13
January
Written by Manuel.
Posted in: Poker
Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha/8 or better) is frequently viewed as one of the most complex but favored poker games. It’s a variation that, even more than regular Omaha poker, invites action from all levels of players. This is the main reason why a once irrelevant variation, has expanded in popularity so amazingly.
Omaha/8 begins like a regular game of Omaha. 4 cards are dealt to each player. A sequence of wagering follows where players can wager, check, or fold. Three cards are given out, this is called the flop. A further round of wagering happens. After all the gamblers have in turn called or folded, another card is flipped on the turn. Another sequence of betting ensues at which point the river card is revealed. The gamblers will have to put together the best high and low 5 card hands using the board and hole cards.
This is the point where a number of entrants can get flustered. Contrasted to Hold’em, where the board can make up every player’s hand, in Omaha hi/lo the player must utilize exactly 3 cards on the board, and exactly two hole cards. No more, no less. Contrary to regular Omaha, there are 2 ways a pot could be won: the "high hand" or the "low hand."
A high hand is just how it sounds. It’s the best hand out of everyone’s, regardless if it is a straight, flush, full house. It is the very same notion in nearly all poker games.
A lower hand is more complicated, but really opens up the action. When figuring out a low hand, straights and flushes don’t count. A low hand is the worst hand that might be put together, with the lowest being made up of A-2-3-4-5. Because straights and flushes do not count, A-2-3-4-5 is the worst possible hand. The lower hand is any 5 card hand (unpaired) with an 8 and lower. The low hand wins half of the pot, as does the high hand. When there is no low hand available, the high hand takes the whole pot.
It may seem complicated at the outset, following a couple of hands you will be agile enough to pick up on the basic subtleties of play with ease. Since you have individuals wagering for the low and wagering for the high, and since such a large number of cards are in play, Omaha 8 or better provides an exciting collection of betting choices and seeing that you have many players trying for the high, as well as several shooting for the low. If you like a game with a lot of outs and actions, it is not a waste of your time to play Omaha/8.
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