Omaha Poker

Omaha poker is similar to Texas Hold'em, the main difference is that the dealer will give each player 4 rather than 2 cards, and the player will combine 2 cards from that hand to make the best five card hand from three of the five communal cards in the centre of the table.

The game is dealt in a similar way to hold'em poker with a flop of three community cards. However Omaha is a much more complicated game because of the way that the five card hand is made. You need to give more consideration to the cards that you hold in your hand and remember that you can only use two of them . Because of these added complications it is usually recommended that beginners to online poker do not start out with Omaha .

In online poker rooms Omaha poker is usually split into two games, Omaha 8 and Omaha High

Usually Omaha is played as a high-low split game, in which the best high hand and best qualifying low hand split the pot. In order to qualify for the low side of the pot, you must have a hand of five cards that are unpaired and have a rank of eight or lower. You must form this hand from three of the cards in the middle of the table and two cards you're your personal hand .

Because it is possible to make both the best high hands and also the best low hands, there is the potential to take the entire pot of money. When players try to do this it is called "scooping." When there are lots of players all trying to scoop, the game becomes very complicated.

An example of a high and low hand using different cards is below.

(examples with cards)

Summary: For each side of the pot, wither a hand hand or low hand, players must use any two cards from there own hand, and three gfrom the community cards that are shared by all the players.

In Europe the majority of Omaha games are "pot-limit" and are generally played for high hand only

Playing Omaha

• Omaha is played with blinds not antes
• There are up to four rounds of betting
• 'Limits double on the third betting round
• 6 starting combinations are formed from the four starting cards

Click here for tips on playing Omaha 8