Rules for playing Poker Omaha HiLow

Rules for Omaha Hi Low are similar to the rules for Holdem and eight low ball. The game is dealt by dealing all the players at the table four cards face down and then dealing a three-card flop, a one-card Turn and a one-card River card. There is a round of betting after each deal and those players that stay though the River card have nine cards to make a high hand and a low hand. Each hand must use two cards from the player's four cards and three cards from the five-card Flop. If a player wins both the high hand and the low hand they have what is called a scooper hand.

This game takes a little experience to play well and hands that are good in Holdem may be very suspect in Omaha Hi Low. Two pair is a weak hand in this game and three of a kind only slightly stronger. There are many flushes dealt and even full houses. Players that bet a lot on a lock low hand might get tied at the end of the hand as more than one player can make a good low hand. High hands are rarely tied and therefore can be bet with more assurance. The exception is a straight and particularly the ace high straight.

The play of the game is part of the mastery of the game. Knowing when to raise and when to just call is part of the learning process as new players seem to over value their hands if they are new to the game. Holdem players are very susceptible to this over playing of hands. The fact that each player has nine cards to make a high hand accounts for the over play of high hands. A flush can easily be beat if there is a pair in the Flop. A low flush can be beat by a higher flush and this happens often in Omaha. Nine cards to make a hand create a number of high hand possibilities. If you are sitting with a flush and the River card makes a pair on the board, be careful, as it also could easily have made a player a full house. A third card of the same suit could make someone a flush to beat your three of a kind.

Three low cards that are not pairs will more than likely give one of the callers a very good low. Low hands are tricky to raise on as they are easily tied and end up getting quartered. The time to raise is when you have a possibility of winning both high and low. You have a good chance of getting all of the pot or maybe at least three quarters of the pot. In these cases you want to get as much money in the pot as you can possibly get the other players to put in via raises. Any time you have a hand that looks like it has the chance to be a scooper, you should push the betting as much as you possibly can push it. Scoopers are the hand that all players of this version on Omaha want to see as often as possible as these make up for a lot of spit pots. In an eight-sixteen limit game the scoopers can be worth several hundred dollar at the end of the betting. The second best hand to get in this game is the high hand as that is not often tied and will be worth half of the pot so it is worth raising as often as you can raise. Low hands are okay, but they need to be played with discretion.