Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha 8 or better) is often times viewed as one of the most complex but favored poker games. It’s a game that, even more than regular Omaha poker, invites action from every level of players. This is the chief reason why a once irrelevant variation, has expanded in popularity so quickly.
Omaha 8 or better starts just like a normal game of Omaha. 4 cards are dealt to every player. A sequence of wagering ensues in which players can wager, check, or fold. Three cards are dealt out, this is called the flop. A further round of betting happens. After all the players have in turn called or dropped out, another card is flipped on the turn. a further round of wagering happens and then the river card is flipped. The players will have to make the best high and low 5 card hands using the board and hole cards.
This is the point where many players often get baffled. Contrasted to Hold’em, where the board can make up every player’s hand, in Omaha hi/low the player must use precisely 3 cards from the board, and exactly two cards from their hand. Not a single card more, not a single card less. Contrary to regular Omaha, there are two ways a pot can be won: the "higher hand" or the "low hand."
A high hand is just what it sounds like. It is the strongest possible hand out of everyone’s, regardless if it is a straight, flush, full house. It is the very same notion in just about all poker games.
A lower hand is more complex, but certainly opens up the play. When determining a low hand, straights and flushes do not count. A low hand is the weakest hand that might be made, with the lowest value being A-2-3-4-5. Seeing as straights and flushes don’t count, A-2-3-4-5 is the lowest value hand possible. The lower hand is any 5 card hand (unpaired) with an 8 and lower. The lower hand takes half of the pot, as does the high hand. When there’s no lower hand presented, the higher hand wins the entire pot.
It may seem complicated initially, after a few hands you will be agile enough to pick up on the basic nuances of play with ease. Since you have people betting for the low and wagering for the high, and seeing as so many cards are in play, Omaha/8 provides an amazing range of betting possibilities and owing to the fact that you have many players battling for the high hand, and a few trying for the low hand. If you enjoy a game with a lot of outs and actions, it’s worth your time to play Omaha/8.