How to Play Omaha Hi and Hi/Low Poker
Omaha
Hi Poker is very similar to Texas Hold Em except that in Omaha you
are dealt
four cards instead of two, but can only use two
cards out of the four to match the
cards on the board in
order to make the best five card hand possible.
The
course of betting is the same: there is a round of pre-flop betting,
followed by
a round of post-flop betting, then a round
after the turn, and a final round after the
river card.
The fact that players hold four cards privately instead of
two does alter the strategy
somewhat. You must
consider that hands are more likely to be made given the
increased
number of cards-higher flushes and better full houses will occur
more
frequently. You also have access to a little bit
more information about the
likely number of outs in certain
hands due to the fact that you are holding more
cards.
Omaha Hi has become a very popular game at high stakes
mainly because it produces
a lot more betting action since
more hands are being made-there are more all-in
situations
occurring. For this reason is satisfies players hunger for
high stakes action.
If you have a high tolerance for risk,
and a need for more playing action than Texas
Hold Em
offers you might want to look into Omaha Hi and some advanced
strategies.
In Omaha Hi-Low there is the possibility of
splitting the pot between the High and Low
hands.
However, in most card-rooms and online sites, the standard rule is
that
an 8 is the highest card allowable for a low hand to
be made. Therefore 87654
is the worst low hand that
can exist, and 5432A is the best. If no low hands can
be
made then the high hand takes the entire pot, this is called the
"scoop". Suits
don't matter in low hands, and of
course there can be no pairs. Conventional wisdom
teaches
that you should only play for the "scoop" in Omaha Hi-Low, and not
take big
risks for a split pot.
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