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Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha/8 or better) is commonly viewed as one of the most difficult but popular poker variations. It’s a game that, even more than normal Omaha poker, aims for play from all levels of players. This is the main reason why a once irrelevant game, has expanded in popularity so quickly.
Omaha hi/lo starts just like a regular game of Omaha. Four cards are dealt to every player. A round of wagering ensues where players can wager, check, or drop out. Three cards are given out, this is called the flop. One more round of betting happens. Once all the players have in turn called or dropped out, another card is revealed on the turn. Another sequence of wagering happens at which point the river card is flipped. The entrants must attempt to put together the best high and low five card hands based on the board and hole cards.
This is the point where many entrants often get flustered. Unlike Texas Hold ‘Em, in which the board can be every player’s hand, in Omaha hi/low the player must utilize precisely 3 cards from the board, and precisely two hole cards. No more, no less. Unlike regular Omaha, there are 2 ways a pot might be won: the "high hand" or the "lower hand."
A high hand is exactly what it sounds like. It’s the strongest possible hand out of every player’s, it doesn’t matter if it is a straight, flush, full house. It’s the same concept in just about all poker games.
A lower hand is more complex, but really opens up the play. When figuring out a low hand, straights and flushes do not count. A low hand is the weakest hand that might be put together, with the worst being A-2-3-4-5. Seeing as straights and flushes do not count, A-2-3-4-5 is the worst possible hand. The lower hand is any 5 card hand (unpaired) with an 8 and smaller. The low hand wins half of the pot, as does the high hand. When there is no lower hand presented, the higher hand takes the entire pot.
Although it seems complex at the outset, after a few hands you will be agile enough to pick up on the basic nuances of the game easily enough. Since you have individuals betting for the low and betting for the high, and seeing as so many cards are being used at once, Omaha/8 offers an exciting assortment of wagering options and seeing that you have many players battling for the high hand, as well as a few shooting for the low. If you love a game with a plethora of outs and actions, it is not a waste of your time to play Omaha 8 or better.