The poker game Omaha Hi-Lo may go under many different titles – Omaha Holdem 8 or better, Omaha high low split poker, Omaha 08 – but, no matter how it is referred to, it is quickly establishing itself as one of the most popular formats of poker played throughout the world.
Like its close relation, Texas Hold´em, Omaha Hi-Lo Poker is played with hole cards dealt to each player and five community cards. However, in Omaha Hi-Lo Poker, each player is dealt four hole cards (rather than two) and the option exists to win half the pot for having the best “Lo” hand.
Being dealt four hole cards increases the potential for players to make much better hands than they might find in Texas Hold´em but, because of this, players need to select their betting actions with care.
Omaha Hi-Lo Rules
Omaha hi lo poker rules don’t differ that much from traditional Omaha holdem. That’s why Omaha high low poker strategy is essentially the same as Omaha strategy. To learn how to play Omaha hi-lo poker, you should first learn to play Omaha and then apply split pot hi lo rules to what you’ve learned. A split pot is exactly what it sounds like—a pot that is split between two winners. In the case of any hi-lo poker variant, the pot is split between the highest and lowest hands. Omaha high low poker pots are split between the winning player and the player with the lowest qualifying low hand. What might seem like a consolation prize at first is actually a strategic way for Omaha hi-lo players to get a piece of the pot by attempting to build the worst possible hand.
Types of Omaha Hi-Lo Games
Omaha Hi-Lo can be played in the following formats:
Limit Omaha Hi-Lo – Specific betting limit applied in each game and on each round of betting.
Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Lo – Bets are limited to the amount of chips in the pot.
No Limit Omaha Hi-Lo – A player can bet all of the chips he has available.
Mixed Omaha Hi-Lo – The game alternates between rounds of Limit and Pot-Limit. The blinds are increased when the game switches from Pot-Limit to Limit, to ensure that the stake levels are consistent.
Omaha Hi-Lo Articles
If you've never noticed, Omaha Hi-Lo is a game with a lot of action, no matter where you play it: online, in a casino or at a home game. That combination of four hole cards and two different ways to win means that multiple players are going to be involved ...
Pot Limit Omaha requires thought. Omaha Hi/Lo requires twice as much, because you have twice as much opportunity to succeed, and twice as many chances to fail in any given hand. The best hand you can get in "regular" Omaha poker is AA KK that'd double-suited. The best hand to ...
The strategies that apply in Omaha Hi/Lo ring games frequently don't work as well as we'd like in tournament play involving the variant. You can't refill your chip stack when you're playing in a tournament and the blinds escalate continually, meaning that you've got to secure a place ahead of ...
You've gotten the swing of standard Omaha poker but the real excitement can be found in Omaha 8 / Omaha Hi-Lo games. It's true; it's hard to beat the sheer amount of action when it comes to Omaha 8, but it's also a game where the pot is generally split ...
Omaha high/low split, also known as Omaha 8 or better has become one of the most popular poker variations on the planet in the last few years and it's become incorporated into more and more mixed games. Online poker sites have made it part of their ongoing offerings and a ...
The dynamic in an Omaha Hi-Lo game changes dramatically when there are fewer than five players. You can actually lose quite a bit of money sticking to your usual hand requirements for a full ring game. Let's look at how the dynamic changes when there are four or fewer tables ...
The math says that a low is possible in Omaha Hi/Lo games 70% of the time you reach the river. That means, of course, that 30% of the time there’s no real chance at anyone building a low hand and you might stand a chance with the right combination of ...
Back in the late 90s, Dr. Ed Hustinson came up with a "point count" system for starting hand selection in Omaha Hi-Lo games. The idea is actually a pretty sound one: to create statistically-derived value for both high and low possibilities in different starting hands, based on their expected profitability ...
Because poker is based on the human factor just as much as it is the cards themselves, there will be mistakes. That's a stone-cold fact. What you need to do is be able to identify and learn from your mistakes and those made by the other players at your table ...
Omaha is a game of the nuts and even if you've got a playable hand in front of you, the flop can completely rewrite your plans. These almost always involve a made nut low or a draw to a nut low or a made nut straight in your hand - ...
It's really common for players that are new to Omaha Hi/Lo to fall for the lie that every hand is playable. Don't get me wrong: Omaha Hi/Lo does offer players more playable hands than any other variation of the game, but there's a lot of hands in that mushy middle ...
Next to Pot Limit Omaha, Omaha Hi Lo (also referred to as Omaha 8 or Better,) is the most popular version of the game online and in card rooms. This game is not for the faint of heart. New players frequently find themselves confused when it comes to reading their ...
Omaha Hi-Lo poker is definitely a game I recommend starting off in fixed-limit games, even if you're an experienced Omaha Hi player looking to expand their game a bit. There's a whole different style of play that you'll need to adjust to and these pointers can help you get ready ...
Want to try out Omaha Hi/Lo but want to get a firm grounding in the best hands to play first? Check out this piece that explores your options. You've seen Omaha Hi-Lo being played and you have a basic understanding of the rules (either the highest or lowest Omaha hand ...
Many newcomers to Omaha Hi-Lo poker fall into a common trap: they've heard that every hand is playable so they try to play every hand. While Omaha Hi-Lo does offer more readily-playable hands due to the fact that you can aim for both ends, there's actually some hands that you ...
When you play the game of Omaha High/Low Split there is very little bluffing involved. There are so many cards in play at one time that bluffing is usually a suicide play because someone almost always has the nut hand. The added complication that someone would call your bluff for ...
Once you play enough Texas Hold’em you start to look for other action. Many players will try out other games like 7-Card Stud or Omaha. One favorite that many try is Omaha Hi/Low Split, or also known as Omaha 8 or Better. This is a split pot game where the ...