Omaha Poker Rules

Recommend this!
Google+0

Omaha Poker Rules

Omaha Poker rules are similar to Texas Holdem. The major difference between Omaha poker rules and Texas Holdem poker rules is that in Omaha Poker, players are dealt four cards and must use two of them. Unlike in Texas Holdem, Omaha does not allow players to simply play the board, use one card to make one card straights or flushes, etc. Two, and only two, cards must be used. Here are some basic Omaha rules you need to know before you start.

How to Play Omaha Poker

1. The dealer shuffles the cards (52-card regular deck)

When Omaha Poker is played in casinos the basic rule is that the dealer never plays. The dealer button (a round disk) moves clockwise from player to player after every hand.

2. Pot money

The two players to the left of the dealer button put in a predetermined amount of money into the pot, to ensure that there is some money to play for on every hand. These are called the blinds. There is a small blind a a big blind.

3. Hole cards

In Omaha poker, all players get dealt four cards, face down called “hole cards”. This is one of the most important differences with Texas Hold’em, since then you’ll only get two hole cards.

4. Betting begins

The first round of betting starts, starting with the players of the left of the two that posted the blinds (see point 2). All players can choose to call, raise or fold.

5. The Flop

After the betting round, the dealer throws out the top card of the deck, called the burning card to ensure that nobody accidentally saw the first card. After that, the dealer puts three community cards face up on the table, called “the Flop”.

6. Betting round two

Another betting round takes place, starting with the player to the left of the dealer allowing players to check, call, raise or fold.

7. Fourth Street

The top card is “burned” again and the fourth community cards is dealt face up on the table, called “Fourth Street”.

8. Betting round three

A third betting round takes place. Action continues as usual.

9. Fifth Street

Another top card gets “burned” and the last community card is dealt face-up on the table, called the “Fifth Street” or the “River”.

10. Forming a hand

Omaha poker players now have to use exactly three of the community cards and two of their hole cards to form the best possible five-card poker hand. This is the second big difference with Texas Hold’em, where you can use whatever number of hole and community cards you want to create your poker hand.

11. Final betting round

This is the fourth and final round of betting.

12. Showdown

Now, all the players who are still in the game, show their cards and the one who has the best five-card poker hand wins the hand.

Omaha Eight or Better Poker Tips

Another very popular version of Omaha, called “8 or Better” or Omaha High-Low, or Omaha Hi-Lo, is played like the high version of Omaha. The main difference in the Omaha Poker rules is that players can either try to achieve the hand with most points (High) or the hand with least points (Low). To win the High part of the pot, a player needs to have an 8 or higher in his hand. If nobody qualifies for the Low part of the pot, this part also goes to the player with the highest hand.  At showdown the pot is split between the holder of the highest hand and the holder of the lowest qualifying hand.

What is KILL?

A KILL game is a different variation of the Omaha Hi Lo game, which can make the game more interesting and exciting. Basically, KILL means that the game stakes increase, usually they are doubled. when someone wins two qualifying hands in a row. To make a KILL is a two-step process. First, somebody has to win the entire pot (no splits or side pots). Secondly, the amount of the pot needs to be at least 5 times the big blind for the game.

Internet Omaha Poker Tips

Omaha and Omaha Hi Lo are very popular games on the Internet. At just about every online poker site, Omaha can be played for free, and it is likely that there are Omaha poker tournaments going on around the clock. You probably won’t notice much of a difference between live and internet Omaha Poker games, aside from the difference in picking up tells.

Another difference between playing Omaha Poker online vs live is that online poker sites use a Random Number Generator (RNG) to shuffle a deck of cards for the hand, instead of a real life dealer. The biggest benefit of playing Omaha Poker online is that games are available 24/7.

Where to Play Omaha Poker Online

There are a large number of online poker sites that spread Omaha poker these days. Our favorites include the following: