Omaha Holdem Poker

Omaha Hold 'em (or Omaha holdem or simply Omaha) is a poker game based on Texas hold 'em. It was originally created as a high-hand only game, but a high-low split variant (known as Omaha Hi Lo or Omaha eight-or-better) has also become popular. In North America, the unadorned term "Omaha" often now refers to this high-low split variant, while the original game is more commonly known as "Omaha High". In Europe, "Omaha" still typically refers to the high version of the game, which is very popular in pot limit play.

Omaha is generally played with the same betting structure as Texas Hold' em. Omaha high is particularly well-suited to pot limit play (and is often abbreviated as "PLO"). "Pot-limit Omaha" usually refers to Omaha high, though Omaha eight-or-better can also be played pot-limit. Omaha is almost never played no-limit, likely because of the frequency of big hands.

The basic differences between Omaha and Texas Hold' em are:

• Each player is dealt four cards to his private hand instead of two.
• The betting rounds and layout of community cards are identical.
• At showdown, each player's hand is the best five-card hand he can make from exactly three of the five cards on the board, plus exactly two of his own cards.
• Unlike Texas Hold'em, a player cannot play only one of his cards with four of the board, nor can he play the board, nor play three from his hand and two from the board, or any other combination.
• Each player must play exactly two of his own cards with exactly three of the community cards.

In high-low split, each player, using these rules, thus makes a separate five-card high hand and five-card ace-to-five low hand (eight-high or lower to qualify), and the pot is split between the high and low (which may be the same player). To qualify for low, a player must be able to play an 8-7-6-5-4 or lower (this is why it is called "eight-or-better", or simply "Omaha/8"). A few casinos play with a 9-low qualifier instead, but this is rare. Each player can play any two of his four hole cards to make his high hand, and any two of his four hole cards to make his low hand.