Omaha Poker
Omaha is similar to hold'em in that you have the same number of community cards (five) and they are dealt in the same order. The betting structure and hand rankings are also identical. There are however two important differences:
- players receive four hole cards on the initial deal (in hold'em you get only two)
- winning hands must be made up of two of your hole cards plus three community cards. No other combination, however good, is allowed.
Play proceeds as follows:
- The two players on the left of the dealer place forced bets (small blind and big blind) as in hold'em. Each player is then dealt four cards face down on the table - the hole cards.
- A round of betting takes place using the same rules as hold'em, i.e. in a clockwise direction around the table, with players checking, betting, calling, raising or folding in the normal way.
- The second round begins with the dealer placing three community cards (the flop) face up on the table.This is followed by another round of betting.
- The third round sees another community card dealt (the turn). This is followed by another round of betting. Ditto the fourth round (the river).
- Each player still has four hole cards and there are now five community cards on the table.
- When all the bets are in, each player still remaining in the game chooses two hole cards and three community cards to make up their hand. As usual, the best / highest hand wins.
Omaha is most commonly played with a limit or pot-limit betting structure, although it's not unheard of for it to be played as no-limit. Omaha may also be played with more than four hole cards per player, sometimes with as many as six or seven if there are few enough players at the table to allow this. In general, the more cards each player has, the more action will be generated.
Omaha hi-lo (Omaha 8)
Very popular in card rooms, omaha hi-lo is a highly challenging, if somewhat complicated, game. It's a split pot game which means that you get two chances to win some of the pot - one with a high hand as usual, and one with a low hand.
For the high hand, the usual omaha rules apply and the best hand wins.
To make up the lowest hand you must 'qualify' by choosing five unpaired cards of denomination eight or below. When comparing low hands it is the lowest high card that wins,i.e.3-4-5-6-8 beats 2-3-4-7-8 because the six is lower than the seven.
Therefore the lowest possible hand, known as the wheel, is A-2-3-4-5 (aces can be played low). The worst possible qualifying hand is 4-5-6-7-8.
Straights and flushes are completely irrelevant to the low hand, so for example an A-2-4-5-6 'flush' is still six-high, and ties with A-2-4-5-6 of differing suits. Low hands containing pairs, for example A-2-3-3-4, do not qualify.
Players may use the same cards in their high and low hands if they choose, which is why the wheel (A-2-3-4-5) is so strong - it's the best low hand and a straight.
Of course, there will always be a highest hand to win the top half of the pot, but not necessarily a lowest hand. It may not be possible to make up a hand of five cards to the value of eight or less when your choice is restricted to two hole cards and three community cards. If there is a high and low winner, the pot is split equally. If no-one who shows down their cards is able to make up a low hand, the high hand takes the entire pot.
It's possible for one player to win both halves of the pot, helped by the fact that aces can be played as either high or low. Winning both halves is called a scoop.
Play proceeds as follows:
- The two players on the left of the dealer place forced bets (small blind and big blind) as in hold'em. Each player is then dealt four cards face down on the table. These are the hole cards.
- A round of betting takes place using the same rules as hold'em, i.e. in a clockwise direction around the table, with players either checking, calling, raising or folding.
- The second round begins with the dealer placing three community cards face up on the table (the flop).This is followed by another round of betting.
- The third round sees another community card being placed face up on the table followed by another round of betting. Ditto fourth round.
- When all the bets are in, you have the showdown. Each player chooses two sets of cards to make up two hands - a high hand and a low hand. Both hands must be made up of two hole cards and three community cards. Other combinations, however good, are not allowed.
