Poker Tip of the Day - Playing Omaha Hi-Lo Poker

Omaha Hi-Lo or Omaha 8 as it is sometimes called is a poker game that looks similar to Texas Holdem, but is played differently. When you are playing Omaha Hi-Lo you must remember that the game is a split pot game. You have two separate pots in each hand, one for the high hand and one for the low hand.

When playing Omaha Hi-Lo you have to remember that reading your hand and the board is not as simple or as easy as it was in Texas Holdem. There are a lot more possibilities in Omaha and usually players are drawing to hands.

Starting hands are of the utmost importance in Omaha Hi-Lo. If you can pick quality starting hands, you have a huge advantage over your opponents who are playing almost all hands.

A big thing to remember is that you don’t want to be playing in Omaha Hi-Lo after the flop unless you are drawing to the nuts for either high or low.

In Omaha you get four hole cards instead of two like you do in Holdem. In Omaha Hi-Lo you must use exactly two cards from your hand and three from the board, unlike Texas Holdem where you can use any combination of your hole cards and community cards.

In Omaha Hi-Lo you must remember that in order to qualify for the low half of the pot, the low hand must be 8, 7, 6, 5, 4 or lower. You are permitted to use different cards in your hand for high and low or you can use the same cards for high and low.

A hand that has A-2-3 in it would be a very good starting hand as would a hand with A-K-Q in it. You want to keep in mind that if you have a good starting hand like these and the flop is the opposite, you have lost your shot at half of the pot and you want to get out.

You don’t want to be playing mid-range cards at all. You want cards on either the high or the low end. Medium range cards are not playable.

The main goal in Omaha Hi-Lo is to scoop both ends of the pot. You do this by holding a high hand where no low is possible or by making both a low hand and a high hand.

You want to remember that pairs rarely win in Omaha Hi-Lo, two pairs rarely win, and straights and flushes are very common. You also have to remember that just because you have the high hand that doesn’t mean you have the low hand.

Keep in mind that Omaha Hi-Lo is a poker game in which knowledge and experience are very important. Play strong starting hands and understand the board and you will already be ahead of many players at the table.