Omaha Hi-Lo Rules

Learn and Play Omaha Hi-Lo Poker

For many players, this is a suitable beginning to high-low split games. With the basic foundations of Omaha Poker already formed in many live poker players and online poker players minds; Omaha High- Low Poker offers new challenges to mastermind.

The difference in Omaha High-Low Poker is that the pot is split in half between the high hand and low hand.

To get a low hand a player must have 5 cards that are 8 or lower and no pairs, (straights or flushes are fine) and the lower the better (ace can count as low). So the ‘best’ low hand is A-2-3-4-5.

The high hand part of the pot goes on as normal with the player having the best consistent poker ranking hand winning that part of the pot. Should there be no low hand that makes the cut then the high hand will win the whole pot.

An Omaha Poker High-Low starting hand now has varied elements; hands that fulfill Omaha high-low strategy are ones that give options to claim the whole pot by winning both high and low are now of far higher value.

For those players looking for a game or a guide on how to get stuck into mixed games then here is the place for you.

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

Learn The Game:

In this guide we will detail all the required stages to help you feel at home on the tables. We have even put the advice of proven and established 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 advice.

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 of 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 twice the value of chips of the small blind. After each hand the dealer button moves a place to the left, and so do both the blinds.

The Variation:

As the name suggests, Omaha High-Low has different elements to a standard game.

In a standard game of Omaha poker, the players are competing between themselves for one single pot. In Omaha high-low (often seen written as "hi-lo") the pot is split up into two different parts - one for the high hand and one for the low hand. This is where it gets difficult and where most beginners slip up. It is really quite easy but needs a moment of thought.

As with a normal Omaha it is compulsory that a player uses two cards from their hand and three from the board, however in High low. These cards do not need to be identical for the high and the low – a player may use any combination of two cards for each part of the pot and may use the same card or indeed two cards twice.

The high part of the pot is won as usual, with the highest Omaha poker hand wins. This remains the same. However the low hand takes a while to get your head round, so we can take a minute to explain it.

To ‘qualify’ for the low hand a player must have at least 5 cards which are eight or lower (not involving any pairs and an ace can count as low. This must be 2 from a players hand and three from the board and no copies. With this, a player may realize that there may not be 3 cards 8 or lower on the board, when this happens there is deemed to be no low hand so the players with the high hand will play for the whole pot.

The low hand is worked out by counting back from the highest card first. Therefore, if a player held the cards : 7,6,4,3,2 That would be a better low hand than say 8,4,3,2,A Even though the second hand always has lower small cards in it, the seven in this case that is key. Lets look at one more, 7,5,3,2,A in comparison to 7,5,4,2,A In this case it’s the First hand which triumphs. On count back the 4 is key, 7, 5, then 3 against 7, 5 then four. With straights and flushes not being counted for the low (and also not counting against you) the best low hand is now A, 2,3,4,5 a hand also known as the wheel. And there can be a lot of potential for split pots especially on the low hand.

Pre-Flop Action:

In Omaha High Low poker, unlike Texas Hold’em poker, a player is dealt 4 down or hole cards.

Once a player has received their pocket cards (hole) 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.

The possible actions available to any player are Fold, Call or Raise.

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.

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 will continue as detailed above until all bets are matched.

Once this happens the next card is dealt

The Turn:

The turn card (or fourth 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 fifth 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. The 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 poker hands hands identical, the poker pot will be equally divided between the players.

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

Unlike in Texas Hold'em Poker 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.