Omaha is another popular poker variant. Omaha games are very similar to Hold 'em with a few key differences. Games are typically nine or ten handed and use a dealer button to track the position of the blinds. There are five community cards shared by all players. Betting in Omaha games proceeds the exact same way as in Hold 'em with four rounds of betting: Pre-flop, Flop, Turn and River. The critical differences between Omaha and Hold 'em are that in Omaha you receive four cards instead of two, and at the showdown you MUST use only two cards from your hand and three cards from the board to create the best five-card hand you can. This is crucial and bears repeating. You may only use two cards from the four in your hand and three cards from the five on the board to create your five-card hand. Some examples of Omaha hands follow.
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Your Hand |
My Hand |
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I hold 2c 2d Kh Jh. You hold Qc Tc Kc 3d. The board is Ac Ad Ah As Kd.
My best hand is aces full of deuces:
Three of the aces from the board (it doesn't matter which three) and the pair of deuces from my hand.
Your best hand is trip aces:
Three of the aces from the board and the Kc Qc from your hand.
Neither one of us has four of a kind, because you cannot use four cards from the board!
My full house wins the pot.
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Your Hand |
My Hand |
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I hold 2c 3c Td Jd. You hold Ad Kh 7h 8c. The board is Ah Kc Qh Jc Ts.
My best hand is an ace-high straight:
Ah Kc Qh Jd Td (using the Ah Kc Qh from the board and the Jd Td from my hand).
Your best hand is an ace-high straight:
Ad Kh Qh Jc Ts (using the Ad Kh from your hand and the Qh Jc Ts from the board).
We split the pot because we both have an ace high straight.
Omaha is also commonly played as a split game called Omaha Hi-Lo, in which there is a standard high hand as well as a low hand. Usually it is played as "Eight or better", which means a low hand must consist of only cards valued eight or lower. Play proceeds exactly the same as Omaha, except for at showdown players may have a high hand, a low hand, or both. You may use different combinations of cards to make a high or a low. In some cases the high and the low will be the same hand, the most common case is a low straight, such as an A-5 straight.
Beginner's Tip: The best hands to play in Omaha Hi-Lo (or any split game) are always ones that have potential to win both the high and the low half of each pot. "Chasing lows" is a good way to lose your chips! Low hands will not always be possible, and you can spend a lot of your chips waiting for one to come along. Hands like AA23 "double-suited" are the best kind, because you have a high pair as well as multiple straight, flush, and low hand possibilities.
Low hands are read from "the top down" and not from the lowest card. If your five-card low hand is 76543 and mine is 8432A, I would have the better low. To help with this, always think of your low hands from highest to lowest card. A 76543 low would be called a "seventy six" low, and a 8432A would be called and "eighty four" low. Eighty four is larger than seventy six, so my hand is lower. Straights and flushes do not count against you or matter for the low.
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Your Hand |
My Hand |
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I hold Ac Ad 2c 3h. You hold 3c 4c 6h 7d. The board is Ah 2h 3s 4s 5d.
My best high hand is a five-high straight
using a combination of A2345 from my hand and the board.
This is also my best low hand.
Your best high hand is a seven-high straight:
3s 4s 5d 6h 7d (345 from the board, 67 from your hand).
Your best low hand is also A2345.
You win the high pot outright and we chop the low.
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Your Hand |
My Hand |
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I hold Kc Qc 2h 3h. You hold Ah 2c 5d 6s. The board is 8c 6c 4d Jc Th.
My best hand is a club flush:
Kc Qc Jc 8c 6c.
My best low hand is 86432.
Your best high hand is a pair of sixes:
Ah 6s 6c Jc Th.
Your best low hand is 8642A.
I win the high pot with my flush, and your low hand wins the low pot.
