Omaha Hi/Lo

Omaha 8, or Omaha Hi-Lo

One of the best pieces of advice a player can get is this: Don’t go to the Omaha Hi/Lo table with the same game plan you use for Omaha Hi or Texas Hold’em. Of course, there are some similarities between the Hi game and the Hi/Lo game, but the differences between Hold’em and Omaha are important.

Watch a televised poker tournament and you are most likely to see Hold’em action, exclusively. Occasionally, the World Series of Poker will look in on a hand or two of Omaha. But the media exposure for this version of poker is so limited that many players don’t understand it at all.

Omaha Hi-Lo: Major Difference

The major change is that, in Omaha, each player is dealt four cards face down rather than two, as in Hold’em. Getting four hole cards is just the beginning however. Players must make the best five-card hand using two and only two of their hole cards. Splitting the game in Omaha Hi/Lo adds yet another twist or two.

Tips for Playing Omaha

Here are a few basic tips for Omaha:

  • Starting hand requirements are different for Omaha
  • You must have two cards of a suit in your hand to make a flush. Three or four of a suit doesn’t help. It just cuts down your chances of getting flush cards on the board.
  • Three of a kind on the board and a pair in your hand for a full house.

Hi and Lo?

But what about this Hi/Lo split? Here’s how a successful pro sees it. Bobby Baldwin wrote the chapter for Doyle Brunson’s Super System 2. The game is also referred to as Omaha 8 or better.

  • Omaha 8 or better is a high/low split game.
  • There is always a high hand and sometimes the high hand wins the whole pot
  • Sometimes there is no low hand to share the pot because a player must have five unpaired cards 8 or below to make a low hand

One example of how a player might win both high and low should give us a good idea how the game is played. Baldwin writes that if your hold cards are Ace of clubs, 2 of diamonds, 7 of clubs and King of hearts, and the board is 3 of clubs, 4 of clubs, 6 of clubs, Jack of hearts and Queen of diamonds – we can use our Ace and 7 to make a high-hand flush in clubs; we can us the Ace and 2 for a low-hand – Ace, 2, 3, 4, 6.

If you are considering a poker career based on Omaha Hi or Omaha Hi/Lo, give yourself plenty of time to gain experience!