Omaha High / Low (8/b... 8 or better)
Object of the game
Players use 2 pocket cards and 3 community cards to obtain their best high
hand and potentially 2 completely different pocket cards and a
different combination of 3 community cards for their best qualifying low-hand.
One-half of the pot is awarded to the player with the best high five-card
hand. One-half of the pot is awarded to the player with the best qualifying
low five-card hand (it can be the same person who won the high hand pot.)
If no one makes a qualifying low hand (a hand where the highest card is
8 or lower) the entire pot will be awarded to the high hand winner.
How to play basics
To start play, blinds are posted which means the player
to the left of the dealer posts a small blind and the player to the left
of the small blind posts a big blind.
Four pocket cards are dealt to each player, face down
and one at a time. A round of pre-flop betting occurs. The flop
is then dealt (3 community cards) followed by a 2nd round of betting. The
turn card is then dealt (the 4th community card) followed
again by a round of betting. And finally the river card
is dealt (the 5th community card).A final round of betting occurs. Betting
rounds consist of a bet and a maximum of 3 raises.
The Showdown occurs with each remaining player using 2
pocket cards and 3 community cards to make their highest hand and their
2 other pocket cards and a different combination of 3 community cards to
make their low hand. The pot is split and awarded to the player who assembles
the best high five-card hand, and the player who assembles the best low
hand (8 being highest value).
Detailed Rules
Omaha High/Low is played with a standard 52-card deck and as many as 10
participants. A dealer "button" is used to indicate the position
of the player who would be dealing the cards if the players were actually
dealing the cards themselves. The player holding the button acts last and
thus has a positional advantage that remains throughout the hand. After
each hand, the button is moved one position clockwise, so that all players
in the game have, after a full round, had exactly the same number of opportunities
to hold positional advantage.
The two players on the button's immediate left must post "blind"
bets...that is, amounts they place in the pot before they see their cards.
Typically, the player in the very first position posts a blind bet one-half
the size of the player in the second position, although in some games, the
first bet (called the "small blind") may be as little as one-third
or as much as two-thirds the size of the second bet (called the "big
blind").
All participants are now dealt four cards face down. These are pocket cards
and belong exclusively to their "owners," and are not seen by
the other players at any time until the showdown at the end of the hand.
A round of betting takes place at this point, which is called "before
the flop" or "pre-flop."
Once the pre-flop betting is complete, the three cards are dealt face-up.
These are "community" cards that belong to everyone, and these
three cards are called "the flop."
A second round of betting follows. In the second betting round, the player
closest to the left of the button, who is still in the hand, acts first.
After everyone places his or her bets, a 4th community card is dealt which
is called the "Turn" card, or "Fourth Street."
After the third round of betting concludes, the dealer reveals the fifth
and final community card, called "the River," or "Fifth Street,"
which leads to a final round of betting.
At the end of the final round of betting, any players still remaining in
the hand turn their cards over. If at any point during the hand, one player
makes a bet that all others decline to call, the hand is over immediately,
and the player who made the final wager takes the pot without the need to
show his or her cards. The player who can assemble the best five-card high
hand wins half of the pot. The player who can assemble the best qualifying
five-card low hand wins the other half of the pot. If there is no qualifying
low hand, the high hand winner is awarded the entire pot. It is feasible
for a single player to win both the high hand and the low hand pots.
Qualifying Low Hands: Qualifying low hands consist of
five cards with different numerical values from Ace to Eight (thus 8 or
"better"). If more than one player meets this criteria, the player
with the lowest high card will win the low hand pot. (e.g. Ah, 2d, 5c, 6c
7d BEATS Ac, 2c, 6d, 7h, 8d. Straights and flushes do not count against
a low hand however, since all cards need to have different numerical values,
a pair is not eligible.)
Keep in mind: Since players must use 3 community cards
to make a low hand, if there are not 3 community cards with values of 8
or less, it is not possible for a qualifying low hand to occur during that
game.
Split Pots
The potential for split pots in Omaha High/Low is greater than in other
limit games. First, if a game has both a high hand and a qualifying low
hand at the showdown, the pot will be split between the winning hands. It
could be split further if multiple players have the same hand evaluation
for either the high hand and/or the low hand.
