Omaha Poker rules
Omaha High
A version of Omaha Poker (also called Omaha Holdem)
Most of the rules listed below also apply to Omaha High-Low (sometimes called Omaha High-Low 8 or Better). For specific distinctions of Omaha High-Low, please read our article outlining the rules of "Omaha High-Low" after reading the information below. Omaha Poker is quite similar to Texas Holdem except that players are each dealt four cards face down ("pocket cards" or "the Hole") rather than two. Omaha Poker also differs from Texas Holdem in that you are required at the end of the hand to use two Hole cards (no more, no less) and three Community cards (no more, no less) to make the best possible five-card hand.
1. The Deal - Each player is dealt four cards in the Hole (aka: pocket cards).
2. 1st round of betting.
3. The Flop - Three Community cards are dealt face up on the board. Everyone can use any of the Community cards in their hand.
4. 2nd round of betting.
5. The Turn - One more Community card is dealt face up.
6. 3rd round of betting.
7. The River - One final Community card is dealt face up.
8. 4th and final round of betting.
9. The Showdown - Winner takes all.
In case of a tie, those players split the pot. If there is/are side pot or pots, they are awarded accordingly. A player may only win pots that they have called completely. To reiterate, you must use exactly two pocket cards and three cards from the board to make your final hand. Sometimes this can be less than ideal. Consider the following:
Hole: A-S, A-H, A-C,7-S
Board: 9-D, 3-H, 2-C, 2-S, J-H
In the above example, you would have two pair, Aces and Deuces (A's & 2's). You would NOT have a full-house Aces and Deuces because you cannot use three cards from the Hole. Incidentally, Aces count as both the highest and lowest cards.
Another example:
Hole: 7-C,3-D,2-H,4-H
Board: K-D,3-S,K-H,Q-D,K-C
In this example, you would have three Kings but so would everyone else (at least). You can't use all three Kings plus the 3 of Spades from the board to make a full-house with your 3 of Diamonds in the Hole because you can only use three cards from the board, and you must use two pocket cards. With a 7 kicker (the highest unused card in the hand which becomes the tiebreaker when needed), this hand is suddenly not as promising as it might have seemed.
The betting structure in Omaha High is identical to the betting structure in Texas Holdem. (Want to learn more? Read our article on Texas Hold em rules for a a complete explanation of this structure.)
Essentially, the two players to the left of the dealer (or dealer button) place forced bets called blinds. The player to the left of the big blind bets first on the first round of betting, the player in the small blind bets first in all subsequent rounds of betting.
Omaha High-Low
How to play Omaha High-Low A version of Omaha Poker (also called Omaha Holdem).
This game is also known as Omaha High-Low 8 or Better. Omaha High-Low is virtually identical to Omaha High. If you haven’t already done so, you may first want to familiarize yourself with the rules of Omaha High before reading on.
Read our article on Omaha High rules In short, Omaha High and Omaha High-Low are both variants of Texas Holdem that use four Hole cards instead of two. Players then make their best five-card hand or hands out of nine cards (four in the Hole and five on the board) rather than seven (as in Texas Holdem).
Unlike Texas Holdem, players are restricted to using exactly two of their Hole cards, and exactly three of the Community cards to make their five-card hand or hands. In Texas Holdem, a player may elect to use only one Hole card and four from the board, or none from the Hole and all from the board: not so in Omaha Poker.
1. Each player is dealt four Hole cards, face down.
2. 1st round of betting.
3. The Flop - Dealer places three shared Community cards face up on the board.
4. 2nd round of betting.
5. The Turn - Dealer place one shared Community cards face up on the board.
6. 3rd round of betting.
7. The River - Dealer places one last shared Community cards face up on the board.
8. 4th round of betting.
9. The Showdown.
At the Showdown in a hand of Omaha High-Low each player makes two different five-card hands, one high and one low, from the four Hole cards and the five Community cards. Again, each player is restricted to using two Hole cards and three Community cards for each of their hands (high and low). However within those limitations players may elect to use all or only some of the same cards to compose their high and low hands. To qualify as a low hand, no card can be higher than 8, and all five cards must be unpaired. Straights and flushes are not considered when determining low hands, thus the best possible low hand is A,2,3,4,5 regardless of suit.
When the pot is split evenly between two players, one with high hand and one with low, any odd chip leftover goes to the player with the high hand. Identical high hands or identical low hands equally split half of the pot. If the odd chip is between players tied for the highest hand, the player with the highest card (considering rank and suit) gets the chip. If the odd chip is between players tied for lowest hand, the player with the lowest card (considering rank and suit) gets the chip.
Suits are ranked highest to lowest as follows; Spades - Hearts - Diamonds - Clubs. Remember, suits are only considered tiebreakers when a single odd chip is at issue. The rest of the pot is split evenly amongst the tied players regardless of suit.
