Poker guide - Omaha hi-lo rules

Players who enjoy the game of Omaha often find they are drawn to the largely popular game of Omaha Hi-Lo. For players who are familiar with hi-lo poker games, Omaha Hi-Lo will prove to be easy to follow. The basic rules of the game follow the game of Omaha and if you are familiar with Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo, the Hi-Lo variation of Omaha is similar to the Stud game variation.

Just like Omaha and Texas Hold’em, Omaha Hi-Lo is a community card game which means there are five community cards used to help players make the best possible poker hand. The game begins with the posting of both the big and small blinds. The dealer then deals each player four “hole” cards face down. Betting round number one begins clockwise from the big blind. After the first round of betting takes place, the dealer deals three cards on the flop to the community. These cards are dealt face up in the middle of the poker table.

After the flop, another round of betting takes place and the turn card is then dealt to the community (face up) followed by another round of betting, raising, calling, checking and folding. The final card dealt to the community is called the river card (dealt face up too) and a final round of betting follows with a showdown taking place to determine the winner (s) of the pot.

Determining a winner in any hi-lo game is somewhat different than in most poker games. Each pot has two winners. 50% of the pot will go to the player with the best low hand and 50% of the pot will be cut to the player with the best high hand. If the pot doesn’t have a winning low hand due to qualification, then the high hand takes the entire pot.

In Omaha Hi-Lo, the low hand must qualify for a low hand with an eight or lower. If hands do not qualify, then the high hand takes the pot and in the case of a tie, the pot is then split based on the high hand win.

This game has several variations such as pot limit and no limit variations. In the fixed limit games of Omaha, the most noticeable rule is the cap on the number of raises allowed in the hand ranging from three to five raises depending on the number of players still in the game. One noticeable difference in the game is the fact there are generally two winners but players accustomed to the hi-lo games find Omaha Hi-Lo easy to play and players understand the rules immediately once the first hand is played.

Marie Tranbarger is a writer for superiorbets.net. You can find her articles at superiorbets.net. E-books, tips, books, articles and much more is what Superior Bets on the Net is all about.

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