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Omaha Hi Lo: Fundamental Overview

Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha 8 or better) is commonly seen as one of the most difficult but favored poker games. It’s a variation that, even more than regular Omaha poker, invites action from every level of players. This is the main reason why a once invisible game, has expanded in acceptance so quickly.

Omaha/8 starts like a regular game of Omaha. 4 cards are handed out to each player. A sequence of wagering ensues in which gamblers can wager, check, or fold. Three cards are given out, this is referred to as the flop. One more round of wagering happens. Once all the gamblers have in turn called or folded, a further card is flipped on the turn. a further round of betting happens at which point the river card is revealed. The entrants will have to make the best high and low 5 card hands based on the board and hole cards.

This is the point where a few players get confused. Unlike Holdem, in which the board can make up every player’s hand, in Omaha hi/low the player has to utilize exactly 3 cards on the board, and exactly 2 hole cards. Not a single card more, no less. Unlike regular Omaha, there are 2 ways a pot might be won: the "high hand" or the "lower hand."

A high hand is just 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. It is the same approach in just about every poker game.

The lower hand is more complicated, but certainly opens up the action. When figuring out a low hand, straights and flushes do not count. A low hand is the worst hand that can be made, with the lowest value being A-2-3-4-5. Because straights and flushes don’t count, A-2-3-4-5 is the lowest possible hand. The low hand is any 5 card hand (unpaired) with an 8 and smaller. The lower hand wins half of the pot, as just like the higher hand. When there’s no lower hand presented, the higher hand takes the complete pot.

Although it seems complicated at first, after a few hands you will be agile enough to get the basic nuances of the game simply enough. Since you have individuals betting for the low and wagering for the high, and since such a large number of cards are in play, Omaha High-Low provides an overwhelming collection of wagering possibilities and because you have several players shooting for the high, and many shooting for the low hand. If you like a game with all kinds of outs and actions, it is not a waste of your time to play Omaha/8.

Posted in Poker.


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