Unlike Texas Holdem, in Omaha poker each player is dealt 4 hole cards at the very beginning. Players neither can play the board, but must use two of their hole cards to form a final five card hand. The most popular variation of Omaha poker is Omaha High-Low split.
How to Play?
Omaha poker is frequently played at fixed betting limit with two bet sizes. The higher one is used for the two last rounds, while the lower limit applies to the first and the second rounds of the game. For example, in 10-20 limit Omaha poker, at the first round players bet or raise 10 dollars, while in the second and the third round they bet and raise 20 dollars. No limit Omaha does not apply any restrictions to the betting process.
The game of Omaha poker follows the scheme below:
- In the first game, the first player to the dealers left places a blind equal to the half of the minimum bet, while the player next to him places a full minimum bet ante. In subsequent games blinding players change in the clockwise direction.
- All players are dealt 4 hole cards and the first betting round takes place in accordance to standard poker betting rules. If the game is played in the minimum-maximum fixed limit, players in the first round bet and raise the minimum bet.
- Three community cards are dealt face up to the middle of the table and the second betting round, where players bet the minimum betting amount, occurs.
- The fourth community card (called 4th street) is dealt face up and the fourth betting round, limited to the maximum bet size, takes place.
- The fifth community card (5th street) is dealt, followed by the final betting round.
- Players construct their final five card hands out of any two of their four hole cards and any three of the five community cards.
High/Low Mode:
Omaha poker played in High-Low Split mode requires from players to build their hand twice, once for low and once for high. The pot is divided between the player with the best low hand and the player with the best high hand. In eight-or-better high-low Omaha poker, which is the most regular variation of the game, only eight-high or lower hands are accepted as low ones. If none of the hands at the table qualify as low, the entire pot is won by the player with the best high hand. Straights and flushes are not counted when playing low, so A,2,3,4,5 is a perfect hand that can be played both low and high with the best possible low hand and a 5-high straight high hand. All the rest of the rules of Omaha High-Low Split are equal to standard Omaha poker rules.
