Omaha

Omaha Poker is a variation of Hold’em, so if you are already familiar with Hold’em, it will not take long before you master Omaha Poker!

The 2 main differences in Omaha are:

• 4 Hole Pocket Cards – Each player receives FOUR hole or pocket cards dealt to them face down at the start of the game. Given that each player starts with two extra hole cards, than in Hold’em, the winning hand is, on average, a lot stronger in Omaha.


• 2 From the Hole & 3 From the Board – To make the strongest hand in Omaha, you are required to use TWO of your hole cards and THREE of the cards from the board/community. Many players who are new to the game tend to get this wrong, as you are allowed to use any combination of hole & board cards in Texas Hold’em.

The Button and The Blinds

The button indicates the player who deals cards. It moves from clockwise on every hand.

The player immediately on the left of the button places the small blind. The player on the left of the small blind places the big blind (twice the size of the small blind) in the pot. Blinds are meant to encourage betting. At some point, each player will have to pay the big blind.

Pre Flop

This phase differs from Texas Hold’em because each player is dealt four hole cards. The players, starting to the left of the big blind, will have to call, raise or fold. Once every player has placed the same amount in the pot, or folded, this betting round is over.

The Flop

Three community face-up cards are dealt on the board, this is called the flop. Players will use them to form the highest poker hand possible. Another round of betting takes place. In all remaining betting rounds the player on the left of the dealer is first to act. As always, once each player has bet the same amount, or has gotten out of the hand, the round is over.

The Turn

A fourth face-up community card, also called “Fourth Street”, is added on the board and another betting round starts.

The River

A fifth and last face-up community card, also called “Fifth Street”, is dealt on the board and the last betting round starts. When all bets have been matched it is time to find out who the winner is!

The Showdown

All remaining players reveal their hands starting with the person who made the last bet or raise. The player who formed the highest ranking poker hand, using 2 hole cards and 3 board cards, is the winner. If 2 or more players have the same winning hand, the pot is shared between them.

There are two different versions of Omaha Poker:

• Omaha Limit: Players cannot bet higher than the pre-determined limit in any betting round.


• Omaha Pot Limit: Players cannot bet more than the size of the pot.

Both Omaha and Stud have different versions of the game called Omaha H/L and Stud H/L (sometimes called Hi/Lo). These play exactly like the standard form of the game, but the only difference is that instead of the highest hand winning the whole pot, the high hand splits the pot with the low hand.

Hi/Lo games are played 8 or better which means for a hand to qualify as a low, it can't have any card higher than 8 in it. Straights or flushes do not count against you in a low hand but pairs and 3 of a kind do. See Hand Rankings for full details.