Learning the Rules of Omaha Poker

Omaha poker is different from Texas Hold'em poker in 2 ways:
a) players are dealt 4 "pocket" cards and not 2; and b) players must use 2 "pocket" cards and 3 "community" cards to make their best hand. (If anyone claims that Omaha is just like Hold'em, they are not talking about strategy.)

Just like Texas holdem, Omaha holdem uses a three card flop to the board followed by a fourth and then a fifth board card. Instead of the usual two, each player receives four hole cards at the beginning of play. to make a hand, each player must use two hole cards along with three board cards. Betting takes place in Omaha holdem as in Texas holdem. During the showdown all four hole cards are shown in order to win the pot.

The pot is won by the best poker hand consisting of two hole cards and three cards from the board. Rounds of Betting

1. In the first round, the dealer deals each player four cards face down. These are referred to as the pocket cards.

2. This is followed by the first round of betting.

3. The dealer burns a card by dealing it face up, showing it to the players and then discarding it. He then deals three common cards face up on the table. This is referred to as the flop.

4. This is followed by the third round of betting.

5. At this point the dealers burns yet another card and then deals another card face up on the table. This is referred to as the turn or as 4th street.

6. There is then a third round of betting.

7. Now the dealer burns a third card and then turns up one final community card. This is referred to as the river and as 5th street.

8. Now there is a last round of betting.

9. The showdown. Those players that remain now show their hands. The bettor is the first to show his/her cards.

Those players that remain in the game must form their hand using their two pocket cards plus the three board cards.

Rules for Playing Omaha Hold’em

1. The rules of holdem are the same as those for Omaha except for the rule of playing the board. This is not possible in Omaha holdem because two cards must be from you hand and three from the board.

Omaha High-Low

Hi/Low Omaha is identical to regular Omaha, except for the additional way to win a share of the pot. Just like in regular Omaha, the Hi winner has the best poker hand. There is always a Hi winner. However, in addition to that, there can also be a Low winner. The Low winner has five different cards below a nine. If for example, between two pocket and three community cards, a player holds a 2, 3, 5, 7 and 8 of mixed suits, he would have a Low hand. If his Low hand is the best (i.e. lowest) he would be entitled to the Low share of the pot. His share depends on how many other players won and there may not be a Low winner every hand. Participants may play two different or the same pocket cards for Hi and for Low, along with any 3 community cards.

The Rules for Playing Omaha High Low

1. The rules that are used for Omaha Holdem all apply to Omaha high Low except for the following below.
2. In the case of all high low split games there is a requirement of 8 or better, unless it is determined otherwise. If no hand is able to qualify fpr low hand, the best high hand wins.

Calculating Poker Odds

Internet Gambling
Free Web Counters