Omaha Hi Lo Rules and Basic Strategies

The following are the basic strategies to get you started so you can get ready to play Omaha Hi/Lo with real people for fun or money

In Omaha Hi/Lo 8 or better (Omaha Hi/Lo) the pot is split 50-50 between the best High Hand and the best qualifying Low Hand. Omaha Hi/Lo requires a lot of skill and usually takes a little practice to understand the intricacies of the game.

The game play of Omaha Hi/Lo is very similar to Omaha High. The difference is that the highest hand wins 50% of the pot and the lowest qualifying hand wins 50% of the pot.

A Low hand must be high card "8 or better" to qualify. To be eligible to win the Low, the highest card must be a 5, 6, 7, or 8. The winning Low Hand (8 or better) is determined firstly by the player with the lowest High card. Upon a tie with the High card, the hand goes to the player with the next lowest High card. Any hand that is high card 9 or higher can NOT qualify as a Low Hand.
The High Hand pot must split the pot with the player of the best qualifying low hand. There will always be a high hand winner but not always a low. For your hand to qualify for low, it must have five denominations no higher than an eight. Any two of your four down cards are played for high and any two are played for low. Players must play exactly two out of their hands for each direction. Aces are played both high and low. Straights and flushes do not disqualify a hand for low, so a player ending with 5 4 3 2 A would have an unbeatable low hand and a 5 high straight to play for high. A player with this hand would have a good chance of winning both ways. He or she could also have another high hand better than the straight.

Scooping the pot usually builds a healthy addition to your stack of chips. Half the pot often puts you barely ahead of where you were before you started playing the hand. Experienced players only play starting hands, like those recommended here, that have a good chance of winning both ways. Omaha is a game of "nuts". With so many players with so many cards, finding so many reasons to play, a final hand with a fairly good high and a fairly good low can easily get clobbered by better hands both ways.

General Rules, Betting and Sequence of Action for Omaha Hi/Lo

Omaha Hi/Lo Poker like Texas Hold'em is played with a standard 52 card deck excluding the jokers. Omaha and Texas Hold'em games use a flat disk, called the dealer-button to indicate the theoretical dealer of each hand. A fresh table starts of with the first person sitting on the table becoming the dealer and the next player posting the small blind.

Button & Blinds
Omaha Hi/Lo as do Texas Hold'em and Omaha games use a flat disk, called the dealer-button to indicate the theoretical dealer of each hand.

After each hand has been completed, the button moves clockwise to the next active player and this player will be considered to be the button for that game. The player to the left of the button is first to receive a card and is required to post a small blind of one half of the lower limit bet rounded to the nearest dollar.. The player to the left of the small blind is required to post the big blind which is equal to the lower limit bet.
Both the small and the big blinds are considered live bets. They do have the option of checking, calling, raising or folding when the betting action comes back around to their position. After the flop and after each subsequent betting round, the first active player left of the button is first to act.

New players have to post the equivalent of the big blind but they do have the option of sitting out and waiting to become the big blind. This rule is in place to ensure fairness to all players. The rule stops potential abuses to the system by preventing players who may otherwise constantly enter games in late position and then leave before they are required to post a big blind.

The First round of Omaha Hi/Lo:

After the blinds have been placed, (1) four down cards / hole cards or pocket cards are dealt to each active player. The first betting round now starts with the player to the left of the big blind starting the betting for this round.

Each player now has the option to place his or her bets which are set at the lower limit of the stakes structure. For example in a $10/$20 Omaha Hi/Lo game, value of each bet is $10 for the first round. When we say the bets are limited to $10, it refers to: a Bet (single bet) of the value of $10, so when a user places “BET” then it is $10, “RAISE” would be $20 – includes one additional bet and a call on the previous bet placed by a player. Bets can be placed by playing any of the following options. Each player will also have the option to Fold. These options are available to each player depending on the action taken by the previous player. The first player (left of the Big Blind) to act (in the first round) would get the Bet, Call and Raise options. Subsequent players would also get the options of Call and Raise. To Call is to bet the same as what the previous player has bet. Raise action calls for raising whatever was the bet/call amount of the previous player, and can be calculated based on the value of the previous bet amount.

All players should have equal betting amounts in the pot and until all the players have placed equal amounts in the pot, the betting will continue. There is a limit on the amount and the number of bets a player can place during a betting round, which also would be considered during the hand. The numbers of bets for a particular round of betting has been mentioned below, please refer to the section on “Standard Rules” for the limits on the number of bets.

The Flop (2)
After the first round of betting is over, the Flop (the first three community cards) is dealt. The community cards are common to all the players participating in the hand.

