If you like Omaha, you’ll love the simplicity of Omaha Hi-Low.  Omaha Hi-Low rules are fairly simply, it is simply a matter of learning the rules and getting used to the playing format.  Omaha Hi-Low has proven to be quite a popular variant of Omaha, and many online games room are now offering the game or will be offering it in the near future.  Let’s look at the basic rules of Omaha Hi-Low:

Omaha Hi-Low Basic Rules of Game Play

•    Omaha Hi-Low is a split pot game which simply means that the pot can be split between a qualifying low hand and a qualifying high hand.  To qualify for the low hand, five cards must be in the player’s hand that are eights or lower; for the high hand, it’s eights or better.

•    An ace counts as the low card in Omaha Hi-Low.  Straights and flushes are not counted against the calculation of the low hand.

•    The best possible Omaha Hi-Low hand on the low end is called a wheel – or ace, two, three, four, and five.

•    Scooping the pot in Omaha Hi-Low is where the player has both the best high hand and the best low hand.  When this happens, the player wins the entire pot and does not have to split it with anyone.

•    Omaha Hi-Low is a button game, which means that dealer position is determined by a chip or button that is placed in front of the dealer; play proceeds to the left of the dealer button.

•    The first player who is seated directly to the left of the dealer is the small blind, and the player to his or her left is the big blind.

•    When dealing Omaha Hi-Low, each player is initially dealt four cards in the face down or hole position.  Two of these cards will be used in the creation of the player’s hand.

•    After these cards are dealt, the player who is seated to the left of the big blind will act first by calling, folding, or raising.  Play will continue clockwise around the Omaha Hi-Low table.

•    Once each player has betted or taken other action, the dealer will deal three community cards into the middle of the table from which all players can build their best Omaha Hi-Low hands.  When the community cards are dealt, this is what is known as the “flop”.

•    Following the flop, bets start from the player who is seated directly to the left of the dealer button.

•    After bets are in, another card is placed into the community cards.  This is called the turn.

•    After the turn, another round of betting ensures – with bets being doubled, or at the upper limit.

•    The final community card is turned up with the others on the Omaha Hi-Low table, which is followed by a last round of bets, known as the river.

•    The showdown ends the game, with players revealing their hands. The best low and the best high poker hand wins ½ of the Omaha Hi-Low pot, unless one player has the best high and low and takes it all.