In many ways Omaha Poker is comparable to Texas Hold ‘Em, and that is especially true when it comes to the way the game is played. The main difference is that 2 cards are dealt in Texas Hold ‘Em while 4 cards are dealt in Omaha. After the initial round of cards are dealt a flop of 3 cards and then another betting round followed by a turn of one card and another round of betting. After all of that, a river card is drawn and the final betting round is done.
After the final round of betting, hands are created using three of the cards on the table and two cards in your hand. In Omaha poker you have to use two of your cards so that does not permit you to run the board like in Texas Hold ‘Em.
This type of poker is played in terms of high and low while it is common for anything higher than 8 as a qualifier for low. Every player can use two cards in their hand to make a high and two from their hand to make a low, and then utilize three hands from the table to make a high hand and three from their hand to make a low hand. The only difference when it comes to HiLos is the fact that there are no pre-set rules in terms of what wins for low.
Low hands can range from the best possible hand of 5,4,3,2,1 to the worst possible of 8,7,6,5,4. You can read which the highest card is by simply reading the hand from highest to lowest.
Omaha Hi-Lo Strategy
In the game of Omaha HiLo the player with the highest high hand has to split the pot with the person that has the lowest low hand. In every game there ends up being a winner of a high hand but there is not necessarily always a low hand. For any hand to be considered a low it needs to have five different cards that are not higher than 8.
One of the most important pieces of strategy to remember is that you can make a lot more money winning it all than splitting the pot. Splitting the pot usually just puts you right back to where you started before the hand. Professional Omaha players will only bet big on hands where there is a good chance that they could win both ways.
You should always do your best to slow play when it comes to Omaha hands as it is quite hard to run players out of the game early on. Also remember that 8h and 9h hands are fun to play in Hold ‘Em but are often bad news when it comes to high-low split.
It is often a good idea to steer clear of suited flops that can make a flush. There are many ways for everyone to win and muscle you out of the game quickly.
A final piece of Omaha advice is that you should try to get caught bluffing every now and then. It is a way to keep your opponents on their toes and ensure that you are not that predictable overall. You may lose a few chips when it happens, but it will get you the calls you need when you have a much stronger hand.
The best poker rooms that offer omaha hi-li poker games are: Full Tilt Poker, Bodog Poker and Pokerstars.