The Second Round of Omaha Hi/Lo:

After the flop the first active player left of the button is first to act. The second betting round also limits the value of bets and raises to the lower limit of the stake structure. So in a $10/$20 value of each bet is $10 for the second round. When we say the bets are limited to $10, it refers to: a Bet (single bet) of the value of $10, so when a user places “BET” then it is $10, “RAISE” would be $20 – includes one additional bet and a call on the previous bet placed by a player. Bets can be placed, by playing any of the following options – Bet, Call and Raise. These options are available to each player depending on the action taken by the previous player. The first player placing the bet would get the Bet option (the player left to the Button). Other players will get the Call and Raise options only.

The Turn (3)
After the second round of betting the fourth community card is dealt; this is known as the Turn.

The Third Round of Omaha Hi/Lo:

The third betting round starts again with the player left to the button, and bets and raises are limited to the upper limit of the stake structure ($10/$20 game, $20 would be the upper stake). When we say the bets are limited to $20, it refers to: a Bet (single bet) of the value of $20, so when a user places “BET” then it is $20, “RAISE” would be $40 – includes one additional bet and a call on the previous bet placed by a player. Bets can be placed by playing any of the following options – Bet, Call and Raise. Combinations of these options are available to the player depending on the action taken by the previous player. The first player placing the bet would get the Bet option (the player left to the Button).

The River (4)
Finally, a fifth and final community card is dealt. It is called the River card and is followed by a fourth and final round of betting.

The Fourth Round of Omaha Hi/Lo:

The fourth (and final) betting round starts again with the player left to the button, and bets and raises are limited to the upper limit of the stake structure ($10/$20 game, $20 would be the upper stake). When we say the bets are limited to $20, it refers to: a Bet (single bet) of the value of $20, so when a user places “BET” then it is $20, “RAISE” would be $40 – includes one additional bet and a call on the previous bet placed by a player. Bets can be placed by playing any of the following options – Bet, Call and Raise. Combinations of these options are available to the player depending on the action taken by the previous player. The first player placing the bet would get the Bet option (the player left to the Button).

The Showdown

Five cards of the total of hole and community cards (two hole cards and 3 community cards) are to be used for deciding on the winning hands.
On the final round of betting, the player who bets first (or checks first if no one else bets) is required to show their cards first at the showdown. If they have the best hand, the remaining players may/may not show their cards as they wish. The aggressors’ hand is only turned over first if he was the last to initiate action on the river.
There is no qualifying on the "High" side - the best high hand automatically wins half the pot and could win the whole pot. To win the "Low" side of the pot, however, you must qualify (which is why the game is named Omaha "8 or Better").

To qualify for Low: Players can use any two of their pocket cards with any three board cards for their high hand, and players can also use any two of their pocket cards with any three board cards for their low hand. It is possible to win both high hand and low hand! It takes a five-card hand with different numerical values from Ace through eight (with the Ace being the lowest) to qualify for the "Low" half of the pot. The best "Low" hand is A, 2, 3, 4, 5 (also known as the "wheel" or "bicycle"). The winning "Low" hand goes to the player with the lowest high card. For example, a player with a 2,4,5,6,7 would have a better "Low" hand than someone with an A,2,4,6,8. If two or more players have the same high card, the player with the second lowest card (or third, fourth, or fifth if necessary) in their hand wins the low side of the pot.

Standard Rules

A maximum of four bets, which includes one bet, and three raises are allowed for each betting round per player. The term cap is used to describe the final raise in a round since betting is then capped and no one can make another raise. Once capped, players will have the option of calling or folding only.

Folding: Folding can be done at any stage of the game and shows the players cards being moved to the dealer. The player from then on would not be considered as part of the game and no rights to the pot created on the table.

Checking: The player could also use the option of “Check”, in which the player can pass his/her turn without placing a bet. This would not always be available to the player, and depends on the actions taken by the previous player in the hand. The player HAS TO equal the amount of bet placed by any other players for each round in the hand.

Poker is typically played "table stakes", meaning only the chips in play at the beginning of each hand may be used throughout the hand. This means that the player cannot get additional funds while he is in the midst of a game. The table stakes rule has an application called the "All-In" rule, which states that a player cannot be forced to forfeit a hand because the player does not have enough chips to call a bet.

Ties: In case two or more players "tie" for one side of the pot, they will split that half into equally divided portions. If there is an odd chip(s), it will go to the person(s) closest to the left of the "button". (One player winning the "High" side and two players who ties for the "Low" side is not uncommon in Omaha Hi/Lo.)

Some things to Remember
1) Straights and Flushes do NOT count against you when qualifying for "Low".
2) You are permitted to use different cards in your hand for the "High" side and different cards for the "Low" side or the same cards for both the "High" and "Low" sides. In a split pot, any leftover odd chip goes to the "High" side of the pot.

Key to Remember: To determine your hand(s) in Omaha Hi/Lo, you MUST play two of your four "down" cards with three of the "up" cards (community cards). You may play different cards for the "High" and "Low" sides.

Now that we have you thoroughly confused go have some fun and practice playing poker.com with real people for fun or money