How to Play Omaha Poker

About Omaha Poker

Omaha
may resemble Texas Hold'em in the fact that it is a game played with five
community cards but the game is quite different. There are two
variations of the game, Omaha High only and Omaha Hi/Lo split. It can be
played with the betting being a structured Limit game or you can find No
Limit and Pot Limit games. I will use the Limit Omaha High game in the
explanation about how to play.

The
rules of the game are fairly easy to learn. Limit Hold'em has structured
betting, and the lowest limit you will usually find in most casinos is a
$2/$4. Other limits you may find are 5/10 or 10/20 or higher. I will be
using the 32/4 game as an example in this book. That means the minimum
bet is three dollars during the first two rounds of betting and the
minimum bet is six dollars during the last two betting rounds.

These same limits are used when you raise as well.

Omaha Poker Terms

The
Dealer

Since
the casino supplies a dealer one player must be the
designated dealer who will act last during the
betting rounds. A disk or "Button" is used to
identify the dealer and this is rotated to the left
after each hand. Unlike stud, all the players do not
ante each round. Blind bets are posted to generate a
starting pot just the way that they are in Texas
Hold'em.

The
Start

To
start a new hand two "Blind" bets are put up or
"Posted." The player immediately to the left of the
player with the dealer button puts up or "posts" the
small blind which is approximately half the minimum
bet. The small blind for the $2/4 game is one
dollar. The player to the left of the small blind
posts the big blind which is equal to the minimum
bet which is three dollars for this game. The rest
of the players do not put up any money to start the
hand. Because the button rotates around the table,
each player will eventually act as the big blind,
small blind and dealer. It will cost you three
dollars every time the deal makes a complete
rotation around the table.

The
Opening

After
the blinds are posted each player is dealt four
cards face down with the player on the small blind
receiving the first card and the player with the
dealer button getting the last card. The first
betting round begins with the player to the left of
the big blind either putting in two dollars to
"Call" the blind bet, or putting in four dollars to
"raise" the big blind or folding his hand. The
betting goes around the table in order until it
reaches the player who posted the small blind. That
player can call the bet by putting in one dollar
since a dollar bet was already posted. The last
person to act is the big blind. If no one has
raised, the dealer will ask if they would like the
option. This means the big blind has the option to
raise or just "check."

The
Flop

e
cards are dealt and turned face up in the middle of
the table. This is known as the "Flop." These are
community cards used by all the players. Another
betting round begins with the first active player to
the left of the dealer button. The minimum bet for
this round is also three dollars.

The
Turn

When
the betting round after the flop is completed, the
dealer burns another card and turns a fourth card
face up in the middle of the table. This is referred
to as the "Turn." The minimum bet after the turn is
now six dollars and begins again with the first
active player to the left of the button.

The
River

Following the betting round for the turn, the dealer
will burn another card and turn a fifth and final
card face up. This is called the "river," and the
final betting round begins with six dollars being
the minimum bet. There is usually a three or four
raise maximum during all betting rounds except if
the play becomes heads up with two players. Then the
raises are unlimited.

The
Showdown

To
determine the winner, the players MUST use two of
his hole cards and three cards from the "Board" to
form the highest five-card hand. In some cases two
players will tie which happens quite often in Omaha
Hi/Lo. In that case the players will split the pot.
A sixth card is never used to break a tie.

Omaha
Hi/Lo Split

Two
Possible Winners

Omaha
Hi/Lo is a split pot game. That means there can be
two winners if there is a qualifying low hand. The
Player with the highest hand will split the pot with
a player with the lowest hand. The Hi/Lo split game
is sometimes called Omaha Eight or Better. In order
to have a hand qualify as low there must be no cards
higher than 8 in your five card hand. Since in Omaha
you must use two cards from your hand, there must be
three cards on the board that are eight or lower. If
there is no qualifying low hand the winner with the
highest hand will win.

Low
Hand

An ace
can be used as either high or low. A flush or
straight is ignored when making a low hand.
Therefore the lowest hand is A 2 3 4 5. This hand is
also called a wheel. If two players have the same
hand they will split the low half of the pot.

This
is not uncommon because many players will play any
hand that consists of an Ace-deuce. When two players
split the low we refer to it as getting Quartered
as you only win a quarter of the pot.

Scooping the Pot

Since
you have four cards in your hand you can use any
combination of two for the high hand and low hand.
You may use two cards for high and two different
cards for low. The ideal situation in Omaha is to
have a hand that will win both the high hand and the
low hand. The other way to win the whole pot is to
have the highest hand and have no low hand possible.

Counterfeited

If you
have an Ace and a deuce in you hand and there is an
Ace or deuce on the board, you hand is counterfeited
if there are not four low cards. Since you must use
two cards from your hand you will need to have three
different low cards on the board or your hand will
not count as low.

Example:

You
have A-2
The board is:
2 4 5 J Q
You make cant a low hand because the 2 is paired.

A
Wild Game

Omaha
Hi/Lo can be a very wild game. You will get players
raising when they have a high hand and players
raising when they have a low hand. It leads to some
big pots and makes it a very exciting game.

Some
players think that they can play more hands because
they are getting four starting cards. The opposite
is true. In Omaha you have to be even more selective
about your starting hands.