Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha/8 or better) is commonly seen as one of the most complex but favored poker variations. It’s a variation that, even more than normal Omaha poker, aims for play from every level of players. This is the chief reason why a once irrelevant variation, has expanded in acceptance so quickly.
Omaha/8 starts just like a regular game of Omaha. Four cards are given out to each player. A round of wagering follows in which players can wager, check, or fold. 3 cards are dealt out, this is called the flop. Another sequence of wagering ensues. After all the gamblers have either called or dropped out, another card is flipped on the turn. a further round of wagering ensues and then the river card is revealed. The gamblers must attempt to make the strongest high and low five card hands based on the board and hole cards.
This is where some players often get flustered. Contrasted to Hold’em, where the board can be everyone’s hand, in Omaha hi/lo the player must use precisely 3 cards on the board, and exactly two hole cards. No more, not a single card less. Unlike regular Omaha, there are two ways a pot might be won: the "high hand" or the "low hand."
A high hand is just what it sounds like. It’s the strongest possible hand out of everyone’s, it doesn’t matter if it is a straight, flush, full house, etc. It’s the very same concept in almost every poker game.
The low hand is more difficult, but really free’s up the play. When deciding on a low hand, straights and flushes do not count. the lowest hand is the worst hand that could be put together, with the lowest being made up of A-2-3-4-5. Since straights and flushes don’t count, A-2-3-4-5 is the lowest possible hand. The low hand is any 5 card hand (unpaired) with an 8 and below. The low hand takes half of the pot, as just like the higher hand. When there is no lower hand available, the higher hand wins the entire pot.
Although it seems complex initially, after a couple of rounds you will be agile enough to get the basic subtleties of the game with ease. Seeing as you have players wagering for the low and wagering for the high, and since such a large number of cards are being used at once, Omaha/8 provides an amazing collection of betting choices and seeing that you have many players shooting for the high hand, and many shooting for the low hand. If you like a game with all kinds of outs and actions, it is worth your time to play Omaha/8.