Omaha High Low
Author: Jesse McLean
Summary: This article explains the basic rules of Omaha High Low (8 or better)
Omaha looks like a tricky game, but boy there’s a lot of betting going on. The good news is that Omaha is basically holdem with four hole cards. The only tricky rule to remember is that you MUST use two of your hole cards and three community cards to make your hand.
Omaha High low is a split pot game where the best high hand and the best low hand (if there is one) split the pot. There isn’t always a low hand because you have to have five unpaired cards under 8 (aces low) to count as a valid low.
Here’s how an Omaha 8 or better game goes:
1) The player to the left of the dealer posts the small blind (half a small bet).
2) The player to the left of the small blind posts the big blind (one small bet).
3) Everyone is dealt four cards face down. These are their hole cards.
4) The player to the left of the big blind (under the gun) starts the pre flop betting round.
5) Three cards are dealt face up in the middle. This is the flop. The cards in the middle are the community cards, or board.
6) There is a round of betting, started by the first active player to the left of the dealer.
7) One card is dealt face up in the middle. This is the turn. 
There is a round of betting (in limit games, bets are now twice the size of the first two rounds).
9) One last card is dealt face up in the middle. This is the [damn] river, and usually ruins someone’s hand and makes someone else’s.
10) There is one final round of betting.
11) All active players show their hands down.
Whoever can make the best five card poker hand with two from their hand and three from the board wins the high half of pot. It’s always two from your hand and three from the board when you play Omaha. Always.
It’s the same for low (if there is one). Whoever can make the lowest low hand with three from the board and two from their hand wins low.
If there is no low, then the high hand takes it all.
One player can win both halves of the pot, and he can do it by using different combinations of hole cards and community cards (as long as it’s always 2 from your hand and two from the board). For example, if I have AA23 (a great starting hand) and the board is A4599, I can make a full house for high – AA A99 and a 5 high for low – 23 A45. I’d expect to scoop the whole pot here, which should be your goal when playing Omaha High/Low.
Omaha 8 or better is a crazy wild game, and can be very frustrating – unless you get a great flop, your opponents will always have a draw to something stronger, but then so will you. It’s a great game to learn though, and you can record some monster wins.
