Omaha Poker Rules

Omaha Poker is a poker variant which was introduced to Las Vegas in the 80’s. Before this time, the game was played in different forms in the Northeast and Midwest of the US. In Vegas a form of Holdem, in which you were obliged to use both your hole cards, was known as Omaha. When the game which is currently known as Omaha was introduced it got its name, because you needed to use both your hole cards too.

Nowadays Omaha is together with Holdem the most popular poker variant in the world. Omaha is played in 2 different forms: Omaha High and Omaha High/Low. The latter is also known as Omaha eight or better. In the article I discuss the rules of these games. Because Omaha resembles Holdem in many ways, and because many players know Holdem well, I will often compare Omaha with Holdem .

Omaha High

This game is also called PLO (pot limit Omaha). Most Omaha games are played as pot limit, especially on the internet. Pot limit means that you can only bet or raise with the size of the pot, whereas in no limit you can bet or raise with your entire stack. In PLO each player is dealt 4 hole cards. Just like in Holdem there is a flop, turn and river. In PLO you have to use exactly 2, no less and more, and 3 community cards for getting the highest possible combination. This is a big difference with Holdem, where you can use 0, 1 or 2 of your hole cards.

Omaha H/L

Omaha H/L (high/low) is played as fixed limit most of the times. In fixed limit you can only bet or raise with fixed amounts. Normally these amounts are twice as big on the turn and river as preflop and on the flop. So if you can bet or raise $1 preflop and on the flop, you normally can bet or raise $2 on the turn and river. In Omaha H/L too each player is dealt 4 hole cards of which players have to use exactly 2 to combine with the board. In Omaha H/L however not only the highest combination wins, but also the lowest combination and this is the difference with PLO. The lowest hand consists of 5 cards from Ace till 8 and the cards cannot be paired. The lowest possible combination is Ace, 2,3,4,5. A,2,3,4,4 however doesn’t count as low hand, because the 4 is paired. Flushes and straights do not count and do not influence the low hand. It is possible that no player has a low hand (no player has 5 unpaired cards from Ace to 8). If this is the case the winner of the high hand wins the entire pot. In the case of a high and low hand, the winner of the high hand receives one half of the pot and the winner of the low hand receives one half of the pot. It is also possible that one player wins both the high and the low hand and this player wins the entire pot and this is what we call to scoop the pot.

Although Omaha resembles to Holdem, the differences make it a completely different game. In following articles I will elaborate on the strategic consequences of these differences and I will give tips for beginning Omaha players.