Omaha Poker Rules

Learn how to play Omaha Poker

Omaha Pokeris usually compared to Texas Hold’em as the structure of the game is almost identical to it. You have hole cards, a flop, turn and river with the same betting sequence. An Omaha poker game is, instead of two downcards in the Hold’em rules, it is played with 4 hole cards. A player still needs to make the best 5-card poker hand from the 9 cards which are available to them BUT in this variation of the game it is compulsory that two hole cards are used.

There are many more combinations within an Omaha Pokerstarting hand, Omaha poker strategy is often a completely different ball game to that of hold’em. Drawing hands are valued extremely highly, so much so that it is almost unheard of to have such a big draw that it can be the favorite against three of a kind.

Don’t be put off: this game may take a little more time to master, but the rewards available playing Omaha poker online are extremely worthwhile. With lots more players seeing a flop and so many more combinations available to those who do, if you want to win big, then this is the game for you!

How to play Omaha Poker: Step-by-step Guide

Learn The Game:

In this guide we will detail all the necessary steps to help you feel at home on the tables. We have even put the advice of proven and accomplished players whose results and experience here at Ladbrokes Poker is second to none and they have kindly given up their time to provide some helpful strategy, hints and tips.

If you wish to try out what you have been taught, but want to feel your way a bit further into the game, then we have a wide variety of free money poker tables available for you on the site.

The Blinds and the Button:

At the start if every Omaha poker hand there are two things that are a constant: The button and the blinds.

The button is a disc placed in front of a player, and signifies who is the dealer for that hand.

The blinds are forced bets (so called because the players have to post them ‘blind’ before they see any cards) placed by the two players immediately to the left of the button. The first player makes the small blind and the second player makes the big blind. The big blind is generally twice number of chips of the small blind. After each hand the button moves one place to the left, and so do both the blinds.

Pre-Flop Action:

In Omaha, unlike Texas holdem poker, a player is dealt 4 down or hole cards. Once a player has received their pocket cards (hole cards) cards, they are faced with their first decision to play or not to play. Simply a player must decide if they are in or out and do this by matching the bet that stands when the action reaches them (or indeed raising that amount if the feeling so takes them) Betting will go in sequence starting from the first player to the left of the dealer and continue round the table sequentially in a clockwise fashion until all bets have been matched.

As the action moves around the table pre-flop, players who want to remain in the hand will have to at least call (match) the big blind bet, OR if another player has already raised (increased the bet) then that bet will have to be at least called in order to remain in the hand. A player is allowed to fold at any time the action is on them (it is their turn).

If a raise has not taken place when the action (betting round) returns to the big blind player, that player is still allowed to raise if they wish .Any money put into the pot by a player before any cards have been dealt counts as part of their overall bet. So if the blinds are $1 (sb) and $2 (bb) and no raise has taken place before the action gets to the small blind, then he or she will only have to put an extra $1 into the pot to match the $2 as they already have $1 invested prior to the dealing of the cards.

Once all bets are matched the flop is dealt

The Flop:

The flop is made up-of three cards being dealt face up in the middle of the table. These are community cards, which mean that they are shared by all the players and may form part of anyone’s hand.

A round of betting will immediately follow, starting from the player immediately to the left of the button which continues clockwise around the table.

Once again any player will have the option to Fold, Check, Call or Raise.

A check is when there is currently no bet that stands which a player would have to match, so a player may decide to continue that by checking (essentially calling a bet of zero). Betting progresses as detailed above until all bets are matched.

Once this happens the next card is dealt

The Turn:

The turn card (or 4th street) when dealt is put face up in the middle of the table and becomes another community card. A round of betting will then take place and will be done in the same way as stated before. The players who remain after this round of betting will then see the final card.

The River:

The final card is the river (or 5th street); it is dealt face up in the middle of the table and is also a community card. Players now have all the cards available to them. The idea is to make the best five-card poker hand from the seven available (the two pocket or hole cards and the five community cards).

The Ultimate round of betting now follows in the same way as done before. Those players that still remain after the completion of the betting then go to the showdown.

The Showdown:

Once all betting has been completed the players who remain, show their cards.

If any bets were made on the last round then the player who made the last positive action (last player to make a bet – not to call one) will show first, if the last round of betting involved all players ‘checking’ then it will be the player immediately to the left of the button who will show first then clockwise from there.

The player with the best five-card hand takes the pot. In the event of player’s hands being equal, the poker pot will be equally divided between the players.

The rules of Omaha poker give no differentiation between suits so split pots can be common.

Unlike in Hold’em where a player can use any combination of hole cards and board cards, In Omaha it is compulsory that a player must uses two cards from their hand, no more and no less to form their 5 card poker hand.

The button now moves clockwise to the following player and a new hand begins