Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha/8 or better) is often times seen as one of the most complicated but popular poker games. It’s a game that, even more than normal Omaha poker, invites play from every level of players. This is the chief reason why a once irrelevant game, has grown in acceptance so amazingly.
Omaha hi/lo begins just like a regular game of Omaha. Four cards are given out to each player. A sequence of betting ensues in which gamblers can bet, check, or fold. 3 cards are given out, this is called the flop. A further round of betting happens. After all the players have either called or dropped out, a further card is revealed on the turn. an additional round of wagering follows and then the river card is flipped. The gamblers must attempt to put together the best high and low five card hands using the board and hole cards.
This is where some players can get flustered. Contrasted to Holdem, in which the board can make up every player’s hand, in Omaha hi/lo the player must use precisely 3 cards from the board, and precisely 2 cards from their hand. Not a single card more, not a single card less. Contrary to regular Omaha, there are 2 ways a pot could be won: the "higher hand" or the "lower hand."
A high hand is exactly how it sounds. It’s the best hand out of every player’s, whether that is a straight, flush, full house. It is the very same concept in almost all poker games.
The lower hand is more complicated, but certainly free’s up the play. When determining a low hand, straights and flushes don’t count. the lowest hand is the weakest hand that can be made, with the lowest value being made up of A-2-3-4-5. Because straights and flushes don’t count, A-2-3-4-5 is the smallest value hand possible. The lower hand is any 5 card hand (unpaired) with an 8 and smaller. The low hand takes half of the pot, as just like the higher hand. When there is no lower hand presented, the higher hand takes the entire pot.
Although it seems complex at the start, following a few rounds you will be able to get the basic subtleties of the game easily enough. Seeing as you have individuals betting for the low and wagering for the high, and since so many cards are in play, Omaha/8 offers an amazing array of betting choices and seeing that you have many players trying for the high, along with several trying for the low hand. If you like a game with a plethora of outs and actions, it is not a waste of your time to compete in Omaha/8.