Omaha
Hi/Low
Omaha Hi/Low is a variation of Omaha
Hold'Em. In
regular Omaha, you are trying to make the best high hand.
In Omaha Hi/Low, there can be a high hand winner,
and a low hand winner. You
will find it played mostly at casino's and cardrooms, but
at a few home games too. The strategies in Omaha
Hi/Low are very different than that of Texas Hold'Em, so
be careful at first!
We will cover the following topics on this
page.
 What
is a Low Hand?
Basic
Game Play
Betting
Structures
All-In
Situations
Dealer
Rotation and Position
Blinds
WHAT IS A LOW HAND?
Rather than take up a lot of page space here, we created
a separate page to help you learn exactly what a low hand
is, how to calculate what you have, and some variations
of low hands. CLICK HERE to
learn the details of low hands.
BASIC GAME PLAY
This will tell you the very basics of game
play. Following these basics, we will briefly discuss
some other elementary topics of value.
Omaha Hi/Low is played
with 2 to 10 people at a table, and with a standard
deck
of
cards
(no
Joker
and
no
Wild cards).
 Play
begins by "posting blinds". Blinds are
forced bets made by the first two players to the dealers
left. The first player puts out the SMALL blind,
and the second player puts out the BIG blind. We
will discuss blinds further in the following sections,
including amounts, rotation, and how they are determined.
Cards
are dealt in order, starting with the first person to the
left of the big blind. Each
player receives 4 cards, face down, followed
by the first betting
round.
The
dealer then places 3 cards, face up, in the middle of the
table. These
3 cards are called the "flop", and can be used by the whole
table. After the flop, the second betting round takes
place.
A
fourth shared card is then placed face up on the table
(this is called the "turn"), followed by
the
third betting round.
The
fifth shared card is placed face up on the table (this
is the last card dealt, and is called the "river" card),
followed by the fouth betting round.
After
the fourth betting round is complete, all remaining players
show their cards, and a winner is declared.
A note on how cards are used. A poker
hand is generally made up of 5 cards. In Omaha games,
you get 9 cards total (your 4 personal down cards, and
the 5 community cards.) Out of these 9, you pick the best
5
that will make your hand. You must use 2, and only
2, of your personal down cards. You must use 3, and
only 3, community cards.
In Omaha Hi/Low, the high hand
is determined using the Standard
Rank of Poker Hands. The low hand
is determined using the Ace-to-Five type of low hand discussed
on the
Low Hands Page. Most Omaha
Hi/Low games have a qualifier of "8 or better" for low
hands, so you will frequently see this game called Omaha
8b.
We have now covered
the basic construct of the game! When playing Omaha
Hi/Low, you will always use this basic structure. We
will now dig in to some other elementary topics necessary
to fully understand the game.
BETTING STRUCTURES
There are three basic "ways" you
can play Omaha 8b, which really only refer to the
betting structures. The
three types of games you will find are:
 Limit
No
Limit
Pot
Limit
LIMIT Omaha
Hi/Low
Limit Omaha
is the most common in general table games. In this
structure, you join a game with set betting increments.
Limit
games are shown typically as two amounts, one low and one
high. For
example you may see 1$/2$, 5$/10$, and so forth. The
reason for the two different amounts is simple.
The smaller of the
two amounts represents the betting increment that
a bet or raise must be during the first and
second
betting
rounds.
The larger of the
two amounts represents the betting increment that
a bet or raise must be during the third and fourth
betting
rounds.
By increment, what is meant that IF you choose
to bet or raise, it must be done in that amount. If
no bet has been made yet, you are certainly free not to
bet at all (this is called "checking"). There
are generally a maximum of three raises permitted in each
betting round.
For example, take a typical 1$/2$ home game. In
the first and second betting rounds, betting must be done
in 1$ increments. In the third and fourth betting
rounds, betting must be done in 2$ increments.
NO LIMIT
Omaha Hi/Low
No Limit Omaha is common in tournament
play, but is also found in regular "money" games.
When joining a No Limit game, or playing
a round of a tournament, you will have two amounts just
as you do in Limit Omaha. The difference is that
these amounts only represent the MINIMUM increment that
a bet or raise must take. At any time in any betting
round, a player may bet any amount, up to all the money
they have in front of them.
POT LIMIT
Omaha
Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Low is very similar to No Limit, with
one fundamental difference. Instead of being able
to wager any amount, players are limited to the amount
that
is currently in the pot. For example, if there is
5$ in the pot, the maximum a player may bet is 5$.
ALL-IN
SITUATIONS
It
is important to describe what happens when a player does
not have enough money to cover a bet
that has been made.
First of all, a player is not
obligated to fold because they do not have sufficient funds. If
a bet has been made, and the player wishes to remain in
the hand, they simply put what they have into the pot. What happens next is a division of the pot,
based on the amounts that have been bet. The pot
is divided into a main pot and a "side" pot.
The "main"
amount includes the amount of money already in the pot,
the amount of money that the "all-in" player has bet,
and an equal amount of money from all remaining players. Any
money that is left over is the "side" pot. Consider
this example.
In a No Limit game, player A and B each
have 100$ in front of them. Player C only has
20$. During a hand, all three have wagered 5$ so
far, giving a pot of 15$. Player A then bets 50$.
Player B calls the bet, and player C wants to remain
in so he puts in his last 15$. The main pot would be
the original 15$, and 15$ from all players, for a total
of 60$. This is what player C is eligible to win
if he/she wins the pot. The remaining 35$ from
player A and B go into the side pot. Player C has
no stake in the side pot, only A and B are eligible. Any
additional money wagered by players A and B will go directly
to the side pot.
The same principle applies in limit games.
DEALER
ROTATION AND POSITION
The dealers position is important in Omaha Hi/Low,
as it determines who gets cards first, who posts the
blinds, and the betting sequence. In order to be
fair, the dealer position needs to rotate around the
table, making everyone responsible for the same "blind"
money, and giving equal opportunity to have favorable
table positions.
In home games, the deck of cards generally gets passed
around to each player in turn. This makes it
easy to determine who the dealer is, and provides an
easy
way to keep things equitable.
In casinos and cardrooms, the dealer is a fixed non-player
for the duration of the game. The rotation happens
via the use of a "button" (usually a small plastic chip). Each
hand, the button advances to the next player. The
position of the button indicates where the dealer "is",
and thus play progresses from that point.
BLINDS
As mentioned in the basics, two blind bets are made
by the first two people to the dealers left, before cards
are dealt. It is sometimes difficult to explain
blinds, but by reading the above sections on dealer rotation
and betting structures, you should have no problem at
all understanding it.
The amount of the blinds are determined by the stakes
being played.
The BIG blind is usually equal to the 1st round betting
increment. The SMALL blind is usually one-half
of the big blind.
For example, use our earlier 1$/2$ home game. Since
we know that the 1st round betting increment is 1$, we
can deduce that the BIG blind will be 1$, and the small
blind should be 50 cents. It's that simple!
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