How to Play Omaha Poker Online with Ease

Omaha Poker isn't nearly as well known as Texas Hold 'Em, mostly because this game is rarely televised. However, it is an easy game to play, and more importantly, if you have mastered the strategies you need, it is an easy game to win. While Texas Hold 'Em is a game of strategy, Omaha Poker is a game of percentages.

The Basic Rules of Omaha Poker

Omaha Poker goes by many names, and one of them is Omaha Split. The reason for this is that the pot is split between the best high hand and the best low hand. However, there are other variations where this doesn't apply that will be explained below. Standard poker rules apply as far as hierarchy and the qualifying hands will be explained in a moment. Each player is dealt four cards, and they must use exactly two of them to combine with exactly three of the five community cards, for the best five card hand you can build. You must use exactly two hole cards and exactly three community cards to build your hand. The betting works similar to Hold 'Em where the hole cards are dealt, betting occurs, the three card flop is dealt, followed by more betting and the river and the turn, with betting doubling after the turn card is dealt.

The Low Hand: Qualifying Low Cards

In order to make a low hand that qualifies for the split pot, you must have an 8 or lower as your highest card. You want to make an hand consisting of the lowest cards that you can. Straights and flushes do not count against a low hand, so you could make A 2 3 4 5 (Aces are low) as a low hand. However, you could also make A 3 5 7 8 and it would still qualify, but not necessarily be a winning hand. Just remember that you must use exactly 3 community cards and 2 hole cards to make that hand.

The High Hand: Standard Poker Rules Apply

In order to make the highest hand, the standard poker rules apply, so a royal flush of A K Q J 10 is your highest hand. You will still use 3 community cards and 2 hole cards to make the high hand.

Omaha Poker Variations

There are a lot of variations to Omaha Poker, and you should definitely be aware of them before you start playing online, because otherwise you might be playing a completely different game than you think you are. A variation known as PLO or Pot Limit Omaha High means that there is no split pot, and that the highest hand wins. There are also fixed limit games and games that have no restriction on the amount you can bet.

Omaha Poker Strategies

As mentioned Omaha Poker is a game of math and not of strategy, but there are a couple of things to keep in mind. First, aside from the titular rule changes, all variations of Omaha Poker involve the same basic strategy. Second, because you have four hole cards, the winning hands are going to be higher than you're used to if you usually play Texas Hold 'Em or something similar, so be careful with your betting until you have some experience playing.