Omaha Hi/Lo basics

[NFI]

A popular poker casino and online game is Omaha Hi-lo, or, as it may be more commonly known as Omaha 8s or better. It's a mixed game which means that you have two ways to win a pot - either by having the best or the worst hand.

In game of Omaha Hi-Lo you get 4 hole/pocket cards. There are 5 community cards on the table. The first 3 make up the flop, the 4th is called the 'turn' and the 5th is the 'river' as in standard Holdem games. You are required to use 2 pocket cards and 3 from the board to make either the nut high or the nut low hand.

A 'wheel' is the nut low. That's the A, 2, 3, 4, 5. Suits don't matter in the low; but they do in the high. The low hand doesn’t want to make hands like three of a kind or other big poker hands. In order to win the low portion of the pot the low hand can’t contain a card that is higher then a 8, hence why the game is sometimes called Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or better.

To win a 'high' hand, you will need 3 of a kind, a straight, a flush or a full house most of the time. On a rare occasion 2 pairs will win. This is not a game for bluffing; but rather, skill. The best hands, not the biggest bet, (unless of course it’s accompanied by the nuts) win. So you want to know what the nuts is on different board textures and be drawing to the best hand or close to it.

A ‘low’ hand can only be made if there are 3 low-cards on the board. For example, if you're holding an A, 2, 3, 5, 7 and the board has a J, 6, 4, 9, 10, you don't have a lo-hand. If no other player has a low hand or there aren't 3 low cards on the board, the high hand wins it all; otherwise, the low and the high split the pot fairly evenly.

Make sense?

OK. Here's another example of low hand. If you're holding an A, J, 2, 8, 10 and the board has 4, 3, 6, 10, J on it, well you have an A, 2, 3, 4, 6 for the low and can be pretty sure that you will win the low portion of the pot.

A high hand is what you'd play in Omaha Hi and suits count. If you have a hand that makes a good winning hand in blackjack, then you've got a shot at the nut high. Pocket pairs are okay, but pocket trips are not. Full houses will often win it all; but you can lose to a higher full house, which can be quite frustrating, let me tell you. Calculate your “outs” and remember it's only 2 pocket cards and 3 from the board you can use but all other Holdem rules apply.

Omaha hi-lo is great fun and exciting to play in large part because so many people dabble in it and it provides a good change up to Texas Holdem. The good news is most Omaha players aren’t experts. If you get in on the ground floor and learn to play it well now, then you can consistently profit big in Omaha hi-lo games.

[jefrock21]

One thing I found when starting off it is better to play for the low hand to be succesful at first. The high hand is very volatile with people going from straights to flushes to full houses quickly. With saying that the profit margin is better for high when people miss their low hands.

[SnappySam]

What you really want is a scoop of the whole pot, and that's why you generally need to be playing hands which can make a scoop, which means low cards with potential for high. High only hands are OK in late position if you can get in cheap, or if it's shorthanded, but at a full table you really need some potential for both ends.

One major problem with Omaha-8 is that you can often get couterfeited after pouring in your chips with the nut low - your A 2 in the hand plus 5, 6, 7 on the board is often instantly ruined if an Ace or 2 comes on the turn or river.

And you gotta watch those two pair - sometimes they will be best but not normally - can be hard to suss out if you are leading with this hand but the lack of action is usually a clue.

When first starting out in Omaha-8 the best advice might be to always have an Ace with you - as it counts for both ends.

[datsme53]

Good post boss! Gives a very good intro into the Omaha Hi/Lo game. There are many types of strategies employed by many types of players in this game.. and perhaps more so than in Holdem. Aggressive players will try to get you into pots preflop for a good many chips and try to push most players off their hands preflop to improve their odds of winning the hand. Tight players will hold out for multi chance hands preflop to improve their chances at hitting a flop. And.. there will be many players in between. One thing new players in Omaha Hi/Lo make a mistake with is trying to make a low hand most of the time. Odds are that low hand players will not be profitable in this game. A lot of new players will try a ton of draws to low hands and find themselves either missing or finding out that low hands also come with a lot of ties.. which only gets you a split of the low end of the pot.... which in many cases makes you a loser of chips in the hand.. especially when you tie with more than 1 player and when a lot of raises are happening with not many in the hand. Many times you end up feeding the high end.. so be aware of how many players are in the pot and also how many are going for the low end as well. You can actually have the nuts for low and lose chips if you get tied.

The reverse can also happen at the high end as well. You could be in a pot where a single player has flopped a nut low hand and you have a very good high hand along with others in the hand. All of you high end pot players in this hand will end up feeding the low hand chips, so be aware of the bottom feeders as well lol! Hope this helps out new Omaha Hi/Lo players understand how being in a pot with others at your end (high or low) can cost you a lot of chips if you get into a raising war with other players trying to make the same end you are. In short... if there is 1 player looking like he /she has a lock on one end of the pot.. don't feed them.

[offrdmom]

What you really want is a scoop of the whole pot, and that's why you generally need to be playing hands which can make a scoop, which means low cards with potential for high. High only hands are OK in late position if you can get in cheap, or if it's shorthanded, but at a full table you really need some potential for both ends.

One major problem with Omaha-8 is that you can often get couterfeited after pouring in your chips with the nut low - your A 2 in the hand plus 5, 6, 7 on the board is often instantly ruined if an Ace or 2 comes on the turn or river.

And you gotta watch those two pair - sometimes they will be best but not normally - can be hard to suss out if you are leading with this hand but the lack of action is usually a clue.

When first starting out in Omaha-8 the best advice might be to always have an Ace with you - as it counts for both ends.

This is about the best take on the game from my point of view,which by the way really sucks as I fkn hate this game due to the above lol
No the other hand the above reasons are also very important signs a skilled players is looking for. When the board is showing counterfeiter's and your holding 2nd best or in position to pull off a bluff, it now or never to get aggressive and go for it.