highest poker hand rankings hand and the other pot is won by the player with the lowest qualifying hand from the low poker hands (the worst hand). If all players do not qualify for a low hand then the whole pot will go to the player with the highest ranking high hand.

For a low hand to qualify all the cards in a players five card hand made up of three community cards and two cards from the players hole cards must be numbered eight or lower. If even one card is numbered 9 or higher a low hand is not possible and the whole pot will go to the high ranking hand pot.

High Ranking Poker Hands

High ranking poker hands are the normal standard hands that are used in most poker variations like Texas Holdem and Omaha. The highest being a royal straight flush and lowest being Seven high.

Low Ranking Poker Hands

A low hand must contain five different cards that are all numbered eight or lower for it to qualify. Pairs or trips are no good and cannot be counted. The best hand you can get for the low hands is 5-4-3-2-A and the worst low qualifying hand is 8-7-6-5-4. The hand is always counted down from the highest card so if some one had 8-7 low against some one with 8-6 low, it does not matter how the other three cards run the 8-6 low will win.

Object Of The Game

To win a player must use two hole cards and three community cards to make their best possible five card hand. As long as there is a qualifying low hand a player can win both the high pot and low pot. So this player will use any two hole cards and three community cards for his high hand and then also use any two hole cards and three community cards for his low hand. The same or different hole card or community cards can be used for both hands. For Example

If your hole cards are A K 2 K
The five community cards comes down 3 4 8 10 Q

For your high hand you would use A K from your hole cards and 3 4 Q from the community cards to make your flush.

For your low hand you would use A 2 from your hole cards and 3 4 8 from the community cards for your qualifying low hand.

Also a hand is won by a player making a bet that the other players do not match. This can happen at any time during the betting rounds mentioned below. If this happens the player who has forced everyone to fold will win all chips in the pot at that time.

Omaha Hi Low can be a very complicated game to master for any novice as there are so many hand combinations. It is recommended that anyone who has not played this game before, practice on play money tables at Party Poker for a few hands first as a simple mistake made can be very costly.

The Dealer Button and Blinds

The dealer button is a marker that goes around the table in a clock wise rotation one position per hand. The dealer button marks out who will post the blinds and who will act first in each betting round through out the hand.

The blinds are chips put into the pot before any cards are dealt so there are always chips to win with every hand. The player sat directly to the left of the dealer button will put in the small blind and the player to his left will put the big blind into the pot. The big blind is always double the amount of the small blind. As the dealer button works its way around the table everyone takes a turn in posting the blinds.

First Round of Betting

Once the blinds have been put into the pot each player will receive four hole cards face down. The player sat to the left of the big blind will be the first to act.

That player has three options and this decision will be based on the four hole cards he has just received.

The first option is to fold which means that players cards are thrown away and he will take no further part until the next hand.
The second option is to call which means he puts in an equal amount of chips to the big blind amount or the same amount if anyone has raised acting before him.
The final option is to raise which will mean all players who want to remain in the hand must match this amount or raise it again themselves. A raise must be double or more the amount of either the big blind or the amount some one has raised acting before you.

If nobody raises and the players who remain in the hand have only called the big blind, then the player sitting in the big blind seat can check which means he does not want to put anymore chips into the pot and is happy for the next stage to come about. He also has the option to raise. The betting will continue around the table until everyone left in the hand has put the same amount of chips into the pot.

The Flop

After the first round of betting has finished the dealer will lay out three community cards face up onto the table, these three cards are called the Flop.

The next round of betting starts after this and from this point onwards all rounds of betting will start with the player nearest to the left of the dealer button.

This time the first player to act can either Check (make no bet), or Bet and everyone has those options unless some one bets. If anyone does bet then the options open to each remaining player is to either Fold, Call, or Raise.

The betting will continue around the table until all players have put in an equal amount of chips, if all players decide to check then nobody has to put chips into the pot to continue and the next stage of the hand comes about.

The Turn

The fourth community card is dealt face up onto the table, this card is called the Turn card.

Another round of betting will start until all players have either checked or have put in equal amount of chips into the pot.

The River

The River card is the fifth and last community card to be dealt face up onto the table. At this point players will know what high hand they have and also if they have a qualifying low hand.

Based on this information a last round of betting will start. If all players check or have put equal amount of chips into the pot we move onto the showdown.

The Showdown

The showdown is where all remaining players left in the hand reveal all four hole cards to determine who the winner is. The pot is then split into two, one for the high hand pot and one for the low hand pot. If there is no qualifying low hand the player with the best high hand will win both pots.

Where to Play Omaha Hi Low Poker

Omaha Hi Low is not as popular as Texas Holdem poker online and not all online poker sites will offer Omaha Hi Low as a game. We recommend Party Poker which is one of the largest and most reputable online poker operators and there are always thousands of Omaha Hi Low Poker tables available to play at during all hours of the day.